The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Science festival begins

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Thursday, Jul 03, 2008
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Science festival begins

Special Correspondent

The 31-day event will feature lectures on a variety of subjects
Eminent personalities will deliver lectures and conduct film shows

BANGALORE: It is festival time for science lovers of Bangalore. For, the month-long 31st annual science festival of the Bangalore Science Forum commenced at The National College, Basavanagudi, on Tuesday. The festival took off with P. Balaram, Director, Indian Institute of Science, delivering the inaugural address on “Protein chemistry and disease.”

“This is the only place in the country where science lectures are being held uninterrupted for so long. The science festival here is as regular as the monsoon,” Dr. Balaram observed and recollected his decades-old association with the Bangalore Science Forum and its founder H. Narasimhaiah.

Popularity

Despite heavy rain, scores of people, students as well as senior citizens, attended the inaugural session. Indeed it was a testimony to the popularity of the Bangalore Science Forum’s annual science festival. The 31-day festival will feature lectures on a variety of science subjects such as Frontiers of neurosciences, Global warming,

Design of electronic markets, Physics and nano world, Space technology for societal applications, Assisted reproductive technology and Computers and Indian languages, among others.

Besides, there will be film shows on subjects such as Surprises from elementary particle Physics, Suicide and aggression, Immunology in health and diseases, Harishchandra — A mathematician’s mathematician, among others.

Eminent personalities such as space scientist K. Kasturirangan, psychiatrist C.R. Chandrashekar, ophthalmologist K. Bhujan Shetty and the former director of IISc G. Padmanabhan will deliver the lectures and conduct film shows.

The event will conclude on July 31 with the valedictory lecture by H.N. Mahabala, founder-president of the Computer Society of India. Prof. Mahabala will speak on “Embedded technology — How your grandmother can cook for you while you are studying in the United States?”

Bangalore Science Forum President A.H. Rama Rao said the forum was founded in 1962 to develop spirit of inquiry and scientific temper among the public. The Ramanavami Music Festival organised by Sri Rama Seva Mandali at Fort High School grounds inspired Dr. Narasimhaiah to start an exclusive science festival spread over a few days.

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