36th Annual Report (2023-24)

86 2ndSaturdaylectures: 14thOctober: “Formation of BlackHoles” by Prof. SurhudMore (Marathi) andDr. MoupiyaMaji (English). 11thDecember: “Detecting the Invisible throughGravitational Waves” by Dr. Pushpa Khare (English andMarathi). PublicTalksinChandrasekharAuditorium: 13thDecember: APublic lecturewas organised by IUCAAScipop on “ZARTH: How to catch a Supernova”. The speaker was Dr. AshishMahabal. 29th December: The 35th IUCAA Foundation Day Lecture titled “Innovate to Transform” was delivered by Padma Bhushan Prof. Jyeshtharaj Bhalchandra Joshi, awell-known chemical engineer and nuclear scientist. NATIONALSCIENCEDAY2024 The National Science Day was celebrated with an Open Day on 28th February 2024 at IUCAA and other events throughout February. Like every year, IUCAA responded to people's enthusiasm to associate better with Science and Scientists. The celebrations attracted numerous students from Pune and other parts of Maharashtra, including teachers, parents, and the public. As per tradition, there were also events for school students before the open day. IUCAA Public Outreach personnel conducted a science quiz, essay writing, and drawing competitions for the rural students of the Ambegaon Taluka on February 17, 2024. Prajakta Mane, Rutuja Pilgar, Jitendra Joshi, Ravi Kesharwani and the SciPop Team (all from IUCAA) enthusiastically encouraged students from 15 rural schools, who competed at the venue generously provided by the Government Polytechnic, Awasari. On February 24, 2024, about 180 students from 36 schools in Pune City responded to IUCAA’s invitation and participated in another set of inter-school competitions. Students fromclasses VIII to X participated in the drawing, essay, model making, and science quiz competitions. The coordinators were Vaidehi Paliya, Rajeshwari Dutta, Anupreeta More, Manasadevi T., and Shivaraj Kandaswamy. During the first round of Quiz, Moupiya Maji gave a fascinating talk to the teachers, who