By IANS
Patna : Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Friday visited the site of the proposed Nalanda International University modelled after the ancient seat of Buddhist learning at Rajgir near Nalanda in Bihar.
Kalam, accompanied by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and officials including architects, visited the university site at Rajgir, nearly 100 km from Patna.
An official told IANS that Kalam was visibly impressed. “He spent more than an hour and discussed the project with Nitish Kumar and officials. He was happy and lauded the choice of the place.”
Kalam arrived here Thursday night on a two-day visit to Bihar. It is Kalam’s maiden visit to the state after he ceased to be the president last year.
Kalam was appointed the first visitor of the proposed Nalanda International University. The visitor will play a key role in the constitution of the governing body – the university’s supreme body.
The visitor will also have the power to inspect the varsity and appoint one or more people to review its work and progress.
The idea of the university was first mooted in the late 1990s but it was Kalam’s initiative in 2006 that gave shape to the project at the ancient seat of Buddhist learning.
Students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet Indonesia, Persia and Turkey besides India attended the Nalanda University, which existed until 1197 AD.