Come July,and the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidhyapeeth (MGKV) in Varanasi will become the first university in the country to have a Integrated Geostat Centre. Supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India,the centre will promote researches and invite scholars from all over the world to explore secrets beneath and over the earth crust. The centre is the first of its kind to be st up at any university in the country. While the MGKV already has an extensive centre for geography and geology,the new unit will promote researches on various issues and give an opportunity to students to interact with geoscientists from across the globe. VS Mishra,coordinator MGKV and nodal officer of the project,said a DST team has already met senior officials of the university. Since the university already has basic infrastructure to support the project,the work for a new building and upgrading the infrastructure will begin once the Central grant comes in. This centre will not just bring the university on the international map,but will also unravel various aspects of geoscience and geophysics. While the initial budget for upgrading the infrastructure is Rs 17 crore,the university is yet to submit the final budget for DSTs approval. We are in the process of finalising it and will submit it by mid February, said Mishra.
