By TCN News,
New Delhi: The very First National Urdu Science Congress, was organized by the Anjuman Farogh-e-Science (Organisation for Science Promotion, Delhi), at Zakir Husain Delhi College, Delhi, India during 20-21 March 2015.
This very first event had over a hundred delegates from across the nation with over twenty-five presentations. The conference had successfully attracted scientists; renowned scholars of Arabic Urdu and Persian languages; educators; writers; poets; historians; heads of institutions; science reporters and Islamic scholars.
The first Urdu Science Congress aimed to foster communication between scientists and researchers interested in presenting their works in Urdu language. The Conference covered the following topics:
1. The Problem of Teaching Science in Urdu Medium Schools
2. General Understanding of Scientific Literature in Urdu
3. Environment and Scientific Literature
4. Scientific Experiments in Urdu
5. Teaching and Learning of Science in Madrasas
6. Modern Medical Knowledge and Scientific Literature
7. Islam and Science
The conference had a very rich programme including: keynote talks by renowned speakers and oral presentations. A brief documentary with the title ‘Muslim Heritage in our World’ was also screened.
At the end of the two day Congress, there were several recommendations. The first and foremost recommendation was to recognize and give credit to the place of Urdu in the Indian society. It is to be recalled that the Urdu is the official language of five Indian states (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir).
It was recommended that the basic education of children should be done in their mother tongue. It was further said that in the Urdu Medium Schools, should have a strong programme in Hindi and English languages; this will enable the students to pursue higher studies in can continues in other mediums of instruction.
Anjuman Farogh-e-Science (Organisation for Science Promotion, Delhi), is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO), established in 1992 through the efforts of Dr. M. Aslam Parvaiz, Principal Zakir Husain Delhi College. It works towards the promotion of scientific attitude and popular science and environment among Urdu speaking masses.
Since, 1994, it has been regularly publishing a popular science monthly magazine, Urdu Science Mahnamah (Urdu Science Monthly), edited by Dr. Parvaiz. It has also held science popularization conferences in Urdu. It organizes an award giving function, recognizing school students with highest scores in science subjects.
Zakir Husain Delhi College, formerly Zakir Husain College, Anglo Arabic College and Delhi College, founded in 1692, is the oldest existing educational institution in Delhi, and is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, offering undergraduate and post graduate courses in Arts, Commerce and Sciences. It has had a considerable influence on modern education as well as Urdu and Islamic learning in India, and today remains the only Delhi University College offering BA (Hons) courses in Arabic and Persian.