Today, social media like Facebook is full of posts of ‘National Science Day’. But how many of us know as to why is the day celebrated and what is its importance. Every year on February 28 we celebrate National Science Day to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ which led to Indian scientist CV Raman winning the Noble Prize in Physics in 1930.
Now about the theme. The theme for the National Science Day 2019 is ‘Science for people and people for science’ while in 2018 it was “Science and Technology for a sustainable future.”
In 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) asked the Government of India to designate 28 February as National Science Day which the then Govt. of India accepted and declared the day as National Science Day in 1986. The first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987.
Raman Effect is characterised by a phenomenon in the field of spectroscopy which was found by the prominent physicist while working in a laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata.
Now, we need to know a few things about the National Science Day
The fundamental goal celebrating this day as a National Science Day is to signify the message of the significance of science and its wide application amongst the inhabitants of India.
For National Science Day 2018 the theme chosen is making use of Science and Technology to create a sustainable future which has been opted to raise appreciation of the public for scientific issues and bring about a general awareness too.
National Council for Science and Technology Communication also known as NCSTC of Department is one of the nodal office which helps to catalyse and organise the celebrations associated with the National Science Day all over the nation, especially in logical research laboratories and scientific institutions.
In 1987, DST organised National Awards in 1987 to empower, recognse and encourage the exceptional endeavors in the stream of science communication and popularisation and in developing scientific temper. Dr. Raghbir Singh Khandpur from Punjab was chosen for National Award for his Outstanding Efforts in the field of S&T Communication in the year 2017. He was honored with a prize amount of Rs.2,00,000/ – (Rupees two lakh), a citation and also a memento. Apart from this, other National Awards were of a value of Rs.1,00,000/ – (Rupees one lakh), along with a citation and memento.
NSD also received another prestigious award in the year 2017 for the national award for women development by using science and technology. This award was bestowed on Socio-cultural development center located at Jagatsinghpur, Odisha. It was of a value of Rs 15 lakhs along with a citation and memento.
Sir CV Raman had received the highest civilian award which is Bharat Ratna in the year 1954. He began his experiments to study the light’s scattering and invented the Raman spectroscopy. It is used to observe the rational, vibrational and low frequency modes present in a system. It is commonly used in laboratories and is important to choose the substance using which light is scattered.
In the year 1930, the Nobel Prize in physics was won by Sir CV Raman for his contribution to the study of scattering of light and the discovery he made.