Indian Traditional Knowledge – History, Influences and New Directions for Natural Science

Indian Traditional Knowledge – History, Influences and New Directions for Natural Science

February 22-23, 2009

National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore

This conference at the National Center for Biological Sciences, brings together scholars from diverse fields - scientists, historians, healthcare and biotech professionals - to examine the contributions of Indian traditional knowledge in the natural sciences to broader aspects of science, social history and health care.
In lectures and discussion sessions, speakers from India and abroad will explore the many sources of traditional botanical-medical knowledge of India and the potential of this rich heritage as a resource for new developments in diverse fields, and give outlooks on the global developments in related fields during the last decades.

List of speakers
Dr. Seema Alavi , JMI, Delhi
Dr. Guy Attewell, Wellcome Trust, London
Dr. Madhulika Banerjee, University of Delhi
Dr. Kamaljit Bawa, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Dr. Rainer W. Bussmann, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA
Dr. Will McClatchey, University of Hawaii, USA
Prof. Mohan Ram, Delhi University
Dr. Narish Naraindas , JNU, Delhi
Dr. Dan Nicolson, Smithsonian institution, USA
Dr. M. Sanjappa Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata
Dr. Darshan Shankar, FRLHT, Bangalore
Dr. Somesh Sharma, Piramal Pharma, Mumbai
Dr. V. Sujatha, JNU, Delhi
Dr. Annamma Spudich, NCBS, Bangalore
Dr Dominik Wujastyk, Wellcome Trust , London

How to Apply

Graduate students and post doctoral fellows with an interest in medical and pharma ceutical sciences and Scientists with an interest in history of science are encouraged to apply. Applicants are requested to submit a brief CV stating how this meeting would impact their career goal to annas @ ncbs.res.in by 15th January, 2009. Selected applicants will be informed by January 20th, 2009.

Registration Fee:

Students: Rs.1,500/-
Academia: Rs. 3,000/-
Corporates: Rs. 5,000/-

Mode of Payment :

•Payment can be made via Bank Demand draft drawn in favour of "National Centre for Biological Sciences", payable at Bangalore.
•Kindly indicate your Name, Institution, and name of the Conference on the reverse of the Demand Draft.
•Payment should be sent by courier to reach us by January 30, 2009.
•Registration will only be confirmed upon receipt of payment.

Mailing Address:

The Organisers
“Indian Traditional Knowledge”
National Centre for Biological Sciences
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
GKVK, Bellary Road,
Bangalore 560 065 INDIA

Organizers-
Annamma Spudich, NCBS, Bangalore, India
Rainer W. Bussmann, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA

Supported by :
NCBS/TIFR, Bangalore
Piramal Pharmal, Mumbai

Complete Schedule

February 22-23, 2009

Venue: National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore

February 22, 2009

Time	Speaker, Talktitle
8:30-9:00 am	REGISTRATION
9:00 am	INTRODUCTIONS, K.VijayRaghavan, Director, NCBS/TIFR, Anna Spudich, NCBS/TIFR Obaid Siddiqui, NCBS/TIFR
9:15 am	Historical Sources of Traditional Knowledge: Classical and Folk Traditions.
9:15am-10:00am	M.S.Valiathan, Manipal University, Chair Sources of Knowledge in Ayurveda
10:00am-10:30am	H.Y.Mohan Ram, Honorary Scientist, Indian Science Academy, Delhi The History of the Hortus Indicus Malabaricus
10:30am-11:00am	Tea Break
11:00am-11:30am	Harish Naraindas, JNU The Abadhoutic as a Bridge Between the "Classical" and the "Folk" in Traditional Indian Knowledge
11:30am-11:50am	Anna Spudich, NCBS Early European Writings on Indian Botanical Medicines
11:50am-12:10pm	B. Venugopal, National Museum of Natural History, Delhi Role of the National Museum of Natural History in Interpretation of Traditional Knowledge
12:10am-12:40pm	Panel Discussion on Historical Sources
12:40pm - 1:50pm	Lunch
1:50 pm	Contemporary Reflections on Traditional Knowledge*
1:50pm-2:25pm	Madhulika Banerjee, Delhi University, Chair Politics and Medical Knowledge: Ayurveda in Post-colonial India
2:25pm-2:55pm	Seema Alavi, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi Medical Culture in Transition: Mughal Gentleman Physician and the Native Doctor in Early Colonial India
2:55pm-3:30pm	Tea Break
3:30pm-4:00pm	Guy Attewell, Welcome Trust, London Promotion as Promise and Pitfall: Contestation and Representation in 20th-century Unani Medicine
4:00pm-4:30pm	P. Ram Manohar, Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore Ayurveda and Modern Science: New Sources of Information
4:30pm-4:45pm	P. Perumal, Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjore Natural History Collections at the Saraswati Mahal Library
4:45pm-5:15pm	Panel Discussion on Other Sources
5:15pm-6:00pm	REFRESHMENTS IN THE HERBAL GARDEN
*PUBLIC LECTURE*
6:00 pm,	"TO OBSERVE, TO IMAGINE: The Indian artist's way of looking at the natural world" Dr. B.N. Goswamy Indian Art Historian and Emeritus Professor of Art, Punjab University Botanical drawings made by traditional Indian artists of the past raise questions. Splendid and visually exciting as they can be, they make one think about the relationship that the Artist established with Nature. To observe, even to record with accuracy, was not difficult for him, but ever so often he seems to have wondered about whether that was enough in itself. That the world which art sets out to create, is lokottara - beyond the ordinarily visible - he does not appear to have been able easily to forget. Was he then inventing visual parallels? Sometimes. In his illustrated lecture, Prof. Goswamy will aim to address these questions.
7:30 pm	Dinner reception

February 23, 2009

Time	Speaker, Talktitle
9:15 am	Traditional Knowledge and Issues of Practice and Conservation*
9:15am -9:50am	Kamaljit Bawa, University of Massachusetts, Chair Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation.
9:50am-10:20am	Rainer W. Bussmann Missouri Botanical Garden, USA Indian Traditional Knowledge in a Global Context
10:20am-11:00am	Tea Break
11:00am-11:30am	Will McClatchey, University of Hawaii, USA Laos and N.E. Thailand: A Frontier of Indian Plant Knowledge in SE Asia
11:30am-12:00am	D.K. Ved, FRLHT, Bangalore Interpreting the Identity of Plants in Indian Medical Traditions for Setting Conservation Priorities
12:00hrs-12:40pm	Panel Discussion
12:40pm - 1:45pm	Lunch
*1:45 pm	New Directions for Traditional Knowledge*
1:45pm-2:20pm	Sanjeev Jain, NIMHANS TBA
2:20pm-2:50pm	Ashok D.B. Vaidya, Kasturba Health Society, Mumbai Exemplify the Truth of Traditional Knowledge
2:50pm-3:20pm	Kalpana Joshi, Sinhgad Institute, Pune AyuGenomics: Genomic Basis of Dosha Prakriti
3:20pm-4:00pm	Tea Break
4:00pm-4:30pm	Somesh Sharma, Piramal Pharma, Mumbai Development of Single Plant Extracts Described in Ayurvedic Medicines as Therapeutics
4:30pm-5:00pm	Darshan Shankar, FRLHT, Bangalore Contemporary Relevance of Traditional Knowledge
5:00pm-5:30pm	Discussion Session and Summary
8:00 pm	Dinner