The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India Eliška Žigová made a three-day official visit to Jaipur in Rajasthan from 22nd to 24th March 2023 to strengthen scientific and research cooperation between the Czech Republic and India. The visit took place against the backdrop of the end of the academic year ceremony at NIMS University in the presence of a large group of Czech scientists from Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC) and university staff from the University of Science and Technology in Prague (VŠCHT).

The business trip included the laying of the foundation stone of the new Mařík Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics and the launch of a joint degree programme between VŠCHT and NIMS University. It is a great follow-up to the recent first official visit of the Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský to India in February 2023 that was focused on reinforcing the cooperation between the Czech Republic and India in innovation, research and development.

Czech-Indian scientific cooperation in science and research is moving to the next level thanks to the activities of leading Czech scientists. The Czech Institute for Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC), prestigious research institute for the study of artificial intelligence, has established active cooperation with the private NIMS University in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Its Chairman, Dr. B.S. Tomar, invited the founder of CIIRC Professor Vladimir Mařík to the launch of the new Mařík Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics. The Director of CIIRC Prof. Ondřej Velek accompanied Prof. Mařík. The CIIRC aims to deepen the international cooperation with India with new joint projects and exchange of students and researchers.

Foundation stone of new Marik Centre of AI, Robotics and Cybernetics

CIIRC were accompanied by the representatives of the University of Science and Technology in Prague (VŠCHT) including its Rector Professor Pavel Matějka and the Director and Chairman of the Board of the Czech-Polish company ORLEN UniCRE Jan Hájek. VŠCHT is ready to start a joint study programme in the field of hydrogen technology with NIMS University. ORLEN UniCRE aims to strengthen further the cooperation with its Indian partner to attract highly qualified and skilled workforce from India to the Czech Republic.

The number of Indian students at Czech universities is growing every year. There were only 356 in 2015 Indian students in the Czech Republic but almost 1500 Indian students enrolled in 2022, so the number has almost quadrupled in the last seven years. Indian students in the Czech Republic are increasingly interested in studying nature and technical subjects such as computer science, cybernetics and artificial intelligence.  

The official visit of H.E. Eliška Žigová to Jaipur took place in the follow-up of the Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský´s first official visit to India in February 2023 that aimed to strengthen the cooperation between the Czech Republic and India in the field of innovation, science and research. H.E. Eliška Žigová together with Professor Vladimír Mařík received an honorary doctorate by the NIMS University.

The students of NIMS International School of Hotel Management (NISHM) created history by preparing the longest vegetarian kebab, measuring 49 ft 8.4 inches, and grabbing a spot in the Limca Book of Records, an Indian equivalent of the Guinness Book of World Records. A team of 45 students participated in the process and accomplished their objective of making the longest veg kebab in 9 hours 53 minutes on April 6, 2022, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Manoj Srivastava, the principal of NISHM.

The students and faculty members arranged for a specialised cooking pan or tawa, which was 50 ft long and 25 ft wide. The vegetarian tawa kebab was cooked in a setup with seven industrial gas cylinders, a hot plate tawa and a rail burner beneath. The ingredients that students used to prepare the dish included 16 kg potatoes, 7 kg spinach, 5 kg chickpea flour, 5 kg soya nuggets, 5 kg onion-garlic paste, 2 kg green peas, 2 litres of ghee, 2 kg capsicum, 1 kg mint leaves, 1 kg green chillies and 900 gm ground garam masala.

This is a significant achievement for NIMS University as it has given it a recognition in the world of culinary arts. The university celebrated the achievement of the students and the faculty members and put the longest vegetarian kebab on display at its Sundervan Garden. It was a proud moment for the university as it set an example for others to follow.

NIMS University Rajasthan, Jaipur Chairperson & Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Balvir S. Tomar congratulated the students and faculty members for making everyone proud.

“May the students of NIMS University keep breaking records in whichever field they are in,” Dr. Tomar said. “I want to see the students of NIMS University making us proud wherever they go,” he added.

The students broke the previous record for the longest kebab, which was a non-vegetarian dish of 40 feet. Prof. Dr. Srivastava said that the team began its journey with a three ft. kebab and gradually took up the challenge of making longer ones. Finally, they created a setup for the record-breaking 49 ft. 8.4 inches vegetarian tawa kebab.

Prof. Srivastava emphasised the opportunities and exposure that the university offers to its students. He mentioned how the chairperson encourages students to think out of the box and also thanked the university management for all the support they provided.

Limca Book of Records is an annual publication that refers to the world records held by the Indians. Since 1987, it has been documenting the efforts and milestones achieved by the people in India and it has published 30 editions to date. It takes pride in noting down enormous glorious achievements of the Indians throughout the world. Being able to acquire a spot in the Limca Book of Records is no less than an honour and the students of NIMS International School of Hotel Management achieved it after putting continuous efforts into preparing an even longer kebab every time they experimented.

NIMS University Rajasthan, Jaipur launched its Axel Pries Centre of Biomedical Sciences on March 23  on the occasion of its Convocation 2023. The event was organised in the Rajeshwari Auditorium  within the university premises. 

Being in the field of medicine and as a paediatrician, Prof. (Dr.) Balvir S. Tomar, the founder and  chairman of NIMS University Rajasthan, Jaipur, envisioned how adding the centre of biomedical  sciences within the premises would be useful for students aspiring to become medical experts.  

Hence, he took a step forward in developing a platform to help aspirants study even the smallest  units of a body and understand their physiology better. 

Biomedical science is the science that combines both biology and chemistry and aims to boost the  healthcare sector through its application. The combination of the two disciplines lets individuals  study the molecular composition of cells and accordingly relate it to figure out the functioning of  humans and animals. The knowledge gathered through the study of such sciences helps  departments like forensics to function accurately, making them even more reliable. 

Professor Dr Axel R Pries, the president of World Health Summit, Germany, who the new unit of the  university is to be named after, graced the convocation ceremony as its chief guest. He is a German  professor holding the position of Dean of the Board of Charité Hospital in Berlin since 2015. His  journey began with the study of medicine at the University of Cologne followed by a postdoctoral  fellowship at the Institute of Anaesthesiology of the German Heart Center in Berlin. He became a Full  Professor of Physiology at Free University Berlin in 1998 and the Head of the Charité Institute for  Physiology (2001). His main interests have been in microcirculation, tomour vasculature, vascular  adaptation, blood rheology, endothelium and angiogenesis, which he has contributed to throughout  his tenure of serving the medicine sector. 

Accompanying Professor Dr Pries were the special guests - Dr. Eliska Zigova, H.E. Ambassador of the  Czech Republic in India, and Prof. Dr. Vladimír Mařík, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers  (IEEE) Life Fellow, as the special guests. The guests of honour were Dr. Ondřej Velek, Director of the  Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics (CIIRC) from Czech Technical University in  Prague, Prof. Dr. Milan Jahoda, Vice-President of Education at the University of Chemistry &  Technology (UCT), Prague the Czech Republic, Ing. Jiří Hájek, CEO & Chairman of Board ORLEN  UniCRE in Prague, Prof. Dr. Pavel Matejka, Rector at the University of Chemistry & Technology (UCT)  in Prague, Prof. Dr. Milan Jahoda, Vice-Rector of Education at the University of Chemistry &  Technology (UCT) in Prague, Prof. Petr Zámostný, Dean of Faculty of Chemical Technology at  University of Chemistry & Technology (UCT) in Prague, Dr. Sudhir Bhandari, Vice-Chancellor of  Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) and Dr. Rajeev Bhagarhatta, Principal of Sawai Man  Singh (SMS) Medical College.