City gears up for ISC mega show

PUNE, NOV 21: Nine thousand lamps will be set afloat on the Indrayani river at sunset on January 2, 2000, and the strides of Indian scien...

PUNE, NOV 21: Nine thousand lamps will be set afloat on the Indrayani river at sunset on January 2, 2000, and the strides of Indian science and technology will be depicted on a large screen on the banks of the river, as a curtain raiser to the 87th Indian Science Congress ISC to be inaugurated by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and hosted by the University of Pune from January 3 to January 7, 2000, informed Dr R Mashelkar, general president of the ISC, in the city recently.

The first website created for the ISC, isc2000.org.in, has already recorded over one lakh hits, within the last three months of operation. For the first time in the history of ISC, a five-point new millennium agenda chalking a blueprint for the national science and technology policy in the first decade of the next century, called the Pune Declaration, will be prepared by the visiting scientists, technocrats and industrialists. With an emphasis on encouraging young blood, twenty-five selected young scientists will deliver science lectures.

An area of 15000 square metre at the University campus has been ear-marked for an international exhibition heralding the new millennium,8217; expected to attract as many as 3 lakh visitors, which will focus on how science, technology, industry and research can transform the quality of life of every Indian.

8220;Why do Indian genes express themselves only in Silicon Valley?8221; asked Mashelkar, speaking about Genesis,8217; a day-long lecture programme to be inaugurated on January 5 by RBI Governor Bimal Jalan. 8220;How can we create Silicon Valleys in India?8221; and Venture Capital to boost the Indian knowledge industry,8217; will be the themes of the discussion with successful Indian entrepreneurs.

Mashelkar will address a special session on Intellectual Property Rights IPR which will cover 8220;the generation, documentation, and exploitation of IPR to strengthen the nation,8221; said Mashelkar, saying that 8220;the country cannot afford to be naive regarding IPR in the next century, over which knowledge wars8217; will take place between countries.8221;

A global convention on Information Technology and Biotechnology, focussing on digital literacy, digital commerce, Indians as Netizens, electronic governance, environment and ecology, new paradigms of teaching and learning, is also organised. Nobel Laureates Dr Richard Ernst and Dr Jean Marie Lehn, along with Dr M S Swaminathan, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Dr R Chidambaram, Dr K Kasturi Ranga, Dr C N R Rao and Prof M G K Menon, will address eight plenary sessions. The 8220;Congress of the city and the University,8221; will for the first time conduct parallel sessions for children, announced Vice-Chancellor Dr Arun Nigavekar. From chat sessions with the visiting scientists, screening documentaries, conducting experiments, to lectures and seminars, have been planned to encourage more students to take up a career in the science stream.