NAGPUR, DEC 5: The 21st Indian Geography Congress organised by the National Association of Geographers-India (NAGI) will be held at the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP) in the city from January 2 to 4 next.According to a press note issued by Dr Arun Chaturvedi, senior scientist, Division of Remote Sensing Applications, NBSS & LUP, and convenor of the programme, it will be the largest meeting of the geographers engaged in teaching, research and working in various government agencies of the country.M S Swaminathan will be the chief guest at the congress. He will also deliver the key-note address during the inaugural function on January 2. T K A Nair, Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board, will deliver the valedictory address on January 4.The conference will deliberate on the issues involved for better management of the precious natural resources. Later these recommendations will be brought out in Nagpur Declarations. The Geography congress held at Gorakhpur lastyear had brought out the Gorakhpur declaration on Backward Area Development which is being pursued by the Planning Commission for inclusion in the next five Year plan.Important themes of the congress are: Agro-ecosystems and sub-systems, land use and land cover changes, land use issues and institutional aspects of suatainable land use planning, land use planning and management for sustainable development in the next millennium.
