Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

,started in the year 1914, with Headquarters at Kolkata.. It meets annually in the first week of January every year.

Introduction

The ISCA was established by two British chemists, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon to promote scientific research in India. It was established on the lines of British Association for the Advancement of Science

British Association for the Advancement of Science

frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...

. As per tradition, Indian Science Congress has always been inaugurated on the 3rd of January by the Prime Minister of India

Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...

 and is chaired by the Chief Minister

Chief Minister

A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...

 of the state in which it is held.

Objectives

The Association was formed with the following objectives

• To advance and promote the cause of science in India
• To hold an Annual Congress at a suitable place in India
• To publish proceedings, journals, transactions etc.
• To popularize science.

Indian Science Congress meets

The first meeting of the congress was held from January 15–17, 1914 at the premises of the Asiatic Society

Asiatic Society

The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...

, Calcutta. Honorable justice Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, the then Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University presided over the Congress. One hundred and five scientists from different parts of India and abroad attended it. Altogether 35 papers under 6 different sections, namely Botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, Chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, Ethnography

Ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...

, Geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

, Physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 and Zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 were presented. The ISCA has now grown into a strong fraternity with more than twelve thousand members.

During the annual Congress meet, plenary lectures are delivered by the eminent scientists and Nobel laureates. These lectures invariably provide broader international perspective and create awareness about the role of science in the society. One of the major attractions is a science exhibition revealing the latest scientific development in the country.

The 98th Congress at Chennai, 3rd to 7th January 2011

The 5 day long, 98th session at the Campus of SRM University, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...

 on 3 January 2011. The focal theme of the current session is: "Quality education and excellence in scientific research in Indian universities". The Prime Minister said: "The Indian scientific community must apply its research findings and translate them into marketable products for the country to realize the true benefits of scientific progress. At the same time, he cautioned on "illiberal" uses of technology and cited use of nuclear weapons, applications of synthetic chemistry in agriculture and in poison gases and "perverse use" of genetics in Nazi Germany to drive home his point.

Nobel laureates Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...

, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Ada Yonath

Ada Yonath

Ada E. Yonath is an Israeli crystallographer best known for her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome. She is the current director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science. In 2009, she received the Nobel...

, Thomas A. Steitz

Thomas A. Steitz

-Publications:* Steitz, T. A., et al. , nsls newsletter, .* Steitz, T. A., et al. , NSLS Activity Report .-External links:* , from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, United States Department of Energy...

, Tim Hunt

Tim Hunt

Sir Richard Timothy "Tim" Hunt, FRS is an English biochemist.Hunt was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H...

 and Martin Chalfie

Martin Chalfie

Martin Chalfie is an American scientist. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, where he is also chair of the department of biological sciences. He shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Osamu Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien "for the...

 would deliver special lectures at the congress.
Venkata Ramakrishnan inaugurated the parallel Children's Science Congress on Tuesday, 4 January 2011.

Amartya Sen, the Chairman of the interim governing body of the "Asian initiative" to rebuild Nalanda

Nalanda International University

Nalanda International University is the name of a proposed university in Nalanda, Bihar which is expected to be functional from 2013 with seven schools or more and will expand in later years...

, said that restoring Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

's Nalanda University- the worlds oldest university- was one of his most challenging assignments. He added: "I am finding out how hard it is to re-establish a university after a 800-year hiatus. But we are getting there". Established in the 5th century, Nalanda University remained the touchstone for educational excellence for more than 700 years - when acclaimed universities such as the UK's Oxford and Cambridge were still being founded. It is more than 600 years older than the University of Bologna

University of Bologna

The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

, the oldest continually operating university in the world. The Nalanda University was destroyed in an Afghan attack led by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. Books and documents were burnt indiscriminately, robbing the academic world of its educational standards and scholastic achievements in various disciplines, Sen said. "Had it not been destroyed and had it managed to survive into our time, Nalanda would be, by a long margin, the oldest university of the world." Sen added. Taking the delegates on a historical tour of the ancient Indian centre of learning, Sen admitted that turning Nalanda into an institute of excellence for higher studies, with focus on science would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. The Asian Initiative to rebuild Nalanda is a joint venture of India, Japan, China, Singapore and Thailand.

