Edu-leaders

Union government has declared the prestigious Presidency University as the first Cluster Innovation Centre in eastern India. The National Innovation Council (NInC) is working behind creating of such 20 CICs' across nation.

Under this initiative, Cluster Innovation Centre is envisaged as a focal point for all efforts to promote innovations in and around the university system. Ideally, these innovation centres will function as independent bodies inside the university and facilitate collaborations between various stakeholders to create new knowledge, new products, and new processes to solve the challenges faced at the local, national and global level.

The vice-chancellor of  Presidency University Malabika Sarkar said, "Presidency has been declared the Cluster Innovation Centre, the first in eastern India. This is a development to be proud of," She said it would help the university in achieving a synergy of research, academics and industry.

It may be mentioned here that the Presidency University has its roots in the Hindu College - established in 1817 - the institution that cradled the 19th century Bengal Renaissance and was christened Presidency College in 1855.

The college's alumni include Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray, Marxist leader Jyoti Basu and scientist Satyendranath Bose. India's first president Rajendra Prasad and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also studied in the college.