Regional Science Centre at Dharwad varsity

Dharwad will play host to a Regional Science Centre at the Karnatak University premises which has been set up by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM).

Union minister Mallikarjun Kharge will inaugurate the Centre on Monday, the first to be set up in the state by the NCSM. The Dharwad Regional Science Centre (DRSC) will engage the young and old alike in creative activities of the science centre.

The ministry of culture, Government of India, and Government of Karnataka have shared the capital expenditure of Rs 8.5 crore in establishing the DRSC. The state government has allotted 12 acres for free and the Centre’s building has come up over 4,000 sq metres. Of this, 1,800 sq metres is being used for halls that display the exhibits which number 200.

The DRSC building consists of four exhibition galleries (science and techn-ology, heritage, bio-machine, fun science), besides a tem-porary exhibition gallery, the inflatable dome planetarium, science demonstration hall, air conditioned auditorium, 3D theatre, telescope observation, computer training lab, science park outside the building and parking lot for big vehicles.

NCSM director (headqu-arters) Kolkata, K G Kumar said, the exhibits at the DRSC are designed to highlight the heritage of the region. He said the major objective of the Centre is to develop scientific temper in the community and to promote creative activities in schools and colleges to supplement formal science education.

Various workshops, seminars, special lectures, inte-ractive sessions, film shows and sky observation will be facilitated at the DRSC, he added.

Kumar said the NCSM had the largest network of scie-nce centres in the world. It has set up 25 regional Science Centres in the country and manages them directly. Repl-ying to a question, he said Gulbarga and Mangalore in Karnataka will have RSCs inaugurated soon. He said, Himachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli did not have RSC.