Sessions of Indian Science Congress

Session	Year	Place	General President	Title of the presidential address
1st	1914	Kolkata	Ashutosh Mukherjee Ashutosh Mukherjee Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, CIE was a prolific Bengali educator and the first Indian Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta from 1906 to 1924. Perhaps the most emphatic figure of Indian education, he was a man of great personality, high self-respect, courage and towering administrative ability...	About Science Congress
2nd	1915	Chennai	W. B. Bannermann	The importance of knowledge of biology of medical, sanitary and scientific men working in the tropics
3rd	1916	Lucknow	Sidney J. Burrard	The plains of northern India and their relationship to the Himalayan mountains
4th	1917	Bangalore	Sir Alfred Gibbs Bourne Alfred Gibbs Bourne Sir Alfred Gibbs Bourne KCIE, DSc, FRS, FLS was a zoologist, botanist and educator....	On scientific research
5th	1918	Lahore	Gilbert T. Walker	On teaching of science
6th	1919	Mumbai	Leonard Rogers Leonard Rogers Sir Leonard Rogers FRS was a founder member of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and its President from 1933 to 1935....	Researches on cholera
7th	1920	Nagpur	Prafulla Chandra Roy Prafulla Chandra Roy Prafulla Chandra Ray was a Indian academician, a chemist and entrepreneur. He was the founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, India's first pharmaceutical company...	Dawn of science in modern India
8th	1921	Kolkata	Rajendranath Mookerjee Rajen Mookerjee Sir Rajen Mookerjee, KCIE, KCVO was a pioneering Indian industrialist.-Early life:...	On science and industry
9th	1922	Chennai	C. S. Middlemiss	Relativity
10th	1923	Lucknow	M. Visvesvaraya	Scientific institutions and scientists
11th	1924	Bangalore	N. Annandale Nelson Annandale Thomas Nelson Annandale CIE was a Scottish zoologist, entomologist and anthropologist.The eldest son of Thomas Annandale, the regius professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh, Nelson was educated at Rugby School, Balliol College, Oxford, and the University of Edinburgh.Annandale...	Evolution convergent and divergent
12th	1925	Varanasi	M. O. Forster Martin Onslow Forster Sir Martin Onslow Forster, FRS was a chemist and a director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India....	On experimental training
13th	1926	Mumbai	Albert Howard Albert Howard Sir Albert Howard was an English botanist, an organic farming pioneer, and a principal figure in the early organic movement. He is considered by many in the English-speaking world as the father of modern organic agriculture....	Agriculture and science
14th	1927	Lahore	J. C. Bose	Unity of life
15th	1928	Kolkata	J. L. Simonsen	On chemistry of natural products
16th	1929	Chennai	C. V. Raman Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS was an Indian physicist whose work was influential in the growth of science in the world. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for the discovery that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected...	On Raman Effect
17th	1930	Allahabad	C. S. Christopher	The science and disease
18th	1931	Nagpur	R. B. Seymour Sewell	The problem of evolution experimental modification of bodily structure
19th	1932	Bangalore	Lala Shiv Ram Kashyap	Some aspects of the Alpine vegetation of the Himalaya and Tibet
20th	1933	Patna	Lewis L. Fermor Lewis Leigh Fermor Sir Lewis Leigh Fermor OBE FRS was an English geologist and the first president of the Indian National Science Academy...	The place of geology in the life of a nation
21st	1934	Mumbai	Megh Nad Saha	Fundamental cosmological problems
22nd	1935	Kolkata	J. H. Hutton	Anthropology and India
23rd	1936	Indore	U. N. Brahmachari Upendranath Brahmachari Sir Upendranath Brahmachari, KIH was a noted Indian scientist and a leading medical practitioner of his time...	The Role of science in the recent progress of medicine
24th	1937	Hyderabad	T. S. Venkataraman	The Indian village – its past, present and future
25th	1938	Kolkata	James Jeans James Hopwood Jeans Sir James Hopwood Jeans OM FRS MA DSc ScD LLD was an English physicist, astronomer and mathematician.-Background:...  (Lord Rutherford of Nelson Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...  died prematurely)	Researches in India and in Great Britain
26th	1939	Lahore	J. C. Ghosh	On research in Chemistry in India
27th	1940	Chennai	Birbal Sahni Birbal Sahni Birbal Sahni FRS was an Indian paleobotanist who studied the fossils of the Indian subcontinent, was also a geologist who took an interest in archaeology...	The Deccan Traps: an episode of the Tertiary era
28th	1941	Varanasi	Ardeshir Dalal	Science and industry
29th	1942	Vadodra	D. N. Wadia Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia FRS was a geologist for the Geological Survey of India. He was born at Surat in Gujarat...	The making of India
