SRINAGAR – Under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, PG Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar on Monday celebrated the National Science Day 2022, in which a large number of Class XI-XII Science students from various schools of the valley participated.
The event was organized in association with the Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility (SAIF), Panjab University Chandigarh Under “Synergistic Training Program Utilizing the Scientific and Technological Infrastructure” Supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
In his presidential address, Director NIT Prof. (Dr.) Rakesh Sehgal congratulated Department of Physics especially HOD MA Shah and Dr. Vijay Kumar for taking a lead role in celebrating National Science Day 2022 on the NIT campus.
“By organizing such events, we are in a position to give something back to our society. No doubt we are a professional institution imparting technical and science education at all levels but NIT will act always as a platform for the young generation,” he said.
Prof. Sehgal said the theme of National Science Day 2022 is ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’. It is given by honorable Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, he said.
Director said from Medical sciences to agriculture, India is progressing in every field with science and technology. No technology will be successful until we make it sustainable. Now we are moving towards non-conventional resources, wind, solar energy because people have started thinking about sustainable development, he said.
Registrar NIT Srinagar, Prof. Syed Kaiser Bukhari said no country can achieve sustainable development goals alone, international scientific cooperation contributes not only to scientific knowledge but also to building peace.
“Achieving sustainability in development demands new knowledge, which science and technology must provide. Research and innovation are essential to increase our abilities to deal with sustainable development challenges,” he said.
Prof. Bukhari said there is a need to understand a phenomenon and its causes; assess impact, magnitude, time scale, and probability. We need to predict trends the effects of taking specific actions. We need to develop and test solutions; predict outcomes and mitigate harm and make informed policy decisions, he said.
He further said the biological and physical sciences and engineering must work closely with the social and behavioral sciences to speed the application of innovations and insights to the needs of society.
“Although new technologies have made our lives more comfortable and easier. They have also bad effects on us. In the modern world, we have incredible communication technologies but we are alone. We love each other less than before. I believe that we should use these technologies but not let them make our hearts far each other,” Prof. Bukhari added.
President Private Schools’ Association J&K, G. N. Var said there is a need to encourage and inspire students from a young age so that they can work on scientific innovations and make the world better place to live besides creating new livelihood opportunities.
Var stressed the preservation of the environment to achieve sustainable development goals. He also highlighted the importance of the National Science Day and its approach in working across disciplines. Appreciating the administration for taking such initiatives, has assured full support for making a smooth trajectory between Schools and NIT Srinagar.
Head Department of Physics, Prof. MA Shah, the goal of the program was to encourage students to take a leading role in science and technology.
“Science in service of humankind is needed more urgently now than ever before Science produces knowledge and technology implements that knowledge. Fortunately, knowledge is not a limited resource like water, food, and oil,” he said.
“In fact, the more you give, the more it develops and expands. It does not diminish, no matter how much it is shared”. Thus we at NIT Srinagar can give the greatest gift of knowledge to this region & to the bright minds,” he said.
“We at NIT Srinagar with the support of our Hon’ble Director Prof Rakesh Sehgal and Prof S K Bukhari, Registrar are committed to address and work together with institutions and organizations for all major issues related to SDGs,” he said. “There is no doubt that we can provide the scientific and technological work. It will sustain human life not only for us but also for future generations,” Shah added.
Earlier, Dr. Vijay Kumar Coordinator, STUTI Awareness Program at NIT Srinagar highlighted the significance of the science day and stated that science and technology have led human civilization to achieve perfection in living. The Science of today is the technology of tomorrow, he said.
In his welcome speech, Dr. Kumar stated that the event was divided into multiple sections including lectures series, quiz competition, poster/model, and speech competition.
Prof. S Rubab presented a vote of thanks to the guests, deans, HoD’s, faculty members, and students for making the event successful. The event was followed by Quiz, Poster, painting, and extempore speech competition. Earlier guests were felicitated by Prof. Ikram, Dr. Zubair, and Dr. Harkirat.
While expert talk on the role of S&T in self-reliance in pre-independent India was presented by Prof. Seemin Rubab. It was followed by another talk on Mathematical beauty of Physical World’ which was delivered by Prof. Prince A. Ganai.
At the end of the event, the students were sent for a lab tour of Central, Departmental Facilities at the NIT Srinagar. It was followed by certificate & prize distribution to the winning students.
Both Dr. Shah and Dr. Vijay Kumar from Physics department acknowledged the support of Prof Chaudhary, SAIF Director, expecting future collaborations and has assured to come up with a scientific calendar for the year 2022, which has been declared as year of science by UNESCO.
In his message, Director, SAIF Panjab University, Prof. Dr. Ganga Ram Chaudhary and main coordinator of STUTI said the program was aimed at human resource development and their capacity building through open access to science and technology infrastructure.
