Wait in vain for talk on the Lord
Akhilesh Pandey fails to show up to speak on ‘Lord Shiva, the environmentalist.’
Update: 2016-01-06 23:29 GMT
MYSURU: Shiva Shiva! That was the prayer on the lips of Dr Ashok Kumar Saxena, General President, Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and his colleagues on Wednesday as they were wary of a repeat of the row that marred the previous edition of Indian Science Congress held in Mumbai last year.
Environment minister Prakash Javadekar had inaugurated a special session, ‘Ancient Sciences Through Sanskrit,’ the highlight of that session being a presentation by a former pilot, Anand Bodas, who claimed that Indian sages knew how to build planet-hopping spacecraft, but those at the helm were hauled over hot coals then for giving room to mythology at a conference for scientists from across the world.
A packed hall awaited the arrival of Akhilesh K Pandey who was listed among invited speakers at a session on environmental sciences to speak on ‘Lord Shiva: As a greatest environmentalist in the world.’ About half an hour before the lecture, Dr Saxena said he knew nothing about how such a topic figured in the schedule. “I am in charge of plenary lectures, and I made sure that only topics in science are addressed by speakers. You must ask the section head how he allowed a paper like this to be listed as part of environmental sciences,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
When told that senior IAS officer, Rajeev Sharma, mentioned his name at the beginning of his controversial lecture sans any scientific proof on ‘Blowing of Shankh (Conch)-an indigenous tradition for fitness and wellness,’ Dr Saxena pulled out a list of invitees to prove that he had nothing to do with the bureaucrat!
As minutes ticked away, some of his colleagues rushed to Dr Saxena to tell him how this controversial topic was being discussed by delegates and invitees alike, but he had one stock reply: ask the president of the session how he approved it.
Much to the relief of everyone in ISCA, Mr Akhilesh Pandey, Chairman, M.P. Private University Regulatory Commission, Bhopal, did not show up at the session to speak about Lord Shiva as the greatest environmentalist in the world.
And, once his absence was discerned, President of the session, Dr Gangadhar Mishra, first said it was his prerogative to select speakers but was quick to add that since the speaker did not show up the paper was “null and void.” Was he convinced about the veracity of claims made by Mr Pandey in the abstract of his paper? Dr Mishra said, “We wanted to cross-examine him after the lecture, but he has not come, can I go in search of him like a policeman?”
No show by lone Pakistani speaker
She was the lone scientist from Pakistan scheduled to participate in the 103rd edition of Indian Science Congress, but Munazza Yousra did not make it to present her paper on development of database standards for bio-pesticides for countries in Asia-Pacific Region on Wednesday.
Known for her proficiency in agriculture soil science and computer science, this Scientific Officer of Land Resource Research Institute, National Agriculture Research Centre, Islamabad, could not arrive here as she was denied permission by her institute, according to Dr Sudershan Kumar, Chairman of the plenary session on Biodiversity database integration for the benefit of human kind. “Some of our colleagues were impressed with her expertise on bio-pesticides and the fact that she participated in several international conferences and workshops, including one held last year in China, so the invitation was sent to her in October 2015. We believe that her organization did not approve her journey because she is a probationer,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
Next edition to witness SAARC, BRIC delegates
In a first, the next edition of Indian Science Congress, scheduled to be held in Chennai in 2017, will include special sessions for scientists from SAARC and BRIC nations as part of an effort to catalyze collaboration in frontier areas of science and technology.
In addition to such exclusive sessions, Indian scientists could offer their expertise in select fields to neighbouring countries at the end of the conference, Dr D. Narayana Rao, General President-elect, ISCA, told Deccan Chronicle. “I will place the idea before the executive committee, and also look forward to a joint effort by scientists from SAARC nations and advanced countries to address a mega and challenging problem in science,” he added.
In order to improve the quality of science in India, the next conference would focus on nurturing talent among young scientists and grooming them as future leaders so that they take up the responsibility of heading key R&D organizations. “Perhaps, we will plan a round-table of winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award (given to top-notch young scientists) and encourage them to discuss the way forward in cutting edge research in areas like nano technology, and factors that would motivate them to take up leadership position in key laboratories,” he said.
Dr Rao said: “Many children are coming to our conference from far-flung areas, so we want top scientists in key areas to present future prospects to enable these children to take up challenges in future. I have a plan to set up a committee to select inventions and discoveries of children and support them to carry forward their interest in R&D with financial support from ISCA. We will define a mega and challenging scientific problem, invite children to find solutions, and reward three teams with substantial cash awards which they can use to take the idea forward.”
Biogas, the next gen fuel: Scientists
Biogas will not only help India meet requirements under the Swachh Bharat Mission, it can also be utilized as vehicular fuel, help generate power and achieve energy security besides reducing green house gases emission. Its slurry can be a good bio-fertilizer for organic farming and can function as a pest repellent.
Noted scientists from across the country, highlighted these points at a session on ‘Prospects of biogas upgradation and bottling for cooking and green transport system in India,’ at the Indian Science Congress, here on Wednesday. Prof. Virendra Kumar Vijay of Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said that, to enhance utility of biogas in Indian society, the Biogas development and training centre at the IIT has developed a small scale biogas upgrading system using water scrubbing technology. There are 100 million decentralized farm families in rural and peri-urban India. The country has the potential to generate an estimated 48,382 million cubic metres of biogas, which when upgraded, can fulfill over 43 percent demand of the transport sector demand and over 42 percent of cooking sector needs, he said.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.