Karnataka reconstitutes KSTA with Prof S Ayyappan as chairman

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Tuesday reconstituted the governing council of Karnataka Science and Technology Academy (KSTA) and appointed distinguished scientist Prof S Ayyappan as Chairman.

The State government has reconstituted the council and appointed Prof Ayyappan as chairman with 13 members comprising eminent educationists, renowned scientists and senior administrators for a period of three years, an official press release said.

Prof Ayyappan is the former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary to Government, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Chancellor of Central Agricultural University, Manipur.

The KSTA Governing Council is reconstituted once in three years, the release said.

The KSTA, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology, was established by the Government of Karnataka in July 2005 under the Chairmanship of renowned space scientist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Late Prof U R Rao, who was the former chairman of ISRO.

The Academy has been carrying out a large number of dove-tailed programmes to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and to develop scientific temper among students studying at different levels in an educational pyramid as well as to popularise science among general public across the State for the last 15 years.