Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lays foundation stone for Rs. 81 crore project
Mysuru: The Cosmology Education and Research Training Centre (COSMOS) — featuring a planetarium — the foundation stone for which was laid by Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman at the University of Mysore’s Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Centre for Higher Learning campus at the foot of Chamundi Hill, will build a good learning ecosystem in the Mysuru region.
“It will democratise learning and will be available for all. It will facilitate young minds to learn and disseminate knowledge to the world with substance,” the FM said. The Rs. 81 crore project is expected to be realised by March 2023.
Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in a helicopter at Mysore Airport in Mandakalli from Bengaluru and headed straight to the foot of Chamundi Hill for the event. After the event, she proceeded to Government Guest House for lunch and was scheduled to reach Hebbal on a private visit to a relative’s house near the Infosys campus. She will travel by road to Bengaluru in the evening, confirmed intelligence sources.
Conceptualisation of COSMOS
Taking the audience through the conceptualisation of the COSMOS, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “As an MP for Karnataka, I wanted to do something unique, apart from attending to my regular duties as an MP and a Minister. My former Personal Secretary, a Karnataka-cadre IAS Officer, came up with the idea of a planetarium and it gradually developed into this mega scale. The idea was germinated two years ago and now it has become a Rs. 81 crore project,” she said.
Acknowledging the contributions of Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor, K.N. Vyas, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Dr. S. Chandrashekar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Prof. Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, the Minister said that if Secretaries of different Departments think alike, it will achieve wonders. “This is exactly what happened here with beautiful coordination with the University of Mysore,” she said, looking at the officers who were present on the dais.
Real-time astro data
“With COSMOS, the Ladakh sky can be viewed in Mysuru in real time as the data from telescopes from all over the world is available here along with the data of the past and the present. It is not just a planetarium but is a world in itself. This will enable young minds to acquire knowledge, facilitate learning and empower them to use the data guided by scientists and astrophysicists,” she added.
Before Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the gathering, Prof. Annapurni Subramaniam gave a presentation on the COSMOS and said that apart from featuring a planetarium, COSMOS will also function as an education hub and conduct science education outreach and scientific activities for the students.
India’s first hi-tech Planetarium
“The COSMOS will be India’s first hi-tech planetarium with a Digistar 7 system and a Domex screen. This unique state-of-the-art and real-time planetarium with a playback engine will make it an extremely powerful tool for education and training for students as well as teachers”, she said.
The Digistar system will allow scientists, researchers and students to display real-time data from observatories within the dome as all domes will be inter-connected. Regular teaching courses will be provided for school and college students, training on processing astronomical data, coding and hands-on experiments along with systematic documentation of astronomy heritage will be provided,” she added.
MP Pratap Simha also spoke and placed a demand for Coding Academy and Incubation Centre at University of Mysore on the lines of Coding and Incubation Centre in France.
University of Mysore Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar, Registrar Prof. R. Shivappa, University of Mysore Planning Monitoring & Evaluation Board (PMEB) Director Prof. N.K. Lokanath and others were present.
Girls and colours of the universe
Turning her attention to the girl students present among the audience, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that it felt good to see a lot of girl students. “Girls and science can be real game-changers. You can bring colours to the universe and bring about a change. Girls can bring colours to the COSMOS and I am glad that you all are here. In fact the entire universe is full of colours and with their energy, the girls will only add to that,” she said.
This post was published on March 6, 2022 6:53 pm