Cornell varsity seeks fresh avenues in India

A delegation of Cornell University officials, led by the president of the institution David J Skorton, is on a week-long visit to India beginning from January 1 to seek avenues of advanced cooperation.

The delegation will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8 and also have discussions with business leaders like N R Narayana Murthy and Cornell alumni Ratan Tata, who are on the board of directors of Cornell University.

"Cornell has had a series of partnerships with Indian institutions over the past 50 years, which have been very fruitful. The purpose of the visit is to continue these partnerships and looks for avenues to expand them,'' said David Wippman, vice provost for international relations and professor of law, Cornell University.

Apart from Delhi, the Cornellians will also be visiting Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad to increase cooperation between the university and Indian institutions in areas like agriculture, biotechnology, healthcare, information technology and rural development.