Indian Science Congress – 2001
88th Session
Theme:
Food, Nutrition and
Environmental Security
WELCOME ADDRESS
by
Dr. Panjab Singh
Director, IARI, New delhi
INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS
ASSOCIATION
January 3, 2001
Hon'able Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Hon'able Union Minister for Agriculture, Shri Nitish Kumar, Hon'able Union Minister for Human Resource Development & Science and Technology, Prof. Murli Manohar Joshi, Hon'able Chief Minister, Delhi State, Smt. Sheila Dikshit, General President, ISCA, Dr. R.S. Paroda, Genral Secretary, ISCA, Prof. A.B.Banerjee, Noble Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, distinguished guests, friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen:
It is, indeed, a great privilege to welcome Shri.Atal Behari Vajpayee jee to this premier Institute and to the 88th Session of the Indian Science Congress being organised here. I am also delighted to welcome the other dignitaries on the dias. It seems so appropriate that IARI has been chosen as the venue for this Science Congress, the main theme for which is :"Food, Nutrition and Environmental Security". It is also the first time that the Indian Science Congress is being held at an Agricultural University campus.
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute is well-known as the seat of India's Green Revolution. It was founded in 1905 at Pusa (Bihar) with the financial assistance of an American philanthropist, Mr. Henry Phipps. After a devastating earthquake in 1934, the Institute was shifted to New Delhi in 1936. It is still popularly known as the "Pusa Institute", and is the country's largest and foremost Institute for agricultural research, education and extension.
The Institute functions on the premise that reseach is the engine of science-led agricultural growth.The development of high yielding varieties of major crops which, today, occupy vast areas throughout the country, are the hallmarks of the Institute's research.
While I sat thinking about the genesisof this Congress, I was awed by the foresight of our predecessors. If we look at Science, it is basically an attempt towards understanding the whole of existence. An attempt, whose underlying purpose, is to make human lives more fulfilling and more comfortable attempt, to see how we humans fit into this giant spaceship called earth, and how we can joyously contribute towards its journey.
Unfortunately, the vastness of existence has also engendered in Science, a reductionist way of looking at things. That is to say, we have developed a habit of looking at things in parts. We can mask this with nicesounding words like "super-specialisation", but as all of us have now realized, this approach has often left us with answers which do not fit very well in the whole.
And this is where a forum like this Congress comes in-that is the reason I say that the foresight of our predecessors awes me. They probably swa that Science will one day move into such localised shells that a forum like this would be indispensable. To my mind, the primary function of theis Congress is to provide an opportunity for us to develop a holistic view. It is an opportunity foe all of us in the scientific fraternity to step out of our shells and see how we are all interrelated and interdependent on the "shells" of our brethrin. And if the entire existence is what we seek to understand, this stepping out, this connecting, should give us far more joy than being limited to our own shells.
I would urge all my colleagues from the scientific community to utilize this opportunity to see beyond our disciplines, to make connections, to cross-fertilize and enrich eachother with our expertise.
Since science is the underlying pillar of today's world view, I think this widening of our vision will manifest as a better world for us and our children.
If we go back from this forum with a way of looking at thigs that is even a few degrees wider than the one we came with, I feel the purpose would have been served. In the process, if we also make a few more friends, that would be tremendous bonus! Also the efforts of all my colleagues, who have been so diligently involved with organising this event, would have been duly rewarded.
I once again welcome the Chief Guest Shri Atal Behari jee and other distinguished guests to this legendary Institute.
Jai Hind