The theme of the 102nd Congress is ‘Science and Technology for Human Development’

 

The Indian Science Congress was first held in Mumbai in the year 1926 and then in the years 1934, 1960 and 1969. The University of Mumbai had the honour of hosting the Congress in 1960 and is now privileged to host the 102^nd Indian Science Congress from 3^rd to 7^th January 2015. It is only fitting for the Indian Science Congress to be organised in this city which is the commercial capital of India. Mumbai is also the city of science, home to great scientists and to great institutions of science as well as one of the oldest Indian Universities, the University of Mumbai, established in 1857.

The theme of the 102^nd Congress is ‘Science and Technology for Human Development’ – a crucial theme to be reviewed and envisioned from the vantage point of the early twenty first century, a ‘chronotopic’ moment that can look back with both pride and dismay at the progress made, as well as the destruction wrought by Science in the last century.

The twentieth century saw the greatest signposts of modern Science, when humankind first took to the skies and then shot into space, a time when man walked on the moon and dived to great depths in the ocean in the service of Science and Technology. Indeed a small step for a man called Neil Armstrong but a giant leap for mankind.

It was, however, the century which also saw great holocausts and destruction of millions of human lives around the world. Weapons of mass destruction, invincible engines of war, lobotomised and laboratory confined human mice, Auschwitz, Nagasaki, Hiroshima not to forget a more unequal and unjust world in which Science and Technology were deeply implicated.

A walk down memory lane through the streets of India, and its corridors of Power ‘unconceal’ the fact that Science and Technology have brought the advantages of electricity, agricultural and dairy revolutions, modern means of transport, media and IT connectivity to large sections of the society.

To give the world a touch of Science and Technology harnessed to the service of all Humanity, even while slowly bringing India on par with the developed world, is the objective of this Congress.

We are impelled in this endeavour by eminent scientists who have also been great humanists and who have said that science has to work for the greatest good of the greatest number of human beings. Science cannot prosper in ivory towers leaving huge numbers of the human race to fester in poverty and ignorance. The Human Development Index evolved by the economist, Professor Mahbub ul Haq, in the 1970s and then worked into the Human Development Report written for the United Nations Development Programme in the 1990s, along with the writings of the Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen and other economists, have clearly stated that the purpose of development is to improve people’s lives and this is to us an integral text that defines the core areas of critical concern of this Congress.

We are aware that in order to do this, Science has to move out of its multi-million dollar laboratories and work together with the social sciences and humanities, to construct not just a scientifically and technologically superior world, but a world in which human beings live longer, have better education and develop to the fullest extent of their capabilities.

As Bill Clinton, the former President of U.S.A. said, “We cannot idolize technology. Technology is only and always a reflection of our own imagination and its uses must be conditioned by our own values.”

We may safely conclude that Science and Technology have to foster Human Development in India to its fullest extent and enable Indians to have lives that measure up to the requirements of the Human Development Index.

With this as its goal, the 102^nd session of the Indian Science Congress aims to further develop India as a Knowledge and Scientific society in which Human Development is the immediate and also ultimate objective. Needless to say, the  Indian Science Congress - 2015 is further animated by the conviction that science and technology must be value based and relevant to society.

Science and technology must thus venture beyond their narrow disciplinary domains and engage in mutually empowering dialogue with other disciplines. The sessions at the Congress have been organised into fourteen sections

Additionally several symposia on relevant themes – Women’s Science Congress, Children’s Science Congress, Science Exhibition, etc. – will also be organised during the five days of deliberations and discussions. We are confident that the plenary sessions, symposia and sessions in different sections around this timely theme of ‘Science and Technology for Human Development’, will provide a roadmap for future scientific, social, economic, academic, administrative and governmental initiatives.

Over 12,000 delegates are expected to participate in the 102^nd Indian Science Congress making it one of the largest Congresses organised by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA). We hope that this concept note will encourage and inspire our esteemed guests, resource persons and delegates to be part of this rich experience, where science will join hands with humanity in Mumbai - the premier city of India.