INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON PLANT BIODIVERSITY AND ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION (ICPEBC-2021) ON 20th-
21st May 2021
Hans Raj Mahila
Mahavidyalaya, Jalandhar, Punjab once again added a first to its credit as the
PG Department of Botany in collaboration with Punjab Biodiversity Board
organized an e-International Conference on ‘Plant Biodiversity and Environment
Conservation’ (ICPBEC -2021) on 20th – 21st May, 2021.
This is the first conference of its kind in Punjab Region. The conference started
with recitation of Gayatri Mantra and lighting of the lamp. The inaugural
session commenced with the welcome address by Principal Prof. Dr. (Mrs.) Ajay
Sareen, the chief inspiration and motivator behind this initiative. Principal
Dr. Ajay Sareen welcomed Sh. Karnesh Sharma, IAS, Commissioner, Municipal
Corporation, Jalandhar, the Chief Guest of the day, Dr. Neelima Jerath, Guest
of Honour and Dr. Ramesh Arya, Vice President, DAV College Managing Committee,
New Delhi. She highlighted the various initiatives already going on in HMV to
conserve environment. She stressed upon the need to improvise our present
lifestyle in a way that we can hand over a better planet to our future
generation. The present pandemic has made us realize that unless we respect nature,
we are in for very tough times. She acknowledged and appreciated the efforts
and extensive planning done by Dr. Anjana Bhatia, Head of Botany Department and
Coordinator of this International Conference and her entire team. She extended
a very warm welcome to all the eminent scholars from across the globe.
She illustrated
that conference aims to bring together leading academic scientists and research
scholars to exchange and share their experiences and discuss the most recent
innovations, trends, concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and
solutions adopted in the field of Plant Sciences. The keynote address was
delivered by Dr. Neelima Jerath, Director General, Pushpa Gujral Science City,
Kapurthala. As epitome of women empowerment, she has encouraged women
participation in scientific research. In her address, she emphasized the need
to reverse the harm we have done to Mother Earth and develop sustainable
methods of growth. We should wake up to our responsibility towards biodiversity
on which our human existence depends so much. Nature, climate and people should
be in sync because protecting nature is not only an environmental issue but
also a developmental, social and ethical issue. The Chief Guest Sh. Karnesh
Sharma, IAS, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Jalandhar in his address
congratulated everyone for celebrating the International Biodiversity Day and
said that it is very necessary to maintain a balance of nature and our desires
for the benefit of global health. He felt the urgent need for synchronized
impact on environmental issues. Crops must be diversified to maintain
ecological balance. He also highlighted about water conservation and soil
conservation. He appreciated the constant efforts of HMV to benefit society and
encouraged the team to carry forward this legacy in future also. Dr. Ramesh
Arya, Vice President, DAV Managing Committee, New Delhi gave his blessings and
felt the need to educate students in this aspect and create more awareness. We
need to make it a way of life. HMV has been leading by example in inculcating
ways to conserve biodiversity. He appreciated team HMV working tirelessly under
the sagacious mentorship of Dr. Ajay Sareen. Dr. Pawan Gupta, Member, Local
Committee also honoured us with his presence. Plenary Session I was chaired by
Dr. Adarsh Pal Vig, Director, HRDC, GNDU, Amritsar. An environmentalist to the
core, he welcomed the online audience and hoped that such initiatives will be
very fruitful in creating awareness about the need of conservation of our ecology.
Sh. Rohit Mehra, IRS, gave a very enlightening talk about Vertical Gardening
and seed balls. Tulsi seeds were given in Jaganath Rath Yatra as prasad. They
taught this technique in IITs and IIMs. He suggested ways to create mini
forests to enrich bio – diversity. He showed how a dump yard can be converted
into a dense forest. Dr. Gurharminder Singh, Principal Scientific Advisor,
Directorate of Environment and Climate Change and Punjab Biodiversity Board,
Government of Punjab, India gave a very informative talk on community led
Biodiversity Conservation Approaches with special reference to Sacred Groves of
Punjab. Dr. Ngueyen Bao Avoc from Research Institute of Biotechnology
Environment, Vietnam presented a paper on Genetic characterization of coconut
varieties being conservation Vietnam through SCOT marker – based
polymorphisms.A parallel Technical Session-I for Emerging Scholar Category was
conducted by Prof. Ramandeep as moderator while Prof. Dr. Seema Marwaha, Head
of Department Zoology chaired the session along with Dr. Jatinder Kumar from
Bio-Technology.Plenary Session - II was chaired by Dr. Avinash Nagpal,
Professor, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GNDU, Amritsar. Dr.
Rohan Dhiman, NIT, Rourkela talked about “ Effect of Soyabean on the
intracellular mycobacterial growth by affecting autophagic response”, Mr. Kenan
Bender Senior Environment Health Officer, Freemantle Australia and Dr. Varinder
Sapehiyia, Environmental Health Service Coordinator, Port Hedland, Australia
were invited to share their insights. Mr. Kenan and Mr. Varinder Sapehiyia
talked on “Environmental Health and Covid-19”. Dr. Seema Singh, University of
Kashmir Srinagar, gave a lecture on “Conservation Strategies of some RET plant
species of Kashmir Himalaya”. Dr. Rajinder
Kaur, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, GNDU, Amritsar
chaired the oral presentation session in which various faculty members and
research scholars made their presentations. Dr. Shaveta, Department of Botany
acted as moderator of this very interactive session.
