New Delhi: Union Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhanand Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath jointly addressed a curtain raiser in Luknow on the eve of 4thIndia International Science Festival-2018 (IISF-2018) to be held in Lucknow from 05th to 08th October.The mega science expo will be formally inauguratedby the President Shri Ram NathKovind.
Speaking at the occasion Dr. Harsh Vardhan reiterated Government’s committment to make science and technology as an enabler of social and economic progress for all sections of the population. “During the past four years, science in India has undergone a sea-change – from fundamental science to application science, where science plays a leading role in societal transformation” said Dr. Vardhan. Emphasizing the role of science and technology in driving inclusive growth Union Minister urged the scientific organizations to work in close alignment and partnership with all stakeholders.“Another major change in the last few years is bringing a synergy among scientific institutions collaborative research to address myriads of problems being faced by the society, as science has solution for major societal problems,” added Dr. Vardhan.
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath expressed his pleasure on hosting this mega international Science event at Lucknow. “Despite limited resources India has achieved significant accomplishments in the field of science and technology” said the Chief Minsiter,expressing confidence that organizing such science festival will create enormous opportunities for rapid growth of science and technology in Uttar Pradesh.
The theme of this edition of Science Festival is “Science for Transformation”. IISF is conceivably the biggest platform in India that brings together students, researchers, artists and general public to celebrate our nation’s achievements in science and technology. It is a medium to encourage the young minds towards the field of science and to promote the networking of stakeholders working towards the propagation of science. IISF-2018 with its focal theme “Science for Transformation” will have 23 special events. IISF-2018 is expected to be represented by approximately 10000 delegates including 5000 students, 550 teachers, 200 students from North-East Region, 20 international delegates and approximately 200 startups.
The Global Indian Science & Technology Stakeholders Meet (GIST), Industry Academia Meet and Science & Technology for Harnessing Innovations (SATHI)-A National startup entrepreneurship summit and Student Science Village are some of the important events, being organized. The Science Village program is linked with the Pradhan Manthri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana to reach out to the rural masses and propagate science and for seeking scientific solutions to the diverse challenges facing our society, particularly rural India. North East Student’s Conclave will bring hundreds of innovative, dedicated, passionate and award-winning students on a single platform to share their experiences and put forth the new dimensions of passion with science. As World record attempts have been a key part of IISF since 2015, in IISF 2018, a World Record attempt will be made to “isolate DNA” by 500 students from class 8th to 10th standard.
The special role of Women Scientists and Entrepreneurs in shaping the scientific growth trajectory will be another highlight of this Festival. The programme aspires to develop new entrepreneurship and explore new vistas of opportunities in the field of science and technology among the women. Approximately 800 women scientists/entrepreneurs will attend the event. There will be a special effort to engage with stakeholders of the Northeast and the aspirational districts. Another feature of IISF-2018 will be Mega Science and Industry Expo that will highlight the outstanding contributions of India in the field of science, technology, and industry.
Building Partnerships Impacting Society is the theme for the “State S&T Ministers’ conclave”. ‘Nav Bharat Nirman and the ‘Science and Literary Festival’ are the other highlights of IISF 2018. This festival is expected to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the contributions of Science & Technology to the flagship programmes of the Government.
As a prelude to the main event at Lucknow, Department of Biotechnology and VijnanaBharati (VIBHA) organized outreach programmes at seventy sevencitiesacross the country with huge participation. Curtain raiser was also organized in different parts of the country, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and Bombay. Curtain Raiser program at Kolkata and Delhi was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
Through this festival, the largest of its kind in the country and in this region, it is expected that the message of excitement of Science and scientific temper will be spread to the students and will be inspiring for the youth. All stakeholders will assemble to collectively work towards “Vigyan se Vikas”- contributing to the Making of a New India.
