JNU members attend 19th World Youth Festival in Russia’s Sochi

New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS) Faculty and students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here took part in the recent 19th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Sochi, Russia, at the invitation of the country's national atomic energy corporation Rosatom, the state-run company said on Thursday.

This edition of the international festival, which has been held regularly since 1947 as an event of global youth solidarity for democracy and against war and imperialism, was held in the Russian city during October 14-22.

According to Rosatom, who are the builders and equipmqnt suppliers of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu, 25,000 participants from 185 countries attended the Sochi youth festival.

"On Rosatom's invitation 4 young professionals and students from Jawaharlal Nehru University participated in the festival," Rosatom Regional Vice President (South Asia) Alexey Pimenov said in a statement.

The statement cited one of the participants, JNU's Centre of Russian Studies Associate Professor Sonu Saini as saying that joint ventures between both countries are generally seen as opportunities for new jobs by students learning Russian.

"Such big projects like Kudankulam nuclear power plant jointly done by India and Russia give a fresh impetus to learning Russian language," Saini said.

"Today students see Russian language not only as a language of Leo Tolstoy or Alexander Pushkin but also a beneficial business tool which help them to find a job in strategic areas like nuclear power," he added.

Earlier, at the Forsage 2017 technology and innovation forum held in Kaluga, Russia, in July, Rosatom had invited Observer Research Foundation Associate Fellow Arka Biswas to take part from India, the company said.