HONOUR: The former Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, V.K. Atre (third from left), and the former NAL Director, Roddam Narasimha (fourth from left), who were conferred the Visvesvaraya Vijnana Puraskar awards at the Karnataka Science Congres s in Bangalore on Thursday. Minister for Science and Technology Basavaraj Horatti is at right. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: Minister for Science and Technology Basavaraj Horatti on Thursday said the Government had plans to open science centres at taluk and district levels in the State to take science to the common.

Speaking after inaugurating the first Karnataka Science Congress jointly organised by the National Aerospace Laboratories and the Swadeshi Vijnana Andolana here, Mr. Horatti underlined the need for making science the lifestyle of people. Regretting that science still remained the domain of a few, the Minister noted that the mother tongue (Kannada) could play a vital role in popularising science among the common people.

`Focus on rural areas'

On the occasion, Mr. Horatti announced that the Government would identify and honour those who make efforts to popularise science in Kannada and said that Rs. 30 lakhs would be set apart for the purpose.

The Minister exhorted those working in the field to focus on rural areas by taking science to district and taluk levels and educate people.

He pointed out that the State Government did not avail itself of any financial assistance from the Centre for its campaign to popularise science.

Project

Mr. Horatti later told presspersons that the Government had already launched an ambitious project of imparting science education in Kannada for at least 1,000 students in each taluk in Bangalore Rural and Urban districts and it would soon be extended to Dharwad district. Each district would be covered gradually, he said.

On the delay in setting up the proposed Science Park in Bangalore, Mr. Horatti said non-availability of land within the city limits had come in the way of the project.

Land for park

The department would set up the park as and when land was made available, he said and added that Rs. 70 lakhs had already been set aside for the purpose.

The Science Congress conferred the Sir M. Visvesvaraya Vijnana Puraskar awards on eminent personalities such as C.N.R. Rao, U.R. Rao, Roddam Narasimha, V.K. Atre, S.K. Ramachandra Rao and N.R. Narayanamurthy. Only Dr. Narasimha and Dr. Atre were present on the occasion.

Participants in the congress had a unique experience with more than 100 speakers presenting their papers in Kannada.

Science Congress Chairman and NAL Director A.R. Upadhyaya, Vijnana Bharathi President K.I. Vasu, and Swadeshi Vijnana Andolana convenor A.K. Satyavati were present. Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor M.S. Thimmappa presided over the function.

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