Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta was felicitated at a function organised by the Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists (SGAT) and the Orissa Environment Society (OES) at the SGAT conference hall here on Wednesday for Dr Samanta being elected as President of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA)
Notably, Dr Samanta is only the second person from Odisha to be elected as General President of the prestigious science body in its 102-year history after a gap of 55 years.
Dr Samanta, a member of the Executive Council of ISCA since 2011, made another example by organising the 99th Session of the Indian Science Congress in 2012 at the KIIT University.
In his reply to the felicitation, Dr Samanta said he would work to highlight Odisha’s achievements in the fields of science and
technology in India and abroad. “There is a misunderstanding that people of other States are in the highest positions of various apex educational bodies. Now this misunderstanding will change as Odisha has got a chance,” he said.
In a related development, KIIT University VC Prof PP Mathur has been elected as General Secretary of the ISCA for the year 2016-19. It is rare for two persons from a single university to be elected as President and Secretary of the ISCA, said SK Sarangi of the SGAT.
Many eminent personalities, including former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr Manmohan Singh, have held the office of ISCA President in the past, he pointed out.