Punjab education department releases over Rs 4.21 crore

 26th August 2021 at 3:02 PM

 Singla's instructions for upgradation of Science and Computer Labs 

Chandigarh: 26th August 2021: (Education Screen Bureau)::

On the instructions of Punjab Education Minister Mr. Vijay Inder Singla, the education department has released more than Rs. 4.21 crore for upgradation of Science and Computer Labs in the government schools.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the school education department said that the Director General of School Education Ms. Isha Kalia has issued a letter in this regard. After converting the government schools into smart schools, the department has decided to renovate the science and computer labs of these schools so that the students can contain excellent lab facilities. According to the spokesperson, a total amount of Rs. 4,21,80,000 has been released for 1406 senior secondary and high schools during the first phase. During this phase, the 554 science and 852 computer labs of smart schools will be upgraded. So far Punjab Government has converted 13224 government schools into smart schools.

According to the spokesperson, an amount of Rs. 33.90 lakh has been released for the 113 schools of Amritsar district, Rs. 4.20 lakh for 14 schools of Barnala, Rs. 25.50 lakh for 85 schools of Bathinda, Rs. 7.20 lakh for 24 schools of Faridkot, Rs 9.00 lakh for 30 schools of Fathegarh Sahib, Rs 9.60 lakh for 32 schools of Fazilka, Rs 9.30 lakh for 31 schools of Ferozepur and Rs 0.60 lakh for 2 schools of Gurdaspur. According to the spokesperson Rs.18.90 lakh has been released for 63 schools of Hoshiarpur district, Rs.18.60 lakh for 62 schools of Jalandhar, Rs.6.90 lakh for 23 schools of Kapurthala, Rs.3.30 lakh for 11 schools of Ludhiana, Rs.6.60 lakh for 22 schools of Mansa, Rs.16.50 lakh for 55 schools of Moga and Rs.10.50 lakh for 35 schools of Pathankot. Similarly Rs.13.80 lakh has been released for 46 schools of Patiala district, Rs.3.30 lakh for 11 schools of Rupnagar, Rs.13.50 lakh for 45 schools of Sangrur, Rs. 9.90 lakh for 33 schools of S.A.S. Nagar, Rs 4.80 lakh for 16 schools of SBS Nagar, Rs 9.90 lakh for 33 schools of Muktsar Sahib and Rs 19.80 lakh for 66 schools of Tarn Taran.

Similarly for rejuvenation of Science Labs Rs. 16.20 lakh has been released for 54 schools of Amritsar district, Rs. 2.70 lakh for 9 schools of Barnala, Rs. 7.50 lakh for 25 schools of Bathinda, Rs. 3.00 lakh for 10 schools of Faridkot, Rs 2.70 lakh for 9 schools of Fatehgarh Sahib, Rs 6.30 lakh for 21 schools of Fazilka, Rs 11.10 lakh for 37 schools of Ferozepur, Rs 12.60 lakh for 42 schools of Gurdaspur, Rs 11.40 lakh for 38 schools of Hoshiarpur, Rs 28.60 lakh for 72 schools of Jalandhar, Rs 3.60 lakh for 12 schools of Kapurthala, Rs 8.70 lakh for 29 schools of Ludhiana, Rs 4.80 lakh for 16 schools of Mansa, Rs 7.20 lakh for 24 schools of Moga, Rs 6.00 lakh for 20 schools of Sri Muktsar Sahib, Rs 6.30 lakh for 21 schools of Pathankot,  Rs.4.50 lakh for 15 schools of Patiala, Rs.6.00 lakh for 20 schools of Rupnagar, Rs.6.90 lakh for 23 schools of Sangrur, Rs. 6.30 lakh for 21 schools of S.A.S. Nagar, Rs.6.00 lakh for 20 schools of SBS Nagar and Rs.4.80 lakh for 16 schools of Tarn Taran has been released.

The next round of internship opportunities at ESA

 16th November 2020 at 1:52 PM

 Opportunities will remain open until 10 December 

The next round of internship opportunities at ESA is now published and opportunities will remain open until 10 December 2020. Internships last from three to six months and opportunities are available in engineering, science, IT, natural/social sciences, business and administration services.

