DEDICATED CHANNEL FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION IN PUNJAB NEEDED: DR. NEELAM GULATI SHARMA

LUDHIANA, JUNE 23:-----



Science has progressed greatly touching every sphere of life. Children prefer to go for either medical or engineering subjects, these days. These expressions were made by Dr. (Mrs.) Neelam Gulati Sharma, Additional Director, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), while interacting with teacher participants of the orientation course on \'Science Communication through Media-Recent Trends\' at PAU. Dr. Sharma added that there is lot of pressure on the juvenile minds of students, especially at the time when they are to opt for their career stream. She suggested that efforts for parental counseling were needed. Deliberating on \'Science communication in the 21st century, she said that science and technology programmes must have a fun component so that the intricacies of science and technology are presented in an entertaining manner. She said that \'Infotainment\' combining information and entertainment and \'Scientooning\', putting science through cartoons, have become recent approaches.



Sea changes have happened in education, banking, printing, agriculture, music, medicine and other fields, she said. Dr. Sharma emphasized on the need for a dedicated channel for science in Punjab for better outreach to the masses. She said that learning, unlearning and re-learning were the essentials for keeping pace with the innovations and development in science and technology. She appreciated the efforts of PAU Centre for Communication and International Linkages (CCIL) for preparing innovative street place to effectively transfer the farm technology of pest management which she said has been recognized at the national level. There is a need of trained science communicators in schools, colleges and agricultural sector, said Dr. Sharma adding that the young boys and girls can opt for their career in communication related subjects. She was all prays for the orientation course organized by CCIL with support from PSCST and catalytic involvement of National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science and Technology of Government of India.



Dr. K.S.Bath, Senior Scientist of PSCST discussed various dimensions of science communication and added that with the use of modern digital technology, documentations on the history of science and technology development in Punjab can be prepared for posterity. The Universities should have a course on history of science and technology, he said. He talked on \'Science communication through history of science and technology\'.



Dr. (Mrs) Nancy Devinder Singh from Punjabi University, Patiala and Mrs. Roma Singh from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra deliberated on different dimensions of mobile technology that they said can be effective tools for technology transfer to the grassroot level. Nancy, sharing the case studies, highlighted that mobile phone technology has undergone several innovative developments while Roma highlighted that through short message service the technological tips can be flashed to the end users. She said that there has been a revolution happening in the communication technology in the country.



Earlier, the Additional Director of Communication, Dr. Jagtar Singh Dhiman introduced the experts to the audience and highlighted the subject matter covered in the orientation course. He informed that tomorrow there will be deliberations by experts on the organization of press conferences and the success story of publication house dealing with farm literature. Dr. Nirmal Singh Jaura, Coordinator of the programme proposed his vote of thanks to the experts and the participants. He informed that the course will conclude on June 27 where Mr. Varinder Walia of Tribune, Mr. Manohar Bharaj of Doordarshan Jalandhar, Dr. Gursharan Singh, Dean, Postgraduate Studies of PAU and Dr. N.S.Malhi, former Director of Extension Education will interact with the participants.



The participants, hailing from different departments and Krishi Vigyan Kendras of PAU, interacted with the experts and sought answers to their queries. Three participants, Dr. Vishal, Dr. T.S.Riar and Dr. Sarabjit Singh shared their views on emotions and selective communication, stress management and how to say no to drugs.
News From: http://www.7StarNews.com