Report on ISCC 2014

The 14th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC-2014) on the theme of ‘Communication Strategies for Science Governance’ was held at Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi from 25-29 December. The conference was organized by Indian Science Writers Association (ISWA) in association with  Jan Sewa Ashram, Water Portal and Spandan. It was catalyzed and supported by National Council of Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST New Delhi.

The conference was inaugurated in the morning of 26 th December by ceremonial lighting of lamp by chief guest Mr. Anil Saumitra of Spandan, Mr VP Singh secretary ISWA, Dr VK Srivastav Chair ISCC 2014 and Dr Manoj K Patairiya, Convener ISCC 2014. The inaugural Session was conducted by Mr. Tariq Badr from ISWA. In his inaugural address Dr Patairiya who is ADG, Prasar Bharti elaborated on the theme of congress. Science governance which is also termed as soft science is nothing but the management of science. It prepares us for future and saves us from science misconduct. Dr Patairiya pointed that it is a pleasant coincidence that conference on ‘Science Governance’ is inaugurated on the ‘Good Governance Day’. Mr Anil  Saumitra from Spandan an NGO emphasized on the role of science communication in development. Mr VP Singh secretary ISWA elaborated on the role of ISWA and ISCC on science communication movement in India. The inaugural session ended with a vote of thanks by Dr VK Srivastav Chair ISCC 2014. Around 200 scientists, science writers, academicians,  science correspondents and students participated in the congress.

Several topics  were discussed and deliberations made during the conference “ Communication Strategies for Science Governance ”, which was the focal theme of ISCC-2014. The deliberations  covered a wide range of sub themes, such as Science for people, science for policy makers, Institutional strategies, Policy issues, scientists as communicators, session for young scholars et al.

The first scientific session of the conference was an exhibition session chaired by Dr Lal Singh from NCERT, New Delhi. The delegates got an opportunity to see the various issues of Indian journal of Science communication. Dr. Chandra Mohan interacted on an environment friendly fruit wash technology which is cost effective and increases the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. The main highlight of the session was a demonstration on Braille rendition of a popular science magazine in Hindi (Braille) for visually impaired. The magazine edited by Dr Chandra Mohan is a first of its kind. The outcome of the session was summarized by Dr RS Yadav from AIR who is an old associate of ISCC.

The first scientific session on the theme ‘Science for people’  began with a presentation by Bharti Bhojak on the challenges  opportunities in science communication through regional languages with a special emphasis on Hindi news papers and magazines. The presentation by VK Muliya was an innovative method of communicating science through science cartoons. Dr Rita malik highlighted the history of science communication down the ages. Mr CB Devgun elaborated the efforts of SPACE an NGO on taking the science to the people through Citizen Science concept. The summary of the session was presented by rapporteur Dr Anshu Arora from Punjab University.

The evening session of the first day was chaired by Dr Prabha Sharma a young researcher and science communicator. The session began with a presentation on green technologies and green buildings which is a very important concept and needs to be disseminated among common masses. The next presentation was on MOOCS- a new frontier in science communication by Dr Umesh Arya. The other presentation was on Role of Community media on health issues with special emphasis on mental health by Dr Anukaran Dutta.

The second day of the 14th Indian Science Communication Congress 2014 began with a scientific session on the theme `Institutional Strategies’. The first speaker Dr. N. Bajpai emphasized the importance and means of science communication for humanities students. It was followed by a talk by Dr. S.P. Mahendra, who presented a study on science content in the print media, based on research conducted in Dausa district in Rajasthan. Ms. Kalpana Sangwan commented on the changing role of teachers and need for developing scientific attitude in students. Dr. Seemin Rubab talked about the INSPIRE science camps and described the students’ response in three camps. She emphasized that these camps offer a unique opportunity to practicing scientists for communicating their area of research and work in simple language to higher secondary students.  The last talk of the session was by Ms. Nisha Sharma, an M. Sc. student from Lucknow University, who presented a survey based study on the scientific temper at a village in UP. Dr. Smita Mishra beautifully summarized the talks presented in the session.

