PSF- 20th Bi-Annual Conference - A Report
Pondicherry Science Forum’s 20th State Conference was held on 24 January, 2026 at Hotel Jayaram, Pondicherry. The conference was attended by close to 145 delegates and invitees. Major participants were women from the Samam movement, school teachers, college and university students, university faculty, and professionals from different scientific organisations and departments.
The Inaugural Session was presided by Mr Ravichander. The inaugural address was delivered by Mr Badusha, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Science Forum. There were two lectures in the inaugural session. The first on Science and Culture by Writer Aadhavan Deetchanya, Vice President of Tamil Nadu, Progressive Writers Artists Association, set out the importance of science and scientific temper in everyday life and its integral connection with culture. This followed by a talk on Indebtedness and Livelihoods by Dr. Krithi, OP Jindal University, which was based on a detailed study done by a coalition of women’s organisations, including by activists from Samam, a part of PSF.
In the next popular science session, Professor. S. Krishnasamy, Vice-President of All India Peoples Science Network delivered a talk on “Artificial Intelligence in Biology,” which provided a simple explanation of molecular biology and how AI has the potential to make a great contribution to its advancement. This was followed by a talk on Green Energy and Sustainable Development by Professor Prasanth Raveendran of Pondicherry University. This session was chaired by Dr. D. Balasubramanian of French Institute Puducherry. A resolution on environment issues in Puducherry was also adopted.
The next session was a panel discussion on the “New Education Policy in Puducherry- Challenges and Opportunities”, chaired by Mr A. Nathan. Speakers in the panel included Ms Pachyammal school teacher, and Mr Amjad Zaman, university student, with Ms Sankari Devi, moving a resolution on education policies.
The fist session in the afternoon was chaired by Ms Revathi Ramachandran, with Professor Mahalakshmi of, International School of Public Health as the main speaker and she set out the health challenges and the need to act on the social determinants Dr Arun Krishna moved a resolution on “Puducherry- a Healthy City” calling on government and civil society to work together to achieve a certification for Puducherry under WHO’s Healthy Cities Scheme.
The subsequent organisation session was chaired by Mr Sudarshan. The general secretary, Mr Murugavel Raja presented and the two-year work-report, and elaborated on the work done and challenges faced in this period. this was followed the presentation of the financial report by R. Ramesh. The conference then elected an executive committee of 35 members. The executive committee met, and elected new office-bearers- a president, 4 vice-presidents, a general secretary, four secretaries and a treasurer. This is for a two-year term. The out-going team of office-bearers and EC members were thanked. The list of office bearers and executive committee members is given below. A list of six advisors, mostly founder-members or past-presidents was also announced.
Finally, Dr. T. Sundararaman, a founder-member in his valedictory address which touched on the challenges ahead. The conference came to an end with Mr R. Segar, another advisory committee member, proposing a vote of thanks.
Executive Committee –
Prof. Prasanth Raveendran
President
Vice - President
Ms A. Hemavathi
Mr S.Murugavel Raja
Mr B. Ravichandran
Ms. R. Revathi
Dr. D. Balasubramanian
General Secretary
Secretaries
Mr M.Sudarshan
Mr. K.R. Ravichander
Ms. A. Indira
Ms. D. Sankari Devi
Mr. Ramesh Rathinam
Treasurer
Other EC Members:
| 12 | T.P. Raghunath | |
| 13 | Alice Thomas | |
| 14 | Kamalavelan | |
| 15 | P. Sivakami | |
| 16 | M.Ilavarasi | |
| 17 | S. Santhi | |
| 18 | R. Chandravadani | |
| 19 | Sathasivam | |
| 20 | Arun Krishna | |
| 21 | Praveen | |
| 22 | Amjad Zamal | |
| 23 | Sukhdev | |
| 24 | D. Arvind Raja | |
| 25 | A.Nathan | |
| 26 | C. Patchyammal | |
| 27 | G. Subashini | |
| 28 | Jalatheeswar | |
| 29 | Sabarinathan | |
| 30 | Rajesh | |
| 31 | Sasikumar | |
| 32 | Marian Britto | |
| 33 | Raju | |
| 34 | Isaipathi Murugan |
