London visit yields university partnerships and Liverpool talks

Telangana’s ongoing outreach in the United Kingdom produced a string of education and investment leads, with the University of London saying it is working on plans to set up a campus in Hyderabad, according to multiple outlets covering the three-day visit.

The Telangana Rising delegation, led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, held a round-table meeting at the University of London’s Senate House. Officials from the university conveyed plans to establish a campus in Hyderabad that would offer programmes from various schools and departments within its academic federation, reported Deccan Chronicle and The Times of India. The University of London team included representatives from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), as well as Kavitha Reddi, Ruth Kattumuri of LSE, Paul Madden, Prof. Funmi Olonifakin, Dr Sky Zheng and Keith Harrison—a list carried by Deccan Chronicle.

Cambridge discussions focus on knowledge hub

Earlier, the delegation met an academic team from the University of Cambridge. The chief minister, joined by IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu, Adviser K. Ramakrishna Rao and Special Chief Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, invited the university to partner in creating a global knowledge hub in Hyderabad, as reported by The New Indian Express and ANI.

Prof. Jaideep Prabhu, Government of India-sponsored Professor of Marketing at Cambridge Judge Business School, and Prof. Venkata Serish Gandikota, also of the business school and co-chair of Frugal AI, expressed keen interest in partnering with Telangana. Both sides agreed to work on a framework for collaboration covering education programmes in Hyderabad, research and incubation of entrepreneurship, according to Deccan Chronicle and The New Indian Express.

Liverpool partnership and Imperial College meeting

Liverpool City Development and Liverpool Football Club also met the chief minister in London on Saturday, expressing interest in a strategic partnership focused on life sciences, technology, sports and the creative economy, reported Deccan Chronicle and The Indian Express. A Liverpool delegation is scheduled to visit Hyderabad in October to formalise the partnership.

Meanwhile, K. Ramakrishna Rao, the chief minister’s adviser, visited Imperial College London. He met Amanda Wolthuizen, vice-president for strategic engagement, and Rosanna Gillespie, senior international relations manager, and invited them to the Invest Telangana Global Summit scheduled for December 7–9. Wolthuizen expressed interest in short-term and executive education programmes in Hyderabad, as well as research and exchange collaborations, Deccan Chronicle reported.

CM’s Ambedkar House visit

Before the university meetings, the chief minister visited Dr. Ambedkar’s House in London, calling the visit an “inspiration for a lifetime,” as reported by ANI and The Tribune. Accompanied by Minister D. Sridhar Babu, he toured the house at 10 King Henry’s Road in Primrose, where B.R. Ambedkar lived in 1921–22. The house is now a museum dedicated to Ambedkar’s ideals of constitutionalism, equality and social justice.

Santosh Dass MBE, Chair of the Anti Caste Discrimination Alliance, shared details of Ambedkar’s life during the tour. In the visitor’s diary, Reddy wrote: “Visiting Dr Ambedkar House is like a pilgrimage. The inspiration is for a lifetime. I feel renewed dedication for social justice.” After the tour, he said: “It has been one of life’s great moments... to be able to see and touch a personal aspect of one of the greatest Indians ever born.”

The chief minister was scheduled to return to Hyderabad on Sunday after the three-day visit, according to The Tribune.