Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research Vol.59, June 2000, pp 487-505

CONFERENCE REPORT

Indian Science Congress 2000 - A Report

B.S. Aggarwal National Institute of Science Communication (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research),

Dr K.S . Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110 012, India

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) which was established in 1914 'to advance and promote the cause of science in India', held its 87th Annual Session at the University of Pune, Pune, during 3-7 January, 2000 under the Presidentship of Dr R.A. Mashelkar, FRS, who is an eminent chemical engineer and a renowned science administrator and is presently the Director General of Council of Scientific and Indus­trial Research, New Delhi .

The University of Pune had hosted the sessions of Indian Science Congress twice earlier also, once in 1950 which was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, and the other in 1988, which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. Both these sessions were memorable in their own way, the former being related to the birth year of the Indian Republic as well as of the National Chemi­cal Laboratory (NCL) and the latter being the Platinum Jubilee Session ofiSCA. This year's Science Congress too was mightier and had a special significance as it was regarded to be the 'First Session in the New Millennium' and was therefore aptly christened as 'Indian Science Congress 2000 and the specially designed logo (see Figure 1) nicely depicted 'ISC 2000'. The theme of this session "Indian Science & Technology into the Next Millennium" was highly appropriate for the occasion.

The city of Pune, popularly known as "Oxford of the East", is known for its contributions to science. In the words of the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, "It is a renowned hub of both Vidnyaan - that is, the knowledge of science,and Dnyaan- the higher knowl­edge of life". Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister of Hu­man Resource Development, Science & Technology and Ocean Development also regarded Pune as a wonderful choice for this mega session when he said, "Pune has been one of the fountain sources of the resurgent Indian

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culture and polity. Today, in addition, it demonstrates the vibrant Indian capability in several fields of science and technology, industry, agriculture and business."

About 4000 delegates from different parts of the coun­try and abroad participated in the Congress. Prominent among these were Nobel Laureates Dr Richard R Ernst (Switzerland) and Prof. Jean Marie Lehn (France); Dr Karl H Neumann (Justus Liebig University, Germany) , stalwarts like Prof. M.G.K. Menon, Dr M.S. Swami­nathan, Prof. Yash Pal, Prof. Govind Swamp, Dr P. Ganguly, Dr S.P. Godrej, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Sci­entific Adviser to Govt.), Prof. V.S . Ramamurthy (Sec­retary, DST), Dr P.N. Tandon (AIIMS, New Delhi), Dr Jayant Narlikar, Dr R. Chidambaram, Dr Vasant Gowariker, Dr K. Kasturirangan, Dr Anil Kakodkar (Director, BAR C), Dr (Mrs) Manju Sharma (ex-General President, ISCA and Secretary, DBT), Dr R.S. Parada (General President designate for 2001 and Director Gen­eral, ICAR), Prof. V.G. Bhide (former Vice Chancellor, Pune University), Dr Bimal Jalan (Governor, Reserve Bank of India), Prof. A. Jhunjhunwala (liT, Madras), Prof. Mohan Ram (Delhi University), Dr Pusha Bhar­gava (ex-Director, CCMB, Hyderabad), Mr Mohan Dharia (politician and social worker) , Dr G.P. Phondke (ex-Director, NISCOM, New Delhi) , Dr Paul Rat­nasamy (Director, NCL, Pune), Prof. Anil Gupta (liM, Ahmedabad), Sectional Presidents of different sections

488 J SCl:IND RES VOL,5!PUNE 2oqo

Table 1 -Sectional Presidents and title of their Addresses at the Indian Science Congress 2000

Sl No. Section Sectional President Title of Address

Agricultural Sciences Prof. Syamal Kumar Gupta, Department Soil Health and Sustainability of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Calcutta University, Calcutta 700019

2 Anthropology & Dr S.K. Ghoshmaulik, Utkal University, Classification and Origin of People of India: An Archeology Bhubaneswar Unsolved Problem

3 Biochemistry, Prof. Anil Saran, Tata Institute of Conformation and Mechanism of Drug Action Biophysics & Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005 Molecular Biology

4 Botany Prof. Uma Kant (Professor Emeritus), Plant Teratomas-Causes & Consequences University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302 004

5 Chemistry Prof. M.C. Gupta, Nagpur University, Polyaniline: A Model Conducting Polymer Nagpur 440 010

6 Computer Sciences Dr M L Goyal, CMC Limited, New Delhi Information Technology into the Next 110 058 Millennium

7 Earth System Scie(lces Prof. S. Acharya, I 55, VIP Colony Some Observation on Parts of the Banded Iron-Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar 751 015 Formations of Eastern India

8 Engineering Sciences Dr S.T. Deshmukh, Amravati University, Indian Science & Technology into the Next Amravati 444 602 Millennium

9 Material Sciences Prof. D.N. Bose, Indian Institute of Semiconductors- From Path-breaking Sciences Technology, Kharagpur 721 302 to Revolutionary Technology

10 Mathematics Prof. P.V. Arunachalam, Dravidian Singularities in Fluids University, Kuppam

II Medical & Veterinary Dr Tushar K Maitra, I B/5 Kustia Road, The Role of Immune Escape Mechanism in Sciences Calcutta 700 039 Hepatitis-C and Related Diseases

12 Physics Prof. J.P. Shukla, Lucknow University, Condensed Matter- Dielectric and Optical Lucknow 226 007 Aspects of Material Study

13 Physiology Prof. A. Namasivayam, University of Reflections of an Indian Physiologist Madras, Taramani, Chennai 600 113

14 Psychology & Dr B.A. Parikh, 154, Sarjan Society, Nature and Status of Psychology as a Science Educational Sciences Surat 395 007 vis-a-vis Paranormal Psychology and

Psychological Studies

15 Statistics Prof. Arijit Chaudhuri, Indian Statistical Acknowledging Certain Worthy Indian Institute, Calcutta 700 035 Contribution to Survey Sampling

16 Zoology, Entomology Prof. Santosh Kumar, Barkatullah The Heart of Vertibrates (Understanding and & Fisheries Vishwavidhalaya, Bhopal 462 026 Research Trends in the 20th Century)

of ISCA (Table 1), winners of ISCA Awards for 2000(Table 7), special invitees for delivering Platinum Jubi-lee Lectures (Table 5) and special lecturers in varioussections ofISCA, 22 young scientists who won the newlyinstituted "Millennium Awards" (Table 4) and chairper-sons and participants in various symposia (Table 6)organised under different sections and other platforms.

There was no addition of any section, committee orforum to the Congress this year, it, therefore, had 16sections, two committees and six forums as before. Dif-ferent sections with names of each Sectional Presidentand topic of corresponding Sectional Presidential Ad-dress are given in Table 1.The names of Committees andforums are given in Table 2.

InaugurationThe 87th session of Indian Science Congress was

inaugurated as per convention, by the Prime Minister ofIndia, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 3 January, 2000 inthe lawns of Poona University. Present on the occasionwere a galaxy of eminent scientists from India andabroad, Prof. Murali Manohar Joshi, Minister for HumanResources Development, Science & Technology andOcean Development, Shri Bachchi Singh Rawat, UnionMinister of State of Science & Technology, Mr VilasraoDeshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Chha-gan Bhujbal, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra andDr R A Mashelkar, General President, ISCA for 1999-2000 and Director General, CSIR.

Prime Minister's AddressIn his address, Shri Vajpayee called upon the people

of this country "To make the 21st Century India's Cen-tury- Ikkeesvin Shatabdi Bharat ki Shatabdi". He in-vited the countrymen to pledge to make India a greatpower in science and technology, and added, "It is essen-tial for the realization of a higher goal: To achieve peace,progress and happiness for the entire humanity in thenew century". He said that he envisaged to see "Devel-oped Indian Science for India's Accelerated and All-Round Development".

