PROFESSOR Shamnad Basheer joined the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, in November 2008 as the first Ministry of Human Resource Development Chaired Professor in Intellectual Property Law. Before this, he was Frank H. Marks Visiting Associate Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the George Washington University law school and a research associate at the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre (OIPRC).  He is the founder of several initiatives, including...

-The Times of India The molecular biologist who was arrested and put behind bars for 10 days for his role in the Nonadanga protests said on Wednesday he was committed to the slum-dwellers' cause. Partho Sarothi Ray insisted at a press conference within hours of walking out of jail that he had been framed, and described the situation in Bengal as a "dark state of democracy". "I was not on the spot...

-The Deccan Herald Debal Deb has conserved around 700 species of rice   Government spends millions of dollars on developing one variety of rice where as thousands of traditional varieties are pushed under the carpet, said Agricultural scientist Debal Deb. He was addressing media persons after releasing a Documentary Agricultural scientist ‘Pearls of wisdom’, narrating stories of farmers and agricultural scientists involved in conserving native varieties of rice. “There are farmers who have conserved traditional...

-The Times of India   KENDRAPADA: An England-based NRI will make a Documentary on the protests by seaside villagers of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang against the proposed Posco steel plant. The film-maker, Prafulla Mohanty (74), is from Nanpur village, 20 km from here. Mohanty, also a writer and painter, visited several villages in the area to make the film recently. "I will also write a book on the anti-land acquisition movement," Mohanty said. "Through...

Nature serves well even when rivers run dry. Students of Government Polytechnic-Nirsa who recently unearthed four artesian wells in a rocky stretch of Dhanbad, will surely vouch for the natural source of water that promises succour as another arid summer looms. The nine final-year civil engineering (diploma) students, under the guidance of senior lecturer of the institute Suresh Prasad Yadav, spotted the four wells in Baliapur block of the district — one...