The three-day science conference organized by Karnataka Rajya Vignana Parishat resolved to seek the full implementation of the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017.
A set of resolutions were adopted during the valedictory of the conference here on Saturday and the KRVP said that though the law against superstitious beliefs has been passed, people were not aware of it nor was there clarity or awareness about where and with whom to lodge complaints for spreading superstitions.
The conference also resolved that the government should create a conducive environment to facilitate more women to take up science and scientific research. The conference noted that KRVP had been taken out of the purview of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, in recent times and wanted the original system to continue.
Other resolutions
The other resolutions were protection of forests in Western Ghats, strict implementation of single-use plastic and engaging school students in study of lakes and monitoring the habitat, establishing science laboratories in all Government schools and training the teachers to ramp up the standards, immediate clearance of lake encroachments, funding of KRVP’s science conference which should be held in different districts every year similar to Kannada Sahitya Sammelana.
The KRVP also instituted an award in memory of educationist and rationalist H. Narasimhaiah who was also one of the founders of KRPV. Four persons were conferred the award this year in recognition of their contribution to popularize science. The recipients were M.R. Nagaraj, Shreemathi Hariprasad, B.K. Chalageri and D.R. Baluragi.
Former ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar who delivered the valedictory address said that science and technology was growing by leaps and bounds and in the age of information explosion, teachers should help the students to sift the genuine from the spurious. He hoped that the efforts of the KRVP and the science congress would help address the issue.
MLC A.H. Vishwanath said that it was science and technology which helped India develop from a food-deficit nation which was importing grains to a food-exporting nation. ‘’The country had to import food to feed nearly 380 million people but today not only was the country self-sufficient to feed 1.3 billion people but was also capable of exporting food,” said Mr. Vishwanath. He said the green revolution, the white revolution or operation flood which increased milk production, were all an outcome of science.
However, he cautioned that basic science was taking a backseat in the present times and attributed it to the rise of social media and expressed confidence that the KRVP would continue instilling interest in science among children.
More than 1,000 students and teachers from across the State took part in the conference which was jointly hosted by the Mysuru district administration, Mysuru ZP and KSOU.
