PM to inaugurate Indian Science Congress in January in Chennai

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 98th edition of Indian Science Congress to be held in Chennai for five days from January 3, 2011.

The Congress would be attended by over 7,000 delegates from India and abroad, including six Nobel Laureates and several eminent scientists from across the world, Indian Science Congress Association President K C Pandey reporters here on Thursday night.

The theme of the Congress, to be hosted by SRM University here, would be ‘Quality Education and Excellence in Scientific Research in Indian Universities’, he said.

The theme has been chosen as there is a need to create proper facilities and environment for research in Indian Universities to carry out innovative work at the cutting edge of Science and Technology, he said.

“Besides the theme session, there will be 14 sessions, including on science and challenges in new power and renewable energy, climate change and food security,” he said.

Though India has the third largest higher education sector in the world, it has not been able to keep pace with the knowledge explosion, he said.

Higher quality of science education and excellence in scientific research in Indian universities is the key to success if the country has to become a knowledge superpower, he added.

Stating that innovations and challenges in science and technology required to solve societal problems were quite complex and demanding, Mr. Pandey said “there is a need to make radical changes in our educational system and our approach to scientific research.”

SRM University Vice Chancellor P Sathyanarayanan said there would a series of programmes including science exhibition, science communication programme, plenary sessions, and special lectures among others during the Congress.