Higher Investments in R&DThe Prime Minister announced that the government

would like to see a hike in investments in R&D from thepresent 0.86% of the GDP (gross domestic product) to1% this year, and to be further increased to 2% over thenext five years. He said, "Apart from increasing financialinvestiments, we should increase the synergy among ourexisting institutions and assets so as to bring India to aglobal R&D platform".

AGGARWAL: INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000 - A REPORT 489

Table 2 - Committees and Forums at Indian ScienceCongress 2000

Committees1. Horne Science2. Science & Society

Forums1. Communication & Information Science2. Environmental Sciences3. Forensic Sciences4. Science Education5. Science for School Students6. Women and Science

Mr Vajpayee said, "I dream to see an India that is acontributor and a beneficiary in equal measures. It is adream to see India as a highly developed nation in theearly decades of the new century - developed socially,economically, culturally, and also in science and tech-nology." He called upon the scientists to deploy S&T inareas where it was most needed - primary health care,sanitation, agriculture, water and soil management, en-ergy conservation and efficient services that make thelife of the common man comfortable.

Information Technology (IT) Lauded

Lauding the developments in information technologyin the country, the Prime Minister said, "India's suc-cesses in IT are already well known. We now must aimto replicate them in other areas of science and technologyand enterprise. He urged the scientists to give ideas onhow India can create world-class facilities and condi-tions in India for world-class achievements.

Mr Vajpayee said that the Government was commit-ted to removing restrictive bureaucratic hurdles andstrengthening the cooperati ve network between researchlaboratories, academic institutions, industry, NGOs andgovernmental agencies at the Central, State and Locallevels.

The Prime Minister urged the scientists to promoteIndia's wealth of traditional knowledge by bringing itinto the mainstream of our national S&T establishment.He cited the example of knowledge about medicinalplants and herbs possessed by the common people, espe-cially tribal people, in our country in this connection and

490 J SC': JND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

added that initiatives taken by the CSIR in •1P.tworkmg some of their laboratories specializing in traditional knowledge can indeed give India global leadership in medicine.

He urged the scientific community to nurture an at­mosphere of innovation, adventure, high ambition and high achievement in every area of Indian science.

Mr Vajpayee recalled the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who had said, "Scientists are a minority in league with the future", and reminded the scientists that the contrymen look towards them with high expectations to make India a great power in science and technology in the near future.

Address by Minister of S&T, HRD and OD

In his address, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, recalled the role of Indian Science Congress in the Indian science movement, and observed that many doyens of Indian Science, who made India proud, were deeply involved with the activities of ISCA. He recollected that the strength oflndian S&T personnel was close to 10 million and the annual intake of engineering graduates was around 0.1 million and to the engineering diploma about 0.2 million.

A New Research Infrastructure Fund

The Minister announced that a new fund for strength­ening research infrastructure in the universities and other institutions of higher learning, has been created with an initial allocation of Rs 75 crores over three years. This allocation is proposed to be increased substantially in due course both by way of government contributions and by other stake holders. He announced to increase basic research opportunities in the academic institutions, which are its natural habitat.

Technopren.eur Promotion Programme

The Minister informed that a new programme called 'Technopreneur Promotion Programme(TePP)' has been initiated in the Ministry of Science & Technology to attract the youths towards knowledge- and science & technology-based entrepreneurships. He informed that this programms has already made a successful start covering more than 20 projects. Some of these have started giving good results in a short period, he added.

Fund for Rural Innovations

Dr Joshi announced the creation of a new Foundation for the promotion of "Grassroot Innovations" . It would encourage, promote, document and disseminate innova­tions in the rural areas. With an initial corups of Rs 20

Gmres, the Foundation is expected to attract additional investments from ether sources for enlarging its activi­ties.

Referring to the immense possibilities of new innova­tive businesses in the emerging fields of science and technology, Dr Joshi cited the examples of Information Technology. In this regard, the Minister announced that the policy focus will contain the following elements:

• Government and industry to make joint efforts in IT. human resource development

• India specific resource programmes to be given priority in IT, and

• Research to be conducted in strategic areas in IT and knowledge industry.

National Bioscience Awards

To encourage young scientists to pursue a career in biosciences, the Minister had announced institution of the National Bioscience Awards at the 86th Session of ISCA in Chennai. The Minister announced the names of five outstanding scientists who would receive the Na­tional Bioscience Career Development Award during the financial year 1999-2000. These were:

(I) Dr B N Mallick, JNU, New Delhi (2) Dr K V S Rao, ICGEB, New Delhi (3) Dr D M Salunke, Nil, New Delhi (4) Prof. Akhilesh Tyagi, South Campus,

Delhi University (5) Dr Umesh Varshney, USc, Bangalore.

These awards carry Rs llakh, a citation and Rs 3 lakh each year for three years as research grant.

Dr Joshi informed that a number of special awards for scientific and technological excellence and those focuss­ing on young scientists and technologists have already been initiated. These include: Kishore Vaigyanic Proth­sahan Yojna and Science Olympiads, Young Scientists Scheme and Swarana Jayanthi Fellowships for young scientists, Young Engineers Awards focussing on post­graduates engineering students, etc.

Indian Traditional Knowledge Systems

Dr Joshi called upon Indian scientists and technolo­gists to undertake a major exercise to investigate, along modem scientific lines, areas where traditional knowl­edge systems appear. He suggested to take advantage of our national heritage and create novel knowledge and business by applying new scientific techniques. "In the

AGGARWAL: INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 491

process, create employment wealth and prosperity", he added.

Referring to the existing system of science admini­stration in R&D institutions of the country, Dr Joshi urged to bring a change in the long established mindset. He appealed to the scientific community to break out from the trodden path and to pioneer new alternatives, thinking areas, models and tools.

The Minister suggested a new resolve on the occasion based on the clarion call "Swarajis my birthright" given by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the form "To make India a leader in the emerging knowledge-based world is my birthright".

The Minister ended his address by narrating a citation from the Tamil saga Thiruvalluvar.

General President's Address

The General President of Indian Science Congress Association, Dr R A Mashelkar, outlined a five-point agenda christening it as the "New Panchsheel of the New Millennium". These five points, that are as relevant in the year 2000 as they will be in the year 3000, are:

• Child centred education

• Woman centred family

• Human centred development

• · Knowledge centred society

• Innovation centred India

Elaborating on 'Child centred education', Dr Mashel­kar said that 'Yuvashakti' was the real Shakti of a nation. If properly moulded, the youth can become the champion of our culture, custodian of our national pride and a trustee of the freedom of the country. But the process of moulding requires the right education at the early age, which was lacking.

According to Dr Mashelkar, there are three crises that our country is facing today in regard to science educa­tion. The first is that young minds are not turning to science and the second is that those who tum to science, do not stay in science. The third lies in the science education system itself, which is centred around boring textbooks, unimaginative curricula, ill-designed class­room teaching and an outdated examination system.

Dr Mashelkar suggested that we should remould the school science education to the mode of 'learning by discovery' and 'learning by doing', in contrast to the prevailing 'learning by rote' method. "We must create a

local content in the education through exposure to local flora and fauna, local water and soil, local socio- eco­nomic issues, local heritage, etc." he added.

Dr Mashelkar also talked about the role of IT revolu­tion in education and mentioned that Internet had already made it possible to take education to the home of learners with self- learning programmes with the creative use of multi-media.

In reference to the second point, 'Woman centred society', Dr Mashelkar quoted the words of Vice Presi­dent of India, "The best symbol of female values that has been created by nature is in the form of Mother". Out of all the management experiences in business, industry, public service and society, mother is the best manager nature has created. 'But we have lost somewhere on the way the essence of not only the mother culture but also that of mother nature and indeed the entire concept of woman centred family', he added.

