Dharanidhar University Marks National Space Day with Educational Activities
National Space Day was observed at Dharanidhar University, Keonjhar on 23 August. As mandated by the UGC, every Higher education institution (HEI) was required to celebrate the occasion to mark the 1st anniversary of Chandrayan 3, India’s expedition to moon last year. The theme for this year was Touching lives while touching the moon: India’s Space Saga. To mark the occasion, the University organised a discussion on the theme. The OSD-um-vice chancellor of the University, Professor Pratap Kumar Mohanty drew attention to the contribution of Odisha to India’s space mission. He cited the instance of the various components of space mission which were fabricated at the central tool room and training centre, Bhubaneswar. He also shed light on the complexity of human involvement in space research.
Chairman PG Council, Dr Prabhu Prasad Das spoke on the role of remote sensing in addressing the major challenges on earth especially calamity mitigation. The chief guest for the occasion and former professor of economics, Dr Satyabrata Mishra underlined the vision of the Prime Minister on India becoming a key player in geopolitics through its accomplishments in science and space. Registrar of the University, Sri Narendra Kumar Sahoo emphasised geology’s role in expanding the space science research field. As a part of the celebration, quiz, debate and poster making competitions were held, the winners of which, were awarded prizes during the event. The event was coordinated by Dr Nibedita Pati, Assistant Professor, Department of Sanskrit. It ended with a formal vote of thanks by Dr KC Pradhan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics.