An Exhibition to Create Public Awareness On Science and Technology

By Sunderarajan Padmanabhan | India Science Wire Exhibitions can be a potent medium of communicating latest developments in science and technology to people, in particular youngsters who could be encouraged to take up science as a career. With this in mind, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have come together to mount an exhibition that provides a bird’s eyeview of various schemes and programmes to harness science and technology for betterment of people. Through models and posters, the exhibition provides information on initiatives and activities of the three ministries, including provision of fellowships and avenues for young researchers. The exhibition, which has been put up at the residence of the Minster for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment Dr. Harsh Vardhan, also features film shows on aspects such as climate change and energy conservation. [caption id="attachment_160095" align="aligncenter" width="565"] Visitors at the exhibition on S&T.[/caption] Speaking to India Science Wire, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the objective was to create awareness among the public about various activities and initiatives of the central government for socio-economic development. The exhibition is open to the public till the end of January. “I am inviting schools to send their children in groups so that they could get a glimpse of what is happening in the field of science and technology, earth sciences and environment, forests and climate change. We need children to get inspired and take up a career in science,” the minister said. DST Secretary, DrAshutosh Sharma, said the department was launching a programmeto encourage school kids to come up with innovative ideas. Two best ideas each from about five lakh schools would be selected. Out of these ten lakh ideas, one lakh would be short listed and for each a sum of Rs. 10,000 would be provided for developing prototypes. The students who had come up with the shortlisted ideas would be provided all help including mentorship and access to laboratoriesand other facilities. Competitions would be then for held for the selected students at the district, state and national levels to select top 100. These students would then be invited to participate in the innovation festival conducted at RashtrapatiBhavan every year. In addition, he said, efforts were underway to increase the number of incubation centres in the country from the present 140 to 200. Secretary of Department of Biotechnology, K.Vijayaraghavan said the exhibition showcased work being done by DBT in policy, research and human resource development in genetic engineering and other areas of biotechnology. The exhibits include information on policies relating to research involving plants and animals as well as fellowships available for researchers. Secretary, Ministry of Earth Science, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, said the exhibition presented a glimpse of work being done by institutions like India Meteorology Department to improve socio-economic conditions of people through various activities including forecast of daily weather, monsoon and extreme events like cyclones and tsunamis.