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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