By Priyanka Deshpande
CNBC-TV18.com
Published June 18, 2024
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bihar on June 19 to inaugurate the campus of Nalanda University, named after the world-famous ancient seat of learning.
Governor Rajendra Arlekar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are likely to attend the function.
Modi is likely to reach the venue by helicopter from the nearest airport in Gaya and is expected to spend an hour and a half at the venue.
Situated less than 20 km from the Nalanda Mahavihara, which has been declared a World Heritage site, the university was established in 2010, by an Act of the Parliament.
Earlier, a proposal to set up the international university, on the lines of the seat of learning that functioned till the 13th Century, had been endorsed by member countries at the East Asia Summit, the PTI reported.
Prior to that, the then President APJ Abdul Kalam had proposed the revival of the ancient university in his address to a joint session of the legislature in Bihar.
The sprawling campus is spread across an area of about 450 acres, and the university offers several courses in Hindu Studies, Buddhist Studies and Comparative Religion, and Ecological and Environmental Studies.