english final - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

BIRBAL SAHNI INSTITUTE OF PALAEOBOTANY
Annual Report 2004-2005
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
National Science Day
In accordance with directions from the DST, the National
Science Day-2005 was celebrated for a fortnight (February
15-28) this year with the theme being “Celebration of
Physics” to commemorate the centenary of Einstein’s great
discoveries in 1905. Four lectures were organized at the
Institute, including two by outside speakers. On February 15,
Institute scientist S. Chakraborty delivered a lecture on
Harmonic Oscillations and their Applications to
Palaeoclimate. The Officiating Director Dr Jayasri Banerji spoke
on the significance of the year and highlighted the achievements
of Einstein. A debate competition for school students was
organized on February 22. Thirty-one students spoke for and
against the topic “Space Science is a Luxury for India”. On
February 24, a lecture on Einstein and Theory of Relativity by
Prof. G.P. Gupta, Head, Department of Physics (Lucknow
University), portrayed Einstein as a great intellectual. Prof
Gupta explained relativity in a simple manner with illustrations.
On February 26, a collage competition for school students was
organized on ‘Tsunami: Causes and Effects’ at Institute campus.
About 70 students from 9 institutions participated. A ‘Face-to-
Face’ programme for school students on ‘Tsunami’ was joined
in by Institute scientists- R.K. Saxena, C.M. Nautiyal, S.K.M.
Tripathi and Mukund Sharma during which a large number of
students asked questions on various aspects of tsunami.
The Valedictory function was held on the National
Science Day (February 28) with Prof. Devendra Sharma, Ex Vice-
Chancellor (Indore and Gorakhpur Universities) as the Chief
Guest who, with illustrations, explained how Einstein’s theory
helped in understanding stellar behaviour. Institute scientist
C.M. Nautiyal in his talk on Planets, Plants and Physics
outlined the geological, geographical and climatic conditions
on various planets; discussed how they were greatly governed
by physical laws and illustrated how it would influence life
forms, if any. A speech-competition for degree-students was
also held on this day on the topic “Space Science is a Luxury
for India”. The officiating Director chaired the session and
paid tributes to Professors Raman and Einstein. The Chief Guest
gave away prizes to winners of various competitions. In all, 24
prizes were awarded in the form of science books, etc. All
participants of collage competition were given small booklets
of Prof C.V. Raman’s lecture titled ‘Why the Sky is Blue’. The
Day was observed as an Open House.
Prof. Devendra Sharma along with winners of National Science Day Competitions.
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