Dr Mashelkar opined that the emerging technolog.ical developments have the potential to impact the lives of women enormously. The emergence of IT will play a great role with education reaching the home. "The same flexibilities will be available for working too", he added.

Dr Mashelkar suggested the promotion of pro-women technologies. These, according to him, "exist in their creative participation in agriculture linked activities mi­cro-propagation, plant tissue culture, disease surveil­lance, health care systems, and so on" .

In context of 'Human centred development', Dr Mashelkar opined, "We cannot have plans of economic development, where the human is a bystander". In this connection he mentioned the balance of five Es -ecology, environment, economics, equity and ethics. "Mere economic development without regard to equity and ethics will take us nowhere, just as economic devel­opment disregarding ecology and environment will be fatal", he added.

Dr Mashelkar observed that mass production and production by masses will have to co-exist in India. The first would lead to global competitiveness and the second to jobs, where they are needed.

Talking about the fourth point, namely 'Knowledge centred society', Dr Mashelkar stated that knowledge would not be a mere tool in development, knowledge itself would be development. True knowledge societies of tomorrow would make creative use of the modem information and communications technology. He said that only those nations would survive in the new millen-

492 1 SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

nium who would build knowledge-centred societies, the others would vanish into oblivion.

Dr Mashelkar said that knowledge revolution was leadingto knowledge centred trade and industry . The trade dominated earlier by such primary products as iron ore, coffee, cotton, etc., was now moving towards knowl­edge intensive goods, and world's major growth indus­tries like information technology, microelectronics, pharma, biotechnology, advanced materials, telecom­munications, etc. were already brainpower industries.

According to Dr Mashelkar, the new millennium Uni­versal Knowledge System would have to be a confluence of three knowledge systems - S&T based knowledge knowledge system, indigenous (traditional or civiliza­tional) knowledge system, as for example the ayurvedic medicinal system and the knowledge of the spiritual world, as for example use of quantum physics for the study of human intelligence.

Referring to the fourth point 'Innovation Centred India' , Dr Mashelkar opined that knowledge without innovation is of no value. He said, "We cannot any more allow the 'I" in India for imitation or inhibition, it must stand for 'Innovation'.

"Innovators", said Dr Mashelkar, "do not exist just in formal laboratories, millions of them exist in villages, in homes and in streets. To encourage community innova­tion, it is necessary to scout, support, spawn and scale up the green grass root innovation". He plauded the recent initiative taken by the Government of setting up the National Innovation Foundation.

Showing his deep concern for this issue of innovation, Dr Mashelkar declared to hold a full day session on "Why do Indian genese express themselves in Silicon Valley? Why they do not express in India?

At the end, Dr Mashelkar talked about his dream for Indian Science and India in the early part of the new millennium.

Earlier, the function commenced with the singing of the "Vigyan Geet" written by the noted Marathi writer Shri Go pal Nikanth Dandekar in 1950 (on the occasion of 1950 ISCA session in Pune). This was followed by the welcome address delivered by the Vice Chancellor of the Pune University, Dr Arun Nigvekar. Describing the achievements of the University, he outlined the estal­ishment of link with the Maharatta Chamber of Com­merce for Industry and Agriculture and a special research base for DRDO and ISRO. The Chief Minister of Ma­harashtra, Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh released the 'Souve­nir "The Sci-tech Vision" and said that the world, in

general, and India, in particular, was passing through a phase of science and all efforts should be made so that the benefits of the advances in S&T could reach the common man.

Focal Theme

The concept of focal theme was introduced by Dr M.S. Swaminathan, the General President oflndian Sci­ence Congress 1976 at the Waltair session. The idea was to select a suitable topical subject around which the discussions, lectures, etc. could be arranged at a particu­lar session. Thus, focal themes have since dealt with science and technology in the context of various facets of developments. These are listed in Table 3. The focal theme at Indian Science Congress 2000 was "Indian Science and Technology into the Next Millennium". The topic was highly relevant to focus on the future of science and technology in Indian context.

Plenary Sessions

Ten plenary sessions were organised in ISCA 2000, at which various S&T topics were discussed. These are briefly described below.

Indian Stratetic S&T in the 21st Century

This was the topic of first plenary sesssion at which three prominent policy planners and renowned scientists - Dr A P J Abdul Kalam (Scientific Adviser to the Government of India), Dr K Kasturirangan (Chairman, ISRO), and Dr R Chidambaram (Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission) - presented a perspective of the 21st century vistas in the areas of defence, space and atomic energy.

Outlining the vision for nation by 2020, Dr Abdul Kalan announced that the first test fl ight oflndia's Geo Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) would undergo this year and country could pursue an inter-continental bal­listic missile programme if adequate funds were made available for the project.

Dr Kalam', the architect of India's missile programme, announced that India would conv.ert the manned fighter aircrafts into unmanned supersonic fighter aircrafts within the next decade. These aircrafts would be based on missile and satellite technologies and help intercept nuclear attacks.

Dr Kalam opined that technology has become prime for economic development and added that technological superiority would be the main motivator for future w'ar-

AGGARWAL: INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 493

Table 3-The Focal themes and General Presidents of ISCA ( 1976-2001)

Year Place Focal Theme General President

1976 Waltair Science and integrated rural development M S Swaminathan

1977 Bhubaneswar Survey, conservation and utilization of resources H N Sethna

1978 Ahmedabad Science, education and rural development S M Sircar

1979 Hyderabad Science and technology in India during the coming decades R C Mehrotra

1980 Calcutta Energy strategies for India A.K. Saha

1981 Varanasi Impact of the development of science and technology on A K Sharma environment

1982 My sore Basic research as an integral component of self- reliant base of M G K Menon science and technology

1983 Tirupati Man and the ocean-Resources and development B R Rao

1984 Ranchi Quality science in India-Ends and means R P Bambah

1985 . Lucknow High altitude studies AS Paintal

1986 New Delhi Science and technology in environmental management TN Khoshoo

1987 Bangalore Resources and human well-being-Inputs from science and Archana Sharma technology

1988 Pune Frontiers of science and technology C N R Rao

1989 Madurai Science and technology missions-The Indian scene A P Mitra

1990 Cochin Science-in-society Yash Pal

1991 Indore Coping with natural disaster-An integrated approach D K Sinha

1992 Baroda Science, population and development V R Gowarikar

1993 Goa Science and quality of life S Z Quasim

1994 Jaipur Science in India-Excellence and accountability P N Srivastava

1995 Calcutta Science, technology and industrial development in India S C Pakrashi

1996 Patiala Science and technology for achievi ng food, economy and health- UR Rao security

1997 Delhi Frontiers in science and engineering and their relevance to S K Joshi national development

1998 Hyderabad Science and technology in independent India: Retrospect and P Rama Rao Prospect

1999 Chennai New biosciences: Challenges and opportunities as we move into Manju Sharma the next millennium

2000 Pune Indian science and technology into the next millennium R A Mashelkar

2001 New Delhi Food, nutrition and environmental security R S Paroda

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fare, dominated by technological monopoly and global markets.

Dr Chidambaram in his talk, "Nuclear Science & Technology- Vision 2020" stressed that for a develop­ing country like India, nuclear energy was an inevitable option, and informed that two nuclear reactors were made operational in 1999 and two more were expected to be installed in the year 2000. "It is planned to start light water reactors with collaboration of Russia", declared Dr Chidambaram. He said that DEA plans to install 20,000 MW of power by 2020.

Dr Kasturirangan outlined the space programme of the country in the next twenty years. "Convergence", according to him was the catch-word for optimum appli­cations in various fields like space transportation, disas­ter management systems, educational services, urban management services, national resource inventory, global environmental monitoring, etc.

