108th Indian Science Congress to begin today

Staff Reporter

Nagpur city is all set for the grand event, Indian Science Congress, beginning Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and witness the entire inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress through video conferencing on January 3. The inauguration ceremony of the five-day event hosted by Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) will start at 9.30 am at the varsity’s Amravati Road campus, near new administrative building (Bajaj Bhavan).

Governor of Maharashtra and Chancellor of universities in Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Union Minister and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of RTMNU Centenary Celebrations Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will grace.

Vice-Chancellor of RTMNU Dr Subhash Chaudhari, and General President of Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), Kolkata Dr Vijaylaxmi Saxena are the prominent among those who will remain present.

The theme of the mega event, this year, is ‘Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment.’ The public talks and exhibitions are open to the general public.

The technical sessions of the 108th Indian Science Congress have been divided into 14 sections under which parallel sessions will be conducted at different venues in the university’s Amravati Road Campus.

Apart from these 14 sections, there will be a Women’s Science Congress, Farmers’ Science Congress, Children’s Science Congress, Tribal Meet, a section on Science and Society and a Science Communicators’ Congress.

The plenary sessions will feature nobel laureates, leading Indian and foreign researchers, experts and technocrats from a wide variety of fields, including Space, Defense, IT and Medical Research.

The technical sessions will showcase path-breaking and applied research in Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences, Anthropological and Behavioural Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth System Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Information and Communication Science & Technology, Material Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences, New Biology, Physical Sciences, and Plant Sciences. In the run-up to the event, the Vigyan Jyot programme, a tradition of the Indian Science Congress was held on Sunday.

Over 400 school and college students gathered at Zero Milestone and, wearing special caps and T-shirts, proceeded in a rally to the university campus. They took a pledge to adopt scientific thinking in their lives. ISCA General President Dr Vijaylaxmi Saxena urged them not to study science as merely a subject, but make it a part of life in anything that they do.

Vigyan Jyot - Flame of Knowledge - was conceived on the lines of the Olympic flame. It is a movement dedicated to nurturing scientific temper in the society, especially the youth. The flame was installed at the university campus and will continue to be alight until the end of the Science Congress.

Plenary session today

Immediately after inaugural session, the plenary session-1 will be held between 2.30 pm and 4 pm at Dr A K Dorle Auditorium, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, RTMNU. Principal Scientific Advisor to Prime Minister and Government of India Prof Ajay Sood will chair the session with Prof D Narayana Rao, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of SRM University, Andhra Pradesh as Convenor. Prof Ajay Kumar Sood will speak on ‘Convergence of Technological Revolutions: India Marching Ahead’.

Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr M Ravichandran will deliver lecture on ‘India’s draft Blue Economy Policy: Challenges and Opportunities’. Lecture on ‘High Performance Biomanufacturing for a Prosperous India will be delivered by Secretary, Department of Biotechnology Dr Rajesh Gokhale.

Secretary of Department of Science Dr S Chandrashekhar will throw light on ‘Science and Technology towards sustainable technologies- India’.

The first woman Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Dr N Kalaiselvi will enlighten the audience on ‘CSIR: The Symbol of India STI’.

Plenary sessions, exhibitions open to general public

All plenary sessions will be open to general public. They can attend those and will not require any entry pass.

Similarly, various exhibitions will remain open for general public.

Visitors have to enter from the gate of University’s Amravati road campus where the parking arrangement has been made, said Vice-Chancellor of RTMNU Dr Subhash Chaudhari.