Row over VC’s remark: ISCA says won’t file plaint

Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 8

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After the wide condemnation of “unscientific” statements of G Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University, at the 106th Indian Science Congress (ISC) and a subsequent blog post by K Vijayraghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, advocating a formal complaint against the VC, functionaries of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) today said they would not make any formal complaint on the issue.

Rao had stated that the Kauravas were test tube babies and Ravana had many aircraft. While the ISCA had on Monday announced that during the future conventions, written declarations would be taken from all delegates on their summaries for their talks or lectures, it said it wasn’t mulling a complaint.

ISC (2019) general president Manoj Chakrabarti said, “We are not making any complaint as of now. We are taking steps to prevent any such comments being made in the future. Written summaries shall be taken from future speakers and any deviation from the mentioned subject matter would result in immediate stopping of their talk. Written declarations shall also be taken that delegates will not speak anything which is unscientific.”

Resolutions regarding this have been passed on the level of the executive committee, executive council and the general body of the ISC.

In his blog post, links of which have been shared both on his own Twitter handle and that of the Department of Science and Technology, K Vijayraghavan had written, “Scientists say what they say and if they talk nonsense, they will feel the heat from the community. It is indeed unfortunate that a sitting Vice Chancellor of a great state university, a biologist to boot, says something that is scientifically completely untenable. His Chancellor should get a formal complaint from those who were there and he will surely hear personally from individual scientists and our very vocal science academies.”

Chakrabarti said, “No functionary from the government has approached us about it. In any case, any undue attention to an unscientific speaker overstepping the line is in itself quite unfortunate.”

‘Kauravas were test tube babies’ 

• G Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University, had stated that the Kauravas were test tube babies and Ravana had many aircraft. 
• While the ISCA had on Monday announced that during the future conventions, written declarations would be taken from all delegates on their summaries for their talks or lectures, it said it wasn't mulling a complaint.