The second session on the theme `Policy Issue’ began with a talk by Dr. Mahendra Kumar Pandey, on conceptualizing an effective science communication policy, for development- sustainability with special emphasis in the Indian context.

The second presentation was by Sri J. Ashok Kumar, who discussed on the scope of attracting young talent to science. Mr. A.S.D Rajput threw light on importance of science communication in good governance. A talk highlighting the role of regional languages in science communication was given by Dr. Gopal Singh. Sri Birat Raja Pradhan presented a study analyzing role of science communication in health sectors. The last talk of the session was by Dr. I. K. Mishra on e-governance and the impact of new media technologies on society. The session was chaired by Dr. Ankuran Dutta and Dr. S. R. Dixit acted as rapporteur.

The post lunch session on scientists as communicators was chaired by Prof. B K. Kuthiala the vice-chancellor of MLC University of journalism. The first talk was by Dr. Puneet Kumar from Lucknow University, who threw light on the concept of weblog. He explained as to how a scientist can communicate in an easy way by creating a blog and initiating a dialogue. Dr. A.S.D Rajput discussed on the scope of interaction of scientists with the masses. The last talk of the session was by Dr. Anamika Ray, who talked on the consequences of open education resources in scientific research. The session ended with a summary of talks by the rapporteur Dr. Seemin Rubab and in depth analysis by the chair. One of the most important points emphasized by Prof Kuthiala is that instead of talking about nature we should initiate dialogue with nature.

After tea,  began the last session of the day which was specially designated for the young scholars. The first talk was by Shalini Singh on hygiene awareness among housemaids in Lucknow. The second talk was from Kanishka Singh on role of science communication in control of river pollution. The analysis was done for water pollution in Gomti river in Lucknow. It was followed by a presentation by Alakh Sharma who presented a study of causes behind poor response to gadgets using solar energy. The concluding talk was from Ms. Aparna Singh on dissemination of scientific researches carried out at Lucknow University. It was followed by a talk from Manisha Pandit on comparative analysis of two English dailies the Hindu and Indian Express on coverage of Mars Mission.

A puppet show on science communication was  presented by Gaurav Sharma, Khushboo Sharma, Ankit Awasthi, Anjali Sharma, Surya Teja and Shahshank on `A Night of the Scorpion’. The session’s outcome was highlighted by rapporteur Sri Anoop Chaturvedi. The session Chair,  Prof KK Kapoor of Jammu University emphasized the importance of the session as an incubator of future science communicators.

The third day of the conference started with Poster session under the chairmanship of Dr Gopal Singh. The main attraction of the third day’s proceedings was the split group discussion under the chairmanship of  Dr Subhan Khan retired scientist from CSIR-NISTADS. All the participants were divided into five groups under the guidance of group leaders to discuss ways and means to make science communication widespread and effective in India. After brainstorming the group leaders submitted their recommendations to the chair. The recommendations were summarized by Dr AK Singh, the rappoerteur of the session.

Post lunch sessions of final day was panel discussion session under the chair of Dr VK Srivastav of  ICMR.

Dr AS Yadav presented the ISCC 2014 report during post lunch session. During valedictory session several science communicators like Mr Kesar Singh of  Water portal, Mr RD Rikahri former editor Scientific Temper, Mr Sripal Sangwan, Senior Agriculturist, Mr Khalil former editor ‘science ki Dunya’ urdu quarterly

were felicitated. Best papers from all the five sessions were also awarded during valedictory. Dr PK Verma, chief guest opined that there should be different levels of science communication. He also stressed the need to conserve and popularize tribal wisdom. He talked about the science communication initiatives like ‘Kaarigar Vigyan’ and Media Chaupal, senior scientist science forum etc taken at Madhya Pradesh council of science and Technology under his directorship. Dr MC Tiwari, head international boundaries, MEA, guest of honour stressed on targeting children during science communication efforts. Dr VK Srivastav in his presidential address deliberated on the need for science communication in regional language in a multilingual country like India. Dr Manoj Patairiya proposed vote of thanks to the organizers and participants. Post tea session was restricted to ISWA members only for AGM. The conference ended with the dinner and networking of various stakeholders.