Anando Sangbad Live: On the 6th and 7th of March, 2021, Techno India University organized a National Conference on Blue Economy and its numerous prospects and challenges at its university premises aiming to provide opportunities to academicians, industry experts, practitioners, professionals and policy makers and researchers to engage in a constructive conversation based on their experience and knowledge of their own respective fields.
Blue Economy is a marine-based economic development that leads to improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and adverse ecological impacts and with the global economy presently taking a dramatic turn in its strategic, and geopolitical orders, Blue Economy has begun to play a pivotal role in running the wheels of civilization because of which a wide spectrum of industries has aligned themselves with the theme of Blue Economy.
Harnessing Business Potential for India Inc and International Partners is a pioneering effort by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to sensitize India Inc about the growing global and regional emphasis on sustainability of harnessing the ocean resources, which, with the current estimated asset value of US$ 24 trillion and an annual value addition of US$ 2.5 trillion, would continue to offer significant economic benefits both in the traditional areas of fisheries, transport, tourism and hydrocarbons as well as in the new fields of deep-sea mining, renewable energy, ocean biotechnology and many more, only if sustainable practices can be coupled with business models.
Apart from the conference mentors, Professor Goutam Roy Chowdhury and Professor Manoshi Roy Chowdhury and conference innovators Meghdut Roy Chowdhury and Pauline Laravoire, the event was also be graced by the presence of various invited dignitaries, Heads of Government departments working with Blue Economy in India, Heads of universities, researchers, faculty members and students.
The first day of the conference started off with an introduction to Blue economy through various invited talks by eminent professors and experts of the field like Dr Abhijit Mitra, Aloke Mookherjea and Prof. (Dr.) Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti and others, while the second day witnessed technical sessions and research paper presentations through contributed talks chaired by distinguished speakers and experts of the same like Dr. S N. Roy, Dr. Sufia Zaman, Dr. Mourani Sinha and others.
The two-day national conference effectively explored the themes of Blue Economy, beginning with a general overview and understanding of the subject matter, resources of the ocean, blue carbon, threats to Blue Economy and also innovative coastal livelihoods.
The summit broadly addressed the many different sectors of Blue Economy that includes Fisheries and aquaculture, marine resource extraction (oil, gas, minerals), shipping and transportation of goods, ocean-based recreation and tourism, marine bio-diversity and conservation, naval architecture, coastal zone management for societal benefit (CZMSB), non-conventional renewable energy sector and Government initiatives (both national and multinational) to manage these economic sectors.
With Indian Institutes of Materials Management (IIMM), Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI), Centre for Research in Materials Management (CRIMM), National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) et al as the conference associates, the National Conference on Blue Economy attempted to develop a plausible, long-term strategic plan for sustainability and step closer to furthering the goal of ‘green economy’ which according to the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), is enabled by Blue Economy, and in fact, “In line with the noble thoughts of our legendary Chairman Prof Goutam Roy Chowdhury, the University has taken the pledge to eradicate poverty from mankind through implementation of hundreds of Blue Projects in coming years ” said Prof(Dr) Goutam Sengupta, Vice Chancellor, Techno India University W.B.