DIMAPUR, FEB 11 (MExN): At a time when most children are busy in the inauguration of the 33rd National Games in Guwahati, somewhere else in the city a bunch of dedicated students had joined their counterparts across India in celebrating Science Outreach Month on Oracle Education Foundation’s Think.com. Students interacted online with world-renowned space scientist and Member of Parliament, Dr. K Kasturirangan, on space science. From the entire country, 1083 schools were selected for the programme. Kendriya Vidyalaya Maliagaon was the only school to represent the entire NE India.
During the live interaction, Dr. Kasturirangan answered queries students posed to him. Students of all age-groups were there for the event. One student from Class XI, Paban Bujar Barua asked whether it is justified to invest Rs. 390 crore on ‘Mission Chandrayan’. Others asked questions ranging from what a space mission is to ‘what is a shooting star’. Children also asked some million dollar questions regarding the future of Indian students that whether or not there is any possibility to send astronauts to the moon from India. It became clear that the students were so eager to know more about space-related matters that they desired space study as a part of the NCERT curriculum.
Apart from students, teachers were also participated in the knowledge event. K Mohan, PG Teacher of Physics, asked whether it is necessary for every aspiring Indian scientist to migrate to the USA to join NASA like Sunita Williams and late Kalpana Chawla did. Along with Dr. Kasturirangan, Krishan Dhawan, Managing Director of Oracle India, was also present in the live one-hour interaction. Both the renowned personalities did their best to answer questions of the students to unravel the mysteries of outer space. They were of the opinion that space science is making a fast progress in India and by the time the present generation ‘grows up’, it would not be unlikely to see the first Indian landing on the moon.
Apart from schools and their students, media personalities were also there to witness the remarkable event. Oracle Think.Com also gave an opportunity to media personnel to forward their queries. Dr. Kasturirangan and Mr. Dhawan were the moderators. Dr. Kasturinrangan talked on the use of space science for disaster management and mapping of earth’s surface for minerals as well as for spread of education in India which has a special relevance for the North East. He mentioned corporates like Tata who invested resources in the spread of science.
Oracle Think.Com is used by more than 3, 00,000 students in 50 countries and is available in 8 languages. Think.Com is a free service hosted by Oracle Education Foundation for accredited primary and secondary schools. Oracle has made life easier for people who are interested in space science.
