4th May, 2017, USTM, Meghalaya : Energy is such an essential component in human life. Like air and water, every human and every human society on this planet earth must have sufficient energy to live and flourish. In addition, the ways in which we generate and use energy are fundamental factors affecting the health of the earth’s natural environment upon which the destiny of human race depends.
The department of Chemistry at USTM had observed International Energy Day 2017 on 3rd May just to make an effort towards creating awareness about the necessity of saving the earth. Dr. Pankaj Kalita, Assistant Professor, Centre for Energy, IIT Guwahati, Prof. K. Ismail, Retd. Professor, Department of Chemistry, NEHU, Dr. J. N. Ganguli, Professor, Department of Chemistry, USTM had spoken on the issue. Prior to the program, the students of the department had taken out a rally in a bid to sensitize the issue amongst the common people.
Prof. Enamul Karim, Dean, School of Applied Sciences had emphatically stated “ the time has come when we must realize that energy is as important as roti, kapra or makan and we must avoid creating such a situation when our natural energy would be at stake”. Prof. J N Ganguli in his speech specifically mentioned some of the preventive measures which every citizen of this civil society must maintain, like green technologies in household appliances. He also stated “in order to make people aware of the importance of conserving energy, we need to grow some behavioral changes in our day-today life or activities”. Dr. K. Ismail, Retd. Professor, Department of Chemistry, NEHU had talked about the various implications of energy conservations so that its misuse can be minimized. “So many awareness campaigns had been initiated by the Govt. of India to that end but because of lack of awareness those campaigns always remain unfulfilled”.
The chief guest and main speaker of the day, Dr. Pankaj Kalita, Assistant Professor, Centre for Energy, IIT Guwahati had delivered a talk on “renewable energy for sustainable future”. Having elaborated on different renewable sources of energy, he categorically stated that “if we can make a total shift from using electrical energy to solar energy, we may avoid any dangerous situation where there would not be enough energy for consumption of humanity in their day to day life ”.