A REPORT ON THE
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 22nd May 2016
held at Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune
THEME: MAINSTREAMING BIODIVERSITY: SUSTAINING PEOPLE AND THIER LIVELIHOODS
A one day programme on “The International Day for Biological Diversity” was observed on 22nd May 2016 at Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Pune with the theme of the year “Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods”.
The programme started by 9.30 am with the inauguration and welcoming of Chief guests. The Chief Guests of the programme were Dr. S. Karthikeyan, Retd. Scientist, BSI and Dr. R.M. Sharma, Retd. Scientist, ZSI. The welcome address was given by Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan, Scientist ‘E’ & HoO, BSI, WRC which was followed by the address of Dr. R.M. Sharma, one of the Chief Guest.
A short video film about Botanical Survey of India was shown and an audio cd on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan & Plastic Waste-free India which contained messages from the Prime Minister and Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (I/c) was played to the audience. This was followed by the lecture session.
A total of seven lectures on different topics were delivered by Eminent Scientists and Researchers in line with the theme. Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan read the official message of the “International Day for Biological Diversity-2016”. The first lecture was delivered by Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan, Scientist ‘E on the topic “The CBD for Botanists”. This was followed by the lecture on “Flowering Plants (Angiosperms) of India: an appraisal” by Dr. S. Karthikeyan (Retd. BSI Scientist). Another lecture on the “Initiatives of NGO Biospheres in mainstreaming of Biodiversity: an overview” was delivered by Dr. Sachin A. Punekar, Founder President of the NGO-Biospheres (Pune). This was followed by the lecture on the “Grasslands of Maharashtra” by Dr. Mandar N. Datar, Scientist ‘C’ from ARI (Pune).
After the lunch break, the session started with a lecture on the “Fern diversity of Western Ghats” by Dr. A. Benniamin, Scientist ‘D’, BSI followed by a lecture on the “Fungal Diversity of India” by Dr. Kiran Ramachandra Ranadive, Assistant Professor, Waghire College (Saswad). The final lecture was on the “Orchid Diversity of Maharashtra” delivered by Dr. Jeewan Singh Jalal, Scientist ‘C’, BSI.
At the valedictory session, the participants were invited to share their views and suggestions about the programme. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. C.R. Jadhav, Botanist. The programme concluded at 4.30 pm followed by visit to the museum and herbarium.
Several colleges in and around Pune were invited for this programme. A total of about 60 students attended this programme. The participants included research students from Agharkar Research Institute (Pune), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Tuljapur), Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research (Satara), R.D. National College, Bandra West (Mumbai). IInd year Post graduate students from different colleges such as Wadia College (Pune), Modern College (Pune), Savithribhai Phule Pune University (Pune), Rahuri College (Ahmednagar) and S.S.G.M. College (Kopargaon) have attended this programme.
Besides, Professors, Scientists from colleges / research institutes have also attended this programme such as Dr. Vinaya Gate, Dr. Aparna Watve, Dr. K.D. Gopale, Dr. Suchandra Dutta, Dr. Rani Bhagat, Dr. Vidyullata Mahendru, Dr. R.P. Ganorkar and Dr. Vikas Naikwadi. Also Retd. BSI scientists viz., Dr. M.J. Kothari, Shri. S. Moorthy, Dr. B.G. Kulkarni and Shri K.M. Rao attended this programme.
The final programme schedule is attached with this report. Digital video recording of the programme was done besides taking photographs.
(Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan)
Scientist ‘E’ & HoO
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
