Students should cultivate an inquiring mind and science festivals would help immensely in this, said State Higher Educaiton Minister K.P. Anbalagan, who participated in the inauguration of the four-day India International Science Festival.
“Science is part of our daily life, sometimes we do so without realising their values. In villages every morning people wash their homes and courtyards with cowdung, as it is a disinfectant. Similarly, cow’s urine is considered to have the ability to kill germs and is sprinkled on special occasions. Our villagers use turmeric powder to bathe and in food. Herbs like neem, nilavembu, thulasi and kizhanelli, have been used to treat ailments,” he said.
The festival has several components. One of them is the science village, where ‘Parliament to Panchayat’ programme will be held in which 26 teams of students from the State will present a problem that they would like to resolve in their village. The problems would then be presented to the Prime Minister who would allocate funds for the same.
The grassroots innovators summit houses low-cost innovations for everyone — from agriculturists to weavers to home makers. The hall with exhibits from the Indian Space Research Organisation drew excited children.
Union Minister for Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan, who inaugurated the festival, launched two books on science. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the All India Council of Technical Education and the International Institute of Waste Management to train educational institutions and students and improve their campuses