Kathmandu, June 27

Nepal National Academy of Science and Technology on Sunday inaugurated the ninth National Conference on Science and Technology amidst a ceremony.

The three-day conference with the slogan, 'Science for Society and Innovation for Prosperity' will feature at least 380 scientific papers on 15 disciplines and 20 topics. Above 500 scientists, researchers, professors, officials of various government and non-government agencies and students will attend the conference. Scientists from at least six countries are participating in the event. Of the working papers, 260 are oral and 120 are poster presentations.

Inaugurating the conference, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba stressed the role of science and technology for social change. 'Science conference like these will play a constructive role in the overall development of the country,' PM Deuba, who is also the chancellor of NAST, said.

Sunil Babu Shrestha, vice-chancellor of NAST, during the inauguration ceremony, said that capacity building among scientific community and presentation of working papers in various fields of science and technology would make scientific research more widespread. 'Scientific community should be able to work independently for result-oriented research,' Shrestha said. He added that the government's investment in the field of scientific research was not enough and expressed confidence that such conference would help in policy formulation.

Similarly, Science Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Pramila Devi Bajracharya, said the conference would enhance scientific research capacity. She further said that the conference would be a strong motivation and would provide more encouragement to the energetic and creative Nepali scientists in the country.

Renowned ophthalmologist and philanthropist Dr Sanduk Ruit presented a working paper on scientific development of cataract treatment in Nepal. He said over six million lenses had been sent from Tilganga Hospital to 80 countries.

Scientists from India, Pakistan, Japan, UK, USA, China, Germany, Australia and other countries are attending the science conference where scientist will focus on physical discussion and cooperation between scientific communities and countries. Nepal Forum of Science Journalists is the exclusive media partener of the event. NAST has been holding the National Science Conference every four years since 1988.