National Science Day 2024

About National Science Day (NSD)

• It is celebrated every year on February 28 to mark the contributions of scientists towards the development of the country. 
• On this day, in 1928, Indian Physicists Sir CV Raman made an important discovery in the field of spectroscopy, which was later named after him: the Raman Effect.
  • For this discovery, he was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.
• History:
  • The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), in 1986, asked the Government of India to announce February 28 as National Science Day.
  • The government accepted and declared the day National Science Day.
  • The first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987.

What is the Raman Effect?

• The Raman effect is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
• When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than those of the incident (incoming) beam.
• Most of this scattered light is of an unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light; its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.

Q1) What is the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC)?

The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) is mandated to communicate Science and Technology to masses, stimulate scientific and technological temper and coordinate and orchestrate such efforts throughout the country. The programmes of NCSTC aims at building capacity for informed decision making in the community and promote scientific thinking. It is devoted towards societal upliftment through the dissemination of scientific knowledge in an informed manner and builds programmes with the help of different media which percolate down to every nook and corner of the society.

Source: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launches the theme for National Science Day 'Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat'