DHARWAD: Former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Dr A S Kiran Kumar called upon school children to develop interest in science.In an interactive session with children at Leelavati Charantimath Public School here on Saturday, Dr Kirankumar said the future of India depends on youngsters and they should be equipped to shoulder the responsibility efficiently and take the country forward.“Sky gazing is a fascinating experience and every child is amazed to see stars, Mars, Moon and celestial bodies. The days are not far away when the children can go on a vacation to Mars,” said Dr Kiran Kumar.The interactive session was part of ‘Space Tatwa’ organized by the ARC Foundation to create awareness among children about space research.It was dream come true for students of Dharwad who had heard about the achievements of Isro. to visit the institute and interact with scientists, the think-tanks of Indian space programme and also visualize the development of satellites.Of the total 400 students who took part in 'Space Tatwa' from various schools from across Dharwad, 15 students were declared winners. Of the 15 students, 10 students were given a chance to visit the ISRO while five others would be visiting Sriharikota , to see the vehicle launch.Karnataka State Higher Education Academy director S M Shivaprasad, additional commissioner of public instruction Major Siddhalingayya Hiremath, school managing committee chairman Arun Charantimath, Gurumurthy Yargamblimath, former mayor Shivu Hiremath and others were present at the programme.‘Will send humans to space’Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Isro to send humans on space to mark the 75th Independence Day and scientists have started working on the project, said Dr Kiran Kumar.He told reporters that the Indian space programme is making a giant strides. India alone has the power to show sustainable living to the world and the younger generation should be part of this rare feat, he said.“Vikram Sarabhai who introduced space programme in India resides in every child, but the curiosity of learning new things should be kept alive. Observation is the keyword to explore the world and come up with innovations,” said Kiran Kumar.Along with taking humans to space, Isro has also successfully launched Aditya-1 satellite to study the sun. The satellite will be placed in the halo orbit of the sun, which is about 1.5 million km from the earth, he added. Isro is conducting several scientific programmes at schools to inspire young students to become astronauts, he added.

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