Prof. L. N. Satpati : IAGR Conference 2024
Prof. L. N. Satpati, Professor of Geography & Professor Director, UGC Human Resource Development Centre, University of Calcutta, West Bengal
Dr. Lakshminarayan Satpati obtained Ph. D. degree in Geography from the University of Calcutta for his thesis entitled An Approach Towards Rational Water Resources Management of the Rupnarayan River Basin, West Bengal. Prof. Satpati has an experience of teaching of geography for about 29 years in schools, colleges, universities and institutes of higher education in West Bengal. He has presented more than 150 research papers and chaired sessions in national and international platforms, of which the 32nd IGU Conference in Cologne, Germany (2012), 8th IAG Conference in Paris, France (2013) and PRSCO-2019 of RSAI, Bangkok are notable. Besides, he has been invited to deliver lectures in various faculty development programmes of UGC, ICSSR, DST, NRDMS etc. He has to his credit nearly forty publications in the form of research papers and articles published in reputed national and international journals and books. His research and teaching interests include climatology, geomorphology, hydrology, environment, population & development, quantitative geography and curriculum development in geographical sciences. He has edited a book on Climate and Society- a Contemporary Perspective published by the University of Calcutta in 2015. Seventeen scholars have already obtained their Ph. D. degrees under his supervision, and two Post-Doctoral Fellows have completed their projects under his mentorship. He has successfully completed two UGC sponsored research projects and organized three national workshops on Climate Science. Prof. Satpati is associated with a large number of academic and professional organizations of teachers, geographers and climate scientists of India. He has been the Hony. Assistant Secretary (Administration) of the Geographical Society of India, Kolkata since 2009. He has been elected as the Hony. Secretary, Indian Meteorological Society (IMS), Kolkata Chapter for the period 2018-20. Prof. Satpati has performed the responsibility of the Chairman, High Powered Committee to restructure NATMO, GoI. He is the honorary Editor of UGC recognized peer reviewed biannual Indian Journal of Landscape Systems and Ecological Studies of Indian Institute of Landscape, Ecology and Ekistics, since 2017.
Title of Talk:
Reorienting the Increasingly Deranged Indian Families towards Bharatiya Gyan Parampara for Sustainability− Role of Geography and Geographers
Abstract
Sustainable development is a multifaceted concept involving contested issues and definitions varying with different intellectual inputs. However, its essence concerns with transferring the capitals under the possession of the current human societies to the future generation(s). This has become more pertinent as the contemporary world has been witnessing serious depletion of physical endowments, erosion of cultural heritages and deterioration in universal human values− the consequences of which are quite omnipresent in almost all spheres of our lives. Transformation of occupational structures from ecosystem based sedentary livelihoods to digital imperialism has its negative fallout in the family systems from joint to nano-form. This derangement was a consequence of prolonged political-economic adjustment resulting in cultural disruptions in the societies. Bharat, in this context, suffered a lot; and the colonial hangover has not only continued but also aggravated with the current demographic, economic and social transitions. The overwhelming information boom with tremendous growth of digital technologies has deepened the crises in the families, the foundation of the societies. Obsessive-compulsive information seeking (OCIS) is part of a grand design in which the families have been trapped, as manifested by their behavioural pattern, nature of communication, core businesses, socio-psychological relations and health. Integrating modern science and technology with the moral values and ethics derived from Bharatiya Gyan Parampara can be helpful to overcome the situation. Geography is one of the best interdisciplinary knowledge domains; and geographers, the practitioners of holistic approach in science, has the edge to formulate pragmatic guidelines in this regard by taking care of both space and time, the fundamental framework to associate the families depending on certain specific contexts. This deliberation will include theoretical understating of the stated problem and unfolding it with suitable examples.
Keywords: Cultural disruption, Colonial hangover, Demographic transition, OCIS society, Indian Knowledge System
