Khagol Bulletin # 136 (Apr 2025) - ENG

• • A Basic Astronomy and Telescope Making Workshop was held on January 11–12, 2025, at St. Claret PU College, Bengaluru. The workshop, proposed by S. B. Gudennavar (ICARD, Christ University), was conducted by Samir Dhurde and Tushar Purohit. It engaged 70 students and 10 teachers and culminated in the successful making of 23 telescopes. During AstroWeek at IIT Gandhinagar, organised by Anand Sengupta, Samir Dhurde delivered a lecture and led ama t eur as t ronomy ac t i v i t i es , including a public skywatch attended by approximately 200participants. Another telescope-making workshop was organised from March 19–21, 2025, by Prof. Hemwati Nandan (HNB Garhwal University). Maharudra Mate and Tushar Purohit conducted the sessions, guiding 63 students and 5 teachers in building and testing four telescopes. • | 20 | KHAG L | No. 136 - APRIL 2025 Chandra Public Lectures As part of IUCAA's public engagement initiatives, two Chandra Public Lectures were delivered: Arif Babul (University of Victoria, Canada) presented a lecture titled "How Did the Universe Come to Look the Way It Does?" Outreach by Associates and ICARD Outreach Activities at IUCAA A special session was conducted for IUCAA Post-Doctoral Fellows on January 02, 2025. The session included an interactive discussion on outreach opportunities, followed by a skywatch session, aimed at encouraging greater engagement in public science communication among early- career researchers. Public Outreach Activities As part of its outreach support to Associates and ICARDs, IUCAA facilitated several educational initiatives across the country: