About the Venue of MS-INDUSCON-2018 ()

The Modern Lucknow: More than a land of monuments, dance, drama and cuisines

Lucknow, the capital of (U.P.), is known all over the world as the heartland of Awadhi culture, a city of culture and cuisine. Stories about its culture comprising of courtesy ('pahle aap'), kathak and nawabs are galore. Lucknow derives its name from Lakhmanpur. The area between Lakshman teela and chauk in the old Lucknow on the bank of river Gomti is believed to be the place where Lakshman took rest at night on way to the . Recovery of red, black slipped ware, and black and red ware here establishes it to be a inhabitated area around 1500 yr BC.

After independence, Lucknow has emerged a vibrant centre for science & technology, and can boast of more than a dozen of S&T institutions. These include 4 CSIR institutions, viz. Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) (estd. 1951) which some years ago moved to the more spacious campus from its old campus (Chhatar Manzil) in the heart of Lucknow. Popularly known as Botanical Garden, the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) was founded in 1953. The Central Institute for Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) came into being in 1953, and Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR, formerly known as ITRC) was founded in 1965. These 4 institutions are known for work related to drugs, plant research, plants of commercial value, and various aspects of toxicology respectively. The most successful drug from CDRI was Saheli (for birth control). With CIMAP, it developed medicine from Artemisia for brain fever. CIMAP also promoted mentha and medicinal plants while NBRI has been in news recently for successful diabetes drug. The annual environmental report of IITR is keenly awaited feature and environment is one of their main concerns. A variety of mass spectrometric platforms are used at these Institutes for various R&D studies.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) also has 3 institutions here, viz. Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISTH), and National Bureau of Fish Genetic Research. The last one has an aquarium which is quite an attraction. Lucknow is also known for Dussehri mangoes mainly from nearby (also known for episode against the British). The CISTH is engaged in research on improving mangoes, aanwla, banana, and other crops.

Railways and Public Works Department also have their research labs by names RDSO and Anveshanalaya. The Kasturba Gandhi Medical University (originally known after King George), and the Dental University are excellent medical institutions in addition to several private institutions. The Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) is an advanced centre for medical sciences and health care.

However, the most unique is the oldest, though a bit less known, Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) (originally Palaeobotany) under Dept. of Science & Technology (DST). BSIP is devoted to the study of the past life forms (especially plants), coal, oil and palaeo-climate, with a remarkable range of approaches from optical and sophisticated microscopic studies of fossils to isotopes, radiocarbon- and luminescence- dating. Contrary to what the word Palaeobotany would convey, the Institute has botanists, geologists, physicists, as well as chemists in its scientific workforce.

Adjacent to the Regional Office of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) are Lalit Kala Akademi, and an institution of Ministry of Culture- the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property dealing with restoration/ conservation of monuments, items of archaeological interest, and also conservation and study of rock art. There are also state Government’s Remote Sensing Agency, and ISRO’s tracking station in Lucknow.

In addition to the University of Lucknow, Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti , Arbi-Farsi University, and Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, there are many private universities here. There are Arts College, Sanskrit Sansthan and Sanskrit University too. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Institute of Engineering & Technology, Polytechniques and ITIs in addition to many private universities, and they make it a hub of S&T education. In addition to the Central Lalit Kala Akademi, a state Lalit Kala Akademi, theatres like Sant Gadage, Bharatendu, Sansthan’s Nirala and Yashpal Sabhagar keep the cultural and literary scene alive.

Many of the research institutions in Lucknow are involved in sophisticated mass spectrometry for isotopes or organic compounds of interest in geosciences, drugs, plants, and life-sciences, etc. Museums at BSIP, Geological Survey of India, Zoology Department of University of Lucknow, and the State Museum are very good. The Indira Gandhi Planetarium of UP Council of S&T as well as the aquarium at NBFGR are the added attractions. Regional Science City (NCSM) with its interactive exhibits, galleries, 3-D show and Sci-Max is also a big crowd puller.

Lucknow has become the unique hub of culture, education, poetry, music, tourism, commerce, design, pharmaceuticals, finance, aerospace, IT, and technology. Lucknow is ranked among the fastest job-creators among all the cities in India. The middle class here are mostly employed in public sector undertakings and government departments. Some of the biggest manufacturing units present here are HAL, Scooters India Ltd., Omax Auto, Eveready Industries, and Tata Motors. The other flourishing industries include real estate, small scale and cottage industries. Lucknow has direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai. There are many other cities close to Lucknow. These include hill station Nainital (about 400 Km), Kanpur (100 Km), Allahabad (200 Km), Varanasi also known as Benares, Banaras or Kashi (320 Km), Agra (335 Km), and Delhi (555 Km via Agra).

One hears of a lot of baghs (gardens) but they are only in name now. The names confuse as they are now merely geographic locations like Charbagh, Telibagh, Aminabad, Nazirabad with no semblance of any garden. There are more shopping malls than gardens! But in serious vein, several huge parks have come up during the past 3 decades or so such as Ambedkar Park, Rama Devi Park, Lohia Pak, Deen Dayal Park, the biggest of them all Janeshwar Park and so on. Sprawling colonies have sprung up that house many migrants, while the old lanes seem to be losing their charm. Kathak, the well known dance form, evolved here. Many popular names in Bollywood, such as Naushad, Talat Mehmood, Javed Akhtar, Anupam Kher, and Saurabh Shukla have been associated with Lucknow. The Bhatkhande Deemed University (Music) has given many famous talents.

However, many miss an important fact. The post-independence Lucknow has a new face and that is of science & technology. In fact, the Regional Office of SBI is housed in a building known as Tare wali Kothi near Hazratganj. This name is derived because it was an astronomical observatory earlier. The then ruler of Lucknow Nasimuddin Haider (1827-1837) imported many astronomical instruments and had them placed in this building. Unfortunately, they were destroyed during the struggle of 1857.

To sum up, anyone coming to Lucknow can look forward to an enriching experience in terms of not only arts, culture and culinary, but also in scientific pursuits. November is the most pleasant time in Lucknow, so hope for some satisfying intellectual and gastronomic dishes.

Welcome and best wishes for your travel to Lucknow! Wishing you luck now!!