Planetarium to host Bihar Science Congress from June 9

PATNA: When the three-day fourth Bihar Science Congress (BSC) gets underway here next week on June 9, 267 science researchers from the state would have an opportunity to present their papers for discussion. Thereby, the participants would also have an opportunity to get an idea of life in Bihar presented in a scientific module.

The BSC, to be inaugurated by science and technology minister Gautam Singh at Indira Gandhi Planetarium, will be held under the aegis of Bihar Council of Science and Technology (BCST). It would see papers reflecting on such themes as disaster management, agriculture, health, nutrition and energy with empirical inputs from life in Bihar, over and above conventional themes related to physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology and geography.

CM Nitish Kumar has already expressed interest in BSC, which was first held in 2002, followed by that held in 2007 and 2010. BSC has picked up a pattern under the regime of CM Nitish, who has instructed both the science and technology department and BCST not only to make it a regular annual feature, but also hold the meet on a definite date.

“The chief minister wants BSC to develop on the pattern of Indian Science Congress, which is held on January 1 and is inaugurated by the PM,” said science and technology department director S H Mintu on Thursday, adding: “His vision is to develop BSC into a proper platform in the state for science researchers to present their research papers. Its usefulness would also help in popularizing scientific outlook and popular interest in science.”

Mintu also said that no particular date has yet been fixed for holding the next meet of BSC, but it had been decided in principle to hold it in the first week of January. That way, the special expert invitees from outside the state would find it easy to participate in BSC after the Indian Science Congress is over, said another official of the department.

As for the fourth meet of the BSC to be held next week, the four special invitees from outside the state include Dr Arun Pratap from M T R University, Vadodara (Gujarat), Prof. A K Bakshi from Delhi University and Dr Arjun Khandare from National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. “During the meet, researchers will hold discussions on the scientific papers that they will present,” said Mintu, adding: “There would also be a poster exhibition to go with the theme of International Year of Chemistry.”