Tips for applying:

Make sure you meet the conditions. To apply, you must be:

A student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at masters level (or equivalent).

A citizen of one of the following ESA Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Nationals from Latvia and Slovenia, as Associate Members, or Canada as a Cooperating State, can apply as well as those from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Lithuania and Slovakia as European Cooperating States.

Brains of tiny spiders are so large

A Whole New Meaning for Thinking on Your Feet 

Nephila clavipes, a big tropical spider, has plenty of
room in its body for its brain. Credit: Pamela Belding.

Smithsonian researchers report that the brains of tiny spiders are so large that they fill their 
body cavities and overflow into their legs. As part of ongoing research to understand how 
miniaturization affects brain size and behavior, researchers measured the central nervous systems of nine species of spiders, from rainforest giants to spiders smaller than the head of a pin. As the spiders get smaller, their brains get proportionally bigger, filling up more and more of their body cavities. 
“The smaller the animal, the more it has to invest in its brain, which means even very tiny 
spiders are able to weave a web and perform other fairly complex behaviors,” said William Wcislo, 
staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. “We discovered that the 
central nervous systems of the smallest spiders fill up almost 80 percent of their total body cavity, including about 25 percent of their legs.” 
Some of the tiniest, immature spiderlings even have deformed, bulging bodies. The bulge 
contains excess brain. Adults of the same species do not bulge. Brain cells can only be so small 
because most cells have a nucleus that contains all of the spider’s genes, and that takes up space. The diameter of the nerve fibers or axons also cannot be made smaller because if they are too thin, the flow of ions that carry nerve signals is disrupted, and the signals are not transferred properly. One option is to devote more space to the nervous system.  
“We suspected that the spiderlings might be mostly brain because there is a general rule for all 
animals, called Haller’s rule, that says that as body size goes down, the proportion of the body taken up by the brain increases,” said Wcislo. “Human brains only represent about 2-3 percent of our body mass. Some of the tiniest ant brains that we’ve measured represent about 15 percent of their biomass, and some of these spiders are much smaller.” 
Brain cells use a lot of energy, so these small spiders also probably convert much of the food 
they consume into brain power. 
The enormous biodiversity of spiders in Panama and Costa Rica made it possible for 
researchers to measure brain extension in spiders with a huge range of body sizes. Nephila clavipes, a Smithsonian Institution   News Dec. 12, 2011 SI-528-2011 2
rainforest giant weighs 400,000 times more than the smallest spiders in the study, nymphs of spiders in the genus Mysmena.  
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit 
of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its 
importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes 
conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. Website: www.stri.si.edu 


Spiders carefully move their legs
The web-weaving behavior 


# # #Brains of tiny spiders are so large 

Spiders carefully move their legs

Why Spiders Do Not Stick to Their Own Sticky Web Sites

                                              Photo Courtesy:InfoVisual

Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and University of Costa Rica asked 
why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs. Repeating old, widely quoted but poorly 
documented studies with modern equipment and techniques, they discovered that spiders’ legs are 
protected by a covering of branching hairs and by a non-stick chemical coating. Their results are 
published online in the journal, Naturwissenschaften. 
They also observed that spiders carefully move their legs in ways that minimize adhesive 
forces as they push against their sticky silk lines hundreds to thousands of times during the 
construction of each orb.   
The web-weaving behavior of two tropical species, Nephila clavipes and Gasteracantha 
cancriformis, was recorded with a video camera equipped with close-up lenses. Another video camera coupled with a dissecting microscope helped to determine that individual droplets of sticky glue slide along the leg’s bristly hair, and to estimate the forces of adhesion to the web. By washing spider legs with hexane and water, they showed that spiders’ legs adhered more tenaciously when the non-stick coating was removed. 
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a unit 
of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its 
importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes 
conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. 
Website: www.stri.si.edu.  

Spiders carefully move their legs
The web-weaving behavior 
# # #

Indian Science Congress, in Kolkata

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Governor of West Bengal, Shri M.K. Narayanan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri S. Jaipal Reddy and the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Kumari Mamata Banerjee at the inauguration of the 100th Session of Indian Science Congress, in Kolkata on January 03, 2013.   (PIB)                                          03-January-2013