India gears up to celebrate National Science Day

India gears up to celebrate National Science Day

National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each year to mark the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1930. For his discovery, Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

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Indian Youth Science Congress held in Mumbai with special emphasis on Climate Change

The eighth edition of the three-day Youth Science Congress was hosted by the University of Mumbai in collaboration with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, SRM University, Chennai, and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Youth Development.

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Short Film made by seven students selected for National Science Film Festival

A film titled Chamkila Pital, made by seven students, has been selected for the seventh National Science Film Festival, to be held at Birla Science and Technology Museum, Kolkata. The festival has been organized by Vigyan Prasat, Department of Science of Technology, Government of India.

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India gears up to celebrate National Science Day


National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each year to mark the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1930. For his discovery, Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

National Science Day is celebrated as one of the main science festivals in India every year during which students of the schools and colleges demonstrate various science projects and national and state science institutions demonstrate their latest researches. The celebration also includes public speeches, radio-TV talk shows, science movies, science exhibitions based on themes and concepts, watching the night sky, live projects, research demonstration, debates, quiz competitions, lectures, science model exhibitions and many more activities.

It is celebrated with immense passion by Radio Astronomy Centre (RAC), Ooty and Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at Khodad, Pune, Maharashtra which are world-famous telescopes that are operated at low radio frequencies by the NCRA (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics) established by the TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research). A variety of activities is organized by the RAC and GMRT at the ceremony of National Science Day celebration in order to recognize their leading research activities in the field of radio astronomy and astrophysics. Variety of programmes is also held for the public and the student community in order to popularize science and technology in the country. The Minister of Science and Technology gives a message through his speech on this day to students, scientists, researchers and the general public of the nation.

The theme of the year 2017 is “Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons”. To celebrate the event, Karunya University, is organizing a National Conference on Science and Technology for Persons with Disabilities. The conference aims to build together a group which has prior experience in Assistive Technology (AT) and which comprises of AT professionals, academic scientists, researchers, manufacturers and vendors of AT, so that they can share their experience and research knowledge on all facets of Assistive Technology systems and devices.

It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted in the fields of Assistive Technology Systems.

Indian Youth Science Congress held in Mumbai with special emphasis on Climate Change


The eighth edition of the three-day Youth Science Congress was hosted by the University of Mumbai in collaboration with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, SRM University, Chennai, and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Youth Development.

The Youth Science Congress is an annual event held by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and SRM University. With an aim to address the gap between the Children’s Science Congress and Indian Science Congress, the Youth Science Congress Association provides a platform for researchers to network, meet experts and be inspired to excel in science.

The chief guest at the eighth edition of the Indian Youth Science Congress was retired scientist Arvind Untawale, who is currently the executive secretary of the Mangroves Society if India. He was earlier also a part of the National Mangrove Committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Based on the theme “Food for all in the Anthropocene ear”, lectures on the first day revolved around climate change and food security. Swaminathan, known as the father of the Green Revolution, said two challenges cripple the Anthropocene era: Climate change and malnutrition. Panelists talked about the imminence of the problem, causes behind it, repercussions and effects on nutrition as well as mitigation techniques.

Madhura Swaminathan, chairperson, MSSRF, and professor at the Indian Statistical Institute, delivered a lecture on food security. She highlighted malnutrition as a challenge reminding everyone that “Since 1991, the growth rate of food production has remained lower than the rate of growth of population.”

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(Image Source: MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, accesable over here.)

Short Film made by seven students selected for National Science Film Festival


A film titled Chamkila Pital, made by seven students, has been selected for the seventh National Science Film Festival, to be held at Birla Science and Technology Museum, Kolkata. The festival has been organized by Vigyan Prasat, Department of Science of Technology, Government of India.

The nine-minute long film is based on the ancient tradition of Kalai, which involves getting brass utensils tinned to protect the food from getting burnt. The entire production of this film has been done by students studying from classes’ sixth to ninth with the help of Media Magic Institute.

Asked about the unsual subject chosen for the film, the team said it was the idea of their film director, eight-standard student Sukhada Damle. “When we were asked to make a film during the film workshop, I immediately suggested the topic of Kalai. I distinctly remember studying it in school as part of our science module and thoroughly enjoyed it. I did some more research on it and we decided to go ahead with the film,” said Damle.

The other team members include Kasturi Kulkarni (Class 7), Radha Lagoo (Class 6) from DES school, Yogendra Sane (Class 7), Mrugendra Deshpande (Class 6) from Abhinav School, Siddharth Damle (Class 7) from M S Golvalkar School and Yash Bhalerao (Class 9) from Vasundhara Secondary School.

Meanwhile speaking about the process of film making, she said that all students were given basic training on film production, including how to shoot from specific angles, shots and camera techniques. Along with this, they received a course in science by Prasad Lagoo, science teacher at M.S. Golvalkar School.

“We would work with the kids for three to four hours per day. By the end of the eighth day, the students were involved in sound designing, editing and production,” said Raju Bhosale, Director of Media Magic Institute.

The institute offers an eight-day film making course which was undertaken by the students. “We submitted the film which was made by the students in the competition and never expected to get selected. It was definitely a moment of pride for us, since our film was one of the 16 films selected from all over India under the students’ category,” he said.