I feel elated to address you all on the dawn of New Year 2010 equipped with a string of unique achievements made over 20 years by this young university. In our new journey towards prosperity, I would like to recall some of the salient developments in the spheres of education research, technology transfer, outreach and clinical activities and share the credit with one and all for the high level of achievement. As part of this exercise, we shall also assess the efficacy of our activities in terms of output, namely campus development, new curriculum development, quality outputs in human resource, international collaboration, accreditation, Institute – Industry linkage, generation of need based technologies for field application, simulation of frontier technologies for development of basic and applied research, generation of crucial data base, validation of technologies with farmers participation, novel training modules and distribution of quality inputs for productivity enhancement of livestock and economic development of stakeholders.
In academic pursuit, revised VCI syllabus is being adopted for B.V.Sc. & A.H. course from the academic year 2009-10 coupled with soft skill course to make our graduates more competitive and successful in their career. To have a global reach, five seats in B.V.Sc. & A.H. and one seat in B.F.Sc. degree courses stand allotted for NRI candidates. Further, five seats in B.V.Sc. & A.H., three seats in B.F.Sc. and five in postgraduate studies have been reserved for foreign nationals. A new Diploma course in Fish Quality Management has been introduced at Fisheries College and Research Institute, Thoothukudi.
In the field of need based education, research and specialized skills, this University is in the process of strengthening its ties with the University of Nebraska, Michigan State University and Virginia-Tech University by way of agreement renewal, visit of key personalities from these Universities to identify areas of collaboration, apart from conduct of conference, workshop and student exchange programmes. The conduct of symposium on clinical case presentation competition in collaboration with Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM), USA is the first of its kind. Regarding betterment of animal health, TANUVAS has developed ties with Institute of Animal Health, UK to develop vaccines against coccidiosis and molecular diagnostics. Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University played a stellar role in the conduct of tripartite conference in association with Michigan State University and Makerere University, Uganda for sharing of knowledge amongst the three universities. Further, five faculty members of University of Gondar, Ethiopia were trained on poultry and laboratory animal medicine.
On the research front, 115 projects funded by Central and State Governments and various Private agencies for a sum of
Rs 15.33 crores are being handled. Apart from this, 83 plan schemes with a financial outlay of Rs 33.26 crores funded by Government of Tamil Nadu are currently in progress. During this year, two new programmes on development of inactivated swine fever vaccine and empowerment of rural women through rotational goat and desifowl rearing have been implemented for a sum of Rs 50 lakhs.
The Institute - Industry interface was taken to greater heights by signing MoUs with private firms such as M/s. Mediclone Biotech Pvt. Ltd., on production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against rabies; M/s. Nitta, Gelatin India Limited for evaluation of animal by-products; M/s.Globian of Suguna broilers for commercializing ND pellet vaccine with a royalty of Rs 10 lakhs; M/s Galvmed, UK for commercialization of vaccines and diagnostics developed by our University and to use them in developing countries for the control of diseases in livestock. On Japanese collaboration, an agreement was also entered with Institute Nichi-in Centre for Regenerative Medicine to work on adult stem cell based therapy.
TANUVAS is poised for a leap in growth of infrastructure to meet the needs of students and scientists by developing modern hostel facilities, laboratories, animal house facilities, hatchery, feed mixing units and Post-harvest technology facility for hands on training to students. Establishment of a National Facility on Pharmaco Vigilance Lab for animal feed and food safety at a cost of Rs 3.1 crore at Madhavaram with the assistance of Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India is the first of its kind in the field of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. Establishment of Ethno Veterinary Herbal Research and Training Unit for Livestock health care at Thanjavur is worth mentioning.
Dear friends, our mission and vision include a radical transformation in the field of education, research and service front. We also plan to implement the E-learning module for under graduate courses in a full fledged form during the ensuing year. We also look forward to start some online courses for field veterinarians to hone their skills. I am confident that this University will turn out laudable achievements in the near future as a result of our united efforts. I also seek your co-operation as before to make it a reality. Before concluding, I would like to wish the staff and students of this great institution a Prosperous New Year.