Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday inaugurate the sixth edition of the India International Science Festival, a four-day science carnival, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will also address the IISF on December 25, the last day of the festival, Vardhan said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the IISF on December 22 at 4.30 pm and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on December 25," Vardhan said. The theme of the IISF 2020 is 'Science for Self-Reliant India and Global Welfare'.

The event has been jointly organised by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Vijnana Bharti - a science organisation linked to the RSS, the Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Over one lakh registrations for the event have been received so far, the minister noted. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sixth edition of the IISF is being organised virtually.