According to Dr Kasturirangan, India plans to launch a lunar expedition and ISRO was working on a satellite launch vehicle which would carry a six-tonne payload into the lunar orbit.

Highlighting the significance of using remote sensing to work out local solutions, Dr Kasturirangan described a current project in Madhya Pradesh which was aimed at diffusing information to the farthest villages, by enhac­ing the broadcast capacity of satellites and through an integrated multimedia information system.

New Millennium Lecture Series: Celebration of Science

With the rate of knowledlge doubling up every five years, the evolution of new science will occur at a rapid rate. To predict the future scenario in S&T, twenty-two outstanding young Indian scientists, who are expected to play a crucial role in Indian Science in the early part of the new century, were invited and they focussed on the future of S&T in the New Millennium Lecture Series: Celebration of Science, with a special emphasis on the Indian agenda.

These lectures covered various fields of S&T and were delivered in Plenary Sessions 2, 3, 8 and 9. A list of these young scientists alongwith the title of respective address is given in Table . It is also planned to bring out a Special Issue of Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research shortly, incorporating these important lectures .

The name of these 22 young scientists with topics of their lectures are given in Table 4.

Role of Information Technology in the 21st Century

Considering the importance of information technol­ogy (IT), this topic was chosen for discussion at one of the Plenary Sessions of ISCA (Plenary Session IV), which was chaired by Prof. M.G.K. Menon.

The significance of information technology was high­lighted by the Prime Minister also in his inaugural ad­dress when he said, "IT is India's tomorrow". It was also mentioned that emergence of internet was converting 'citizens' into 'netizens'.

Speaking in this session, Dr Menon said, "We might have missed the industrial revolution and the micro-elec­tronic revolution due to one or other reasons, but, we are not going to miss the information technology (IT) revo­lution" . He claimed that we are very much part of the IT revolution, started just a few years ago.

Besides Dr Menon, other participants included Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Dr N. Balakrishnan and Dr R.K. Arora. They all agreed that the IT revolution would affect not only our economic development but all aspects of our life and therefore we should utilize its full potential. The IT rovolution has assumed the present status not because of one person, one company or one nation alone, it is driven by the combined efforts of hundreds of thousands of people.

Dr Menon also outlined India's action plans for infor­mation technology and for the development of software technology.

Dr Bhatkar observed that the nucleus of economy had changed from industry-based to knowledge-based . "Creativity needs to be given more emphasis" , he opined and added that new ideas need be incorporated in our education system to make it IT-friendly .

Indian Science, Citizen and the Society

With the advancement of science, the science-society interaction is assuming greater significance. It is said that the issues linked to the balance of the 5 Es, namely, 'environment', 'ecology ' , 'economics ', 'equity" and 'ethics' are becoming more and more significant. It was, therefore, a right choice to devote one plenary session (Plenary Session V) to the issues related to the Science­Citizen-Society link.

The session was chaired by Mr Mohan Dharia, Presi­dent of Vanarai with two eminent personalities- envi­ronmentalist Shri S.P. Godrej and molecular scientist Dr Pushpa Bhargava- as the main speakers.

S I No.

I.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

AGGARWAL: INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 495

Table 4 -New Millennium Lecture Series: Celebration of Science- Name of Scientists with topic of their lectures

Scientist

Dr S.K. Brahmachari , CBT, New Delhi

Dr N. Chandrakumar, CLRI, Chennai

Dr A.K. Sood, liSe, Bangalore

Dr U.S. Bhalla, NCBS , Bangalore

DrS. Sivaram, NCL, Pune

Dr A. Jhunjhunwala, liT, Chennai

Dr Dipankar Chatterjee, liSe, Bangalore

Dr Satyaj it Rath , Nil, New Delhi

Dr Uday Mitra, liSe, Bangalore

Dr Satish R Shetye, NIO, Goa

Dr G.R. Desiraju, Hyderabad Univ, Hyderabad

Dr K.Y .S. Rao, ICGEB , New Delhi

Dr Partha P Mazumdar, lSI, Calcutta

Dr K.N. Ganesh , NCL, Pune

Prof. E.D. Jemmis, Hyderabad University, Hyderabad

Prof. N. Balakrishnan , liSe, Bangalore

Prof. A.K. Raychaudhuri , NPL, New Delhi

Dr (Mrs) Jaya Tyagi , AIIMS, New Delhi

Prof. D.V. Khakhar, liT, Mumbai

Dr Kankan Bhattacharya, lACS , Calcutta

Prof. T. Padmanabhan, IUCAA , Pune

Dr Jayaraman Gowrishankar, CCMB, Hyderabad

Title of Lecture

Genomics and Predictive Medicine

The Wonderland of Spines

Insights in Soft Condensed Matter Physics: Opportunities and Challenges

Biological Computation

Designer Polymers

Towards Hundred to Two Hundered Million Telephones and Internet Connections in India

Structural Basis of Central Dogma in Molecular Biology of the Last Century : Where to Go Now?

Riding a Tiger: Science and Craft in Vaccine Design

Novel Dendritic Species with Nanometric Dimensions

The Bay of Bengal: A Hot- Spot for Ocean-Monsoon Interactiori'

Continuity and Change in the Synthetic Paradigm

Immunology in India: A Crisis of Identiy

Genome Diversity, Genetic Epidemiology and Molecular Medicine: The Indi an Context

DNA Dependent Therapeutics and Diagnostics : Strategies for Y2K and Beyond

Theoretical Studies towards Electron Sufficient Boron Polymorphs

Computational Challenges in Electromagnetics

Oxide Electronics : From Curiosity to Applications

Tuberculosis: The Real Millennium Bug

Granular Matter: Achievements and Possibilities

Study of Self- Organi zed Molecular Assemblies Using Ultrafast Lasers

Understanding Our Universe

Unravelling Microbial Stress Physiology through Genetics: The Challenge and the University

496 1 SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

Showing his deep concern for the fast detereoration of environment, Shri Godrej said, "How can you pre­serve environrnnt without controlling population?" And the population control was not possible until the masses get education. "The cultivation of scientific ethos alone can save the nation", he added.

Shri Godrej was also highly critical of the general attitude expressed as 'Chalta Hai' or 'Chalega' prevail­ing in this country. He categorically stated that this attitude cannot be tolerated under the present scenario of globalization and cut- throat competition.

Dr Bhargava talked about ethics in science. He was sore about the scientists making false claims or manipu­lating scientific data. Plagiarism or copying the data is another serious problem, claimed Dr Bhargava.

Biological weapons, genetically engineered plants and medical ethics were some of the serious issues linked with science on one hand and society on the other.

Mr Mohan Dharia raised a fundamental point of avail­ability of drinking water. "The holy Ganges has been polluted to the extent that its purification seems impos­sible", he said. He championed the cause of developing scientific temper amongst the common masses for the upliftment of the country.

Indigenous Innovation

The topic itself was an innovation in the agenda of Indian Science Congress and it was for the first time that a full plenary session (Session VI) was devoted to it.

The idea behind organising this sessions was that innovations do not necessarily take place in big labora­tories. They do occur in farms, in fields, in homes, in tribes and at several other grass root levels. These inno­vations offer a great scope for improvement, though could be minor, by inputs from modem science and engineering, adoption and wide sc~le dissemination across the country. And in the words .of Dr Mashelkar, the session presented the neglected "Innovative India" before the galaxy of eminent scientists.

The session was chaired by Dr N. Balakrishnan of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In his opening remarks, Dr Balakrishnan, underlined the utility of inno­vation and observed that most of the innovations often get quenched because they are not able to propagate. He suggested that the innovations should be brought to the laboratory where these could be polished, sugar-coated and made marketable by mass production.

