SCIENCE CONGRESS (MAIL)

Shifting of venue at the last minute has hit the Indian Science Congress hard, the organisers today said stating that fewer delegates will attend the science carnival starting tomorrow, with no plenary sessions taking place.

Twelve noble laurates, who had confirmed their participation for the ISC, have backed out due to the change of dates.

The ISC was to take place in Hyderabad from January 3-7 but had to be postponed after Osmania University confirmed expressed its inability, citing law and order problem.

The move has also led to the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) taking a decision that any varsity that wishes to host the science congress in future must produce a letter from the chief minister and the governor of that particular state assuring all support to the event.

The science carnival will be held from March 16-20. It will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.

ISCA general president Achyuta Samanta said nearly 12,000 delegates, scientists and academicians attend the ISC, but this time the number will dip to 5000, more than half.

Twelve noble laurates had confirmed their participation but the due to the change of the dates they will not be attening the event, ISCA general president Achyuta Samanta, said, adding that Noble laurate Muhammad Yunus may attend the event.

Ashok Saxena, former general president of the ISCA, said every year, the ISC has 32 plenary sessions. Each session has experts from the country and across the globe.

This is also gives students to interact with them from close quarters, Saxena said.

But there will be no plenary sessions this year, Samanta added.

When asked about Dalai Lama not attending the ISC, Samanta said after the postponement of the event at Hyderabad, they had approached the Tibetan leader but the ISC was told that his calender was full.

Also, the ISC was told that Dalai Lama had only recently visited the Manipur state, Samanta added.

The organisers have blamed the Osmania University for their hardships.

They (the Osmania University, Hyderabad) have damaged us and we are the one who are suffering, Saxena said.

The change in the dates from January to March has also clashed with the exams schedules of students and teachers. Several of the delegates had to face monetary losses due to cancellation of tickets, the organisers said.

The nearest railway station is at Dimapur (Nagaland). And then there is a road journey to Manipur. So, travel also led to several of them cancelling the plan, Saxena added.

This is also perhaps the first time that the ISC had to be postponed. After the Osmania University expressed its inability to host the event, the ISC got requests from five varisities, including the Manipur University.

With militants outfits calling for bandh in Imphal tomorrow, Adya Prasad Pandey, vice-chancellor of the Manipur University, has appealed to them to not to bother the university staff and students, who are assisting the delegates to reach Imphal.

The ISC will have sectional seminars on Agriculture and Forestry Science, Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Science, Chemical Science, Earth System Science, Engineering Science, Material Science, Mathematical Science, Medical Science, New Biology, Physical Science and Plant Science.

Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya will inaugurate the Children Science Congress on March 17 while his West Bengal counterpart Keshari Nath Tripathi will inaugurate the Women Science Congress the next day.