30th	1943	Kolkata	D. N. Wadia	Minerals’ share in the war
31st	1944	Delhi	S. N. Bose Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose FRS was an Indian mathematician and physicist noted for his collaboration with Albert Einstein in developing a theory regarding the gaslike qualities of electromagnetic radiation. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation...	The Classical Determinism and the Quantum Theory
32nd	1945	Nagpur	Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar	Give science a chance
33rd	1946	Bangalore	M. Afzal Hussain	The food problem of India
34th	1947	Delhi	Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...	Science in the service of the nation
35th	1948	Patna	Ram Nath Chopra	Rationalisation of medicine in India
36th	1949	Allahabad	K. S. Krishnan
37th	1950	Pune	P. C. Mahalanobis Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis FRS was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best remembered for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure. He made pioneering studies in anthropometry in India...	Why statistics?
38th	1951	Bangalore	H. J. Bhabha	The present concept of the physical world
39th	1952	Kolkata	J. N. Mukherjee	Science and our problems
40th	1953	Lucknow	D. M. Bose	The living and the non-living
41st	1954	Hyderabad	S. L. Hora Sunder Lal Hora Sunder Lal Hora was an Indian ichthyologist.Famous for the Satpura Hypothesis, a zoo-geographical hypothesis proposed by him that suggests that the central Indian Satpura Range of hills acted as a bridge providing for the Malayan affinity of many Indian fauna and flora in the peninsula and the...	Give scientists a chance
42nd	1955	Vadodra	S. K. Mitra Sisir Kumar Mitra Sisir Kumar Mitra [or Shishirkumar Mitra] was an Indian physicist.He was born and raised in Calcutta. His parents were the doctor Saratkumari and the school teacher Jaykrishna. At the age of nine he witnessed a hot air balloon and became intrigued in the phenomenon, so he began studying science...	Science and progress
43rd	1956	Agra	M. S. Krishnan	Mineral resources and their problems
44th	1957	Kolkata	B. C. Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy, M.R.C.P., F.R.C.S. was the second Chief Minister of West Bengal in India. He remained in his post for 14 years as a Indian National Congress candidate, from 1948 until his death in 1962. He was a highly respected physician and a renowned freedom fighter...	On science for human welfare and development of the country
45th	1958	Chennai	M. S. Thacker	Grammar of scientific development
46th	1959	Delhi	A. L. Mudaliar A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar B.A., M.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.O.G., F.A.C.S. was an Indian educationist and physician with notable international and academic roles.A.L.Mudaliar pursued his education from the prestigious Madras Christian College. He was the twin brother of Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar...	Tribute to basic sciences
47th	1960	Mumbai	P. Parija	Impact of society on science
48th	1961	Roorkee	N. R. Dhar	Nitrogen problem
49th	1962	Cuttack	B. Mukherji	Impact of life sciences on man
50th	1963	Delhi	D. S. Kothari Daulat Singh Kothari Daulat Singh Kothari was an eminent Indian scientist.He was born in Udaipur in Rajasthan state. He had his early education at Udaipur and Indore and did MSC in physics from Allahabad University inn 1928 under guidance of great physicist Megh Nad Saha...	Science and the universities
51st	1964	Kolkata	Humayun Kabir Humayun Kabir Humayun Zahiruddin Amir-i Kabir or Humayun Kabir was an Indian educationist, politician, writer and philosopher.-Ancestry and early life:...	Science and the state
52nd	1965	Kolkata	Humayun Kabir
53rd	1966	Chandigarh	B. N. Prasad	Science in India
54th	1967	Hyderabad	T. R. Seshadri	Science and national welfare
55th	1968	Varanasi	Atma Ram	Science in India – some aspects
56th	1969	Mumbai	A. C. Joshi (A. C. Banerjee Amiya Charan Banerjee Amiya Charan Banerjee was a mathematician and educator popularly known as A.C.Banerjee or simply as Professor Banerjee.-Family background:...  died prematurely)	A breathing spell:plant sciences in the service of man
57th	1970	Kharagpur	L. C. Verman	Standardization: a triple point
58th	1971	Bangalore	B. P. Pal	Agricultural science and human welfare
59th	1972	Kolkata	W. D. West	Geology in the service of India
60th	1973	Chandigarh	S. Bhagavantam Suri Bhagavantam Suri Bhagavantam B.Sc., M.Sc., D.Sc. , famous Indian scientist and administrator. He was Vice chancellor of Osmania University and Director of Indian Institute of Science and Defence Research and Development Organization.-Brief lifesketch:He was born in Agiripalli village in Andhra Pradesh...	Sixty years of science in India
