In a plenary lecture I delivered at the first international agrobiodiversity congress held at New Delhi, I proposed that one of the remaining years of the present decade should be designated as International Year of Millets.

Prof M S Swaminathan was conferred the Distinguished Engineer honor by Rocheston Accreditation Institute, New York.

Prof M S Swaminathan, Founder MSSRF today visited Apollo Hospitals in Chennai to call on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr Jayalalithaa. He conveyed the prayers of the scientists, scholars and staff of MSSRF for the speedy recovery of the Chief Minister. Accompanied by Dr Parasuraman, Principal Scientist MSSRF, he met ministers, Thiru O Panneerselvam and Thiru Vijayabhaskar as well as Thiru M Thambidurai, Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha during this visit.

The World Food Prize 2016 was awarded to four individuals for their work on biofortification and food security at a function in Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines on October 13, 2016. Drs. Maria Andrade, Robert Mwanga, Jan Low and Howarth Bouis received the award for their work on biofortification.

Inspite of all the efforts made by the central, state governments and non-governmental organisation malnutrition persists in our country in an unacceptable form. It is clear that unless agriculture and nutrition come together, we will not be able to overcome the problem of hunger and malnutrition. The position was reviewed at a meeting on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) held at Colombo on 3rd October. I suggested the following five point action plan for mainstreaming the nutritional dimension in agriculture :

Both Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri were born on October 2nd. Gandhiji shaped our freedom movement leading to the birth of a sovereign secular democratic nation. Gandhiji was concerned not only with political freedom but also with economic freedom leading to jobs and food for all. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the author of the slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”, thereby pointing out the critical role of Jawans and Kisans in our economy as well as political freedom. Gandhiji also started the Swedeshi movement of making all our essential commodities within India itself.

CIMMYT which is the Spanish abbreviation of the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Research, has helped to transform food scarcity into food surplus in the countries where they constitute staple crops.

According to media reports, the first 2016 US Presidential debate was viewed by over 100 million persons (nearly half the population of US).

Wayanad, a beautiful mountainous land blessed immensely by mother-nature is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in India.

Andhra Pradesh Minister Dr Palle Raghunatha Reddy visited MSSRF on September 23, 2016.

According to the Meteorological Report the average temperature was high in August 2016 compared to recent years.

Today is the birthday of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Ever since he became Prime Minister over 2 years ago he has been promoting Gandhian values of Swadeshi cleanliness and harmony. He has also been advocating the Gandhian principle “Gram Swaraj is the pathways to Purna Swaraj”.