A Report on the Second Botanical Nomenclature Course Organised by Botanical Survey of India at Pune

2017·3 MB·English

by  Lakshminarasimhan, P

Nelumbo Vol 59(1), (118-120) 2017 ISSN (Print) : 0976-5069
DOI : 10.20324/nelumbo/v59/2017/117144 ISSN (Online) : 2455-376X
A report on the second Botanical Nomenclature Course
organised by Botanical Survey of India at Pune
P. Lakshminarasimhan and Neelima. A. M
Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, 7- Koregaon Road, Pune- 411001, Maharashtra, India;
 [email protected]
Second Botanical Nomenclature Course was organized The first day of the course started on 09th February
by Botanical Survey of India in the Multipurpose Hall of 2017 at 9.00 a.m. with the registration of the candidates.
the Indian Institute of Science Education Research, Pune An inaugural ceremony was organised at 10.00 a.m. with
from 9th February 2017 to 12th February 2017 with enor- an invocation song taken from the hymns of Rigveda to
mous enthusiasm. Great response were received from enlighten the audience and pray for peace on earth. Dr.
the participants from India as well as from outside the A. Benniamin, Scientist ‘D’, BSI, WRC, Pune, did the
country. Prior to this course, the first Botanical Nomen- anchoring. In his address to the gathering, Dr. Lakshmi-
clature Course was organized by the Botanical Survey of narasimhan welcomed the guests, furthermore honoured
India and the ENVIS Centre on Floral Diversity of BSI at them with floral bouquets and shawls. In addition to this,
Kolkata from 11th January 2013 to 13th January 2013. Dr. the guests were given mementoes as a token of honour.
Kanchi N. Gandhi, Senior Nomenclature Registrar, Har- His address was followed with short talk by Dr. Gandhi,
vard University Herbaria, U.S.A served as Course Direc- and the Guests of Honour: Mr. M.K. Vasudeva Rao, Ex-
tor on both the occasions. Electronic copies of the course Joint Director, BSI and Dr. S. Karthikeyan, Ex- Deputy
materials were provided by Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan, Director, BSI. The inaugural ceremony was concluded at
Head of Office & Course Co-ordinator, BSI, WRC, to all 11.00 a.m., with vote of thanks by Dr. J. Jayanthi, Scientist
registered candidates well in advance by email, and the ‘D’, BSI, WRC, Pune.
electronic copies included the following: The lectures on plant nomenclature commenced with
(1) A History of Botanical Nomenclature, (2) An essay the topic “Genesis and Basics of Plant Nomenclature” by
on Lectotypification, (3) Gender of Generic names, par- Mr. Vasudeva Rao, and this was followed by Dr. Gan-
ticularly those ending in -ma, in the ‘Names in Current dhi’s lectures on the 2011 Melbourne Code. His lectures
use ‘List’, (4) One hundred years of Plant Taxonomy, (5) reviewed the physical structure of the Melbourne Code
Orthography of Names and Epithets: Latinization of Per- and discussed the entire Code article by article, with
sonal Names, (6) Orthography of Names and Epithets, special emphasis on validity of publication and solving
Stems and Compound words, (7) Orthography of Names nomenclatural problems of the participants. Dr. Gandhi
and Epithets the i, j and u, v problem, (8) Some consid- also discussed a few proposals submitted for the next
erations on Latin Geographical epithets in Binomials, (9) International Botanical Congress scheduled to be held
Species epithets and Gender information, (10) Melbourne in Shenzhen, China from 23 to 29 July 2017. Dr. Gandhi
Code 2012 and (11) All proposals submitted to the 2017 covered the following topics at different sessions:
International Botanical Congress to amend the Code. Review of the physical structure of the Melbourne Code,
There were 118 candidates present for the course, Preamble, Ranks and Names of Taxa, and Effective Publica-
including one from abroad, Prof. Deepthi Yakandawala, tion (appropriate Articles 1 – 31 of the Melbourne Code),
University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. A total Validity of Names Part I (Articles 32 – 45 of the Melbourne
of 83 candidates were from outside BSI and 35 partici- Code), Validity of Names Part II, Authorship Citation (Arti-
pants were from various regional centres of BSI; they cles 46-50 of the Melbourne Code), Rejection of Names
include 10 Research Scholars and rest 25, belonging to (Articles 51-60 of the Melbourne Code), Anamorphic fun-
Scientists, Botanists, Botanical Assistants and Preserva- gal and hybrid names and Proposals to be submitted to the
tion Assistants. 2017 Congress. At the end of each day, a one-hour session
P. Lakshminarasimhan and Neelima. A. M
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A report on the second Botanical Nomenclature Course organised by Botanical Survey of India at Pune
Dr. K. N. Gandhi interacting with participants
was scheduled strictly for discussion and interactive talks future courses. Feedback from the randomly selected
between the candidates and the Course Director. participants was allowed during the closing ceremony. In
On 12th February 2017 at 3.30 p.m, a valedictory func- this connection, Dr. Khuraijam Jibankumar Singh, CSIR,
tion was held. Dr. Rashmi Dubey, Scientist ‘D’, BSI, WRC, NBRI, Lucknow; Dr. Suchandra Dutta, R.D & S.H National
Pune did the anchoring for the valedictory function. The College, Bandra, Dr. G. Rajkumar, JNTBGRI, Kerala, Dr.
Course Director Dr. Gandhi was felicitated. He was pre- Arti Garg, BSI, CRC, Allahabad, Dr. Pushpi Singh, BSI,
sented with a memento in appreciation by Dr. Lakshmi- CRC, Allahabad, Dr. C.S. Purohit, BSI, AZRC, Jodhpur,
narasimhan. Both gave their views about the course. Dr. Dr. Deepthi Yakandawala, University of Peradeniya, Sri
V.S. Rao, Visiting Faculty, Indian Institute of Science Edu- Lanka and Prof. H.K. Chourasia, T. M. Bhagalpur Univer-
cation and Research, Pune and former Director, Agharkar sity, Bhagalpur, Bihar gave their opinion about the second
Researh Institute, Pune, was the Chief Guest at the Valedic- Botanical Nomenclature Course. The feedback from the
tory Session, while Dr. Karthikeyan, Mr. Vasudeva Rao, and participants is the driving force to organize such courses in
Prof. B.B. Chaugule (ex-Head of Department of Botany, the future. They collectively appreciated the organisers for
Pune University; a participant in the course) were Guests the efficient execution of the course.
of Honour. They all addressed the gathering and gave their Dr. J.S. Jalal, Scientist ‘D’, BSI, WRC, Pune expressed
feedback about the course. The course participants were the gratitude to the participants and Course Director. The
given certificates. Each participant was provided with a closing ceremony was concluded with a song ‘Pasayadan’
feedback form to fill in as part of the course to evaluate the which literally means ‘offerings’ composed by Sri Sant
accomplishment of the course as well as to get thoughts Dnyaneswar, a well-known 13th Century saint in Maha-
to evaluate the course and suggest improvements for the rashtra followed by the National Anthem.
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