The Hindu : National : Rs. 100-crore grant for IISc, Bangalore

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Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

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National

Rs. 100-crore grant for IISc, Bangalore

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, is all set to get a major boost with the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, today announcing a grant of Rs. 100 crores to make it a world class institution on the lines of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Stanford. The announcement was made as part of the budget for 2005-06.

"On January 6, 2005, the Prime Minister spoke about his intention to set up a Knowledge Commission to look into the issue of building quality human capital. [The] Government believes that investments in institutions of higher education and research and development organisations are as important as investments in physical capital and physical infrastructure. What we need are world class universities and we must make a beginning with one institution. We must have a university that will be ranked alongside Oxford and Cambridge or Harvard and Stanford," he said.

The IISc, he said, had been selected as it enjoyed a high reputation as a centre for excellence in research and development.

\The grant would be in addition to the normal budget allocation for the institution. "We shall work to make IISc, in a few years, a world class university."

Vital research

Established in 1909 by the industrialistJ.N. Tata, IISc is one of the best-known institutions.

It is home to over 2,000 researchers working in almost all frontier areas of science and technology.

Scores of scientists and technologists who have played a key role in the science and technology progress of the country, including Sir C.V. Raman, Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, and Vikram S. Sarabhai, have been closely associated with the institute during its nine decades of existence.

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