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World Space Week celebrated
The inauguration ceremony of World Space Week (WSW)-2006, organised by Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), was held on November 6 at the Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad, formally commencing World Space Week 2006 celebrations. the Honourable Mr Parvez Butt (HI, SI), Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, was the chief guest on the occasion.
The ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on the topic "Space Technology and the future of Pakistan". The panelists included Chairman, SUPARCO Eng Raza Hussain, Director General SAR Wing Arshad H. Siraj, Director R&D, Azmat Hayat Khan, Pakistan Meteorological Department, Professor Dr Asif Zafar Malik TeleMedicine / E- Health Training Centre, Holy Family Hospital, Brig Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor, Institute of Space Technology and Mr Usman A Bajwa, CEO PAKSAT.
The day culminated with a seminar on the theme of WSW 2006 "Space for Saving Lives".
A Space Education Bus departed at 7:00 am from SUPARCO HQs, Karachi on November 7 to create awareness space among students in rural areas of Sindh covering Hyderabad, Matiayari, Hala, Saeedabad, Sakrand and Nawabshah.
Besides this, a quiz competition was held at SUPARCO Headquarters on November 8, 2006, between students of various schools of Karachi. More than 100 students from various private and government schools participated in the competition. Teams of Army Public School, Bahria Foundation College School and Happy Home School qualified for the Final Quiz Competition that was held at PAF Museum on Sunday November 12.
During the World Space Week celebrations PIA Planetarium offered free Sky
Simulation shows to school students from November 6 – 10.
A declamation contest was held at SUPARCO HQs on November 9. Students from various private/government schools presented their arguments on the theme “Space for Saving Lives” suggesting greater emphasis on the use and application of space technology for overall socio economic development of the country and disaster management and mitigation. Speeches delivered by students reflected their sound knowledge related to space technology and its applications which was made possible with the distribution of Space Information Booklet by SUPARCO.
The WSW 2006 celebrations ended with a Space Family Fair at PAF Museum. The event was attended by more than 1,000 people from different walks of life.
The Fair started with an On the Spot Poster Making Competition in the morning, followed by a walk in which school students and general public participated to show support for World Space Week. Students enthusiastically participated in the walk holding placards and banners to show their support for WSW 2006.
The Fair had stalls of different schools displaying the models and gadgets they had prepared for the competitions. There was a separate booth where all posters made by students for the competition were displayed.
SUPARCO had a Telemedicine display unit connected live with Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre where live consultations were offered and the working of the unit was explained to anxious students and public. Another highlight was the vehicle tracking display arranged by SUPARCO where a specific vehicle roaming the city was tracked and the working of the SUPARCO International Mass Tracker (SIMT) was explained to the public. Models of BADR 1 & BADR-B Pakistan’s experimental satellites and Rehbar 1 Pakistan’s first sounding rocket along with posters related to various fields of SUPARCO’s activities were displayed on the SUPARCO stall.
The day proceeded with a tableau competition between schools and various fun activities arranged for the public including a magic show, juggler show, puppet show and singing competitions. The jury of different competitions evaluated the models and posters of the students.
On the second day, finals of the quiz competitions were held. Towards the end of the day, a closing ceremony was held where the chief guest, Mr Rauf Siddiqui, Minister of Culture and Tourism, distributed prizes and souvenirs among winners and runners-up of the different competitions held during the week. The day ended with entertainment for the students and some live music.
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