The Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) University would host the 19th International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) World Congress after 45 years in India in January 2023. The event is held once in every five years.
KIIT and KISS founder Dr Achyuta Samanta informed this at a Press meet held here on Sunday.
Dr Samanta said India, represented by the KISS, won the bid against Croatia by a huge margin to host the next World Congress of Anthropology 2023 in collaboration with the Utkal University and the Sambalpur University and the Indian Anthropological Association, Delhi during this year’s congress held in Brazil from July 16 to 20.
More than 10,000 delegates from over 150 countries including academicians and researchers in the fields of anthropology and ethnology would attend the global meet, he said.
Earlier, the KISS had applied in 2014 but lost the bid to Brazil. However in 2018, Utkal University Vice-Chancellor Prof Soumendra Mohan Patnaik, Sambalpur University Vice-Chancellor Prof Deepak Kumar Behera and a KISS team presented the plan before the General Assembly to host the mega event in Odisha.
Dr Samanta also said that it is a matter of pride for the country in general and that of Odisha in particular. The event would bring Odisha a lot of visibility and the entire State would be a perfect centre for MICE Tourism.
Besides the major congress, there would be some pre-congress and post-congresses in different parts of India in course of the event.
Utkal University VC Prof Soumendra Mohan Patnaik, Sambalpur University VC Prof Deepak Kumar Behera and KISS University VC Prof Harekrushna Satapathy also spoke at the news conference.