Dr Ashok Khoshla of the non-government organisa­tion Technology for Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), Delhi, stressed on the use of science and tech­nology for a wider section of the society. Talking about developments after independence, he agreed that there was an increase in the foodgrain production, energy production, organised workforce, scientific personnel, literacy rate, etc. but mentioned that actual number of illetrates has doubled since independence, nutrition (per capita consumption of protein) has gone down, waste­lands have increased, more forests have been depleted and above all, population has shooted upwards.

Suggesting the need for a change, Dr Khosla observed that we should have 'sustainiable development' and the key to sustainable development was sustainable liveli­hood. He suggested the establishing of a new institution , 'Sustainable Technology Commission' which should be made responsible for identification of needs, carrying out innovations and preparing eco-feasibility reports, and finally should develop products which could be marketed .

Dr Ani) Gupta, Professor at Indian Institute of Man­agement (Ahmedabad) observed that village people in India were rich in their knowledge but erosion of knowl­edge was fastest in our country. He opined that there must be something fundamentally wrong in our percep­tion of science if our village women had to wait for 2000 years to get a lever which prevents the bucket from falling back into the well.

Dr Gupta heads a novel institution- Shristi- which aims at bringing science to the people and encourages innovations in rural areas. A novel network known as 'Honeybee' pushes this mandate further by enlisting all such innovations made by rural people, and by imparting training in innovative technologies in their language. Dr Gupta also files patents on behalf of these rural innova­tors so that they could get the desired benefit.

Dr S. Kalbag of Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, (DES) Dist Pune, spoke on 'Development Education System'. He was of the view that our present education system was faulty and was the root cause of our poverty. He em­phasized the need of natural system of learning for the overall development of the children.

Explaining the DES further, Dr Kalbag said that this system makes skill training easy and enjoyable. It inte­grates education and development and therefore could be regarded as 'child-friendly education ' . He cited a number of examples of community services carried out by village people who had undergone this training.

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AGGARWAL : INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 497

Table 5 -Platinum Jubilee Lectures Delivered in Different Sections at Indian Science Congress 2000

Section ·

Agricultural Sciences

Anthropology & Archaeology

Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology

Botany

Chemistry

Computer Sciences

Earth System Sciences

Engineering Sciences

Material Sciences

Mathematics

Medical & Veterinary Sciences

Physics

Physiology

Psychology & Educational Sciences

Stati stics

Zoology, Entomology & Fisheries

Speaker

Dr M Velayutham, Nagpur

Dr P P Majumdar, Calcutta

(I) Prof. M R N Murthy, Ban galore

(2) Prof. N R Jagannathan, New Delhi

( I) Prof. Pramod Tan don, Shillong

(2) Prof. S K Sopory, Delhi

Prof. S R Gadre, Pune

Brig. S V S Chowdhry , Noida

Prof. S C Sarkar, Calcutta

DrS P Sakhat;ne, Mumbai

Prof. B M Arora, Mumbai

Prof. H P Dixit, Bhopal

Dr A K Ganguly , Calcutta

Prof. M P Srivastava, Delhi

Dr 8 M Hegde, Manipal

Dr P V Ramamoorti , Tirupati

Prof. T Parthasarthy , Calcutta

Dr P P Sood, Rajkot

Title

Soil Resource Information-Its Application for Land Use Policy and Agricultural Development Programs

Anthropology & Genomics: The Landscape of Thi s Interface

Tale of Two Viruses Sasbenia Mosaic Virus and Physalis Mottle Virus: Studies on Structure and Assembly

The Role of Magnetic Resource Imaging (MRI) and in-vivo Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) in Diagnosis and Management of Diseases

Role of Biotechnology in Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources in the 21st Century-An Indian Perspective

Calcium Binding Proteins: Role in Abiotic Stress

Electrostatics in Chemistry

IT for Socio- economic Transformation

Ore Geology - Today & Tomorrow

Energy Crisis

Semiconductor Lasers & III-IV Compounds: A Synergy

Wavelets and Applications

Environmental Carcinogenesis and Easy Detection of Cancer

Horizons of Plasma Physics

Chaos-A New Concept in Human Physiology

Gem-psychology-the State-of-the-Art

The Linear Complementarity Problem in Static anJ Dynamic Games

Renin- angiotensin System in Pre- and Post-Nata l Developing Brain

498 J SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

The orthopaedic surgeon, Prof. R.C. Gupta, presented a simple solution of a complicated problem of manage­ment of hospital wastes. He suggested that bioremedia­tion using toxic plants like Dhtura, Aak, etc. along with cow dung slurry could help solve this problem.

Grassroot Innovators Lauded

But the novel part of this session was the presentation of their innovations by simple grassroot workers, farm­ers, village artisans in their own language. Dr Ani! Gupta who introduced these innovators, informed the audience that their innovations were entirely conceptu­alized, designed, fabricated and made operational by these simple villagers without any help from the govern­ment or any other agency.

Mr Bhanjibhai Mathukia spoke about his three-wheel tractor which has a power of lOHP and costs around one lakh. Mr Ganeshbai Dodia explained his innovation of attaching a plough to his 'Bullet' motorcycle, thus mak­ing ploughing cheaper and faster as compared to plough­ing with a tractor (which many are not able to afford) . He also made another innovation for spraying pesticides in the field by attaching a sprayer to the motorcyle. It has made spraying 2.5 times faster and could spray about 40 'bighas' of land in about four hours .

Another simple but interesting innovation was pre­sented by Mr Khenjibhai, who has developed a tradi­tional 'Kalam' -like device for filling of mud in plastic bags meant for use in nurseries. The device could en­hance work efficiency to more 200%, which meant more money for the worker.

These innovators, who probably spoke for the first time from a stage, felt highly elevated in getting a chance to describe their achievements. They were well honoured by the President ISCA, Dr R A Mashelkar, with the ISCA memento and received much applause from the audi­ence. The media also covered this 'Innovative India' story in a big way.

Drawing by the Blind Made Possible

If you ask a blind man to draw a circle, he is not able to draw because he has no perception of a circle. The blind persons perceive through their fingers, as they do with Braille. But now even blind will be able to draw as a scientist, Dilip Bhatt, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad, has developed a novel slate and pen for them for this purpose.

The novel invention consists of a Velcro board, a modified pen and some woollen thread to be used as

paint. The pen was modified to have a spool on its top for storing the woollen thread. Once the Velcro board is ready, one has to simply move the threaded pen over it to draw any picture. The thread gets stuck to the Velcro and the desired pattern emerges. The blind can now perceive the drawing and draw themselves. Once the "painting" has been finished, the thread can be pulled by rolling the spool on the top of the pen and the slate can then be used for another drawing, reusing the same thread.

Bhat and his wife have been associated with the Blind Men's Associaton at Ahmedabad and wanted to develop a method through which they could express their crea­tivity. Commenting on the development, a senior scien­tist went to the extent of saying that probably one day some of them could even 'write' after learning through this novel method of perception.

The innovation has earned Mr Bhatt, the NRDC (Na­tional Research Development Corporation , New Delhi) Award of Rs 50,000. The innovation has been declared a WIPRO (World Intelelctual Property Rights Organisa­tion) product enabling its patent in 80 member countries .

Intellectual Property Rights in the 21st Century

The concept of Intellectual Property Right or simply IPR has assumed great significance particularly after the 'Haldi' and the 'Basmati Rice' episodes. India with its wide biodiversity and wealth of traditional and non-tra­ditional knowledge is far behind in the game of IPR. It was, therefore, a very right choice tb have one full session (Plenary Session VII) devoted to IPR in the coming century.

