The seminar, “Universalizing the Universe”, organized by the IIA on 4th April, this year, was a catalyzing event for many preparatory activities of the IYA 2009. Many science popularization groups, from the southern states, who took part in the above meeting began their own state level meets almost immediately afterwards and convened an All India materials preparation workshop in Pondicherry, on 6th and 7th September, 2008. Attended by 60 delegates, the meeting has representatives from Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Many of the delegates are the resource persons in astronomy in their respective organizations and are also office bearers in their respective organizations whose inputs would be important to give the IYA the required mass base.

At the inaugural speech, Professor J.A.K.Tareen, Vice Chancellor of the Pondicherry University offered the university's help in future activities, related to the IYA and said that the university would be happy to set up a museum and an observatory, for teaching and public outreach, in the IYA year. In this workshop, which had six sessions, IIA's scientists, S.Chatterjee, C.Muthmariappan and M.Safonova were invited as resource persons. S.Chatterjee gave an overview of the landmarks in astronomy, since Galileo's revolutionary challenge and showed how it opened the floodgates, which no authority could now contain. He showed how the history of astronomy in the last century could not be presented as a one dimensional narrative but is to be replete with “flashbacks” . He mentioned the contributions of India in modern astronomy and astrophysics, particularly the works of M.N.Saha and S. Chandrasekhar and said that the student community must consider astronomy as a future career. The role that an observatory can play in popularizing astronomy to the public was presented by C. Muthumariapan by describing the ongoing programmes in public outreach at the VBO and the future expansions that are contemplated. He said that the VBO receives about 200 visitors every week and that every Saturday is an open day. He said about the plans to set up a museum and a terra lab, as Dr. Monteiro describes it, at the VBO. M.Safonova was the speaker on, “She is an astronomer” who while analyzing the gender issue emphasized the need to popularize astronomy at the primary school level itself which she had experienced in her schooldays in the former Soviet Union, where every school had a telescope, as is also the case in present Russia.

P.N.Shankar, formerly of the NAL and A.Hemavathy of the PSF gave new ideas on night sky observations and galileoscopy. Vivek Monteiro spoke on the issue of “Sunderstanding with the Terralab” . This is to introduce astronomy with the sun. Every terrace can be used for this terrestrial observatory, on a terrace and the objective wold be to understand the sun , i.e. Sunderstanding. His talk was followed by a practical demonstration in the terrace. The equipment, as was observed could be easily fabricated, with mirrors, strings, or with “matka” filled with sand. Dr.T.V.Venkateswaran of the Vigyan Prasar and K.Pappootty of the KSSP presented the materials on history of astronomy and on astrology they have recently prepared after the Bangalore meet, following the decision there. It was decided to have district level meetings in every district and propose to the state governments to train hundred teachers in every district of the country as a part of the IYA's cornerstone activity, “ Galileo Teachers' Training Programme”. Two separate workshops were planned for the Hindi speaking states and the North Eastern states. It was decided to have the Pondicherry Science Forum, the organizer of the above meet as the coordinating agency for the groups that participated in this meeting.

The meeting was well covered by the press and the other mass media, like the local TV channel and FM radio. The participants felt that the PSF had made a great contribution, by being able to obtain such a wide All India participation and their reach has gone beyond the All India Peoples' Science Movement, by obtaining the participation of the IIA and of the Aid India and also in getting the university sector involved. The participants recalled the important role that the IIA had played in organizing the seminar, “Universalizing the Universe” and said that it could be an appropriate slogan for the IYA 2009, to be popularized.