Envoy goes to Virginia to render help to needy Indians

NEW DELHI: An Indian professor is among 33 victims of the shootout at Virginia Tech University, which has a large representation of Indian students and faculty.

IIT Kanpur alumnus GV Loganathan, 51, who has been on the faculty for 15 years and has earned a number of honours, was among the 33 people killed in what was the worst shootout in an US university.

A diplomat from the Indian embassy in Washington is being sent to Virginia Tech University to assess the situation and see if any help needs to be extended to Indians studying and teaching there. MEA is in touch with the Indian embassy in Washington in a bid to get the exact status of the Indian students and teachers at the university.

The Indian embassy is also in touch with the Indian association in Virginia to keep track of the casualties even as reports emerged of a missing Indian student. Agency reports said that Minal Panchal, an Indian student, was missing since the shootout. And there were apprehensions that other Indians were also injured or killed in the shootout. There are reportedly over 700 Indian students at Virginia Tech. Minal, a Masters student in Building Sciences was also present in the hall when the shootout occurred, reports said.

Loganathan, who is from Erode district, near Coimbatore, was killed in the firing while he was taking classes at the university’s civil and environmental engineering department, according to agency reports. The professor, who is survived by his wife and two daughters, had joined the university in 1982.
Mr Loganathan completed his graduation from Madras University in 1976 and Mtech from IIT Kanpur in 1978. He completed his PhD from Purdue University in 1982 and joined Virginia Tech.

The Virginia Tech website lists a number of honours earned by the professor of civil and environmental engineering at the university, including the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering Education. Agencies reported that the family and parents of Loganathan, who was from Erode District of Coimbatore, will travel to Virginia to attend the last rites.

Meanwhile, governor of Virginia Tim Kaine who was scheduled to visit India with a trade mission this month and was in Japan to kick-start the trip has rushed back to the US. He was scheduled to come to India and meet business leaders in Mumbai and Chennai with a focus on getting hi-tech businesses to invest in Virginia.