The 90th Indian Science Congress (ISC) to be held in Banglore in the first week of January 2003 will have biotechnology, medical science, materials technology and atomic energy among the major subjects of discussion. Space scientists from NASA, ARIANE, European Space Agency (ESA) and from some developing countries including Malaysia and Thailand will be taking part in the event. Space technology and its application in various fields will dominate the 5-day mega science event being hosted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Banglore University. From the industry side, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is co-sponsoring the event.

Announcing this, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chairman ISRO and General President of the ISC, said that the focus will be on "Frontier science and cutting-edge technologies."

Nearly 6000 delegates including those from developed and developing countries will be taking part in the 182 session hours 14 sectional intense scientific deliberations and interactions spread over five days. There will be six plenary sessions on key areas i.e. energy, biotechnology, information technology, medicine and immunisation, food and environment and advanced materials.

Giving details, Dr. Kasturirangan said, "Science and technology today finds itself in a more challenging situation than before, to meet the future needs of the country in particular and the mankind in general. Industry that has a crucial role to play in this task is closely interlinked with science and technology. The need of the hour is a vigorous and informed debate on production and use of scientific knowledge as well as the acquisition of cutting-edge technologies. The nation needs to embark on a scientific approach which will catalyse technological advancement in the areas of electronics, super-conductors, energy, advanced materials, robotics, informatics and networking, space, defence, biotechnology, medical science, agriculture, materials technology and atomic energy. The advancement in these frontier areas of science will help generate a whole range of new products and services that will benefit the masses of the nation and enhance India's global competitiveness," he explained.

The Congress would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the keynote address by the Minister for Human Resource Development and Science & Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, stated an official press release.