Mysuru races ahead to host 103rd Indian Science Congress
Mysuru, Dec 10: The City of Palaces - Mysuru - is slowly but steadily warming up to the historic 103rd Indian Science Congress (103ISC) to be held here from January 3-7. University of Mysuru (UOM), which is celebrating its centenary year, is hosting 103ISC in association with the Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata.
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
will
inaugurate
the
103ISC
on
January
3
at
the
amphitheatre
situated
inside
the
Manasagangotri
campus.
Hectic
work
is
being
undertaken
at
the
amphitheatre
ahead
of
the
inaugural
event.
Prof
K
S
Rangappa,
Vice-Chancellor,
University
of
Mysore,
told
OneIndia
on
Thursday
that
all
preparations
are
on
track
and
as
per
the
script.
"Our teams are doing an excellent job. It's a massive effort and we are ensuring that no task is being pushed to the next day for want of manpower or clearances. It's a prestigious honour for UoM to be the host as the ISC is returning to Mysuru after 34 years," Prof Rangappa said.
"Also we couldn't have asked for more with the University celebrating its 100th year," he added.
Essence of S&T should aid common man: Prof Rangappa
He said the theme chosen for this year is ‘Science and Technology for Indigenous Development in India.'
"India has been a science-faring nation for a long time. We are blessed to have given birth to some great scientific brains in this country. With a series of successful Space missions, the demand of Science and Technology (S&T) has again increased in India. Now we must ensure that the essence of S&T must reach the masses. The scientific research and findings should improve the quality of common man," Prof Rangappa said.
Many entries from youngsters inspire organisers
Dr N B Ramachandra, Prof of Zoology (Genetic) and Local Secretary for 103ISC told OneIndia that around 8000 people have already registered for the event from across the globe.
"We are finding lots of entries from youngsters this time, which is an encouraging factor. We have made the official twitter handle active from today and it will act as a one-stop window for information. Right now our biggest mandate is to ensure that the registration process is smooth," says Dr Ramachandra.
Karnataka hosting ISC for the 10th time
Interestingly,
Mysuru
is
hosting
the
ISC
for
the
second
time,
the
first
being
in
1982
(69the
edition).
This
will
be
the
10th
time
a
city
from
Karnataka
is
hosting
the
ISC,
with
Bengaluru
already
doing
the
honours
eight
times,
the
last
being
in
2003
(90th
edition.)
A young team of technology-oriented researchers are handling the back-end digital initiatives of 103ISC.
"We will miss the presence of former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, who had promised us to be present for the Children's Science Congress," Dr Ramachandra added.
He said are over 2000 volunteers are involved with 103ISC. Six Nobel Laureates have confirmed their participation for 103ISC.
The 103ISC Camp Office on Fire Brigade Circle in Saraswathipuram is buzzing with activities with a number of volunteers undertaking various missions. The office will move to Manasagangotri campus in the last week of December.
(The writer is a seasoned aerospace and defence journalist in India. Currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow with University of Mysore, he is a Consulting Editor (Defence) with OneIndia. He tweets @writetake.)
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