IISF will bring spirit of collaboration between science and industry: PM Narendra Modi
IISF
will bring spirit of collaboration between science and industry: PM Narendra
Modi
New Delhi (India Science Wire). Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the
sixth edition of India International Science Festival (IISF) 2020, today,
through virtual mode.The four-day festival is being held on digital platforms
till December 25. In his inaugural address he said that celebrations and
festivals have been a part of India’s character. “We are celebrating science
and the human spirit of inquiry and innovation through this festival that look
at the past with pride but want a better future. I hope this science festival
will bring spirit of collaboration between science and industry” PM said.
PM Narendra Modi while addressing
IISF 2020
In his address he also
pointed out how the education system is being reformed to let young minds
listen to their own calling and look beyond the textbooks to develop the spirit
of inquiry and scientific temper. Citing the newly framed education policy
after a gap of 30 years, PM expressed confidence that the policy reforms will
go a long way to create a pool of top quality teachers and help researchers in
the emerging fields. “Earlier the focus
was on outlays but now it is on outcomes. Earlier the focus was on textbooks
but now it has shifted to research and application. To compliment the changes
that have been made in the new education policy, the government has started
Atal innovation Mission. As a part of this mission manytinkering laboratories
are being established in schools that are proving to be new innovation
playgrounds. Similarly the Atal incubation centers have been established to
develop the ecosystem for research and development in higher education” PM Modisaid.
He mentioned that the biggest
long-term challenge was to retain youngsters in pure science field. For this
the government has announced several scholarships at various levels. “I want to
invite the global community to invest in India as we have the culture of
openness and transparency” said the PM. In his address he also said that all
the efforts are aimed at making India the most trustworthy center for
scientific learning. “I wish you all keep on learning and may science energize
the entire Indian and global community” PM concluded.
International Science
Film Festival of India (ISFFI) is a major attraction of IISF. This year the
ISFFI has received 634 science film entries from 60 countries. “Every year the
film festival is growing and now we also feel the need to give some workshop
session and handholding to the upcoming science film makers. There is a huge
potential and we can share our experience to nurture them” said Mike Pandey,
Filmmaker and ISFFI jury chairman.
Speaking on the
occasion Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister of
Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Earth Sciences said that these films
have a huge variety as they are based on themes like science, technology,
awareness related to COVID-19 and India’s efforts to be self-reliant.
DrUy Hoang, President,
Public Health Film Society, United Kingdom said that science communication was
poised to face the challenge of bringing people together and film makers have
started addressing this issue and hopefully it was going to be achieved.
“We have a good
experience of holding film festival as before this we conducted the 10th
edition of National Science Film Festival virtually and for this film festival
we are equally enthusiastic” said DrNakulParashar, Director, VigyanPrasar. NimishKapoor,
the Coordinator, ISFFI said that all efforts were being made to harness the
potential of the medium of films to popularize science. “We will screen more
than two hundred films online, during the IISF. The title of the award winning
films will be announced on December 25” he informed.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST), in collaboration with other central ministries, has been organising the annual IISF event since 2015. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Science for Self-Reliant India and Global Welfare’.
(India Science Wire)