Lawrence Banks, Director-General meets Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary @DBT , with Dinakar Salunke, Director @ICGEBNewDelhi ; consolidating operations and collaborations with the Government of India and ICGEB
February 21, 2022

Director-General’s mission to India

Lawrence Banks, Director-General meets Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary @DBT , with Dinakar Salunke, Director @ICGEBNewDelhi ; consolidating operations and collaborations with the Government of India and ICGEBLawrence Banks, Director-General (R) meets Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary DBT, Government of India (C) together with Dinakar Salunke, Director ICGEB New Delhi (L); consolidating the long-time partnership with the Government of India and ICGEB.

The Director-General, Lawrence Banks and a delegation from ICGEB Headquarters in Trieste, Italy was back visiting ICGEB New Delhi this week after a two-year hiatus.

Following a welcome address to the staff and Principal Investigators, the DG and Chief, Legal and Administration, Dr. Maria Luisa Fichera, were accompanied on a tour of the laboratories, the facilities and the greenhouse. The visit at this time offered a wonderful opportunity for a group photo session, and celebrations including the inauguration of the DBT BioCARe* Processing and Management Unit at ICGEB New Delhi.

The mission, which comes after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, included a meeting at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs with Secretary Shri Dammu Ravi.

L-R: Dr. Maria Luisa Fichera, ICGEB Chief Legal & Admin, Dr. Dinakar Salunke, Director ICGEB New Delhi, Dr. Alka Sharma, ICGEB Appointed Governor and Dr. Kalaivani Ganesan, ICGEB Liaison Officer for India.

The trip also enabled the ICGEB delegation to visit the Ambassador of Italy to India, H.E. Amb. Vincenzo de Luca and his staff, at the Italian Embassy, and an opportunity to meet in person with Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to consolidate the long-lasting, fruitful partnership between ICGEB and the DBT. The participants in this meeting included Dr. Alka Sharma, Advisor, and Dr. Kalaivani Ganesan, Scientist ‘E’, of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, respectively Appointed Governor and Liaison Officer for India to the ICGEB.

*The Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe) is a special programme of the DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India with a vision to promote women in science. The scheme provides fellowship and grant support to the research and development projects from women scientists and is targeted towards their career development. The programme is meant for women researchers, who are not under regular employment and those desirous of coming back to the mainstream research after a break.

This programme is being managed by a DBT-funded Processing and Monitoring Unit (PMU) established at ICGEB, New Delhi.

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ICGEB DG and delegation from Trieste visit the New Delhi Component
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ICGEB New Delhi PIs and staff with the DG Lawrence Banks and staff from HQ in Trieste, Italy on the grounds of the Component, 21 February 2022
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The ICGEB delegation, headed by Director-General Lawrence Banks, pictured (clockwise from top left) 1. with H.E. Ambassador Vincenzo De Luca, spokesperson cultural affairs Isabella Periotto and first secretary economic and innovation department, Isidoro Negri. 2. At the Indian Ministry of External Affairs with Shri Dammu Ravi. 3. At ICGEB New Delhi with Director of the Component, Dinakar Salunke (right) and Biju Mathew, Administrative Officer. 4. Inauguration of the ICGEB-DBT BioCARE-PMU at ICGEB New Delhi on 21 February 2022. 5. Dr. Banks and Dr. Salunke at ICGEB New Delhi. 6. With the Principal Investigators and staff of ICGEB New Delhi on the lawns.