Indira Gandhi Chair in Environmental Sciences to be launched at NIAS

Bengaluru-based National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) is all set to launch the Indira Gandhi Chair in Environmental Sciences to further studies in ecology and science, subjects that were dear to the late prime minister.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were present at the virtual conference on Wednesday where the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT) signed a memorandum of understanding with NIAS to establish the Chair in honour of the late prime minister.

“Bengaluru has a vast institutional network in both ecology and science making it the natural habitat for such a Chair,” said Gandhi, who is also the chairperson of the IGMT.

She said the NIAS with its links to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was the natural pivot for locating the Chair.

Gandhi expressed the hope that the Chair will catalyse inter-institution collaboration in the field of of environmental science as well.

The virtual conference was also attended by NIAS Director Shailesh Nayak, former Tata Consultancy Services Vice Chairman S Ramadorai, faculty of NIAS and trustees of the IGMT.

“The Chair that is being sanctioned today will focus on the environmental sciences, which are gaining in urgency as we witness global warming and numerous environment-related challenges,” former prime minister Manmohan Singh said.