Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is on two-day visit to Odisha, will inaugurate the 99th Indian Science Congress (ISC) in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

More than 15,000 delegates, including 500 foreign scientists and 20 Noble laureates will be participating in the five-day long Congress to deliberate issues like climate change, food security, preventing maternal and child mortality, assisted technology for disabled, science and education in rural areas, women in science, water scarcity, clean energy and space technology. The theme of this year’s Congress is ‘Science and Technology for Inclusive Innovation – Role of Women’.

AIR correspondent reports, the five-day long 99th Indian Science Congress is beginning at Bhubaneswar from Tuesday.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the Congress to be attended by renowned scientists across the globe.

Besides deliberating a number of concerning issues, special emphasis will be laid in this Congress on bridging the divide in the society using science and technology to achieve inclusive development – be it economic, geographical or gender based biases.

There will be a Women’s Science Congress inaugurated by Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US , on Thursday.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will also take part in the event.

Like in the previous editions of the event, there will also be a Children’s Science Congress where school children from different parts of India would display their models/charts.

The Children’s Science Congress will be inaugurated on Wednesday by former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Besides the emphasis on women and children, the other issue in focus at the Congress will be missiles. KIIT and the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) are jointly hosting the Indian Science Congress.