While introducing the subject oflntellectual Property Rights to the audience, the Chairman of the Session, Dr MD Nair, outlined its importance in today's world. He narrated the developments chronologically and empha­sized that the only way to save one's innovation from piracy was to get a patent.

According to Dr P. Ganguly of Hindustan Lever, the IPR in today's world does not only mean a patent, a copyright, a trade mark or a trade secret, it is a source of wealth generation also. He said, "It is a balancing act that every country must perform. Whether it is between the industrialised and the developing nations or simply be­tween a producer and a consumer, IPR has gone in for a paradigm shift".

Dr Ganguly elaborated on the pooling of IPR, selling of IPR and even bartering of IPR. He narrated a number

AGGARWAL : INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 499

Table 6 -Topics of Symposia held under different Sections, Committees and Forums at Indian Science Congress 2000

S I No. Section/Committee/Forum Title of Symposium

Agricultural Sciences Soil and Water Resources: Changing Scenario in Status and in Management into the Next Millennium

II Agrometeorology

2 Anthropology & Archaeology I Ethnic Conflict and Mass Violence in India: Reasons & Remedies II Urgent Issues before the Archaeologists in India

3 Botany I Emerging Trends in Plant Biotechnology II Excitement and Challenges in Botany

4 Chemistry I Challenges in Chemistry in the Next Millennium: New Directions for Coordination Chemistry in the Next Millennium

II Molecular Design, Synthesis and Processing of Materials

5 Earth System Sciences I Strategies of Exploration and Exploitation of Minerals of Platinum Group Elements and Other Associated Minerals in India

II Remote Sensing and Its Applications to Earth System Sciences for the Benefit of Society

6 Material Sciences I Materials for the New Millennium II Advanced Materials Processing

7 Mathematics I Mathematical Modelling in Bio-medical Sciences II Mathematics Education: 21st Century

8 Medical & Veterinary Sciences I Immunodeficiency State in Animal and Man

9 Physiology I Physiology & Environmental Management I I Neuroscience-The Future of Tomorrow III Females in Athletics with Special Reference to Nutrition

10 Psychology & Educational Sciences !Impact of Social Psychological Tensions on Individual and Group Behaviour and Developing Coping Mechanism

II Clinical and Family Problems: Empirically Based Solution III Gender Role Identity and Sexuality

II Statistics I Data Analysis and Computing

12 Zoology, Entomology & Fisheries I Cell Development, Death and Regulation with Reference to Molecular Genetics

13 Home Science I Expectations of the Youth and How They Propose to Face the Challenges in the Next Millennium

14 Communication & Information Sciences I Role of Information in Modern Society II Communication in the Next Millennium

15 Environmental Sciences I Green Thinking and Approaches II Biodiversity and Bio-remediation

16 Forensic Sciences I Medico-legal Services in India: Problems, Procedures and Practices II Forensic Science Education-Need for Appropriate Steps

17 Science Education I Science Education with Special Reference to Communication

18 Science for Schoc,l Children I Innovation and Accent on Teaching of Science in Schools

19 Women & Science I Role of women Scientists and Technologists in Scientific Enterprises during the 21st Century

II Sustainable Bioresource Development-Women Beneficiaries

500 1 SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

of cases to make his concept clear to the audience. He cited the case of Honeywell and Minolta, wherein Mi­nolta had to pay $ 96 million to Honeywell for using their patented circuits. Honeywell then went around the world to different companies and could collect antoher $400 million worldwide. Similarly, in 1993, Polaroid re­ceived $990 million from Kodak for infringement on their product.

Dr Ganguly concluded by saying, "Do whatever you want to do with your intellectual property rights - but innovate and patent. That is the future- you may like it or not" .

Prof. Ani! Gupta of Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) talked about creativity and patents in this lecture entitled "Giving Creativity Its Due: Can Patent Help?' Describing the most significant dimensions of the IPRs, i.e. Patent (novelty), Trademark (distinctiveness), Copy right (orginality), Trade secret (secrecy and pro­tection against unauthorized access), Dr Gupta said, "And thus IPR is a necessity".

Prof. Gupta made certain proposals, such as (i) Na­tional and international registry innovation, (ii) Collec­tive management ofiPRs (which they are already having for performing artists), (iii) Two-step process for smaller and other inventors, and (iv) Institutionalization of venture promotion funds. He concluded by saying, "So innovate and muscle it through with adequate sup­port- support in the form of value addition and making market acceptable and entrepreneur-frinedly products".

There were two speakers exclusively linked to the field of biotechnology and IPR - One was Dr K. Dro­namraju (President and Director of Genetic Research Foundation) who had come all the way from Houston and the other was Dr P. Pushspangadan, Director of National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR), Lucknow.

Dr Dronamraju informed the audience that 'Most of the world's diversity comes from the developing coun­tries and since India has a vast diversity, use that to your advantage". He remarked that nobody in the world would tell you about IPR and added, "Get your own IPR that ensures protection of your intellectual property. Develop your own patent laws that suit the specific needs of the country. But, be careful while making such laws, these should not be too stringent and should not discour­age foreign investments".

Dr Pushpangadan spoke on 'Biodiversity- The Wealth of India' and added that we were unique in having a rich biodiversity, biotechnology and human resources. He emphasized that India has the required

strength but we need to organise ourselves to become successful in today's world of competition.

To bring home the strength of Indian biodiversity, Dr Pushpangadan said that the first patent was obtained by a Greek Emperor in 300 BC for a special non-vegetarian dish, and the patent was for a peculiar aroma which was provided by the Indian spices.

Special/Invited Lectures

A large numer of invited/special lectures were planned at ISCA- 2000. Some ofthese are outlined below speakerwise:

Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Laureate

Prof. Lehn in his lecture, "From Matter Life" Chem­istry?!" said that chemistry is the science of matter and its transformation. He explained the role of chemistry in the evolution of universe by postulating that there was a bang (explosion of energy and matter), resulting in the formation of atoms. Some of these atoms combined to form molecules, and the process went on to form cells and then an organism - a human being. And thus the life evolved. "But is 'Man' the last orgnism to evolve?" According to Prof. Lehm, "Certainly not, we are still evolving and I refuse to believe that nat4ral evolution will come to an end".

According to Prof. Lehn, "Life is a chemical process and if it is ever created artificially, it will be by a chemist and not by a Computer" . The chemistry is the process of transformation of one substance into another. The substances are made up of atoms of various elements and the four elements that once symbolized chemistry were: fire, air, water and earth. He further said that elements critical for life were carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus, and declared, :"There are 90 elements which make- up the whole universe".

Prof. Lehn explained that when atoms change into molecules, the resulting science is called molecular chemistry and when molecules change to super­molecules, it is called supramolecular chemistry. And Prof. Lehn is regarded as the 'Father of Supramolecular Chemistry'.

Prof. Lehn said that chemistry and information sci­ence are intimately linked. The programmed supra­molecular systems can display the characteristics of recognition, transport and catalysis .

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AGGARWAL : INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 501

Table 7- List of Awards with names and addresses of Awardees at Indian Science Congress 2000

Award

Prof. Hira La! Chakravarty A ward

Pran Yohra Award

Prof. Umakant Sinha Memorial Award

Prof. K.P. Rode Memorial Award

Dr B C Deb Memorial Award for Soil/Physical Chemistry

Dr R.C. Shah Memorial A ward

Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Century Award

Asutosh Mukherjee Memorial A ward

B.C. Guha Memorial Lecture

Raj Kristo Dutt Memorial A ward

G P Chatterjee Memorial A ward

C.V. Raman Birth Centenary Award

Srinivas Rammanujam Birth Centenary Award

M N Saha Birth Centenary Award

PC Mahalanobis Birth Centenary Award

J C Bose Memorial A ward

P C Ray Memorial A ward

H J Bhabha Memorial Award

B P Pal Memorial A ward

Jawaharlal Nehru Prize for 1999-2000

Awardee

Dr T.S. Jonson, Dabur Research Foundation, Sahibabad

Dr A.D. Mandaokar, NRC, IARI, New Delhi

Dr A.K. Parida, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai

Prof. S.K. Tandon, Dept. of Geology, University of Delhi , Delhi

Dr S.C. Dutta, Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, IARI, New Delhi

Dr D.M. Solunke, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi

(i) Prof. P.N. Tandon, AIIMS, New Delhi (ii) Dr Amrita Patel National Dairy Development Board, Anand, Gujarat.

