“The India International Science Festival (IISF) 2023 is being celebrated for three key reasons among many others and these three reasons are the successful landing of India’s Chanrayaan-3 on the South Pole region of the Moon; Second COVID Vaccine development by India and Third Aroma Mission.” Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology (S&T) said this during the inaugural ceremony of the IISF 2023 at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)-Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) Joint Campus, Faridabad on 17th January 2024.

This year’s theme is- “Science and Technology Public Outreach in Amrit Kaal.” Other dignitaries of the inaugural ceremony were Moolchand Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, Transport, Mines and Geology, and Elections, Government of Haryana; Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, PSA to the Gov. of India; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST; Dr M. Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES; Dr N. Kalaiselvi, Secretary, DSIR & DG, CSIR; Dr Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, DBT; A. Dhanalakshami, Joint Secretary, DST; Shivkumar Sharma, National Organising Secretary, Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).

Prof. Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Govt. of India said that the vision of IISF 2023 is to ensure science not only in the books but accessible to the public in many interesting and intellectual ways. He added that IISF provides extensive opportunities to get a deeper understanding of scientific disciplines through its events and programmes with many verticals of science and technology. 

The mega science festival will be celebrated from 17-20 January 2024 and aims to honour and highlight the scientific achievements in Science, Technology, and Innovation by the country with the primary objective of connecting science with society.