Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate and witness the entire inaugural session of the 108th Indian Science Congress through video conferencing on January 3. The opening ceremony will begin at 9:30 am. The event is organized by Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) at its Amravati Road Campus.
Top dignitaries who will address the inaugural session include Governor of Maharashtra and Chancellor of Maharashtra Public Universities, Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Union Minister and Chairman RTMNU Centenary Celebration Advisory Committee, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of State (Independent Representative) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis.
The theme of this year’s event is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women’s Empowerment”. Public talks and exhibitions are open to the general public. The technical sessions of the 108th Indian Science Congress have been divided into 14 sessions, under which parallel sessions will be held at different locations in the Mahatma Jotiba Phule University Education Campus.
Apart from these 14 sections, there will be Women’s Science Congress, Farmers’ Science Congress, Children’s Science Congress, Tribal Meeting, Science and Society Section and Communicators’ Science Congress. Nobel laureates, leading Indian and foreign researchers, experts and technocrats from diverse fields including space, defence, IT and medical research will participate in the plenary sessions.
Technical seminars will present breakthrough and applied research in agriculture and forestry, animal, veterinary and fisheries sciences, anthropological and behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, earth sciences, engineering sciences, environmental sciences, information and communication sciences and technologies, materials sciences, mathematics sciences, medical sciences, new biology, physical sciences and plant sciences.
In preparation for the event, the Vigyan Jyot program, a traditional Indian science congress, was held today. More than 400 school and college students gathered at Zero Milestone and, wearing special caps and t-shirts, went to the university campus for a rally. They are committed to adopting scientific thinking in their lives. General President of ISCA, Dr. (Mrs.) Vijay Laxmi Saxena urged them not to study science as a mere subject but to make it a part of life in everything they do.
Vigyan Jyot – Flame of Knowledge – was conceived on the line of the Olympic flame. It is a movement dedicated to the education of a scientific spirit in society, especially among the youth. The flame has been installed in the university campus and will burn till the end of the 108th Indian Science Congress.
