Feb 2010_Preptalk new.cdr - Student Resources Centre

His stint as Foreign Secretary was marked by somecontroversy towards the end over the Indo-Pak Joint Statementissued in Sharm-el Sheikh following talks between PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart YusufRaza Gilani in July last year.The government came under severe attack for allowinginclusion of reference to Balochistan and delinking talks fromaction against terrorism by Pakistan and Menon was one of thekey targets for it.2,000 PAPERS PRESENTED AT 97TH INDIAN SCIENCECONGRESSAbout 2,000 scientific and technical papers were presentedduring the 97th Indian Science Congress (ISC 2010) thatconcluded in the green campus of Kerala University,Thiruvananthapuram."I have not seen such a hugeparticipation of scientists,technologists, research scholars,experts, policy-makers andstudents in the previous sciencecongresses," ISC GeneralPresident G. Madhavan Nair toldreporters on its concluding day.About 7,000 delegates,including 2,000 students from across the country, participatedin the five-day mega event, held for the first time in thispicturesque coastal city and for the second time in the southernstate after two decades at Kochi in 1990.About 40 plenary sessions in various disciplines of science,public lectures, parallel scientific and technical sessions, ascience and technology expo and a Children's Science Congresswere the highlights of the mega event.Organised by the Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA), with the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) and Kerala University as co-hosts, the focal theme of themega event was "Science and Technology Challenges of 21stcentury - National Perspective".Eminent scientists, including M.S. Swaminathan, father ofIndia's first green revolution, former Atomic Energy Secretary,Anil Kakodkar and Space Commission member, RoddamNarasimhan delivered lectures at the plenary sessions.Former Scientist-President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,distinguished scientists M.G.K Menon and C.N.R. Rao andNobel laureates Roger Tsien and John Cromwell Mather fromthe U.S. made presentations.Vice-Chancellors of universities and educationists fromacross the country and abroad discussed the status and futureperspectives of science education. A panel discussion on"Frontiers of Science and Technology in 21st century" was alsoheld during the congress.JAIPUR HOSTS ASIA'S BIGGEST LITERARY FESTIVALOver 190 writers from 30countries gathered at Jaipurfor a five-day literaryfestival.The festival was held atDiggi Palace, a sprawling 19th century mansion. The festival isconsidered as Asia's biggest literary festival and promises to bepacked with readings, discussions and debate, besides musicalperformances.Many first-time author-attendees have said they areenjoying the experience.Now in its fifth year, the event saw literati rubbing shoulderswith glitterati.Some of the writers participating included AlexanderMcCall Smith, Mahasweta Devi, Wole Soyinka, Devdutt Patnaik,Roberto Calasso, Vikram Chandra, Hanif Kureishi and Louis deBernihres. Bollywood actors Rahul Bose and Om Puri, Britishfilmmaker Stephen Frears were among the others, whoattended.Many authors agreed that the Jaipur Literature Festival is aunique meeting place for writers across countries, cultures andlanguages."One thing is that we get to meet writers who we wouldn'tcome across everyday. We meet writers who write in differentlanguages, which is great. There are a lot of book fairs in India,but nothing of this scale, which is one of a kind," said poet andauthor Gulzar.The event has put Jaipur, a popular tourist destination, onthe literary map.PT’s PrepTalk – February 2010 19