CUP Bathinda organized online workshop; scientists shared their views on Biodiversity Conservation
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
To mark World Environment Day 2020, the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda (CUPB) commenced six-day Online Workshop “Tangled Bank” from 31st May onwards. CUPB Botany Department is organizing this Programme in association with Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS). The title of this Workshop is related to the theme of World Environment Day 2020 “Celebrate Biodiversity”, as this Lecture Series includes 15 interactive sessions by renowned scientists/academicians on all domains of Biodiversity. The opening session of this Online Workshop was presided over by Vice-Chancellor Prof R.K. Kohli. Prof V.K. Garg, DSW, CUPB, and Dr Chander Shekhar Sharma from INYAS participated in the inaugural session as the special guest. More than 1000 students from across the country have registered for this Webinar Lecture Series.
In the Inaugural session, Prof Paramjit Singh, Head, Dept. of Botany, & Workshop Co-Convener, welcomed the participants and introduced the programme theme. During his address, he mentioned that this International Webinar series would act as a platform for participants to connect digitally from across the globe, and to take deep dive to the mysterious world of exciting living organisms.
In his presidential address, Vice-Chancellor Prof R.K. Kohli put a light on a series of environmental conservation events that happened worldwide since the adoption of 5th June as World Environment Day by UN General Assembly at Stockholm Conference in 1972. He mentioned that “Environmental Sustainability” is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals designed of UNDP. He asserted that to achieve this goal everyone should to follow the strategy “to avoid the wastage of natural resources, & to reduce their Over-consumption”.
Prof V.K. Garg, Dean Student Welfare, mentioned that Biodiversity plays a vital role in preserving the earth’s environment and life on our planet. He added United Nations has considered the “Conservation of Biodiversity below the water & on land” as vital Goal while adopting 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 to transform our world. He stressed this Online Workshop would play a crucial role in spreading awareness on this issue. Dr Chandra Shekhar from INYAS complimented the organizing team for conducting this Lecture Webinar Series as a part of Science Education and Outreach Initiative. He asserted, this Webinar Lecture Series, provides an opportunity for participants to interact will experts from different spheres of bio-diversity and to expand their knowledge by listening to them.
The speakers of this Webinar Series are the eminent Scientists and academicians from India and Abroad. On the first day of this six-day Webinar Series, Dr Deepa Agashe (NCBS Bangalore) spoke on the topic of Bacterial Diversity, and, Dr Manjari Jain (IISER-Mohali) dwel on Indian Songbirds. On the second day, Dr Martin Zimmer (ZMT Germany), Dr Gururaja KV ( SSD Bangalore), and Dr Kailash Chander (Director –ZSI), delivered lectures on Mangroves, Frogs, & Animal Diversity, respectively. On the third day, Dr Varad Giri (GWC), Dr Ashiho A Mao (Director BSI), and Prof Paramjit Singh (CUPB) took sessions on Snakes, Rhododendrons, and Himalayan Bamboos respectively. On the fourth day, two sessions were held where Dr Arvind Madhyasta (ATREE, Bangalore), and Dr Kartick Balasubramanian (ARI, Pune) talked in detail about Mollusks, and Diatoms respectively. During these interactive sessions, Dr Felix Bast and Dr Vinay Kumar (CUPB) shared participant’s interesting questions with the guest speaker which were adequately answered by them.
In the last two days (4th &5th June) of this Workshop, Dr Subramanyan K.A. (ZSI, Chennai), Dr Rajeev Raghavan (KUFOS), Prof Tarun Arora (CUPB), Dr Anindita Bhadra (IISER Kolkata), and Prof R.K. Kohli (VC, CUPB) will take interactive sessions. They will deliver Lecture on Dragonflies & Damselflies, Fishes from the Western Ghats, Dogs in Urban Ecology, and Biodiversity subjects. The content of this Webinar Series is accessible to all through Event Page Web Link https://bit.ly/Tangled-Bank. This Online Workshop will conclude on World Environment Day 2020 (5th June 2020).
June, 4,2020
