BACKGROUDER
The Indian Science
Congress Association (ISCA) is the pioneer most organisation of
the country, promoting science and inculcating the spirit of science
through its multifaceted activities. ISCA meets in the first week
of January in an Annual Congress of scientists, science managers,
policy makers and the general public to give a stronger impetus
and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry as well
as promote societies and individuals interested in science and
seek general attention to pure and applied sciences.
The first Indian
Science Congress (ISC) was held in Calcutta from January 14-17,
1914, presided over by Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, the then Vice Chancellor
of the Calcutta University. 89 sessions of the Indian Science
Congress (ISC) have since been held every year with an eminent
personality of India presiding over the congregation, focussing
on science activities in India and enabling a public dialogue
on major science events. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sir M. Visvesvaraya,
Sir C V Raman, Dr. Homi Bhabha, Prof. P C Mahalanobis are among
the eminent personalities who have been past Presidents of the
Indian Science Congress .
The 90th
Indian Science Congress is scheduled to be held during
January 3 to 7, 2003 at Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bangalore University,
Bangalore. The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee would
be inaugurating the Congress while the Minister for Human Resource
Development and Science & Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
will deliver the key-note address. Nearly 6000 delegates including
top American and European Space scientists will be taking part.
The 14 sectional
subjects of discussion are, Agriculture and Forestry Science;
Animal, Veterinary & Fishery Science; Anthropological and
Behavioural Sciences (including Archaeology, Psychology &
Educational Sciences); Chemical Sciences; Earth System Sciences;
Engineering Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Information and
Communication Science & Technology (including Computer Sciences);
Materials Sciences; Mathematical Sciences (including Statistics);
Medical Sciences (including Physiology); New Biology (including
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology and Biotechnology);
Physical Sciences and Plant Sciences.
FOCAL THEME
The focal theme of
the ISC-2003 is "Frontier Science and Cutting-Edge Technologies".
Today, whilst unprecedented advances are foreseen in science,
there is a need to revitalise the scientific capability of the
nation. An informed and invigorating debate on the generation
and use of scientific knowledge between the scientific community
and decision-makers is the need of the hour. Public trust and
support for science through such a debate need to be strengthened.
Our scientific capabilities should attune to the technological
needs of the country, while striving to be globally competitive.
The sagging interest in science career needs to be pushed up.
Research laboratories should be rejuvenated with enhanced investment
and upgraded infrastructure.
In this backdrop,
the Congress, being hosted jointly by the Indian Space Research
Organisation and Bangalore University, will embark on a journey
to acquire frontier technologies of relevance to India tomorrow.
PLENARIES
The plenary on "Frontier
Technologies for Sustainable Energy Development", will be Chaired
by Dr. R. Chidambaram; "Emerging Technologies in Biosciences and
Genome Research" by Dr Manju Sharma and Dr. Asis Datta; "Nanosciences
and Advanced Materials" by Prof. CNR Rao; "Information Sciences
and Technologies for a Knowledge Society" by Dr. N R Narayanamurthy;
"Food, Nutritional and Environmental Security – challenges for
the 21st century" by Prof. M S Swaminathan and Dr.
Panjab Singh and "Future Trends in Medicine and Immunisation"
by Dr. N K Ganguly.
TWO UNIQUE EVENTS
– SPACE SUMMIT / UNIVERSITY MEET
Human-kind continues
to be driven by the quest for knowledge of our planetary system,
the stars and the galaxies. Space evokes a challenge and the spirit
of adventure. The world community must fully benefit from space
technology and its applications. The one-day space summit will
be a unique of its kind in this Congress.
The University Meet
will focus on science education in Universities in India. Key
presentations by eminent educationists including Vice-Chancellors
on future perspectives of Science Education, Capacity-Building
in Universities for Technology Development, Curricula Development,
Research Endeavour in Universities etc. will make the meet eventful
and these alongwith Science Expo-2003 will ensure the Congress
to be historic one.
