Varanasi: To mark International Women’s Day 2026, the National Academy of Sciences, Varanasi chapter, organised an event at the Institute of Science, BHU, on Thursday.A total of 89 participants, including faculty and PhD students from the institute, IMS, IIT-BHU, and Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, attended the event.A major highlight of the event was the keynote session titled “A Journey of Resilience”, delivered by Prof Mangala Kapoor from the department of music–vocal at Banaras Hindu University and a recipient of the Padma Shri (2026). The event featured an open forum interactive panel discussion on “Challenges of Women in Academia and the Way Forward”, where participants engaged with the speakers and reflected on ways to strengthen women’s leadership and representation in academia.The panellists included Prof Shweta Prasad from the department of sociology and EC member of BHU, Prof Chandana Haldar, former director, Institute of Science, BHU, and Prof Royana Singh, former chief proctor of BHU. The panel discussion was moderated by Chandana Basu, scientist at the Centre for Genetic Disorders, BHU.