61st	1974	Nagpur	R. S. Mishra	Mathematics – queen or handmaid
62nd	1975	Delhi	Asima Chatterjee Asima Chatterjee Asima Chatterjee was an Indian chemist noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. Her most notable work includes those on vinca alkaloids, and the development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs...	Science and technology in India: present and future
63rd	1976	Waltair	M. S. Swaminathan M. S. Swaminathan Maankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian agriculture scientist in Kuttanad, kerala. He was the second of four sons of a doctor.He is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in...	Science and integrated rural development
64th	1977	Bhubaneswar	H. N. Sethna Homi Sethna Homi Nusserwanji Sethna , PhD, was an Indian nuclear scientist and a chemical engineer, who remained the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India during Indian first nuclear test, codename Smiling Buddha in Pokhran Test Range in 1974...	Survey, conservation and utilisation of resources
65th	1978	Ahmedabad	S. M. Sircar	Science, education and rural development
66th	1979	Hyderabad	R. C. Mehrotra	Science and technology in India during the coming decades
67th	1980	Jadavpur	A. K. Saha	Energy strategies for India
68th	1981	Varanasi	A. K. Sharma	Impact of development of science and technology on environment
69th	1982	Mysore	M. G. K. Menon	Basic Research as an integral component of self-reliant base of science and technology
70th	1983	Tirupati	B. Rama Chandra Rao	Man and the ocean – resource and development
71st	1984	Ranchi	R. P. Bambah	Quality science in India – ends and means
72nd	1985	Lucknow Lucknow Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....	A. S. Paintal	High altitude studies
73rd	1986	Delhi	T. N. Khoshoo	Role of science and technology in environment management
74th	1987	Bangalore	Archana Sharma	Resources and human well-being-inputs from science and technology
75th	1988	Pune	C. N. R. Rao	Frontiers in science and technology
76th	1989	Madurai	A. P. Mitra	Science and technology in India:technology missions
77th	1990	Kochi	Yash Pal	Science in society
78th	1991	Indore	D. K. Sinha	Coping with natural disaster: an integrated approach
79th	1992	Vadodra	Vasant Gowariker	Science, population and development
80th	1993	Goa	S. Z. Qasim	Science and quality of life
81st	1994	Jaipur	P. N. Shrivastava	Science in India: excellence and accountability
82nd	1995	Kolkata	S. C. Pakrashi	Science, technology and industrial development of India
83rd	1996	Patiala	U. R. Rao	Science and technology for achieving food, economic and healthy security
84th	1997	Delhi	S. K. Joshi	Frontiers in science and engineering, and their relevance to national development
85th	1998	Hyderabad	P. Rama Rao	Science & Technology in Independent India : Retrospect and Prospect
86th	1999	Chennai	Manju Sharma	New bioscience: opportunities and challenges as we move into the next millennium
87th	2000	Pune	R. A. Marshelkar	Indian science and technology into the next millennium
88th	2001	Delhi	R. S. Paroda	Food, nutrition and environmental security
89th	2002	Lucknow	S. K. Katiyar	Health care, education and information technology
90th	2003	Bangalore	K. Kasturirangan Krishnaswami Kasturirangan Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan is a space scientist based in Bangalore, Karnataka who headed the Indian Space Research Organization for more than 9 years until 2003. He was a Member in the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. He is now a Member of the Planning Commission of Government of...	Frontiers of science and cutting-edge technologies
91st	2004	Chandigarh	Asis Dutta	Science and society in the twenty first century : quest for excellence
92nd	2005	Ahmedabad	N. K. Ganguly	Health technology as fulcrum of development for the nation
93rd	2006	Hyderabad	I. V. Subba Rao I. V. Subba Rao Idupuganti Venkata Subba Rao, better known as I. V. Subba Rao M.Sc., Ph.D. was an eminent Agricultural scientist....	Integrated rural development: science and technology
94th	2007	Annamalainagar	Harsh Gupta	Planet Earth
95th	2008	Visakhapatnam	Dr. Ramamurthi Rallapalli	Knowledge Based Society Using Environmentally Sustainable Science And Technology
96th	2009	Shillong	Dr. T. Ramasami	Science Education and Attraction of Talent for Excellence in Research
97th	2010	Thiruvananthapuram.	Dr. Madhavan Nair	Science & Technology of 21st Century - National Perspective
98th	2011	Chennai	Prof. K.C. Pandey	Quality education and excellence in science research in Indian Universities.
99th	2012	Bhubaneshwar	Prof. Geetha Bali	Science And Technology for Inclusive Innovation- Role of Women

External links

• Official website of the Indian Science Congress Association