Saima Rashid/Sheikh Tabish
SRINAGAR
In the snowbound lawns of Srinagar’s Nigeen Club, about 300 toppers assembled on Friday to be part of INSPIRE 2014 internship. The programme which started five years ago offers five day internship to the toppers of Class 10 and 12 students.
Organised by National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hazratbal, the programme aims to attract young and bright minds to science.
By 10.30 am, the programme started in a packed hall of Nigeen Club where students appeared eager while listening to Padma Shree Awardees, Prof Syed E Husnain and Prof Rajat Gupta.
Prof Husnain, vice chancellor Hyderabad University, who was the chief guest on the occasion, began his speech by praising the beauty of Kashmiri people. “It is not the land of Kashmir that makes it beautiful,” he said, “but the people living here add more beauty to the land.”
INSPIRE is held with the motto to breed scientific temper in the young and brightest minds, he said: “Science is not a profession or job, but a hobby with a difference that one is paid for it.”
“It is easy to shape a growing bud than to shape a grown up man,” said Dr Shah Mohammed Ashraf, convener INSPIRE. “INSPIRE is the only program started by government of India, 5 yrs back to strengthen young minds.”
It aims at “motivating talented youth to take-up research as a personal undertaking,” he added.
Annually about 50,000 students of top 1% performers in Class 10 board examinations and pursuing science at higher Secondary level are being given an exposure with leaders in science in the Summer/Winter camps to experience the joy of innovations.
“These Science camps essentially nourish the curiosity of children in science; help them to think out of the box and attract the students at an early age of 16-17 years [Class 11] to en roll in science subjects,” said Dr Seemin Rubab, Co-convener INSPIRE.
The Inspire Internship will end on March 18.
The crux of this event, said Dr Ashraf, is to honour young minds with those awards that noble laureates were awarded with.
