Shillong, August 24: The weak long visit of the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr Mukul Sangma To Germany terms as a great success in which he could convince upon the German official in the filed of Agriculture inhis meeting with the president of the Leibniz Universität Hannover.
1.Meeting with President, Leibniz University
The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma, held very fruitful wrap-up discussions with Prof. (Dr.) Erich Barke, President, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, on 23rd August 2013. This was a culmination of the week-long visit of the delegation from the Government of Meghalaya, headed by the Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture, to Leibniz University, Hannover and to various field stations in Niedersachsen province, Germany. This visit was ably arranged by Dr.Bala Ramani, Advisor and Regional Coordinator, International Office, Leibniz Universität Hannover. The meeting was also attended by Prof. (Dr.) Hartmut Stützel and Prof. (Dr.) Moritz Knoche from the field of Vegetable and Fruit Sciences, respectively, Leibniz Universität Hannover and by Vidhu P. Nair, Acting Consul General, Indian Consulate, Hamburg, Germany. It was agreed to develop a broad plan for partnership and a structural model for institutional development as an off-shoot for partnership to carry along this programme in areas of common interest and that would set in motion a long-term collaboration between the Government of Meghalaya and Leibniz Universität Hannover. Inter alia, this collaboration would include exchange of knowledge and technologies, capacity building of officers from the Department of Agriculture, sponsoring students from Meghalaya to take up graduation and post-graduation studies at Leibniz Universität Hannover, as well as establishing modern horticultural research facilities in Meghalaya. It was proposed that an agreement between both institutions will be signed in due course after discussions on the specifics and a workshop is planned to be conducted in Meghalaya, preferably during 2013 itself, to set the ball rolling. It was also agreed in principle that the sponsoring of the first batch of students will start from the next academic year 2014-16.
2.Interaction with Director, German Research Centre on Comparative Vocational Education and Training (GREAT)
Subsequent to the meeting with the President, Leibniz Universität Hannover, an exploratory meeting took place between Dr. Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, and Prof. Matthias Pilz, Director, German Research Centre on Comparative Vocational Education and Training (GREAT), University of Cologne, Germany. Dr. Mukul Sangma highlighted the importance of VET (Vocational Education & Training) to ameliorate the unemployment among the youth of Meghalaya through a partnership between GREAT and the Government of Meghalaya for providing quality training with the objective of creating a pool of highly skilled youth workforce who can be meaningfully absorbed in the job spaces at the local, regional and even international levels. The Chief Minister highlighted the strength of the State in respect of the large population of English-speaking youth. Based on his expertise on work with VET and India for many years, Prof. Pilz readily agreed to visit Meghalaya, as soon as possible, to assess the ground situation and to prepare a clear concept for further steps together with the partners from the Government of Meghalaya.
3.Felicitation by Indian Association Hannover (IASH)
In the evening, Dr. Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, attended a felicitation in his honour, arranged by the Indian Association Hannover (IASH). The IASH, recently registered as a not-for-profit society, was set up to enable discussions and exchange ideas about happenings in India, Germany and the world. The Association conferred honorary membership to Dr. Mukul Sangma, the first recipient of this honour! Mr. Ajay Harish, President, IASH bestowed the Honour on the Chief Minister. Dr. Mukul Sangma happily agreed to join the potluck dinner organized by the very elated and emotional Indian Diaspora and interacted over many issues pertaining to India and how the Diaspora can support, in various ways, the development of Meghalaya and the country said the mipr released.(SP News)
