VP News Dream 2047 November issue

Vigyan Prasar has been organizing lectures and demonstrations on amateur radio (Ham Radio) on a continuous basis with an aim to make the younger generation aware about this wonderful scientific hobby. On October 19, 2001, nearly two hundred school children from various age groups along with their teachers from the Bal Bharti Public School, Ghaziabad, participated in such a programme. Students got hands-on experience in operating the ham radio set up and talked to other ham radio stations. The demonstration programme was assisted by VU3FUN, VU2OB, VU2XD and VU2SUH. A talk on amateur radio was delivered by Shri Sandeep Baruah, VU2MUE.

Similar amateur radio promotional programmes have been organized for the following schools and institutions: Mother International School (on November 3, 2001), IIT (on November 4, 2001), Guru Harkishan Public School, India Gate (on November 12, 2001).

Vigyan Prasar had assisted the celebration of 44th Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) of Scouts & Guides on October 20 & 21, 2001. Scouts & Guides from Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) Air Force School, Tughlakabad along with their teachers visited the Vigyan Prasar Ham Radio facility and celebrated by talking to their counterparts in different parts of the world using Ham Radio.

VP has also taken up the task of bringing hams in Delhi together once a month for a periodical interaction and to evolve a programme for disaster preparedness. Till now, seven get-togethers have been organized by Vigyan Prasar in which talks on topics of interest to radio amateurs have also been arranged. The get-together on September 16, 2001, was hosted by Bharat Scouts & Guides National HQ, in which Shri Atanu Dasgupta (VU2ATN) delivered a talk on "Homebrewing". Shri Rahul Kapoor (VU2YK) and Shri Rakesh Kapoor (VU2RAK) hosted the next meet of the radio amateurs at Noida on October 14, 2001, which was attended by 35 radio amateurs. Various problems related to ham radio popularization were discussed in this meeting. The major attraction of this meet was the display of commercial as well as homemade radio communication equipment belonging to Shri Rahul Kapoor (VU2YK) and Shri Rakesh Kapoor (VU2RAK). The get-together on November 11, 2001 was hosted by the National Bal Bhawan Ham Radio Club. In this meet, one minute silence was observed by the radio amateurs of Delhi in memory of late Saad Ali (VU2ST), an energetic promoter of ham radio in India, who passed away recently at Mumbai. In this ham meet, Shri Ashok Kumar Sapra (VU3AKW) delivered a talk on "General circuits & components used in Amateur Radio".

A Section of audience at Bal Bharti Public School during the lecture and demonstration on ham radio.

SCIENCE EXHIBITION AT INDORE, MADHYA PRADESH

The National Children's Science Exhibition was held at Indore during 19-20 October 2001. The event was jointly organised by the Indore Chapter of VIPNET (Vigyan Prasar NETwork of Science Clubs) and the Science Aur Kainat Society of India and the venue was Devi Ahilya Bai University campus. The primary objective of the exhibition was to spark the curiosity of the children and developing it into a well defined base for scientific knowledge and scientific temperament. The focus also was on indigenous scientific knowledge. The sub topics were Agriculture, Health, Nutrition & Sanitation, Energy etc.

The three day event was inaugurated by Md. Suleiman, IAS, District Magistrate, Indore and Shri Sanjau Shukla, IAS, Municipal Commissioner, Indore in the presence of a large gathering of students, teachers etc., in the auditorium of the Institute of Management Sciences. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Shri S. Mandloi; Incharge of AVRC (CEC) Indore, Dr. Prabhakar Singh; S. P. of Indore, and Shri B. S. Negi. A host of prominent citizens from the academic life and social organisations also attended the session. Shri Arup Kumar Misra, Coordinator, VIPNET, represented VP and while addressing the gathering emphasised the need to encourage children to ask more questions in the classroom.

Young Scientists explaining their exibhits

Among the major attractions of the Exhibition were efforts to educate people about water conservation. Children seemed keen to know more about how to overcome water crisis. There were exhibits which showed how ground water could be recharged and technology could be used to overcome water crisis. There were educative demonstrations on how to save water and conserve it from being misused. There were about 95 exhibits in all, of which Indore had the lion's share. There were models showing use of renewable sources of energy. There were demonstration on how to purify water using basil plant (Tulsi) and clove, and on how to use waste paper as fuel and of growing plants without soil i.e. Hydroponics. An interesting insight was provided into how the colour of the walls could be used to make maximum use of light from the conventional electricity bulb. Debates on various aspects of scientific understanding and how it could help society overcome some superstitious beliefs were also organised.

The closing ceremony was held on 21st October 2001. Dr. Vinita Manocha, Director, Valley Public School, presided over the impressive function.