VP News

Uttaranchal Chief Minister participates in VIPNET Workshop.

Dehra Dun, capital of the newly-formed State of Uttaranchal, was the venue for a workshop of VIPNET Clubs of the region on 6-7 May 2001. Vigyan Prasar has been contemplating to organize special programmes in the states which came into being recently - Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh - to create general awareness among the masses and activate science clubs to take up socially relevant projects. In this regard, the workshop at Dehra Dun assumed great significance so far as addressing to the local problems of this hill-state was concerned. Society of Pollution & Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) and Students Awareness for Environment (SAFE), two prominent platforms of S & T activities in Dehra Dun, locally hosted the workshop on behalf of VP in the Press Club of Dehra Dun. Students and teachers from 35 schools of Dehra Dun, science communicators from a dozen NGOs, members of the regional and national press and electronic media, local academicians and scholars attended the event on both the days. The major activities centred around Food Adulteration Testing, Water Testing, Nature Study and Explanation of Science Behind Miracles. Prof. S. K. Kulshrestha, Head of Zoology in P.G.D.A.V. College; Dr. G. K. Sharma, Joint Director of IRDE; Dr. Brij Mohan Sharma, Coordinator of SPECS; Mrs. Geeta Srivastava, teacher in a local college; Dr. B. P. Bahuguna, Chief Medical Officer of Dehra Dun; Shri S. K. Dhar, Advocate in the High Court; Shri B. K. Tyagi, NCSTC, New Delhi; Shri Vivek Sudarshan, Secretary of SEARCH (Ghaziabad); and Smt. Anjula Tyagi, Convenor of SAFE conducted the various technical sessions and interacted with the students. VIPNET Coordinator Shri A. K. Misra introduced Vigyan Prasar and VIPNET to the participants and the media in two separate sessions through a slide show. The workshop received a big boost when Shri Nityanand Swamy, the honorable Chief Minister of Uttaranchal, joined the participants on 07 May 2001, interacted with all of them in a very informal manner and assured VP of his full cooperation for similar programmes in other parts of the State.

Ham Meet in Delhi

A get-together of amateur radio operators in Delhi was organized by Vigyan Prasar on 29th April, 2001. 30 radio amateurs (hams) participated in this get-together and exchanged their views about various aspects of amateur radio activity with emphasis on Delhi. The meeting was presided over by Dr. V.B. Kamble, Acting Director, Vigyan Prasar-also the founder member of Club station VU2NCT of National Council for Science & Technology Communication.

Shri Ved Prakash Sandlas, VU2VP, spoke on the need to prevent interferences on amateur radio bands. Shri Sanath, VU2YI, highlighted the need to stop the illegal use of mobile telephones and other wireless devices causing interference to amateur radio transmissions. Shri Sandlas, suggested that Vigyan Prasar can initiate a project to survey the unauthorized transmissions interfering with amateur operations. Regarding the use of wireless devices, used by illegal operators, which cause interference to the amateur radio bands, Shri Sahruddin, VU2SDN expressed his view that, the most important task is to educate these users who are unknowingly interfering with the amateur radio transmissions. He suggested that WPC might be requested to release a press note about the illegal use of the radio frequencies, especially in the range 130-330 MHz. It was also suggested that if possible, VU2NCT or any other agency could release a press note to make the public aware about the 144-146 MHz amateur band, in which cordless telephones have been causing nuisance. The radio amateurs active on the 2m VHF desired that a daily 2m net for hams in Delhi could be started. Shri Surinder Kumar, VU2SUU, brought out the need of one more VHF repeater in Delhi.

Shri Sahruddin, VU2SDN, President, Amateur Radio Society of India, apprised the participants of the licencing scenario in India. He stated that more than 1,500 aspirants, who had passed the amateur radio licencing examination in 1991 are still awaiting their amateur licences.

There was a discussion about the problem of non-availability of low cost ham radio equipment. An old timer from Delhi, Shri Rahul Kapoor, VU2YK requested VP to take initiative in making available workshop/lab facility to amateurs. There was a suggestion from Shri Atanu Dasgupta, VU2ATN, that VP could establish a library exclusively meant for the radio amateurs. Many of the radio amateurs also expressed their concern at the non-availability of a reliable call-book providing updated addresses of the radio amateurs.

Shri Sandeep Baruah, VU2MUE, spoke on the need for the improvement of the Indian Wireless (Amateur Service) Rules. He apprised the participants of the on-line opinion poll conducted by VU2NCT, in which, nearly 108 amateur radio operators from across the country had participated. He informed the participants about the suggestions sent to the WPC by VU2NCT.

The meeting concluded with a discussion on the difficulty in promoting ham radio among the new generation. Shri Ved Prakash Sandlas, was of the view that the hobby of ham radio demands dedication and perseverance, which might be lacking in the younger generation. Ham radio operators belong to a restricted group who feel the thrill of talking to a distant person just at the press of a button and that, ham radio is a completely independent radio network that operates even in the event of a disaster. A few participants suggested that a debate could be organized on the topic-"Internet versus Amateur Radio". It was agreed that there should be at least one get-together of radio amateurs of Delhi every month.