Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 6: National Conference on ‘Silk Route Tourism: The Revival of Tributaries of Cultural and Archeological Heritage’ concluded at Central University Jammu, here today.
The three day long conference, sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, was an endeavor of the School of Business Studies, CUJ, towards assessing opportunities and challenges of Silk Route region and further taking a collaborative approach to develop Silk Route Tourism vis-à-vis Trans-Himalayan region.
Farooq Shah, Secretary Tourism, Education and Floriculture, was chief guest on the occasion of valedictory function while Saleem Beg, Member Secretary, National Monument Authority of India, was the guest of honour. They lauded the CUJ for initiating various critical scholarly pursuits.
Prof. Ashok Aima, Vice Chancellor, CUJ, said that the Silk Road epitomizes a civilizational construct both chronologically and thematically which has relevance not as a mere trade route but also archeological, cultural, historical and ethnic relevance. He said that the School of Business Studies, CUJ, though in initial stage is striving to develop into a centre of quality research and policy think tank with an intention to increase public participation and promote fair debate in the area.
Earlier, Dr Jaya Bhasin, presented a detailed report on the events of three days. She informed that in all 70 research papers were received from across the country and around 42 scholarly presentations were made by scholars and researchers during the seven tracks spread across three days.
Among the dignitaries, who were present on the occasion, S M Sahni, convener, INTACH, Jammu, V K Sehgal, Prof Manu Mittal from JNU, Prof Inayat Zaidi (JMI), Prof Ashraf Wani (University of Kashmir), Prof Sunita Zaidi (JMI), Prof Gulshan Majeed (University of Kashmir), Prof B C Sharma ( University of Jammu) and others.
Dr Shahid Mushtaq, organizing secretary of the conference, coordinated the whole event. Later, Dr Neelika Arora presented a formal vote of thanks. The proceedings of the day were conducted by Dr Bharti Gupta and Bharti Sujan.