With a view to create awareness amongst masses in general and youth in
particular about the exceptional biodiversity of India ,
the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) in
collaboration with Department of Science & Technology ( DST) and Indian Railway launched last year on
World Environment Day
(5th
June, 2012) from Delhi
Safdarjung , an innovative exhibition on rail called Science Express Biodiversity Special
(SEBS)Train.
SEBS is now being re-launched in the 2nd phase of the programme on Tuesday , 9 April
2013 from Delhi Safdarjung. Dignitaries who are
expected to grace the flag off ceremony include Smt. Jayanthi
Natarajan Minister of Environment & Forests,
, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Union Minister of Railways , Shri
S.Jaipal Reddy Union Minister for Science and
Technology and Earth Sciences and Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi .
After flag off ceremony, the train will then leave for Pragati Maidan Railway Station
where it will be stationed during 10-13 April. It will be open to visitors from
1000hrs till 1700hrs and entry is free.
Schools can fix appointments to visit the exhibition and also participate in
Joy-of-Science lab by calling 09428405407/8 or by sending an e-mail to sciencexpress@gmail.com.
A team of 40 young well trained and highly motivated post graduates in science,
who remain on-board throughout the entire journey, will facilitate the visitors
and explain the content of the exhibits and also answer their queries.
Thereafter the train will halt at 60 more locations across India before
returning to its base station- Gandhinagar Capital-
on 28 October 2013.
The
present run of the train is the 2nd Phase in the two phase programme envisaged to cover a minimum of 100 locations on
Broad Gauge network of Indian Railway across the entire length & breadth of
the country. Of the 16 coaches of Science
Express- Biodiversity Special, 8 are solely dedicated to showcasing the
myriad biodiversity spread across all the bio-geographical zones of India
through a variety of interactive exhibits, short films & videos that are
shown on Plasma & LED TV screens, large format displays, kiosks, backlit
panels, and so on. The rest of coaches have interesting & informative
exhibits on Climate Change, Energy and Water conservation and topical issues in
science. The popular Joy of Science
Lab is mounted in an exclusive coach in which students are guided to perform
various experiments & activities to understand concepts of various themes
projected in the train. In addition, on the railway platform where the train is
halted, young visitors are encouraged to play several exciting games as well as
participate in quizzes, painting competitions, elocutions, just-a-minute, etc.
The window panes of the entire train have also been judiciously used to put up
posters on the numerous species of flora & fauna found in India which keep
the visitors engaged while waiting for their turn.
During its first phase, which ended on 22 December 2012 at
Ahmedabad, it made halts of 3-4 days duration each at 51 locations and over 23
lakh people, including 6 lakh students and 32000 teachers from 7000 schools
enjoyed learning in a fun filled way. The train was also stationed at Secunderabad during 9-19 October 2012 to facilitate visit
of delegates to Conference of Parties (CoP-11). India hosted the CoP II meeting at Hyderabad attended by participants from
more than 190 countries across the world.
SEBS was the brand ambassador to showcase the rich bio diversity of
India.
RM/RS
(Release ID :94528)
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