VIT Founder-Chancellor G. Viswanathan with the winners of the ‘Naalaya Vingyani 2023’ at VIT on Thursday.
The State-level best team for ‘Naalaya Vingyani’ (Future Scientist) from the regional level for school students between Class VIII and XII from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry was held at VIT in Vellore on Thursday.
According to a press release, Naalaya Vingyani, a joint initiative of Hindu Tamil Thisai in association with VIT University, aims to bring out creative and scientific solution from school students (Classes 8 to 12) in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the real-life problems or challenges that prevail in our society. At VIT, the students from 26 teams that were selected from the regional level displayed their scientific works.
The regional search was held in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Kovilpatti. The science festival was held to stimulate scientific thinking among the students and to bring out their hidden scientific potential.
In his address, G. Viswanathan, founder-chancellor, VIT, said, “Science alone is responsible for the development of the world and the development of people. One should study science with care. As a country we are lagging in terms of higher education. That is because India’s enrollment rate in higher education is only 27%. In developed countries it ranges from 60 to 100%.”
Further, he said that at the State level, Tamil Nadu is at the second position with 50% and Kerala’s rate is at 40%.
VIT University Assistant Vice-President Kadhambari S. Viswanathan said: “We can learn as much as we want about a subject in small videos and memes. But, even after 20 years of studying and writing exams, you cannot forget. No one should give up the habit of reading newspapers. Make it a habit to read some newspapers,”.
V. Narayanan, Director of ISRO’s LPSC, participated in the program as a special guest and said, “Following the success of Chandrayaan-3, I have met one lakh students in the program. India has grown in various sectors since independence. There are many plans. There are plans to send people to space and return in 2025, to land people on the moon in 2026 and collect soil and other samples for research, to establish an Indian-made space center in 2035, and to send Indians to the moon in 2040,” he said.
Students of Tiruchirappalli District Musri Union, Nachampatty, Tiruchi Government High School, secured first prize. Students of the winning team are T. Thanabalan, P. Bhupesh and S. Mohanraj. A cash award of Rs.25,000 was given, the release said.