|
|
|
| Sunday, 27 November 2005 |
 |
|
 |
News |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Prof. Swaminathan's lecture at BMICH Widely acclaimed Indian Professor M.S. Swaminathan will deliver two lectures at the 61st annual session of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science to be held at the BMICH Committee Room in Colombo from December 12-17. Professor M.S. Swaminathan has been acclaimed by TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India, the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. He has been described by the United Nations Environment Program as 'the Father of Economic Ecology' and by Javier Perez de Cuellar. Secretary General of the United Nations, as "a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction." He was Chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee set up in 1980 to take follow-up action on the Vienna Plan of Action. He has also served as Independent Chairman of the FAO council and President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. He is the current President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. He is widely recognised as the architect of the 'Green Revolution' in India which radically improved agricultural yields through the introduction of genetically superior high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. This work alone transformed India from a 'begging bowl' to a 'breadbasket' almost overnight, nearly doubling the total crop yield from 12 million tons to 23 million tons in four crop seasons. Professor Swaminathan's enthusiasm for passing on knowledge has earned him a reputation as a lucid educator. His record of community service and political leadership has won him recognition as a profound humanitarian. His work in crop genetics and sustainable agricultural development in India and the Third World earned him the first World Food Prize in 1987. World Food Prize is the foremost international award to recognise, encourage and reward outstanding individual achievement in improving the world food supply. The prize was instituted in 1986 for serving as the 'equivalent of a Nobel Prize in the field of food and agriculture'. He currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Eco-technology at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India and Chairman of the National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security of India. In a career dedicated to alleviating human suffering, Prof. Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan has completed the work of many lifetimes. "Ultimately," Swamanithan has stated, "it is the political will of the country to have policies in place which will stimulate production by small farmers. Without it, all research technology, any external advice will go in vain," Prof. Swaminathan will deliver two lectures at the Annual Session. "Science and Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals" at the inaugural session on 12th December 2005 and 'Tsunami, Sea Level Rise and Coastal Zone Management' at the Theme Seminar on 13th December 2005. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
