TIRUPATI: Delegates were surprised at a paper titled Impact of ancient Indian thoughts on science, technology & medicine being listed for a session on physical science. And it brought back memories of how Indian mythology had made its way into sessions during the previous editions of Indian Science Congress in Mysuru and Mumbai, triggering uproar within the scientific community, but the Indian Science Congress Association was saved the blushes on Thursday as Prof Jagadish Rai, vice-chancellor, Invertis University, Bareilly, who was scheduled to present this controversial paper did not show up. It seems Prof Rai has chosen to skip the five-day event.
The ISC, however, could encounter problems on January 7, the last day of the event. Reason: Dr Soumen Acharya is scheduled to speak on inculcating sanskaras and social skills in children under ICDS scheme. In 2016 in Mysuru, a two-page abstract of a paper titled Lord Shiva as a great environmentalist in the world, as part of a symposium on air quality in major cities in terms of organic and inorganic pollutants, did not go well with many.
Senior IAS officer Rajeev Sharma also caused much embarrassment by extolling the virtues of “Shankh” or conch in prevention of psycho-somatic disorders and claimed that it is best way to prevent several ailments.
