Broadcast in Kannada and English to cover discoveries in astronomy, upcoming celestial events, profiles of famous astronomers

Mysore/Mysuru: Radio Manasa 89.6 FM, the Community Radio Station of the University of Mysore (UoM) and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Crawford Hall in city on Nov. 17.

IIA Director Prof. Annapurni Subramaniam and UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. N.K. Lokanath signed the MoU on behalf of their institutions.

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics is a premier research institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and is in charge of building the COSMOS (Cosmology Education and Research Training Centre) Planetarium on the University campus at the foot of Chamundi Hill.

The University of Mysore is one among the State Universities that established Radio Manasa in 2021 with a vision to broadcast education-based programmes through Radio for both students and local community.

“This knowledge support and academic collaborator agreement will now enable both institutions to work together to produce regular content for Radio Manasa on astronomy and related subjects”, said Dr. H.S. Kumara, Coordinator of Radio Manasa.

These radio programmes will cover the latest discoveries in astronomy, upcoming celestial events, profiles of famous astronomers, the history of astronomy and other similar topics. They will be bilingual shows, in both Kannada and English.

“We believe that this MoU will benefit the students and the general public in Mysuru and we are happy to add such an important public engagement project to our outreach and education programme under COSMOS Mysuru,” said Prof. Annapurni Subramaniam.

The broadcast is likely to begin next month. The UoM officials and the Outreach of COSMOS, IIA, were present during the MoU signing programme, according to N. Amoghavarsha, Project Associate-I: ‘COSMOS,’ Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Vijnana Bhavan, Manasagangothri [e-mail: [email protected]; Mob: 63621-59474].