There are different days such as Independence Day, Environment Day and Children's Day that we observe. Sometimes, we also keep aside a whole week with certain objectives like in the case of Library Week celebration and Nurses Week. There are also instances where we allocate a whole year for a precise purpose as in the case of International Year of Biodiversity and International Year of Astronomy.
Earmarked to learn
A day, a week or a year, in all these cases, what they do is offer an opportunity to bring related issues into the spotlight and to spread the message of its importance among the people.
Now, who fixes the day, week or the year for a certain goals? It can be done by the respective governments of the country or even by international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) as in the case of the International Year of Forest.
Once it's fixed by a government or by an international body, the responsibility is on the educational institutions and the civic bodies across the world to observe and celebrate them in a fitting way.
Do you know what is the significance of the year 2011? It has been declared as the International Year of Chemistry (IYC2011) by the United Nations. And hence a variety of programmes have been organised by different countries and agencies across the globe to bring attention to the subject of Chemistry and the advancements human beings have made in the subject.
The theme of IYC2011 is “Chemistry –our life, our future,” and it will focus on the “achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind”. It aims to raise awareness about chemistry among the general public and to attract young people to the field, as well as to highlight the role of chemistry in solving global problems.
In India, February 28 is observed as National Science Day every year. It is celebrated to mark the discovery of Raman Effect by C.V. Raman. The event is commemorated in honour of Sir C.V. Raman for his legacy and discovery of the Raman effect on February 28, 1928, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
Week-long fun
In view of the National Science Day of our country and the International Year of Chemistry, the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium in Kozhikode has decided to organise week-long programmes for students to mark the occasion from February 23 to 28.
During the period, various competitions and lectures will be organised at the Regional Science Centre in Kozhikode.
The theme for the painting contest for students incidentally is “Chemistry and Environment”, whereas the theme for the elocution contest is “Chemistry in Daily Life”. The quiz competition also will be themed around Chemistry, plus a workshop titled “The Kitchen Chemistry” has been planned for housewives. The final programme on February 28 is a multimedia lecture on the topic “Green Chemistry.”
