PAU Celebrates International Biodiversity Day 2016

Ludhiana, May 23, 2016: The “International Biodiversity Day 2016” was celebrated at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) under the aegis of National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Government of India. The two-day programme was jointly conducted by the National Service Scheme (NSS) Cell of PAU and Punjab Biodiversity Board (PBB), Chandigarh. As many as 460 NSS volunteers of PAU participated in the poster making competition, based on the theme “Biodiversity Conservation.” The students from four constituent colleges of the University displayed their creative skills and aesthetic sense in the competition. Besides, a technical session was also held on the occasion wherein PAU experts delivered talks on various aspects of biodiversity.
The Chief Guest, Dr (Mrs) Ravinder Kaur Dhaliwal, Director Students’ Welfare, PAU, lauded the efforts of the NSS team in the organization of awareness campaigns on various issues including biodiversity. Stating that NSS Cell has been playing an important role in the nation building, she called upon the organizers to continue with their efforts in this direction.
During the technical session, Dr K.S. Khera, Professor of Zoology and Dr Rajni Chauhan, Professor of Botany, PAU delivered talks on “Faunal Diversity” and “Floral Diversity,” respectively. The experts shed light on the significance of biodiversity, its judicious use and conservation.
Dr Harmeet Singh Sarlach, Programme Coordinator, NSS, PAU and Organizing Secretary of the Biodiversity programme, highlighted the importance of biodiversity by tracing its history. He expressed his gratitude to PBB and NBA for sponsoring the programme.
Dr (Mrs) Anjali Sidhu, Programme Officer, NSS proposed the vote of thanks.
In the poster making competition, 17 students of five different units of NSS of the University were given away prizes and certificates by the Chief Guest. Dr S.S. Hundal, Head, Department of Zoology, PAU; Dr Rajni Chauhan, Professor of Botany; and Dr Anil Sharma, Assistant Director (TV), PAU were the judges for the competieomtion. The chief guest, guest speakers, judges and the winners were presented traditional plants of Punjab with the objective of spreading message for their conservation.