This year’s first operational dive of Okeanos Explorer has come across the discovery of a new octopod. This is what the National Oceanic and...
Following public criticism from Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the Indian Science Congress (ISC),the scientific community is debating the effectiveness of the initiative.
Supporters of the initiative said that it acts as a medium between scientists on one side and the general public and the government on the other side. Some have even demanded the disbanding of the ISC after Ramakrishnan described the event to a circus. He had said that he will never attend the ISC ever as it was a "circus where very little science was discussed".
This is the second time that the event is facing criticism from various sections. In the previous year, there were attempts to turn the scientific agenda with one participant delivering aa lecture saying aircraft was invented by a sage in the Vedic times. The criticism has been prevalent since that lecture and debate continues over the effectiveness of the event.
Director of B M Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, B G Sidharth said that this year’s event was entirely focused on Prime Minister's visit and the money would have been better spent on setting up a medical college.PM Bhargava, founder director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology who returned his Padma Bhushan award, said that the holding the congress is a waste of money and said that the event has deteriorated over decades.
