CSIR-NIScPR, New Delhi, organised a virtual National Conference on “Science and Technology: A Historical Introspection with a Contemporary Perspective” to commemorate “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” during 16-18 August 2021.
During the inaugural session on 16 August 2021, the logo of the newly formed institution CSIR-NIScPR was released by Padma Vibhushan Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Former Director-General, CSIR, in the presence of Dr Shekhar C. Mande, Director-General, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR, Govt of India and Shri Jayant Sahasrabudhe, National Organising Secretary, VIBHA. Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director CSIR-NIScPR, welcomed all the dignitaries and the audience.
Shri Jayant Sahasrabudhe, Guest of Honour, in his lecture highlighted the contributions and struggle of Indian scientists and said that historical review and introspection is important for the study of S&T in India. He concluded his speech by saying that these three days of the conference will help in the development of self-confidence and self-reliance among students and scientists of India.
Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Chief Guest, gave a thought-provoking lecture on the topic “Indian Science and CSIR: Looking Back and Looking Ahead”. He enlightened the audience about the scientific achievements of the 20th century. He also congratulated CSIR for showing amazing adaptability and agility in mitigating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Dr Shekhar C. Mande presided over the inaugural session and highlighted the contribution of CSIR in the past 75 years after independence.
Dr Mohammad Rais, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR, introduced the dignitaries.
The first session of the national conference was focused on “Building the Infrastructure of Science: Learning from the Past”. Chair of the session Shri Raj Nehru, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana, initiated the discussion by remembering the achievements of ancient India in the domain of science, technology and innovation. The session was Co-chaired by Dr Sujit Bhattacharya, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NISTADS.
Prof. V.V. Krishna, Professor Fellow, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, shared his views on the historical roots and contemporary landscape of inclusive innovation. He discussed the initiatives taken up by Gandhi and Tagore which helped in the decentralization of small industries in the Indian villages that became one of the catalysts of industrialisation in India.
Dr Chandra Mohan Nautiyal, former Scientist, BSIP, Lucknow, and Consultant (Science Communication), INSA, New Delhi, delivered a lecture on the promotion of infrastructure for experimental research. He discussed the revolution of post-independence science through the reforms of scientific institutions to promote higher education and science and technology in India.
The theme of the second session was “Important Transitions in Indian STI: The Last 100 Years”. Prof. P.K. Joshi of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR), Mumbai, chaired the session. Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Advisor of the Department of Science & Technology delivered a talk on “Science, Technology and Innovation in India: Progress and Vision for 2030”. He emphasised that the S&T research budget should be enhanced and the open access policy be reinforced in the National Data Sharing policy. Dr Ashok Jain, Former Director, CSIR-NISTADS discussed the changing science technology society configurations in India.
During the third technical session on “Academia-Industry Linkages and Entrepreneurship: From Colonial Times to Present”, Prof. Deepak Kumar (JNU), New Delhi, delivered his talk on the life and works of Acharya P.C. Ray. Dr Rajesh Kochar, Former Director, CSIR-NISTADS, New Delhi, shared his views on “Mandalisation of Science that Never Happened”. Dr Ashok Jain chaired the session.
The fourth technical session focused on “The Growth of Science in India: A Quantitative Perspective”. Dr Gangan Pratap, Former Director of CSIR-NISCAIR, New Delhi, chaired the session. He delivered a thought-provoking talk on “Growth of Science in India”. The speaker of the session, Dr Sujit Bhattacharya presented his views on “A Temporal Analysis of Indian Research”. Head of the Computer Science Department of Banaras Hindu University, Dr Vivek Kumar Singh delivered his lecture on the quantitative characterisation of Indian Scientific Research. In his talk, based on the data of India’s scientific output and growth, he concluded that India’s research output has enhanced and international collaboration is appreciable during the last few years.
The fifth technical session dealt with the topic “Indian Science in the 21st Century”. Dr Rajesh Kochar chaired the session. Archaeologist and faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Prof. Sharada Srinivasan delivered her talk on ancient Indian metallurgy and modern materials. The director of the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi, Dr Avinash Chandra Pandey gave a presentation on capacity building in accelerator-based research in the post-independence era in India.
The theme of the sixth session was “Women in S&T: Challenges and Opportunities in Emerging Context”. Prof. Rohini M. Godbole chaired this panel discussion. Prof. Godbole highlighted the challenges and impediments faced by women in science across the world. She emphasised that in addition to bringing in women-centric schemes, institutional reforms are also the need of the hour. Dr Purnima Rupal, Director, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, New Delhi, talked about the need for networking, authenticity and communication of ideas/strategies for women leadership roles in science and technology.
Expert in human genomics and Professor at IIT Jodhpur Dr Mitali Mukherji said that scientific knowledge should not be limited to a particular subject or domain, but should be interdisciplinary. In the panel discussion, Prof. T.P. Singh also expressed his thoughts on the presence of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). He said that various efforts are being made to enhance the number of women in STEM and the results of this endeavour are very encouraging. Senior Principal Scientist at CSIR-NIScPR, Dr Sandhya Wakdikar remarked about the need to include men’s perspectives as well while addressing the issues in academia.
Prof. Sushma Yadav, Member, University Grants Commission and former Vice-Chancellor of BPS Women University, chaired the seventh technical session on “Experiments on Learning from the Past to the Present and New Education Policy 2020”. The director of the National Centre for Innovation and Distance Education, IGNOU, Prof. O.P. Sharma, during the session, talked about “Promoting Innovation and Quality Research in Higher Education – A Key Consideration of New Education Policy 2020”. Former Dean (Academics), Head of Educational Kits Division in NCERT and Mathematics Professor Hukum Singh delivered his lecture on “Mathematics Learning from Past to Present vis-a-vis New Education Policy 2020”. Prof. Singh suggested that mathematics teaching should be integrated with arts, science and sports for developing a holistic understanding of the learners.
A panel discussion focused on “Science and Society: Some Reflections for Building a New Model for Closer Engagement” witnessed intriguing discussions. Well-known media specialist and Vice-Chancellor of the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism & Communication, Bhopal, Prof. K.G. Suresh chaired this session. He emphasised that appreciating science is equally important as learning science. Former Director, Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai, and well-known science communicator Shri Shivprasad Khened remarked that the synergy among existing institutions and more linkages among scientists, social scientists and political scientists is much required to fulfil the goals of connecting science to society.
Dr Surjit Dabas, former scientist CSIR-NISCAIR, mentioned that two major factors – scientific culture and public culture – are important for the public understanding of science. Shri Hasan Jawaid Khan, Chief Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR and Editor, Science Reporter & CSIR News, discussed about the need to devise a mechanism to connect science communicators, journalists, scientists and policymakers to provide accurate and authentic information to the masses. He said that lack of scientific information is not a problem today, but the authenticity and unavailability of comprehensible content is a big issue. Director, Vigyan Prasar, Dr Nakul Parashar asserted that the scientific content should be available in regional languages to connect better with society and the public at large.
During the valedictory session Prof. Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR-NIScPR said that through different sessions of the conference, it was tried to showcase various perspectives of S&T development in India from historical to modern times. The chief guest Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education emphasised that India stands fifth in terms of research output and now there is a dire need of setting up a National Research Foundation in the country.
Ms Meetali Bharti, Dr Meher Wan and Shri Manoj Varghese moderated the different sessions of the conference. Dr Naresh Kumar, the organising secretary of the conference, proposed the vote of thanks.
