NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI/CHENNAI, JUNE 24
During his address to the Indian diaspora in Washington, DC on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed that a Tamil Studies Chair will be established here at the University of Houston. He said that this is the best time to invest as much as possible in India.
- TN govt already on it and had handed over Rs 3.5 cr, says TN Health Minister
- The chief minister and the Tamil Development minister have been invited to Houston: Ma Subramanian
“This is the best time to invest as much as possible in India. The research centre of Google’s AI in India will work on more than 100 languages. With the help of the Indian Government, a Tamil Studies Chair will be established here at the University of Houston,” PM Modi said.
According to US-India joint statement, US President Joe Biden and PM Modi welcomed the establishment of the Tamil Studies Chair at the University of Houston and reinstating the Vivekananda Chair at the University of Chicago to further research and teaching of India’s history and culture.
“Prime Minister and President Biden hailed the growing bilateral education partnership between the United States and India. Indian students are on pace to soon become the largest foreign student community in the United States, with an increase of nearly 20 per cent in Indian students studying in the United States last year alone, the joint statement read.
“The leaders welcomed the establishment of a new Joint Task Force of the Association of American Universities and leading Indian educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology, and the nomination of councils on each side, and noted their interim recommendations for expanding research and university partnerships between the two countries,” the statement added.
TN govt already on it and had handed over Rs 3.5 cr, says TN Health Minister
அமெரிக்கா நாட்டில் உள்ள ஹூஸ்டன் பல்கலையில் தமிழாய்வுப் பீடம்: தமிழ்நாட்டு அரசாங்கம் 3 இலட்சம் அமெரிக்க வெள்ளிகள் நிதிநல்கை- நவம்பர் 15, 2022.
நன்றி: @mkstalin #houstontamil #HTSC #கீழடி #Madurai #tamil #htsc @HoustonTamil @தமிழ்வளர்ச்சிதுறை pic.twitter.com/cICFdzYAdo
— Houston Tamil Studies Chair (@HoustonTamil) November 15, 2022
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday said that the state government has already taken steps for establishing a Tamil Chair at the University of Houston.
Talking to reporters in Chennai after paying homage to legendary poet Kavignar Kannadasan on his birth anniversary, the minister said, “The works for establishing a Tamil Chair in Houston University are going on. The chief minister and the Tamil Development minister have been invited to Houston.”
The efforts to establish a Tamil Chair have been continuing for the past few years. On December 24, 2019, the then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami handed over a cheque for Rs one crore towards the Tamil Nadu government’s contribution to set up a Tamil Chair in the University of Houston, to Sam Kannappan, chairman of Houston Tamil Studies Chair, the organisation which is raising funds for establishing a Tamil Chair at the University of Houston.
On the same day, the then Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam donated Rs seven lakhs from his personal funds for this purpose. On January 15, 2021, Sam Kannappan also appealed to the Government of India seeking funds for establishing the Tamil Studies Chair.
After the DMK government came to power, on November 15, 2022, Chief Minister MK Stalin presented a cheque for Rs.2.50 crore to Sam Kannappan for establishing a Tamil Chair at the University of Houston.
