*69 foreign dignitaries to attend
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 6: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Vice President Abdul Hamid Ansari are among a host of dignitaries, who would be visiting Jammu in the first week of February.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Prime Minister’s visit to Jammu on February 3 has been confirmed when he would inaugurate Indian Science Congress in sprawling lawns of Jammu University in the presence of a host of dignitaries.
However, if everything goes well, Dr Singh could extend his visit to Jammu by a day. In that scenario, he would inaugurate Udhampur-Katra railway line on February 2.
The inauguration of Udhampur-Katra railway line would be subject to final clearance by the Railways authorities that the track was fit for chugging off the trains.
“Unless there was any last minute hitch, the inauguration of Udhampur-Katra railway line appeared certainty on February 2 by the Prime Minister,” sources said.
Dr Singh would inaugurate the Indian Science Congress in the morning of February 3 at Jammu University. He would attend the ISC for at least three hours and is scheduled to have lunch there.
Vice President Abdul Hamid Ansari would also be visiting Jammu on February 7 and 8. He would deliver valedictory address of the ISC at Jammu University in the afternoon of February 7. He would attend the convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra on February 8.
Inauguration of the 25-kilometers Udhampur-Katra railway line has been delayed by quite sometime though it was on cards since October last year. Initially, the inauguration of the prestigious railway line constructed at the cost of Rs 1050 crores was scheduled for June 2013 but was delayed till October. December end was set the new deadline, which has now finally been revised to first week of February.
Sources said initially, Katra would get two new trains Delhi-Katra Express and Kalka (Chandigarh)-Katra Express trains while few trains plying up to Jammu and Udhampur would be extended up to Katra, the holy town and base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine.
Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Prof RC Sobti, President of ISC, Dr S B Nimse, president elect of ISC, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Union Minister for Science and Technology, S Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Human Resources Development, Dr MM Pallam Raju, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad would also attend the ISC.
Dr T Ramasami, Union Secretary for Science and Technology, Prof CNR Rao, Prof Y Lee, Prof T Onishi from Japan, Prof Daya Reddy from African Academy of Sciences, Prof G Mehta, Mrs and Prof Yashpal and Dr Ferid Mura would be joining the ISC.
A total of 69 scientists, Professors and academicians from different countries would also attend the Science Congress, which would be held from February 3 to February 7.
Some of the foreign dignitaries included Prof Ah LamineNdiaye from Kenya, Prof Chi-Huey Wong from China, Prof Surendra Raj Kafle (Nepal), Prof YolandGrise (Canada), Prof Suzanne Cory (Australia), Prof Michael Kleiber (Poland), Prof BaiChunli (China), Prof Anton Zeilinger (Austria), Prof Sung Hyun Park (Korea), Prof Anna Lok (USA), Prof D Maskell (UK), Dr Salim Yusuf, Dr Grant N Pierce, Dr Garry D Lopaschuk, Dr Pawan K Singhal, Dr Bruce McManus and Dr Robert Roberts (all Canada) and Dr Bohuslav Ostadal (Prague).
Dr Deepak Srivastava (San Fransisco), Prof NS Dhalla, Prof Kapil Paranjpe Manauli, Dr Cesar Polcino Milies (Brazil), Dr W Kimmerle (Germany), Prof H J Beirsack (Germany), Prof Abbas Alavi (USA), Prof Mathew L Thakur (Philadelphia), Prof Richard P Baum (Germany), Prof Moumtaz Razack, Dr Satdev Batish, Dr M Watanaba (Japan), Dr Taizo Shiraishi (Japan), Haruhiko Sugimura (Japan), Prof Awtar Krishan, Robert Edwards, Peter Tindemans, Jaanaki Gooneratne, Kamana Misra, Dr Roberto Bolli, Prof Titular, Prof Likman Hakim, MMM Najim, Prof Ing Matthias Kleiner, Gill McGrath, Prof Mohammad Ali Asgar, Prof Josef Lazar, Dr Mushtaque Ahmed, Mr Abbas, A M Mubarak.
Dr Thomas Adam Lumpkin (Mexico), Dr Pamela Anderson (Peru), Dr Bharat B Aggarwal (Texas), Dr Majed M Al-ali (Kuwait), Prof Bernabe Mari Soucase (Spain), Prof Venko N Beschkov (Bulgaria), Dr Suman Chandra (Mississippi), Dr Hemant Lata (Mississippi), Prof Morinoby Endo (Japan), Prof Werner Mueller (Austria), Prof T Solanky (USA), Dr Patricia Targon Campana (Brazil), Prof Ferenc Hudecz (Hungary), Dr James R M (Switzerland), Dr Thomas Calligaro (France), Prof Govindjee (USA) and Prof Klaus Mehltreter (Mexico).
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