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai

Dr N.K. Ganguly, ICMR, New Delhi

Dr Sandip K. Basu, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi

Dr Y.R. Gowarikar, Pune University, Pune

Dr Narendra Kumar, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore

Dr N Karmakar, TIFR, Mumbai

Dr K Kasturirangan, Space Commission, Bangalore

Prof. S.P. Mukherjee, Calcutta University, Calcutta

Prof. T.N. Ananthakrishnan, Loyola Collgee, Chennai

Prof. Goverdhan Mehta, IISc, Bangalore

Dr Ani! Kakodar, BARC, Mumbai

Dr G.S. Khush, National Rice Research Institute, Phillipines

Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization, Dehradun

B C Deb Memorial Award for Popularisation of Science Dr Manoj Patairiya, DST, New Delhi

S K Mukherjee Commemoration Lecture

B N Basu Memorial Oration

Prof. S.R. Maitra Memorial Oration

Ramanandrasundar Sinha Memorial Oration

Mrs Shakuntala Dasgupta Oration

DrS N Garg Memorial Lecture

H L Bami Memorial Lecture

Dr K.V. Raman, Chennai.

Prof J N Senapathi, Cuttack

Dr Ramanand Sinha, USA

Dr Manoj Kumar Chakraborthy, Calcutta

Dr Kamala Krishnaswamy, Hyderabad

Dr R.B. Singh

Dr T.R. Baggi

502 J SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

The Nobel Laureate emphasized on the importance of basic research and cited examples to show how basic research later proved to be applied with high utility.

Prof. Lehn concluded by saying, "When nature fin­ishes to produce its own species, man begins, using natural things, in harmony with the very Nature".

Prof. Lehn is the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 1987. He was born in 1939 in France and is associated with the department of chemis­try of the University of Strasbourg there.

Prof. Richard Ernst, Nobel Laureate

Prof. Ernst delivered the second Millennium Lecture at Indian Science Congress 2000 on the topic "Science in the Third Millennium: Expectations between Hope and Dread". He was of the view that the basic purpose of science and technology was to help understand nature and improve life of the common man. An indiscrimate pursuit of science and technology in the next millennium without concern and regard for nature could result doom for humanity.

The 1991 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry empha­sized "Science and humanity need to co-exist". He said that the Eastern School of thoughts such as Hinduism and Buddhism, contained the essential philosophies that could guide man in co-existing with nature. He added that India with its Mahabharata, Bhagwat Gita and Upnishads has a unique position in the world and could provide leadership and guidance to the world on this aspect.

Turning down the big vision of colonisation of plan­ets, Dr Ernst said, " I find scientists predicting that man will colonize and extend civilization to planets like Moon, Mars and Venus, but I find such pursuits ab­sured".

Dr Ernst said that the scientists were predicting that they would be able to control the process of ageing and would develop such compounds as could help in enhanc­ing intelligence in the third millennium. He wondered, 'Does man really need more intelligence or should use the inherent wisdom for co-existing with nature" .

Stressing on the need of ethics in science, the Nobel Laureate said that scientists should blend honesty, self­imposed restrictions, responsibility and self-criticism to bridge the widening gap between science and society. "If science discovered ways of blending with the humanity, and the public shook off their apathy, maybe we can do

better next time. But, only if we have a second time" , he concluded.

Prof. E.C.G. Sudarshan

Prof. Sudarshan delivered the third New Millennium lecture at this Science Congress and the topic was "New Promise of Quantum Computing".

Introducing the subject to a large audience, Prof. Sudarshan said that people working in arithmatical/as­tronomical areas had to do long calculations. These were made simple by digital calculations, carried out by ma­chines called computers. This type of computing uses only binary bytes or 'yes' and 'no' or one and zero systems. But quantum comuting recognises an infinite set of variables. It is like identifying a point in the circle rather than a point at the end of a straight line.

Presenting a comparison between super computing and quantum computing, Dr Sudarshan observed that if super computing is like a jet aircraft then the quantum comuting is like a rocket. According to him the first quantum computer would be ready by the end of the present decade. This computer will be able to grapple with a million variables all at once, instead of the two states of yes and no at the present.

Referring to the possible applications of super com­puting, the US-based scientist said that it would trans­form completely the world of computing and would provide much faster database search, make quantum teleportations and may provide a possibl.e basis for the beginning of a science of mind .

Answering a questeion, "Are all problems comput­able?, Dr Sudarshan said, "No".

To another interesting question "Is mind a complex digital comuter?, the speaker said, "According to me, No." .

He concluded by saying, "If the twentyfirst century is the century of 'Science of Mind', quantum computing may provide us the relevant protocols" .

The Genesis - Global Convetion

This was the topic of one of the satellite sumposia (Table 8) held at Indian Science Congress 2000 and was a highly relevant suject for discussion . Afterall why do Indian genes express only in Silicon Valley? Why not in India? 'How can we create Silicon Valleys in our own Indus Valley?

It was a full-day session at which some of the best performers in India and abroad presented their success

AGGARWAL: INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 503

Table 8- Satellite Symposia Organised at Indian Science Congress

I Mental Health Session I : Biomedical Basis of Mind-Body Interaction Session II: The Cognitive Brain and Its Development Session III: Challenges before Mental Health: Development and

Training

II Health and Society: Women and Children's Health

III Industrialization- New Trends and Policies for Coming Millennium ·

IV Omega-3 Fatty Acids & Health: Through Next Millennium

V The Genesis: Global Convention Session I: International Overview: How does it happen across

the shore? Session II: From the Indian Experts: How can we do it in India'~ Session III: How can we do it in India?

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology Group Session IV: Innovation and Financing: Private and Government Session V: How do we put it all together?

stories and also outlined the ways for achieving Silicon Valleys in India. The prominent speakers included Dr Bimal Jalan (Chairman, Reserve Bank oflndia), Dr N R Narayan Murthy (Chairman, Infosys Technologies, In­dia), Mr Pradman Kaul (Chairman, and COO, Hughes Network Systems, USA), Dr T. Venkatesan (Chairman, Neurocera Inc, Maryland), Dr Ramani Varanasi (Busi­ness Executive, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, USA), Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Chairman, Bicon), Dr Onkar Goswamy (Chief Economist, CII, Delhi), Dr Swati Pi­ramal (Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Nicholas Piramal), Mr Rajendra Pawar (Chairman, NIIT), Mr. H.R. Khusrokhan (President, OPPI), besides Dr R.A. Mashelkar (Director General, CSIR, India), General President, ISCA-2000.

Speaking as Chief Guest, Dr Jalan outlined some concrete proposals to industrialists, such as setting aside five per cent of their assets and time, and establishing a non-political collaborative cell with the government, aimed at revamping the existing educational and admin­istrative services in the public sector.

Accepting the need for a regular inflow of foreign currency into the country, Dr Jalan informed that RBI would take steps to ensure that the country was not just a recipient but also a provider of capital and know-how.

