Educational institutes need to focus on innovation & research: Rymbui

GUWAHATI, Aug 1: Meghalaya Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has urged educational institutes to focus on innovation and research for societal transformation.
Inaugurating a five-day national exhibition and seminar on plasma physics at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), Rymbui urged young students to take up research and innovation, and said that the initiative by USTM to involve school and college students in scientific endeavours was a very positive and inspiring step.
“We must know how to empower ourselves with the use of plasma in our lives,” the minister said during his speech at the seminar organised by the Department of Physics, USTM, in collaboration with the Centre of Plasma Physics-Institute for Plasma Research (CPP-IPR) under the Department of Atomic Energy.
More than 500 school and college students from 50 educational institutions of Guwahati, Kokrajhar and Ri-Bhoi are taking part in the seminar.
Addressing the gathering, USTM vice-chancellor GD Sharma said the exhibition would motivate students to do research on plasma which could open new avenues of learning at the school level.
“USTM is also planning to have a centre for plasma research and a separate paper for plasma research,” he added.
Scientist-H, head, outreach division, IPR, Gujarat AV Ravi Kumar thanked USTM for organising the unique five-day exhibition.
Deputy commissioner of KV Sangathan Varun Mitra was of the opinion that after solid, liquid and gas, the fourth state of matter present in the universe is plasma, while appealing to the students to think out of the box.
The centre director of CPP-IPR, Assam, BK Saikia suggested inclusion of plasma physics in the school curriculum.
The exhibition features working plasma devices, plasma device models, et al.
Besides talks on plasma science and technology by scientists, training of both school and college students, quiz competitions among students, and interactions with scientists and experts are part of the seminar.