Third India International Science Fest in Chennai next month

The third India International Science Festival will be held in Chennai next month, Union minister Harsh Vardhan said today.

The festival is being organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), an organisation linked to the RSS.

Top scientists from the government are expected to participate in the four-day festival which will be held from October 13-16 at IIT-Chennai.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will mark his presence in the valedictory session of the event, Harsh Vardhan, the Minister for Environment and Forest and Science and Technology, said.

The event will be jointly inaugurated by science and technology ministers of Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Portugal.

The festival will have a thematic session on 'Deep Ocean Research', a science teachers workshop focusing on the Northeast, a science film festival, industry academia interactions and summits on grassroot innovators and start- ups.

A total of Rs 10 crore will be spent on the project, a senior government official said. The cost will be split by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)---all under the Ministry of Science and Technology--- and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

This is the third IIS festival, which has been organised since the NDA government came to power in 2014. The first two were held at IIT-Delhi and National Physical Laboratory, Delhi.

The organisers will also attempt a Guinness World Record by holding a "largest biology class" of 1000 students, Vardhan added.