WORLD SPACE WEEK-2006 CELEBRATED AT ENAYETPUR

n Bangladesh, schools were closed for Ramadan during the time of the celebration of World Space Week 2006, but the functions were very qualitative and spectacular. This year, celebrations were held in Enayetpur and in Dhaka. Enayetpur The main event of the World Space Week 2006 was held on October 5 at Enayetpur in the premises of Mohakash Bhavan (Space House), where hundreds of students from 16 schools participated. Organizers were aware of the problem created by mass participation during World Space Week in 2005, so this year a limited number of students from each school was invited. The venue was decorated with colourful clothes neatly rapped over bamboo sticks offering a traditional look. There were three contests: Space Arts, Space Debate, and Space Quiz. Winners of these three Space Contests were given attractive prizes. The function was followed by a Space Video Show including a video clip of Anousheh Ansari, the first woman space tourist, speaking from inside the International Space Station where she had visited in September 2006. About 200 students below class V participated in the Space Art Contest. They sat over sheets of cloth spread over the lawn of Mohakash Bhavan and drew space-related pictures. Samples of those pictures were supplied to them earlier to get prepared on it. It was one of the most exciting events of the Celebration as the kids concentrated their indomitable enthusiasm on the drawing of Space Art and completed it within the specified time. It was followed by Space Debate in which a dozen of students presented their elaborate lectures on the Sun and the planets of our Solar System. The third and the most interesting event was the Space Quiz. Students were asked space-related questions and had to reply instantly. Dozens of students raised their hands almost simultaneously and answers were flawless, in spite of being in a part of the globe where there is no facility for space education. Students of the following Schools participated in the celebration of World Space Week-2006 at Enayetpur: KYAMCH Public School Enayetpur ICL School Enayetpur Khwaja Enayetpuri Cadet Coaching Enayetpur Kabatunnessa Kindergarten Enayetpur Alhaj Siddique High School Chala Shohagpur Pilot Girls High School Mukundogati Syamkishore Pilot High School Mukundogati Alimuddin-Osman Ghani High School Randhunibari Mukti Biddya Niketan Doulatpur New Light Model School Khamargram Imperial Public School Gopalpur Islamia Shishu Academy Goprekhi Sunrise Kindergarten Chandangati Child Fair Kindergarten Chandangati Khamargram College Khamargram Lecturers at this function were Dr. A. R. Khan, the President of Bangladesh Astronomical Society and a former Professor of Applied Physics Department, University of Dhaka, Dr. Ali Asgar, Head of Biotechnology Department, Gono University, Savar and the former Head of the Physics Department, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Dr. Sadre Ula, Professor of the Electronics and Computer Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA and Energy Advisor to the State of Wyoming, Mr. F. R. Sarker, General Secretary, Bangladesh Astronomical Society and the National Coordinator in Bangladesh for Spaceweek International Association, Mr. Saidul Islam, Head Master, Shohagpur Pilot Girls High School, Mr. Shahjahan Ali Mollah, Principal, Khwaja Enayetpuri Cadet Coaching, Ms. Shajeda Khatun Lopa, Principal, KYAMCH Public School, Mr. Wahiduzzaman Wahid, Pricipal, ICL School, Mr. AFM Hasan, Belkuchi Upazila Education Officer, Mr. Lokendra Nath Ghose, Principal, Khamargaon College, Mr. Saidul Islam, Mr. Khairul Anam Sheikh, Mr. Alim-Al Razi, Mr. Mosharraf Hossain Khan, Members of Bangladesh Astronomical Society.