Organization of Children Science Congress:

           Children’s Science Congress is an event which provides the children of 10-17 years of age from all over the country a unique opportunity to use their scientific temperament and knowledge to make their own ideas come true. Students identify real life problems by taking projects which are location specific and conduct a survey which is presented initially at the district level followed by the State level and finally at the National level. PSCST is the nodal agency for organizing CSC in the State of Punjab since 1993. This activity is organized at district and state level in the State. From the state, projects are selected for presentation at the National level.

National Environment Awareness Campaign

            The Council has been acting as Regional Resource Agency (RRA) for the state of Punjab to coordinate National Environment Awareness Campaign in the state with support from Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India (MEF, GOI) since 1993. Council is also acting as RRA for Chandigarh since 2006. Under the campaign MEF, GOI provide funds to NGOs, schools and other educational institutions to take up awareness activities on a specified theme each year. For the year 2009-10 the theme is "Climate Change". Under the campaign, various awareness activities like workshops/training courses/camps/padayatras/rallies, public meetings/ exhibitions/competitions, demonstration projects, preparation of audio visual materials, folk media/street theaters/festivals/science fairs, preparation/use of CD-ROM & other multi-media tools and action programmes like plantation, wetland conservation, energy conservation, use of wind and solar energy i.e. solar cookers and heaters, cleaning of water bodies/tanks, cleanliness drive, solid waste management i.e. household waste and composting/vermin-composting, municipal waste, bio-medical waste, plastic waste may be taken up. Interested agencies may submit their proposals, as per proforma of the MEF, GOI, to the Council before the last date specified by the ministry during each year.

Implementation of National Green Corps programme in Punjab.

           Punjab State Council is implementing National Green Corps Programme of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India in 5000 schools in the state.  250 schools have been selected in each district and each school is being provided Rs. 2,500/- per year. Each school has constituted Eco-Clubs of 30-50 students from Class V-XII all over the country. Activities taken up by the schools under this programme are :
i)     Plantation of shady trees, shrubs and flowering plants in the schools.
ii)    Cleanliness of schools.
iii)   Public awareness camps, seminars, workshops, etc.
iv)   Essay writing, quiz, slogan writing and poster making competitions
v)    Awareness rallies in the villages and towns.
vi)   Visits to wetlands
vii)  Lectures in school assemblies.
viii) Celebration of important environment related days like World Environment Day, World     Wetlands Day, Biodiversity Conservation Day, etc.

Celebration of World Wetlands Day.

           The World Wetlands Day has been celebrated since 1997 every year on 2nd February worldwide to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971. Since then it has become an important day to motivate students, NGOs, government agencies and general public to create awareness and take actions for protection of wetlands.

Celebration of International Biodiversity Day

International Biodiversity Day is celebrated each year on 22nd May. Under this programme the following activities are taken up:

State level essay and poster competitions on Biological Diversity was organized for students from schools all over the state on the following topics:
Poster competition:

-  Biodiversity in Forests
-  Wetland Biodiversity
-  Medicinal Biodiversity in Punjab

Essay competition:

-  Agriculture Biodiversity of the respective district
-  Threats to Biodiversity
-  Medicinal Biodiversity of the respective district
-  Importance of Biodiversity to Man

Participation of Punjab Schools in NASA Cloudsat Program

               NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), USA has launched a series of satellites (called the A – train) for study of clouds & global climate.  NASA is involving school students for ground truthing of data generated by the satellites.  It has already identified schools in USA, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. Joint Director (Environment) met NASA Cloudsat Coordinator in Germany wherein a proposal for involving schools from Punjab, India was developed.  As a follow up, the council has identified two clusters of schools in Mohali & Jalandhar for participation in the program from India.  The schools have been identified by State Institute of Science Education and activities coordinated through them.  The council will act as a Facilitator.  A training program for teachers from participating schools was held where teachers were provided background information about the program and cloud charts provided by NASA.

Popular Biotechnology Lecture Series

            Modern biology is a multidisciplinary subject today.  The education in this field thus requires a much broader understanding of emerging areas of life sciences as well as their grass root and advanced applications.  In this context, the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India’s programme titled ‘Popular Biotechnology Lectures’ aims at creating awareness on the basic concepts and recent advances of biotechnology and its applications among students and teachers of schools, colleges, universities as well as general  public. Under this programme, a series comprising three popular biotechnology lectures is organized every year by Punjab State Council for Science & Technology. 

Awareness Programmes on Genetic Disorders

            The Council launched awareness campaign to sensitize rural population about causative factors & prevention of genetic disorders in two villages of District Ropar under a project supported by Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.  The campaign included a district level workshop & series of training/public contact programmes & radio talks.