Climate change was again placed at the centre of global diplomacy over the past two weeks as diplomats gathered in Bonn, Germany, for the latest annual round of United Nations climate talks (1). The Conference of the Parties (COP) decided to convene a facilitative dialogue among Parties in 2018 and the Fijian presidency presented a robust design of next year’s stock take of the global efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals and inform the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), the so-called Talanoa Dialogue (2).

The Karshakashree Award that recognizes an outstanding Kerala farmer has been awarded to a woman farmer from Palakkad.

An important aspect of understanding and promoting climate-effective methodologies is awareness. The media serves as a mechanism to strengthen the knowledge link between research and society. MSSRF in association with the National Biodiversity Authority is organizing a 3-day workshop on the theme “Bringing Biodiversity into the Media Space”

A new study exploring the relationship between dietary diversity and its relationship with nutrition status of adolescents and adults in two districts of rural India has now been published.

The 9th Indian Youth Science Congress (IYSC), to be held between April 7-9, 2018 at Career Point University, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, has announced its call for papers.

November 21, 2017: Fishing is recognized as one of the most -risky professions in the world with hundreds of lives lost at sea every year and many more affected by the implied occupational hazards in this profession. Fisheries and aquaculture employ more than 43.5 million individuals worldwide. Fish provide more than 25% of the world dietary protein.

Kumkum Kumari, a doctoral student working in the Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory at MSSRF was awarded the second prize for a poster presentation titled ‘Alternative splicing of Plasma Membrane Protein 3 [Nt(t)PMP3-2] in polyploid Nicotiana tabacum is derived from Nicotiana tomentosiformis parent’ at the National Conference on “Recent Trends in Genetics Engineering and Biotechnology” organized by the Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur on 25-26 September 2017. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D under the supervision of Dr. Gayatri Venkataraman, Principal Scientist, Biotechnology Program Area, MSSRF. This research work was recently published in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.

There is considerable debate going on at present among states, political parties and professionals about the methods of avoiding the burning of rice straw.

Today is National Press Day when the major objective of all citizens and institutions as well as governments should be fostering free and secular media.

Dr S Velvizhi, Principal Scientist and Head – Fish for All Centre, Poompuhar, MSSRF, has co-authored an article in the Elsevier journal ‘World Development’ titled "A Gendered Analysis of Fisherfolk’s Livelihood Adaptation and Coping Responses in the Face of a Seasonal Fishing Ban in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, India".

November 14, is observed every year as Children’s Day in view of the extraordinary love and attention paid to children by Jawaharlal Nehru.

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference kicked off in Bonn on November 6 and will go on till November 17, 2017 with strong, unified calls to hold to the path of the Paris Climate Change Agreement1.