india

Updated: Nov 12, 2019 20:37 IST

The Goa government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Scientific and Industrial Research Institute that will see the CSIR help the state organise an annual ‘Manohar Parrikar Vidnyan Mahotsav’, a lecture series instituted in the memory of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

“Manohar Parrikar was the man who encouraged interactions between scientists, scholars and students and researchers. He was also responsible for bringing the Nobel Prize series to Goa and had promised such interactions each year. So in his name we have instituted this,” Sawant said.

According to the MoU, the CSIR will scout for scientists who will speak to school and college students as part of a series of scientific talks that will include issues like climate change, etc.

The Vidnyan Mahotsav is being held to coincide with Parrikar’s birthday on December 13.

The first edition being held this year will see talks by scientists including Padma Bhushan V K Saraswat, Padma Shri K Vijay Ragvan, Dr Shekar C Mande, Padma Shri A S Kiran Kumar, and Dr Shailesh Nayak among others.

Parrikar passed away earlier this year after losing his battle to pancreatic cancer having served as Goa’s chief minister on four different occasions, including two consecutive short terms between 2000 and 2005.

Parrikar also served as the Union Defence Minister between 2014 and 2017, the highest political post held by a person hailing from the state.

The state is also planning a Rs10-crore memorial at the Miramar beach in the state capital alongside that of Goa’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar.