India
National Scientific Temper Day to be celebrated in Pune on August 21
The day is observed every year across the country on August 20 since 2018, to remember Dr. Narendra Dabholkar.
All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) along with Maharashtra Andhashraddha Normoolan Samiti (MANS) and other organisations will be commemorating the National Scientific Temper Day in Pune on Sunday, August 21 this year.
The day is observed every year across the country on August 20 since 2018, to remember Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, who was a part of a large movement that propagated scientific temper and reason and fought against superstition and fanaticism. August 20 is also his death anniversary, he was shot dead on the same day in 2013 during a morning walk in Pune. The day also stresses the need to protect scientists and rationalists.
“The day is celebrated on August 20 itself in the rest of the country. But in Pune, on the 20th, we attend the gathering on the Vitthal Ramji Shinde Bridge (Balgandharva bridge), in memory of Dr Dabholkar, where he was shot. Hence, we celebrate the National Scientific Temper Day on a day before or after the 20th,” says Geeta Mahashabde, Director, Navnirmiti Learning Foundation and Executive Committee Member of AIPSN.
This year, the AIPSN has organised an event - Scientific Temper and We The People. Manoj Purvankara, an astronomer with Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and a specialist in planet formation, will be talking about the role of astronomy in promoting scientific temper in his address ‘From Galileo to JWST’. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘pseudoscience’. Dr Anant Phadake, Dr Mujtaba Lokhandwala and Dr Priyadarshini Karve will be discussing pseudoscience in their respective fields, health, astronomy and climate change.
“We have observed that these are some of the major fields where pseudoscience thrives. Hence, we have invited experts from these fields for the panel discussion this year,” Mahashabde added.
The event will be held at Bramhe Granthalay Hall off Law College Road Pune, 5 pm onward.
Indie Journal is associated with the National Scientific Temper Day as media partner.