Dr Jalan advised the gathering of industrialists, entre­preneurs and managers to take steps to provide impetus

establishing a strong and efficient patents organisation in the country. He also proposed that national laborato­ries and the government should encourage R&D at the micro-level of firms instead of focussing only on the macro-level industrial funding of R&D.

The complete symposium was organised in to five sessions. At the first session, 'An International Over­view' was presented along with the discussions on 'How doest it happen accross the shore?' At the second ses­sion, Indian experts presented their views on 'How can we do it in India' . At the third session, the entrepreneurs from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries pre­sented their views, while the fourth session was devoted to aspects of 'Innovation financing'. The concluding remarks were given by Dr R A Mashelkar after a panel discussion.

The Chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd, Dr N R Narain Murthy, offered three hard suggestions to gov­ernment so as to create Silicon Valleys in India: abolish­ment of monoplies, permission to private sector to piay a bigger role in providing school and college education and in family control programme, and granting of dual citizenship to its NRis. He also suggested creation of Education Development Finance Corporation (EDFC) for providing financial support to deserving bright young students.

Dr Murthy called for a removal of all bureaucratic controls on wealth creation. He suggested that the gov­ernment should concentrate on matters like foreign af­fairs, defence, etc. and on all policy issues and should give up areas like airlines, banks, hotels, etc.

Outlining targets set by national IT taskforce for 2008, Dr Murthy said that a minimum of 20% penetration of PCs in the country, a telephone density of I 0 per thou­sand compared to 2 per 1000 at the moment in urban areas and Internet connections for 30 million urban and 25 million rural homes compared to less than half a million at the moment, were needed to "permeate infor­mation technology in every sphere of life, and create Singapores in cities like Pune and Bangalore.

The Infosys commander declared that the answer to the Indian genes expressing better in Silicon Valley lies in overcoming the 'blacklash of our colonization' and suggested that 'Indians should overcome their com­plexes and learn from other world cultures and societies '.

Drawing the attention of the leaders of the country towards the potential of knowledge industries, Dr Mur­thy said, "as long as we send conflicting, weak messages, and as long as our embassies act as friction creators

504 1 SCI IND RES VOL 59 JUNE 2000

instead of functioning as ambassadors, knowledge in­dustries would not be optimally harnessed".

The chairman and managing director of Bicon Lim­ited, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw declared that after IT, it is R&D in biotechnology which is a 'big promise' for the next millennium. The advantages of biotech R&D need to be exploited because 'India has the most fascinating diversity in its human gene pools that could provide startling answers to genetic defects'. She suggested shift­ing of patenting from the Ministry of Industries to the Ministry of Science & Technology, as the first step towards simplifying patent granting system.

The director and chief scientific officer of Nicholas Piramal (India), Swati Piramal, opined that with the opening of new opportunities in fields like biotechnol­ogy, pharmacogenetics, pharmaceuticals, and bioinfor­matics, many Indian companies will come up in international market and added that at least 50 Indian pharma companies would find place in international stock market.

Dr Piramal observed that Indian scientists because of their English-speaking capability, were on a advanta­geous position to deal with areas like biology and chem­istry, as comapred to their counterparts in many countries. According to Dr Piramal, there would be a reamarkable increase in chronic and infectious diseases in India by 2020, and therefore the health-care compa­nies should prepare themselves for this challenge.

According to H R Khusrokhan, President OPPI, inno­vation was the greatest challenge to the Indian industry and the best way to do worldclass R&D was through establishment of' scientific clusters'- a combination of universities, R&D institutions, industry and specialised government agencies.

Mr Khusrokhan believed that with the completion of mapping of the human genome by 2002, the explosion of genomics would lead to a surge in the number of known drug targets, avoidance of side effects and an increased growth of preventive medicine.

He was hopeful that by 2010, Indian pharmaceutical companies would enjoy at least 10% share of the world pharmaceuticals trade, there would be a minimum of 10% transnational alliances in R&D, 70 per cent of the population would have access to modern medicines and at least 10 Indian pharmaceuticals and biotech compa­nies would enjoy a berth in interna't\onal stock ex­changes.

The chief economist of Confederation of Indian In­dustries (CII), New Delhi, Mr Omkar Goswamy also

pleaded for commercialisation of R&D but added that success of such ventures would depend upon the health of our universities. Accordinig to him, the Transfer Technology Projects (TTP) between universities and industries would not only provide upgradation and greater autonomy for the Universities but also govern­ment support and incentives to attract more and more scientific personnel.

Mr Goswamy suggested to select 25 key R&D insti­tutions in India with a view to target them as potential incubators for contract research organisations.

The business executive of Millennium Pharmaceuti­cals (USA), Dr Ramani Varasani, suggested greater in­tegration between biotechnology, pharmaceutical and bioinformatics companies to maximize commercializa­tion of R&D and to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical companies, both national as well as international. Dr Varasani called upon the scientists to enter the business field so that the country could benefit from their rich experience in science.

Science Exhibition

As a part of Indian Science Congress, a Science Exhibition was also organised in the grounds of the Pune University from 3 to 7 January 2000. This exhibition was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Va­jpayee on 3 January 2000. A large number of Central Government organisations like DST, DBT, CSIR, DOD, ICAR, Department of Space, etc; state government or­ganisations and many industries and private sector or­ganisations displayed their exhibits at this exhibition. But the star attraction of the exhibition was the spectular display by the Ministry of Defence, which had displayed various tanks, armoured vehicles, radar systems, air de­fence systems, AK-47, Uzi submachinegun, exploits from Kargil, etc. The best part of this exhibition was that the visitors could see, touch and have a feel of the exhibits.

The response from the general public, particularly school children was phenomenal and one could see long serpentine queues for the entry into the exhibition. "Re­cord tum out", "Unending Queues" at the ISCA Science Exhibition were some of the titles of the stories reported by various newspapers. The people came from as far as Lonawal and Satara to see the Exhibition.

Valedictory Function

At this function attended by a large number of stal­warts of Indian science, Dr R A Mashelkar, the Genereal

AGGARWAL : INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS 2000- A REPORT 505

President of ISC 2000, observed that they had been successful in taking science to the people. He termed it as 'People's Science Congress' <~S people in large num­ber visited this congress. Dr Mashelkar said that he was highly touched when he saw a person on a wheel chair taking a look at the stalls or the five blind men going with a guide to listen to the description of exhibits which they could not see or the five km queue to have a look at the science exhibition.

Dr Mashelkar informed that the Vidya Sahakari Bank had offered to launch the 'Innovative Financing for India's (knowledge) Fund' for Indian Innovators with potential marketable innovative products.

The General Presidente was also enthused by the response of women to this Indian Science Congress. He said that out of 22 winners of the ISCA Young Scientists Awards, 15 were women and two of them- Ipsita Dey - Guha and P. Satyavathi- were from Pune University.

Awards were also announced for the best poster pres­entation in the Sections, Committees and Forums during Indian Science Congress 2000. Prof. Arun Nigavekar, Vice Chancellor of the Pune University, expressed sat­isfaction about the way this Science Congress was or-

ganised. He said that all these five days it appeared that people wanted science, more science and nothing but science and added they were also taken by surprise by the overwhelming response from the public.

Next Session

The next session of Indian Science Congress Associa­tion, i.e. ISCA 2001 will be held in New Delhi from 3 to 7 January 2001 and its General President is Dr R.S. Paroda, the well known agricultural scientist and Direc­tor General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges with thanks the help re­ceived from the stories published in various newspapers specially Pune Times of India and Pune Newsline. The special Editions of "Yritta Vidya" - an experimental journal brought out by the students and teachers of Department of Communication & Journalism, Univer­sity of Pune, Pune, were not only highly popular among the delegates but were also helpful in preparing this report. The effort of these buddingjournalists were really commendable.