Khagol 121

PuLastya Science Festival 2019 To commemorate the birth centenary of Late Shri Pu. La. Deshpande, November 8, 2019,PuLastya Science Festival was organised during November 7 – 9, 2019. The day-time sessions for school students including demonstrations with liquid nitrogen, a session on how to observe the solar eclipse, and interaction with IUCAA PhD students. These were followed by public sky- watching sessions. There was a special session on socially conscious and science minded attitude of Pu. La. and Sunitabai Deshpande. Luminaries who are working on different social and science issues since decades were invited to share their memories of Deshpande couple. These were: Sarvottam Thakur (Sandipani Gurukul, Ratnagiri), Vilas Chaphekar (Vanchit Vikas Kendra, Pune), Mukta Puntambekar (Muktangan Rehabilitation Centre, Pune), Satish Jakatdar (Aashay Film Club, Pune), Virendra Chitrav (Vasundhara Club, Pune), Jayant Sawarkar (Marathi Theatre and Film Industry), and Bharati Bakshi (Muktangan Exploratory, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Pune).Around 1,500 people visited IUCAA on this occasion. Teachers’ Training Around 40 teachers from rural schools participated in a training programme at IUCAA, conducted on November 13, 2019, in collaboration with Vande Educational and Research Foundation, Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra. The workshop was focused on basic astronomy, and upcoming solar eclipse. There were hands- on activities and role play sessions, followed by sky-watching activity. The workshop was coordinated by Sonal Thorve (IUCAA). Events at IUCAA Public Outreach Activities No. 121 - January 2020 17