The theme is India. For the first time, the country and its destiny, both the past and present, dominate the 102nd five-day Indian Science Congress (ISC) being held in Mumbai that ends on January 7. Its agenda is different from previous ISCs, which have given importance to Western streams of science and technology over ancient Indian knowledge systems. The fine imprint of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s development schemes like Make in India, Swacch Bharat, Digital India and Smart Cities links Indian scientific heritage with technology. This has the secular establishment frothing at the mouth. A session on India’s Vedic Sciences through Sanskrit is being ridiculed as the government’s attempt to relate Hindutva with science. “For the first time in the ISC, serious government agendas like development and health are being given preeminent positions. It is very much in line with the prime minister’s basic thinking on Swacch Bharat to ensure good health and Smart Cities to improve India’s standard of living. He has emphasised on the role of the Vedic sciences in keeping people healthy,” said V M Katoch, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research. He said Vedic sciences may not have been documented but at least there was a vision and we should appreciate it.

Eminent scientists, Nobel laureates and academics mingled, ideated and spoke at sessions held in an atmosphere that bore saffron and green hues; the main pandal where the event is taking place, all posters, billboards, signages and event tents have saffron as the base pigment, which is also the colour of the BJP. Over 12,000 scientists from all over India, five Nobel laureates and important technology experts from India and abroad are meeting to discuss and unfold the concept of  ‘Science and Technology for Human Development’.