The 7th India-Japan International Conference on “Science and Technology: Future Challenges and Solutions”, got underway at the University of Mysore here on Monday.
Being organised under the auspices of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through Indian JSPS Alumni Association as part of the centenary celebrations of the university, the conference is being attended by experts from Indian and Japan in various fields of science and technology.
Masayuki Inoue, Vice President, JSPS, noted that there was scope for collaboration between different countries and was imperative in the present times to foster peace and amity in society. There were challenges pertaining to poverty eradication, hunger, environment etc, which could be addressed through collaboration. Drawing attention to the latent potential for greater collaboration and scope between India and Japan in various spheres, Kodama Daisuke, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan, said though there was political and economic cooperation between the two countries, people-to-people contact was limited. As against 90,000 Chinese students in Japan, there were less than 900 Indians in the Japanese universities though more than 1.5 lakh Indian students were studying in the universities in the U.S. Likewise, number of Indian tourists visiting Japan was negligible, as was number of Japanese tourists visiting India.
Mr. Daisuke pointed out that universities in Japan were a good option for Indian students to pursue higher studies as the cost was negligible – around Rs. 3.5 lakh per annum compared to almost Rs. 20 lakh per annum in most universities in the U.S.
Scientists and research scholars from various Universities in Japan and India are attending the two-day conference, which will feature 12 technical sessions, two key note address, 13 plenary lectures, six invited talks, 32 oral presentations and 400 poster presentations. The organisers said there will also be a formal memorandum of understanding between Indian and Japanese universities to foster greater collaboration on the sidelines of the conference.
K.S. Rangappa, Vice Chancellor, University of Mysore; Inchiro Uyeda, Vice President, Hokkaido University; and D. Shakti Kumar, conference chairman, were present.
