Inaugural Address on the National Seminar on Bacterial Leachning

It is my pleasure and privilege to be present here, this morning, in the midst of highly qualified scientists, technologists and technocrats -experts in the field of microbiology or mining and processing of oreswho have assembled here under the auspices of the National Metallurgical Laboratory to take part in the Seminar on ` Bacterial Leaching '. First of all I wish to congratulate Prof. Altekar and his staff at the NML for the painstaking work done in organizing the Seminar for which excellent arrangements have been made and thank them for inviting me to deliver the inaugural address. I believe that business must start without losing much time on prelude and I would,
therefore, be very brief in my speech. Man, from time immemorial, has been making untiring efforts to harness the wealth and forces provided by nature for his benefits. All scientific advancement and development of technology have, in one way or the other, been used for the above
purpose. The existence of bacterium which is probably the smallest living organism yet discovered in nature, has been known to mankind since long, but the knowledge of its utility in the process of leaching is fairly recent.