Nagpur: If all goes as per the plan in developing a cargo hub at Mihan in Nagpur, then the city would certainly be the hotbed of aeronautical activities transforming it into the future of civil aviation.
Exuding strong confidence in the Nagpur cargo hub’s potential, Chairman Aeronautical Society of India (city chapter) air marshal RKS Shera has said these words on Thursday. He was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day Orange City Science Fair which started on Thursday at Raman Science Centre.
He said, “The kind of cargo hub being planned at Mihan, if that becomes a reality then this town will start producing components for one of the military aircraft in coming time. When that happens, Nagpur should ideally be the place to prepare engineers with aeronautics background.
At present, the course runs only at Priyadarshini College of Engineering and the department concerned needs to be expanded.” The centre’s project co-ordinator N Ramdas Iyer and vice-chancellor of Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University Sharad Nimbalkar were also present on the occasion. As many as 130 students of 54 schools participated in the event. Altogether 20 teachers, with their teaching aids, also took part.
Encouraging the kids, Shera said, “The field of aviation is extremely fascinating. It feels good to manufacture planes, to fly them and maintain them. I encourage you all to look ahead at it as a carrier option.”
Nimbalkar appreciated the efforts taken by the centre to encourage budding scientists. Later in the day, a session called ‘meet the scientist’ was also organized at the centre in which Nimbalkar and renowned scientist Dr Ramesh Thakre spoke on pulses’, since the United Nations (UN) declared 2106 as the international year of pulses during its 68th general assembly.
A lecture on ‘principals of flight’ will be organised on December 23 at 3pm, followed by an air show at 4pm by the Aeronautical Society of India.
An open house quiz will be organized on December 24 at 3pm in which students will be asked questions pertaining to aviation, aeronautics and science. The quiz will be conducted by Wing Commander Samir Gangakhedkar from the Aeronautical Society of India.
