Land of Jewels (Sana Leibak)

PM Inaugurates Indian Science Congress Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s speech at the 96th Indian Science Congress in Shillong, Meghalaya: “I am truly delighted that this year the Indian Science Congress is meeting here in Shillong. The North Eastern Hill University has emerged as one of our premier central universities. It has become an important centre of excellence in this part of our country. I commend the organizers of the Congress for choosing NEHU for this year’s Science Congress. This North-eastern region of our country has a wealth of human and natural resources that can contribute immensely to the overall social, economic, cultural and technological development of India. It is the home of many valuable plants like Citrus and animals like the Yak and Mithun. The rice varieties from this region have contributed valuable genes that offer resistance to pests and diseases. The challenge lies in using modern science and technology to convert these b...

Swaminathan calls for 'evergreen revolution' in NE Shillong: Noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan on Sunday underlined the need for conserving the rich bio-diversity of north-east and called for ushering in an 'evergreen revolution' in the region. "Efforts should be directed at promotion of bio-happiness among tribal families. The NE is one of the 12 mega bio-diversity zones of the world and more than 80 per cent of people here depend for their livelihood on agriculture," he said while addressing the 96th Indian Science Congress at the North Eastern Hill University in Shillong. Noting that the region produced 5.8 million tonne of food-grain against a requirement of 7.4 million tonne, he asked institutes to take up conservation programmes for the rare, endangered and threatened (RET) species of flora. Observing that "domestication of rice" had taken place in the north-east 10,000 years ago, he called for evolution of "new rice species...