Bengaluru is all set to host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress from January 3 to 7. It will be the ninth time the city hosts the annual convention.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru.
Coming in the time of agrarian distress, the congress has chosen ‘science and technology: rural development’ as its theme. For the first time, a Farmer’s Science Congress will be part of it, providing a platform for innovative farmers. The farmer’s congress will also discuss agrarian distress and strategies to mitigate and navigate the impact of climate change on agriculture, among other pressing issues. “The rural-urban divide is only widening and the congress will deliberate on the role of science to bridge this gap,” said K.S. Rangappa, general president of the Indian Science Congress Association.
The convention will see the participation of over 15,000 delegates, including 8,000 students from across the country and 74 scientists from abroad. With 26 plenary sessions to be held concurrently, it will see over 1,500 papers presented across 14 fields of science and technology, Prof. Rangappa said. There will also be a ‘Women’s Science Congress’, ‘Children’s Science Congress’, ‘Science Communicator’s Meet’, and ‘Science Exhibition: Pride of India’. Entry to the exhibition will be free from January 4 to 7.
UAS, Bengaluru has developed a comprehensive mobile application, ISC 2020 UASB, to help those attending to navigate the event.
Public lectures
The congress will see four public lectures, including two by Nobel laureates — Stefan Hell, a physicist from Germany, and Ada E, Yonath, a crystallographer from Israel. C.N. Manjunath, director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, and Subra Suresh, president of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, will present the other two lectures.
Addressing concerns about the recent editions of the science congress turning into platforms for unscientific claims, Prof. Rangappa said that precautions have been taken and the papers selected for presentation vetted for their claims. The congress will host a plenary session on yoga sciences. Prof. Rangappa also said that police have asked organisers to collect the Aadhaar cards of all delegates and participants, as there were also concerns of anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests being held there.
