President hands over best university award to JNU: ‘Unrelenting pursuit of excellence’

President Pranab Mukherjee presents the best university award to JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, Monday. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar is also pictured. (Source: PTI Photo)

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday gave away the Visitor’s Award for the ‘best university’ to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). “JNU has been adjudged the best university for its unrelenting pursuit of academic excellence. It has shown outstanding performance in all key parameters like quality of students and faculty, training of faculty, citations, publications, research projects, foreign collaborations, seminars and innovation exhibitions. I urge upon the university to continue the good work,” Mukherjee said.

In his speech, Mukherjee said areas for research activity should align with the developmental challenges of the nation. “The best minds in our universities should apply themselves to work out solutions in areas like sanitation, urban transportation, sewage disposal, clean river systems, healthcare and drought-resistant farming,” he said.

The Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ was presented to Dr Deepak Pant, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, for development of a reactor for direct conversion of waste plastic to LPG on a small scale.