103rd edition of Indian Science Congress

The 103rd edition of Indian Science Congress (ISC)with focus on indigenous development was held in Mysuru. The ISC is the annual five day congress and is the largest science event in the country.Mysuru grabbed the chance to host the event after a gap of 34 years. It is also to be noted that University of Mysore is celebrating its centenary.

The focal theme for this edition of congress is Science and Technology for Indigenous Development in India. ISC falls under the department of science and technology.

PM’s address

In his inaugural address at the Indian Science Congress, PM called for better scientific collaboration between central and state-level institutions and agencies. He told scientists that their work should focus on the ‘five-Es’ — economy, environment, energy, empathy and equity.

• Economy – when we find cost effective and efficient solutions
• Environment – when our carbon footprint is the lightest and the impact on the ecology is the least possible
• Energy – when our prosperity relies less on energy; and the energy we use keeps our skies blue and our earth green.
• Empathy – when our efforts are in tune with our culture, circumstances and social challenges.
• Equity – when science ensures inclusive development and improves the welfare of the weakest.

He asked scientists from India and overseas to bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and modern science; so that localized and more sustainable solutions could be found to various challenges.

PM also recalled that 2016 marked a hundred years of significant moment in the history of science, when Albert Einstein published in 1916 “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity”. Today, we must recall the humanism that defined his thought: “Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. “

PM also observed that  good governance was not just about policy, decision making, transparency and accountability but also about integrating science and technology into the choices to be made and the strategies to be pursued.

ISCA

The ISC Association is a professional body under Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. It was established in 1914 to promote science and the scientific temper by connecting scientists, administrators, policymakers, communicators and the people. It occurred to them that scientific research in India might be stimulated if an annual meeting of research workers somewhat on the lines of the British Association for the Advancement of Science could be arranged.

• To advance and promote the cause of science in India
• To hold an annual congress at a suitable place in India
• To publish such proceedings, journals, transactions and other publications as may be considered desirable.
• To secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of Science including the rights of disposing of or selling all or any portion of the properties of the Association.
• To do and perform any or all other acts, matters and things as are conductive to, or incidental to, or necessary for, the above objects.

The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.

Criticism & Controversies around Indian Science Congress

The ISC held this year in Mysuru, featured plenty of legitimate science. However it was not without controversies. It has also drawn condemnation from prominent scientists. For example, Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan slammed the event and called it a ‘circus’. He also condemned the Science Congress and said that politics and religious ideologies shouldn’t be mixed with science, and that India needs to put an end to its superstitions and be more rational as a society.

This year’s congress at Mysore University has attracted attention for a presentation that aimed to cast the god Shiva as the world’s first environmentalist and an ecological pioneer. However, the author failed to turn up at the conference.

Mythology creeping into the event is not a new phenomenon as it happened in the 102nd edition of the Indian Science Congress also. It was marred by a controversial paper presented by Captain Anand Bodas, which claimed that aircrafts were developed in India during the Vedic period and there existed interplanetary aircrafts in India thousands of years ago, and planes of the size of 60 by 60 feet. The paper claimed that ancient radar system known as Roopakarshan rahasya, gave the shape of the entire aeroplane on the radar and the science of building and flying aeroplanes was recorded by Maharishi Bharadwaj in the Brihad Vimana Shastra, several millennia before the Wright Brothers built their aeroplane.

It is unfortunate that some bizarre events at the ISC undermined the importance of the plenty of papers based on the legitimate science.

The claims of advanced science and technology in the ancient world based on some references in ancient scripts may be wholly imaginary. Papers containing such mythology references unsupported by scientific facts and explanations should be barred from presentation in events of international stature like ISC.

Recently, ISC has evolved a focus on women, children, pedagogy and science communication, but much more needs to be done to connect the congress more directly with the nation and the people.

What ails Science in India?

Despite India’s scientific prowess, the country has failed to produce any path-breaking research or Nobel Laureates for the last several decades. The fingers are pointed at the rigid bureaucratic system, which has undermined the progress of science and technology in India.

Nobel Laureate David J Gross, who participated in the ISC from the US has observed: “What will you make without discovering and inventing in India?” Further he added, “Every year, prime ministers come to the Indian Science Congress and promise that more money will be given to research and development. But nothing happens.”

As we know, science is the engine of growth of a country and is crucial to revitalize the economy. Any cut on research and development funding will be at the country’s own peril. There has been a constant cut in research budget, and it has been static for about a decade at a paltry 0.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). China is spending almost 2 per cent while it was spending about 0.8 per cent in 2000.

The government has already set up many more IITs, IISERs and IIMs, now it is important to improve the quality of these institutes and bring them at par with the international standards by enhancing the basic Research and Development infrastructure. To make this realistic, government needs to spend more on building up world-class infrastructure which would encourage industrial engagement with these institutes as well as researches in pure sciences. This, in turn would also provide employment opportunities to the large population of research scholars passing out of these institutes.

Besides the 40 CSIR laboratories, a few premier research institutions like the IISc, Bengaluru, TIFR, Mumbai, IITs and Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), there are more than 600 universities in the country. But hardly any of the international-level research is performed in these universities.

There are several critical issues that need to be immediately addressed for universities to become centers’ of excellence. The first and foremost change that necessarily has to be undertaken is a complete revamping of the University Grants Commission (UGC). According to experts, unnecessary Ordinances and rules set by the University Grants Commission have undermined the spirit of academic excellence and hampered institutions’ flexibility.

Experts also add that the talent identification is too late in India. They say we have to emanate the practices in the Western countries; where talent is spotted at the graduate level and nurtured.

Scientific temper should be inculcated in the children by modifying the school curriculum in such a way that it entails lot of practical sessions rather than the mere “chalk and talk” sessions.

Unless, an enabling environment is provided for the researches in India and some dramatic changes are brought to the existing administration of science, India may not make substantive progress in the field of science and technology or produce any path breaking research.