Book on Indian agro-scientist launched

As a confidence-building measure on the non-governmental level a book on the life and works of an Indian agro-scientist, edited and compiled by his Pakistani contemporary, was launched here at the Intercultural Forum on Wednesday night.
The author of the 640-page publication is Professor Dr Anwar Dil, a Pakistani educationist and intellectual of international repute who has spent his lifetime with the US International University at San Diego (California).
The book is called "Toward a Hunger Free World - Life and works of M.S. Swaminathan."
The monumental work on the life and works of MS Swaminathan of Tamil Nadu is the sixth in the series called "Together on Earth". Earlier three books had depicted the lives and works of Professor Ahmed Shah Bokhari 'Patras', former finance and foreign minister Sartaj Aziz and educationist Dr Raziuddin Siddiqui.
Two in the series, awaiting release shortly, are on Sahebzada Yaqub Khan, a scion of former princely India, who spent his life in the service of Pakistan as a soldier, administrator, statesman and diplomat.
Twice he was the foreign minister during the last two decades of the 20th Century. To follow this will be a bigger volume on the Pakistani Noble Laureate Professor Abdus Salam.
MS Swaminathan had been associated with Unesco, several national and international commissions and organisations most prominent of which is the International Rice Research Institute at Manila and is the recipient of a large number of awards for his work.
A galaxy of Pakistani scientists of various disciplines, who had been Swaminathan's contemporaries in work, were present at the Intercultural Forum to commend the book.
Among them were men and women who had associated with him in several ways, like working with or knowing about his contribution in bringing about what Sartaz Aziz described as a "Green Revolution in India".
In his foreword to the book, Sartaz Aziz, a former federal minister in Pakistan, credited Swaminathan with recognising the potentials of Mexican dwarf wheat for his country, saying that in 35 years the variety had increased the Indian production from 12 million tonnes to 72 million tonnes.
That rice production in India, Sartaj Aziz who once served as agriculture minister said, had shot from 35 million tonnes in 1972 to 93 million tonnes in 2002.
Speaking at the launching of the book, Pakistan's National Commission on Biotechnology Chairman Dr Anwar Nasim said he had known Swaminathan from student life and had been meeting him at various international moots, mostly on genetic sciences and shared his ambition to make "every child a scientist".
He spoke of the scientist's "revolutionary contribution" that had brought an agricultural renaissance and technological empowerment of women in India.
Dr Nasim also spoke of the work of Swaminathan Research Foundation and the Information Village project that use personal computers and wireless network, VHF duplex radio devices promoting scientific understanding to the villagers.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Amir Muhammad Khan, Rector, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Dr Najma Najam, Vice Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women's University, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan and Dr Khalif Bile Mohamud, a Somali who heads the World Heath Organisation's branch in Pakistan.