Martin Luther Christian University hosts National Symposium in Shillong

A Correspondent

Shillong: The Martin Luther Christian University hosted the National Symposium on “Intellectual Property Rights in the context of Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity” in collaboration with the State Council of Sciences, Technology and Environment (SCSTE), Bio-Resources Development Centre (BRDC) and North East Slow Food Agro-biodiversity Society, (NESFAS), Shillong, which was held on December 6-7, 2018 at the University campus, Nongrah.

The symposium was organized with the aim to create awareness about the IPR issues in Traditional Knowledge (TK) particularly biodiversity and its conservation.

The inaugural function was held in the presence of the Vice Chancellor of the MLCU, Dr. Vincent T Darlong and the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Vivek Srivastava, Scientist from National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow. It may be noted that National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow is one of the National Laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, which carries out research and development work related to inventory, documentation, collection, conservation, improvement and sustainable utilization of the non-traditional plant genetic resources of the country and in the last few years, the institute has developed several herbal products.

Dr. Vivek Srivastava, presented a paper on the Protection of intellectual property in plant based research, in which he stated that Intellectual property rights give legal protection to the work of intellect and allow the owner to prevent others from unauthorized use of their work. Dr. Brahma N Singh also a scientist from NBRI, Lucknow presented on the topic ‘Bio-prospecting traditionally known medicinal and aromatic plants for development of herbal products. Mr. Phrang Roy of NESFAS presented a talk on the uniqueness of the agro biodiversity of the indigenous people and specifically emphasized the importance of Right to Healthy food.

Dr. Desmond L. Kharmawphlang, Professor, Department of Cultural and Creative Studies, North-Eastern Hill University in his presentation on the Implications of Folklore and Intellectual Property Rights informed that while safeguarding cultural heritage and folklore required intervention at all times and needed both community participation and traditional skills. Dr. Mebanlamphang Lyngdoh, Assistant Professor, Department of Music, MLCU presented on the,’ Conservation of Khasi Traditional Music’, where he highlighted on the need to document KTM in order to conserve, promote and popularize this unique cultural art to the rest of the world.

The discussions concluded that the protection of Traditional Knowledge should go beyond symposiums and seminars and capacity building should be organized for scholars and academicians and also across different communities and educational institutions. One of the major outcomes of this symposium is the compilation of the proceedings and publication of the proceedings in a book format.

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