THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The third edition of ‘Bioinformatica Indica-2012’, the International Symposium organised by the Department of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics on the Kariavattom campus, has something to cheer the Greens. The symposium has gone the green way by promoting the use of eco-friendly items in the conduct of the event.
According to the organisers, no flex boards have been used for putting up banners or poster presentations. Plastic has been avoided to the maximum by avoiding files and folders made of plastic and dumping plastic cups/plates to serve food.
But the highlights are the mementos, kits and the ‘chayippu’, which is a hut for conducting external meetings and classes during the symposium.
The mementos are mural paintings on bamboo based on several themes like coconut tree, elephant and lotus. A Wayanad-based craft group consisting of young artists teamed up under Sujith M P of Bhavam Arts for creating the mementos. The carry bag for the mementos has been made using old newspapers.
The bags distributed at the seminar were prepared by Alankar bags, a Kudumbashree group which has been engaged in making festival bags for the International Film Festival of Kerala for the last many years.
‘’We could not find an eco-friendly alternative to ID cards. But we have tried using reusable cases so that they can be utilised in future as well,’’ said one of the event coordinators.
The ‘chayippu’ has already won much appreciation. Some of the sessions have been planned here. According to the organisers, a small hut built during Indica-2010 is still being used by everyone as a reading place or dining area.
The symposium had a taste of Kerala’s own Kathakali at the inaugural seminar. The delegates have been given a chance to taste ethnic Kerala cuisine too at the symposium.
Meanwhile, the symposium was inaugurated by Dr Shoshana Wodak, Professor, University
of Toronto, Canada. Prof Wodak emphasised that Bioinformatics plays a vital role in the development of modern biological research.
Dr A Jayakrishnan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Kerala, delivered the presidential address. Dr Pawan K Dhar, Editor-in-Chief, ‘Systems and Synthetic Biology Journal’, Springer, delivered the keynote address.
Syndicate member P Mohana Chandran, Prof Sabu Thampy, IIITMK and Dr Oommen V Oommen, Emeritus Professor, were present on the occasion.
The Vice-Chancellor released the symposium proceedings by handing over a copy to Dr Wodak. Dr Achutsankar S Nair, Head of the Department, delivered the welcome address and Vidya R V, symposium coordinator, proposed the vote of thanks.
Dr Pawan K Dhar delivered the keynote address, in which he discussed the challenging landscapes of Bioinformatics.