Inauguration of National Seminar on “Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”
A National Seminar on “Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”, organized by Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), BBSR Chapter in association with KIIT & KISS-DU and College of Basic Science & Humanities, OUAT, was inaugurated at KIIT on 2nd March 2022.
Article 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concerns gender equality and is among the 17 SDGs established by the United Nations in 2015. SDG 5 has nine targets and 14 indicators. One of the means of achieving targets is by promoting empowerment of women through technology. Agriculture, medicinal, physical, chemical, biological, and environmental sciences have all made substantial contributions to the creation of contemporary technology. It is impossible to attain without gender equality. Women’s empowerment is a critical component in achieving long-term economic growth, social development, and environmental sustainability.
Inaugurating the Seminar, Prof. Vijay Laxmi Saxena, General President, ISCA emphasized the importance of gender equality and introduced the theme. The inaugural session was graced by Prof. C. S. K. Mishra, Director, CBSH (OUAT); Padma Shri Prof. A. P. Dash, Vice Chancellor, AIPH University, Bhubaneswar; Dr. B. K. Dash, Director, CIFRI, Kolkata; Prof. P. P. Mathur, Vice-Chancellor, Birla Global University, Bhubaneswar; Prof. Deepak Kumar Behera, Vice-Chancellor of KISS-DU; and Prof. Pawan Kumar Agrawal, Vice-Chancellor, OUAT.
Welcoming the guests, Dr. Kajal Parashar, Convener, ISCA BBSR thanked ISCA for providing this opportunity to propagate the science. She also expressed her heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Prof. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS. The inaugural session was anchored by Ms. Ritu Roumya Samal, Research Scholar, SAS, KIIT-DU.
The first session was chaired by Prof. A.K. Mishra. It comprised six oral presentations by young researchers. The second and third technical sessions were chaired by Dr. C. R. Mishra and Dr. C. S. K. Mishra respectively. The eminent speakers motivated the young minds to work for women empowerment through Science and Technology.
Padma Shri Prof. A. P. Dash spoke on the topic, “Control / Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals”. Dr. Basanta Kumar Das, Director, ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute delivered a talk on “Sustainable Women Empowerment through Fisheries Interventions”. Ms. Shinjini Kumar, Co-Founder, SALT @mysaltapp gave her valuable words on women empowerment via virtual mode. Prof. Bedangadas Mohanty, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awardee & Professor, NISER, Bhubaneswar delivered a talk on “High Energy Physics: Recent discoveries, Societal applications and towards restoring gender parity”. Dr. A. K. De, Advisor and Former Executive Secretary, ISCA spoke on “Science Communication: Ideal Profession for Women”. Dr. C. R. Mishra, Eminent Chemical Scientist & Technologist and National Science Communicator deliberated on the topic “Science Communication: Way Forward”. Prof. Joydev Dinda, Associate Professor, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar delivered a talk on “‘Organogold’ Based on N-heterocyclic Carbene; Synthesis”.
More than 300 researchers from all over the world are participating in the seminar physically. Live streaming of the entire event was done on YouTube and Facebook live, which enabled further more participation of researchers and students. Dr. Prashant Rath, Treasurer, ISCA and Dean, School of Applied Sciences, KIIT-DU offered vote of thanks to the guests, delegates and media persons.