A one day National Conference on ‘Sustainable Development and Climate Change’ was organized by the Department of Environmental Studies, Amity University Madhya Pradesh Gwalior on November 18, 2016. The aim of the conference was to propagate the idea of sustainability as a mean to mitigate the effect of climate change. The conference started with the sacred tradition of lightning of the lamp and garlanding of Goddess Saraswati followed by introductory remarks by Lt Gen V K Sharma, AVSM (Retd.), Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Amity University Madhya Pradesh. This was followed by Keynote address by Dr. Chitra Rajagopal, Director, Center for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), DRDO, New Delhi.
Dr. Rajgopal, during her talk, gave emphasis on the need for environmental protection. She explained how the protection of the environment is associated with the survival of human being. She also explained how CO2 rise is associated with global warming and how we can mitigate it by using alternative sources of energy especially the solar energy. The keynote address was followed by the release of abstract book by the distinguished guests along withthe Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Organizing and joint organizing secretaries.
In the second lecture, Prof. (Dr.) P. Pardha Saradhi, Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Delhi University, delivered his talk on the impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on the environment. He discussed how the bio fuel, genetically modified food, etc. can be used to save energy and to save agricultural biodiversity. He also discussed the process of gene transfer in agricultural crops.
The post lunch session began with technical sessions for paper reading and poster presentations by the delegates. The session was chaired by Prof. (Dr.) P. Pardha Saradhi, Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Delhi University, Prof. (Dr.) Somnath Baidya Roy, Associate Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT New Delhi and Dr. R. K. Mishra, Associate Professor, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior. During the session, more than twenty-five papers were presented. Ms. Baseerat Fatima, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi won best paper award, whereas Ms. Madhu Gupta, Department of Botany, Govt. Madhav Degree College Chanderi (M.P.) and Mr. Muzamil Ahmad Sheikh, School of Studies in Botany, Jiwaji University, Gwalior (M.P.) won the second and the third prizes respectively. In the poster session, more than fifteen posters were presented and Ms. Sangeeta Sharma, School of Studies in Botany, Jiwaji University, Gwalior won the best poster award, whereas Ms. Sweta Prakash, Department of Botany, Model Science College, Gwalior and Ms. Meenu Priya Kontu, Department of Bioinformatics, Banasthali University, Rajasthan won the second and the third prizes respectively.
The Valedictory session started with the thought provoking address by Prof. (Dr.) Somnath Baidya Roy, Associate Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT, New Delhi with emphasis on adoption of bottom-up approach for protection of environment and sustainable development. He emphasized on the adoption of new strategies to avoid the ill effect of climate change on agriculture. At the end, Lt Gen V K Sharma, AVSM (Retd.), Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior gave concluding remarks. The conference ended with vote of thanks by Prof. (Dr.) S.P. Bajpai, Organizing Secretary and Dean Research, Amity University Madhya Pradesh. He thanked all the delegates, participants, and students for their active participation.