To promote science, K’taka starts mobile planetariums
The Karnataka government on Wednesday launched mobile digital planetariums, the first such initiative in the country, which will tour district and taluk headquarters to promote the knowledge of astronomy among school and college students in rural areas.
At present the state has one planetarium, the Jawaharlal Planetarium located in Bengaluru, which was built in 1989.
As part of the initiative, five customised vans equipped with two inflatable tents and projectors with fish-eyed lenses will visit government schools in rural areas and hold shows for students for students of classes 8 to 10. One van has been earmarked for Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kalaburagi revenue divisions, and two for the Belagavi division.
While the government has procured the necessary equipment, the project, called Tare Zameen Par, will be run by Varnaaz Technologies, a private firm.
Speaking to HT, Dinesh Badagandi, founder of Varnaaz Technologies, said each van has two employees who will travel in it. The vans will visit individual schools where the staff will put up the tents and conduct shows.
“Each van costs ₹1.9 crore, including equipment inside. All vans have beds for staff and two tents, measuring 60m and 50m respectively,” Badagandi said. “The larger tent can seat about 60 students at a time while the other can seat 40. The tents had to be procured from Hong Kong as they are not made here.”
Varnaaz has developed three programmes in the initial phase. For class 8 students, it has developed ‘Earth, Moon and Sun’; ‘Life of Stars’ for class 9; and, ‘Sun’ for class 10 students. Each video lasts 30 minutes, with a separate video busting myths surrounding solar and lunar eclipses that will projected outside tents on LED screens for students waiting for their turn inside the tents. The videos are available in English, Kannada and Hindi languages.
MR Seetharam, minister for science and technology, said the state government was focused on promoting a scientific temper. “What better way than to start with schoolchildren. Science is the only means to help fight the grip of superstitions,” he said.