New Delhi; March 14, 2011: The 6th All India Students’ Conference on Science & Spiritual Quest (AISSQ) – 2011, being organized by Delhi Technological University (DTU) and Bhaktivedanta Institute, Kolkata from March 12-14, 2011 came to a close today at DTU campus. The three-day conference in the series highlighted that along with developing scientific temper among today’s youth there is also a great need for nurturing spirituality in them for their holistic development and overall betterment of society.

The last day of the conference witnessed workshops on Ayurveda and its relevance in Present Times,  Re-Building, Modern Education – Integrating Traditional Technology with Contemporary Education and on Spirituality and Personality Development - Management of Time, Stress and Anger, to mention some, besides an interactive session on Scientific Temper and Spiritual Wisdom for Holistic Development of the Self and the Society’. Speaking at the occasion, Sh. K. Vasudeva Rao, President, Bhaktivedanta Institute said, “This world in itself is complete, Lord has provided everything for us. As Mahatma Gandhi has said ‘There is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed,’ and it is our greed that is leading to suffering in society.”

Prizes were also given away on the occasion to the winners of the Essay writing competition by Prof. P.B. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, DTU. The topic of the competition was, What is Life? Scientific and Indian Spiritual Perspectives on the Nature, Purpose, Meaning and Origin of Life. The first prize, which included Gold medal and Rs 9999 in cash, was bestowed upon Sh. Dilip Kumar Behera, Veer Surendra Sai Medical College, Sambalpur. The second prize, inclusive of Silver medal and cash prize of Rs 6,000 went to Sh. Prateek Kumar, BITS Pilani and the third prize of bronze medal and cash award of Rs 4,000 was received by Sh. Vaibhav Asati, NIT Raipur. Prof. Sharma said, “Science & Technology create capabilities but often we stop at that without the care and concern to inbuilt the necessary human touch, nature care and above all love and respect for the vast diversity of creation. The very purpose of organizing this conference in association with Bhaktivedanta Institute was to instil right values and encourage spirituality among our budding engineers and technocrats of tomorrow.” 

AISSQ-2011 was inaugurated on March 12, 2011 by H.E. Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, in the presence of Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi, Dr. Narendra Jadhav, Member Planning Commission, GOI, Nobel Laureate Dr. Werner Arber, HH. Gopal Krishna Swamiji from ISCKON, Prof. Sharma and Prof. S.C. Mishra, Chairman, AISSQ-2011. In her address the Hon’ble President called for equipping students with right value base along with capabilities created by science and technology to ensure that they serve society with devotion and commitment and create prosperity and happiness.