Various institutions in the city have made elaborate preparations to celebrate the National Science Day on Saturday.

The day is celebrated every year on February 28 to commemorate the Raman's effect discovered by India's ace scientist CV Raman in 1928.

The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Metereology (IITM) however celebrated the National Science Day on Friday itself.

At the Nutan Marathi Vidyayala (girls), school authorities said the entire week has been devoted to the promotion and understanding of science.

Principal Madhura Kulkarni said, "Starting with a science quiz for the students of standard VI and VII on Tuesday, we also had a lectures by experts."

She said films on environment were also shown to the students. They were taken to the energy garden at Peshwe Park on Friday and on Saturday. She said they have organised an exhibition where students will showcase various science projects.

Scientific officer of the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Arvind Paranjpye said, "There are many events, which would run concurrently. However, there are a few scheduled events that include displaying of the latest trend in astronomy and astrophysics. Scientists will answer questions on astronomy and astrophysics."

The instrumentation department of IUCAA will display astronomy-related instrumentation/demonstrations, he said, adding that students of Loyola School will volunteer and provide information to the visitors at the SciToy exhibition. Experiments carried out by the researchers at IUCCA will also be displayed, he said, adding "There are short lectures by experts and also the informative movies. The Chandrayaan pictures will also be displayed."

Films on astronomy will be screened from 11 am to 3 pm at Chandrasekhar auditorium. There will be a demonstration on Virtual Observatory and Hubble data analysis and screening of astro-films. The IUCAA Science Park will also be kept open with volunteers to explain various exhibits.

Eminent astrophysicists Jayant Narlikar and T Padmanabhan will answer queries by the audience.

The National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) has also planned a two-day science exhibition starting on Saturday at Khodad, where it houses the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).

NCRA officials said various schools and colleges have been invited to the exhibition, which will be attended by various research institutes including Kalpana Chawla Science Center, National Chemical Laboratory, Akashmitra, Bhabha Science Center and National Aids Research Institute.

The 'One Life' Club along with Khagol Club has organised a lecture by Jayant Narlikar at Panchavati, who will be speaking on "Are we alone in the universe'.

The Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences has also organised an exhibition and will present a skit on 'Fitness, First Aid, and Organ Transplant'. SIHS director Rajiv Yeravdekar will deliver a lecture on 'Science and Health'. The celebrations will be carried out from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

The IITM on Thursday had organised a science exhibition on 'What lies inside Nasa'. On Friday, a special visit was arranged for students and the general public to see the institute's laboratories, supercomputers, satellite pictures and data receiving centre (SDUC) and library.

Other programmes

Instruments on display

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) will organise a meteorological instruments’ exhibition on National Science Day at its heritage building in Shivajinagar. Various instruments used for weather measurement like cyclone detection radar, Doppler weather radar and storm detection radar will be put on display. But the main attraction of exhibition will be the automatic weather station machines. The exhibition will be held between 11am and 5pm and is open for all.

Exhibition of students’ projects

The Muktangan Exploratory Science Centre is organizing its two-day annual Young Explorer Science Project for the school children in the city. Out of 300 entries, 60 have been finalized to participate in the event. This year, as many as 32 schools including Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Abhivan English Medium School, The Bishop’s School and Sinhgad Springdale School are participating in the event. The students will exhibit their science project. The exhibition is open for all.

Expert to guide

Pune branch of Indian Dental Association and Bharati Vidyapeeth University’s Dental College will organise two lectures by Dr Ashesh Wankhede on ‘Presentation forensic dentistry’ and Dr Anita Basavraj on ‘Post exposure prophylaxis for HIV’ at Bharati Vidyapeeth University Dental College at 10 am.

DNA Correspondent/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication