With Traditional
Knowledge as the theme, the four-day Kerala Science Congress (KSC), organised
by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) started
today on a promising note and is expected to be bigger and better this year
The 26th
Kerala Science Congress, organised by Kerala State Council for Science,
Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) was inaugurated today by Oommen Chandy,
chief minister, Kerala, at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU),
Pookode, Wayanad. Nearly 2000 delegates, including researchers, teachers,
scholars, and students are expected to attend and over 850 papers will be
presented at the Science Congress, which will conclude on 31 January 2014.
Dr Gangan Prathap, renowned
scientist and former vice chancellor, Cochin University, delivered the key note
address. V N Rajasekharan Pillai, executive vice-president, KSCSTE and
principal secretary, Science and Technology, Government of Kerala; Dr A N P
Ummerkutty, former vice chancellor, Calicut University and chairman, 26th KSC;
Dr B Ashok, vice chancellor (KVASU); Dr M Abdul Salam, vice chancellor, Calicut
University; Dr K K Ramachandran, member secretary, KSCSTE; Prof. George
Varghese, general convener, 26th KSC and Dr P G Latha, chairperson, organising
committee, KSC, spoke on the occasion. M I Shanavas, MP, Wayanad was the guest
of honour.
Focal
Theme and Presentation Papers
Traditional knowledge and its
versatile facets will be the focus of this year’s Science Congress. Eminent
science professors like Padmasree Palpu Pushpangadan, Dr Sachin Chaturvedi,
Adv. Yaswand Shenoy, Dr K P Jayakumar, Dr N Anilkumar, Prof. V P N Nambudri, Dr
E K Govindavarma
Raja, G Sankar, Dr A Bijukumar and
Dr C R Elcy will deliver lectures on the special theme in different sessions.
820 papers and posters on 14 selected topics such as Agriculture,
Fishery and Veterinary Sciences; Biotechnology; Chemical Sciences and Technology;
Earth System Sciences and Geo-informatics; Engineering Science; Information Technology
and Computer Science; Environmental Science including Forestry and Wildlife;
Health Science; Life Science; Physical Science; Science and Society; Science
Teaching and Mathematical Science, will be presented in the Science Congress.
Memorial
Lectures
In honour of renowned
visionaries in the field of science and technology, like Dr P K Iyengar, Dr E K
Janaki Ammal, Dr P K Gopalakrishnan, memorial lectures have been arranged
during the four day Science Congress. Prof. P Balaram, Dr Nandita Krishna, Dr
Swaminathan Kailas, Padmasree Thanu Padmanabhan, Prof. M G S Narayanan and G
Vijayaraghavan, will deliver the memorial lectures. In addition to this, public
lectures will be given by Bhatnagar Award winners Dr K George Thomas, Dr A
Ajayakhosh, Dr Sathees C Raghavan, Dr B Ashok and Dr Mubashir Sajeev.
Children’s
Science Congress
In an effort to promote
children’s endeavours in science, children’s science session will be conducted
on 31 January, in which all the 16 students from Kerala who attended the
National Children’s Science Congress 2013 at Bhopal will present papers. Winners will be adjudged by a panel of judges
consisting of Prof. V K Damodaran, Prof. M K Prasad, Prof. C P Aravindakshan,
Dr S Rajasekharan, Dr Ommen V Ommen and Dr P T Ramachandran.
National
Science Expo
‘Sasthra Jalakam’, a national level
exhibition on science and technology, has been organized at Chandragiri auditorium,
Kalpetta, from 27 – 31 January 2014. Major R&D organisation, including Defence
Research and Development Organisation, science and technology institutions and industry will be participating.
It will also host Students Science Exhibition and People Science Pavilion.-Sherene Joseph
