Honourable Union Minister of Science and Technology (S&T), Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan along with Shri Om Prakash Sakhlecha, Minister of S&T, Govt of Madhya Pradesh, inaugurated the Curtain Raiser of India International Science Festival (IISF) 2020 on 17 November 2020 for kick-starting the different events of the 6th edition of IISF.
During his address, Dr Vardhan announced the theme for this year’s festival — “Science for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Global Welfare”. He further informed that “this year, IISF begins on 22 December 2020, the birthday of Srinivas Ramanujan, the world-renowned Indian mathematician and culminates on 25 December 2020, the birthday of former PM Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.” “Virtual platform will help in connecting to the science-loving people from the remotest corner of the country in a single click, thereby increasing the digital footprint,” the Minister added.
The event commenced with the welcome remarks by Dr Shekhar C. Mande, Director General, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR, wherein he highlighted the importance of the upcoming event amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Vijay P. Bhatkar gave a brief genesis of the inception of IISF since 2015. This was followed by a presentation by Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR- National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) and CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi, detailing the different events to be organised during IISF-2020. Due to the restrictions on public gatherings because of the ongoing pandemic, the IISF 2020 is being held on virtual platform. A total of 40 events have been planned on different aspects of science and technology to highlight the role of Indian science in elevating society and fighting the ongoing pandemic. A large number of participants including students, industrialists, entrepreneurs, innovators, teachers, science communicators, technocrats and scientists are expected to attend this mega-event.
Honourable Minister also released an e-brochure of the mega-event and mentioned that the festival offers a unique platform with cross-cutting interactions among scientists, academia, students and industry. He stressed the importance of the science festival for inculcating scientific temper and creativity among younger minds which will go long way towards their empowerment and attaining self-reliance in Atmanirbhar Bharat.
IISF is an annual event organised jointly by DST, DBT, MoEF, MoHWF and CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) from the Government of India and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) among others. This year, CSIR is organising the event and the nodal institute is CSIR-NISTADS, New Delhi. The mega science festival will be organised on virtual platform during 22-25 December 2020 and is the sixth edition since its inception in 2015. IISF is perhaps the biggest platform in the country to bring together students, researchers, innovators, artists, and the general public. Besides, it’s an endeavour to motivate young minds towards science. IISF 2020 expects to cater a gathering of approximately one lakh participants from India and abroad. IISF 2020 is a festival to celebrate the achievements of India’s scientific and technological advancements with students, innovators, craftsmen, farmers, scientists and technocrats from India and abroad.
The website of IISF-2020 was also launched during the event. All the activities and registration of the participants will be done through this website. Detailed information is available on the IISF website, www.scienceindiafest.org.
Shri Jayant Sahasrabudhe, National Organising Secretary, VIBHA, offered the vote of thanks and expressed his gratitude to the Honourable Minister for this important event. He also acknowledged the presence of Secretaries from DST, MoES, DBT and MoH&FW and other dignitaries on the occasion.
Dr Ashutosh Sharma Secretary DST; Dr Rajeevan, Secretary MOES; and Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary DBT; Dr Vipan Kumar, Head PME of CSIR-NISTADS and Heads and Directors of various laboratories under the S&T Ministry were present for the curtain raiser of IISF-2020.
