CHANDIGARH, March 14, 2008: His Excellency, Dr A R Kidwai, Governor,Haryana, inaugurated the two day 2nd Chandigarh Science Congress:CHASCON-2008 at Panjab University Auditorium here today. The Congress is being held in association with various organizations in and around Chandigarh including PGIMER, NIPER, TBRL, CSIO, IMTECH, PEC, GMCH, CFSL, IISER, NITTTR, HSCST and PSCST.
The theme of the present Congress is “Empowering India by Scientific Integration, Innovation & Invention”. This Congress is a historical event as it is a part of Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Panjab University.In his inaugural address, Dr A R Kidwai appreciated the pioneering efforts made by Panjab University in providing a common platform for exchange of ideas for city scientists under the dynamic leadership of Prof R C Sobti well ahead of the other institutions. He emphasized the suitability of Panjab University and Chandigarh in providing a lead in matter of collaborative research and appealed to the other institutions to join hands with Panjab University in this laudable attempt. He congratulated the Vice Chancellor for his vision and wisdom in bringing the scientific community together. He appealed to the younger generation to avail the opportunities make India a power center of knowledge. He made a note of the serene atmosphere of Chandigarh, where academic and research activities can be promoted and thus can become a center of scientific research.
Earlier welcoming the delegates and dignitaries, Prof R C Sobti envisioned Chandigarh as a scientific city with scientific culture, scientific thought
and scientific infrastructure with Panjab University playing a pivotal role in enhancing education in the region and spreading awareness keeping all the
institutions with itself. He emphasized on the need to revive the scientific culture that was a part of the Indian heritage. He informed the house about
the constitution of the Chandigarh Academy of Sciences in April 2008.
Prof S K Kulkarni, DUI and Chairman of the Congress briefed about the aims and perspectives of the Congress. At the end Prof O P Katare, organizing
secretary of the Congress delivered the vote of thanks. An exhibition of scientific books and equipment was also inaugurated highlighting the
achievements of various institutes of Chandigarh region and departments of Panjab University.
Scientific sessions were held in 16 different sections in the respective science departments following the inaugural ceremony. A series of invited
lectures along with parallel poster sessions marked the event. As many as 700 poster presentations were made by research scholars, students and
scientists belonging to the Chandigarh region. Five presentations in each section were selected for podium presentation on the same day to select the
outstanding young scientist among each section according to Dr. Ranju Bansal, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, P.U.