HYDERABAD: The 105th Indian Science Congress, which was to be held at the Osmania University here from January 3 to 7 next year, has been indefinitely postponed, the university said today. The Indian Science Congress Association said on its website that the university’s vice chancellor has expressed inability to host the event due to certain issues on the campus. The university’s vice chancellor, S Ramachandram, said though they were fully prepared to host the event, the decision to postpone it had to be taken due to things beyond their control.
“We were fully prepared. (We had to take this decision) keeping in view the recent incidents on the campus,” he said. Notably, a 20-year-old student had allegedly committed suicide on December 3 on the campus. The body of the first-year student of MSc Physics at the university, was found hanging in the washroom of one of the hostels on the campus. Protests were held on the campus after the incident.
The university said it hopes the event would be held in the near future after holding further discussions with the the Indian Science Congress Association.
The university, in all its earnestness, was fully prepared to conduct the event. Several committees worked for the past three months tirelessly to ensure smooth conduct of the event, it said.
“In fact, the university changed the examination schedule for this purpose. At one point in time, the university was flexible and was willing to have the inaugural event outside the campus and the remaining sessions on the campus even if it meant incurring more expenditure and inconvenience,” the release said.
In a release, the Varsity said, “The Indian Science Congress Association has indefinitely postponed the conduct of the 105th Indian Science Congress in the university”.
“The vice chancellor of the Osmania University has informed that they are not in a position to host the 105th Indian Science Congress scheduled from January 3-7, 2018 due to certain issues on the campus,” the association said. The Indian Science Congress is an annual event usually held in the first week of January.
The last Science Congress was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in January this year.
— PTI