The 79th Annual Convention of Oil Technologists’ Association of India was organized at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad during January 10-11, 2025. The topic of the conference was “Oil Palm: Recent Trends in Production, Processing and Applications in Food and Non-Food Sector”. The conference was ably supported by CSIR-IICT, SEA and IVPA. There were 300 registered delegates attending the conference. The conference was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr B Sesikiran, Former Director, National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR). Dr D Srinivasa Reddy, Director, CSIR-IICT, in his opening remarks welcomed delegates, distinguished speakers, senior members of OTAI and students to IICT, Hyderabad and thanked OTAI for choosing IICT to organize this vital conference focussed on palm oil. Dr Rajeev Churi, National President, OTAI stressed on pivotal role of OTAI in knowledge sharing and building strong relation with industry through OTAI conferences. Chief Guest, Dr B Sesikiran, in his inaugural address stressed upon the ill effects of negative branding and need for regulation. He also mentioned uniqueness of each oil, including palm and suggested rotation of oil to get the goodness of each oil. Dr Sanjit Kanjilal, Convener spoke on importance of palm oil to bridge the huge gap between demand and supply of edible oils as India and its growing importance in view of recent regulation of trans fat. After the inauguration, OTAI Annual Merit Awards were announced and notable among these awards are Dr S Hussain Zaheer Memorial award, conferred to Prof Amit Pratap, ICT, Mumbai and Dr JG Kane Memorial award to Prof Shishir Sinha, DG, CIPET. Dr K Shivashanker, Co-convener proposed vote of thanks.

There were five sessions during the two days deliberation. In the Session I: Award & Plenary session, Prof DN Bhowmick delivered the 15th Dr K T Achaya Memorial Lecture on “Reminiscences from the period 1971-2013”. Dr RBN Prasad, Chief Scientist &Former Head, Lipid Science & Technology Division, CSIR-IICT delivered the plenary lecture on “Oil Palm Tree: An amazing source of edible oils, structured fats, biodiesel, biomass and Oleochemicals”. There were four theme-based...
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