Contributed articles presented at a seminar held in October 2002 at Binsar.

Early in 1981, the visionary in Dr Vishwanath D Karad saw the need for unaided engineering colleges, to cater to the demand of India that was rapidly rising in aspirations. In the subsequent years, the state of Maharashtra, and indeed the entire nation, put brick and mortar to this vision to the point that today, India produces 1.5 million engineering graduates per year, the majority of them from unaided institutions. This has helped India to be the biggest exporter of white-collar jobs globally, since the turn of the century. The educationist, scientist, spiritualist, philanthropist, education builder, humanist and peace ambassador put all his experiences together in recent years to make the world's largest dome (the dome at Vatican City, Rome, Italy, is now second-placed) and the world's first peace dome which will likely end up being the eighth wonder of the world. This book is a collection of testimonials written by esteemed personalities of our society for this living jewel of India.

In 2030, as disaster looms, only Siddharth, armed with the mystical Sanjeevani Yantra, can save the world. Inheriting an unfinished quest, he embarks on a voyage through turbulent times and the seven Lokas. Alongside him is his soulmate, a woman, whose love endures through every trial. As the mystery of the 2000 years of history unfolds, revealing incredulous and cryptic secrets, Siddharth finds himself at a precipice. His only redemption now is to dive in to an ineffable abyss of events to save humanity from an impending apocalypse... the stakes are set and his journey unknown…

It all happened in mid-June, 2013. The nature’s fury had broken loose in Kedarnath valley………….. Excerpts from the book:- …….It didn’t take long for nature to reveal its frightening designs. It was indeed a natural calamity, but, a manmade disaster too. The sudden blackening of the blue sky, which Inder had witnessed, was caused by a cloud burst over the Chorabali Tal, situated at the height of 14,000ft, four km. from the Kedarnath temple…… It remains blanketed throughout the year with snow white flakes. The clouds poured – god knows how many thousand cusecs of water- into the lake. Consequently the walls of the lake could no longer withstand the water pressure and were breached at several points, releasing a huge water jinn which tore apart whatever tried to block it. And then …when no shackle was left to constrain it, the jinn was free to wreak havoc upon the lives of the people…. …….Chetak again raised its two bleeding forelimbs to hit the attacker. But by that fraction of a second the war was lost and won. The poor dog tried to bark. But its neck was stifled between the leopard’s two sets of teeth. The hapless creature could not make even a final cry. Blood was oozing from its throat. The black brown hairs of the neck gradually became crimson. ……..The birds had returned to their nests. They were chirping all around. The leaves of the kafol tree were fluttering in the evening breeze and emanating the sound like ankle-bells. The temple bells were ringing. Standing on the ramparts of heaven, with silver peak railings on the sides, the not so bright moon was smiling and peeking through the fluttering leaves of the peepal tree in front of their house. The heaven and earth extended a warm welcome to the long lost son of the family. The sky above Himalaya was bathed in a crimson red hue.

Research in recent years has increasingly shifted away from purely academic research, and into applied aspects of the discipline, including climate change research, conservation, and sustainable development. It has by now widely been recognized that “traditional” knowledge is always in flux and adapting to a quickly changing environment. Trends of globalization, especially the globalization of plant markets, have greatly influenced how plant resources are managed nowadays. While ethnobotanical studies are now available from many regions of the world, no comprehensive encyclopedic series focusing on the worlds mountain regions is available in the market. Scholars in plant sciences worldwide will be interested in this website and its dynamic content. The field (and thus the market) of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology has grown considerably in recent years. Student interest is on the rise, attendance at professional conferences has grown steadily, and the number of professionals calling themselves ethnobotanists has increased significantly (the various societies, like the Society for Economic Botany, the International Society of Ethnopharmacology, the Society of Ethnobiology, and the International Society for Ethnobiology currently have thousands of members). Growth has been most robust in BRIC countries. This new MRW on Ethnobotany of the Himalayas takes advantage of the increasing international interest and scholarship in the field of mountain research. It includes the best and latest research on a full range of descriptive, methodological, theoretical, and applied research on the most important plants in the Himalayas. Each contribution is scientifically rigorous and contributes to the overall field of study.

Edible Flowers: Health Benefits, Nutrition, Processing, and Applications discusses several edible flowers and their history, bioactive compounds, pharmacological properties, chemistry, and manifold applications. Composed of 20 chapters, the book explores significant edible flowers which have a bioactive and pharmacological attribute apart from preservation aspects. Each of the presented flowers are analyzed by its taxonomy, history, nutritional properties, important bioactive natural compounds, pharmacological potential, use in food processing, and marketability. Medicinal and edible flowers that are grown in the various countries and are thought to promote health are also the subject of this book, thus ensuring the food security aspect. Written by a team of experts in the field, this book is a good support for researchers and scientists working in the fields of food science, food technology, and nutrition, with a special interest by the study of edible flowers. - Covers the nutritional and pharmacological aspects of edible flowers - Addresses the most popular edible flowers in the world as a source for nutraceuticals - Presents application in food products and potential health benefits - Discuss the various preservation techniques to improve the storage stability of edible flowers