PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate and witness the entire inaugural session of the 108th Indian Science Congress through video conferencing on Jan 3. The inaugural ceremony will start at 9.30 am. The event is being hosted by Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) at its Amravati Road Campus. Among the top dignitaries who will grace the inaugural session are Governor of Maharashtra and Chancellor of Maharashtra Public Universities, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Union Minister and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of RTMNU Centenary Celebrations, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. Vice Chancellor of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Dr. Subhash R. Chaudhari, and General President of Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), Kolkata, Dr. (Mrs.) Vijay Laxmi Saxena will be prominently present.
The theme of the event this year is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment.” The Public Talks and exhibitions are open to the general public.The technical sessions of the 108th Indian Science Congress have been divided into 14 sections under which parallel sessions will be conducted at different venues in the university’s Mahatma Jotiba Phule Educational Campus. Apart from these 14 sections, there will be a Women’s Science Congress, a Farmers’ Science Congress, a Children’s Science Congress, a Tribal Meet, a section on Science and Society and a Science Communicators’ Congress.