102nd INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS, 2015

Prime minister narendra modi deCLares isC-2015 OPEN AT uNivErsiTy Of mumbAi

ThE fivE dAy sEssiON bEgAN wiTh NObEl lAurEATEs ANd digNiTAriEs grAciNg ThE OccAsiON

Re-accrededited “A” Grade by NAAC

University of Mumbaiwww.mu.ac.in www.isc102.in

isc bullETiN102nd iNdiAN sciENcE cONgrEss, 2015

3 JANUARY 2015

isc dAy 1

Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi, has called for efforts to make sure that science, technology and innovation reach the poorest, the remotest and the most vulnerable person in our country at the 102nd Session of the Indian Science Congress. It was hosted in University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari Campus on 3rd January 2015. The focal theme of the Session is “Science and Technology for Human Development”. Since its inception in the year 1914, The Indian Science Congress has seen a significant growth in attracting more delegates every year. This year it was attended by 16,000 delegates, this signifies the gradual growth since its first year when it was attended only by 108 delegates.Every year the Congress in inaugurated by the Prime Minister, following the tradition, this year it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. The PM felicitated the Nobel Laureates and Equivalent with a gold medal.He began his speech by giving homage to Padmashri Vasant Gowarikar, eminent researcher famous for his contribution to space, population and weather research. He also said “To me, the arms of science, technology and innovation must reach the poorest, remotest and the most vulnerable person. Whenever the world shut its doors on us, our scientists responded with the zeal of a national mission”. Furthermore, he reminded that we need to find our own solutions to

make our society cleaner also develop sustainable infrastructure for the future. Speaking about the universities in India, the PM said that the universities must be freed from cumbersome procedures and must prescribe to highest research standards by including peer reviews. He also requested the rich pool of scientists to teach and guide University PhD students. School education in the field of science and technology needs to become more creative and interesting. Digital communication should become as much as a basic right in schools where he revealed that ‘Science and Technology’ would be the theme of this year’s Republic Day celebrations. The ISC President, Dr. S.B.Nimse said “Scientific research converts wealth into knowledge and innovation through knowledge leads to money and this cycle is to be kept in mind when dealing with Science and Technology”. He also said that innovative practices should replace current secured policies and that chemical industry is an area where we can lead. Women development is an objective of ISC. In addition, Dr. Harshvardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology said “Serving mother earth through science should be our motto”. He emphasized on the prohibition of using scientific knowledge for destructive purposes referring to the First World War which coincides with the inception

year of the Science Congress. Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, took to stage with thunderous applause added “When we look back at history, we see that whenever we have let go off science, we have either seen a halt or destruction of our societies. I believe that any development’s core element is the contribution of science”. He also revealed that 8,000 crore rupees were spent in the last five years for relief work for the farmers who were affected by natural calamities. He wanted the assembled delegates to come up with solutions for local level disaster management and malnourishment and ways to develop sustainable agriculture. He also applauded technology for helping save the lives of thousands from cyclone Hudhud and the scientists at ISRO for their successful first attempt to Mars through Mangalyaan. He praised Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru for placing science at the heat of national security.The Session was attended by Dr.Randy Schekman, Dr. Robin Warren, Ada E Yonath, Dr. Paul Nurse, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, S.R.S Vardhan, Prof. Subhash Khot, Prof. Manjul Bhargava, Prof. Madhu Sudan. The ISC session was declared open by the Prime Minister with his thoughtful lines “Revive the romance of science. Allow the scientists to imagine, think and dream”.

GROUP PHOTOGRAPH WITH ISCA

2

AN OvErviEw Of chiNEsE AcAdEmy Of sciENcEs ANd russiAN AcAdEmy Of sciENcEs The second plenary session of the 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 was chaired by Prof. M Barma, director, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Among the two International Academies’ Speakers, Mr.Chunli Bai provided an insight on the rapid development of nanotechnology and Nanoscience in China. On the other hand Mr. Alexander Gliko spoke on the role of academics in developmental science and natural disasters. Mr. Chunli Bai, President of Chinese academy of Sciences (CAS) was the first speaker of the plenary session for International Academies. In the course of the session he gave a general overview on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research in China. The session included a brief touch on Chinese Academy of Sciences, an overview of Nanotechnology in China and some recent progress in fundamental and application research. According to Bai, Nanotechnology has developed into various disciplinary fields and has come into many aspects of modern life. China has invested a lot on the ‘Nanoscience and Technology’ research. These projects have greatly improved the research ability and achievements in China both in fundamental and application research.Prof. Chunli believes that in the future, a

deep understanding of physical, chemical and biological properties of the materials in nanometer scale is very important. Thus, though a lot has been invested for ‘Nanoscience and Technology’ research, it still has a long way to go inorderto improve the overall competitiveness of nanotechnology enterprise.The second speaker for the plenary was Mr. Alexander Gliko, Director of Institute of Physics of the earth of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), gave a brief introduction of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its role in coordination of fundamental research. Gliko briefly spoke about Seismic network of Geophysical Service (RAS), Geophysical observations, Tsunami warning system and compared the main shocks and aftershocks positioning for areas affected by earthquakes. He explained each of these concepts by providing suitable references and images. Gliko finally spoke of his study on physico-chemical processes related to seismic activity, special electromagnetic and microseismic observations in the fault zones, detailed study of microstructure and composition of exposed paleo-rupture zones and development of advanced techniques for determining of crustal deformation. This session ended with an interaction between the students and the International Academies’ Speakers.

Mumbai - An inspiring talk and an interactive session on the journey towards the launch of Mangalyaan and a way forward towards future technologies was dealt at a 45 minute long session on the Mars Mission. It made the entire Mars Mission to come live for the audience. Dr. Nimse chaired the session at the Indian Science Congress. Dr. K Radhakrishnan talked about the initial period of Mangalyaan and how it was designed and its latest updates. Koppillil Radhakrishnan presided over the session. He has been the chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from 2009 to 2014. He is also the chairman of the Board of Management, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology. He has also served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The session was followed by Dr. Pramod Kale. He has worked for the Indian Space Research Programme in various leadership roles. He also received the 2006 Aryabhatta award for his lifetime contribution to the promotion of astronomy in India. He has received many other awards including Padma Bhushan award for his contribution to Science and Engineering. They also gave information about new technologies launched in the month of December which will help the human space flight launch of Chandrayan – 2 and about “Aditya” which is the study of Moon and Sun. They further spoke about ISRO’s plan to start research work in the University.The session gave a brief view about all the technologies used and the future project of ISRO and how in the future travelling to moon will be

The session was very reciprocal with a lot of questions from the students which were answered by both the scientists. They spoke about the challenges they faced in the process of Mars Mission. They spoke about the unusual “slingshot” method that was used for Mangalyaan’s interplanetary journey which began when it blasted off on November 5th last year.

mArs missiON cOmEs livE AT iscisc bullETiN3 JANUARY 2015

3

Talks about mathematical expressions from ancient times to present day along with mathematical examples which made understanding the complexities of numbers convenient for the audiences to grasp made the Mathematics and Computation session of Indian Science Congress a success. Nobel Laureate Prof. Manjul Bhargava spoke about recent advances in number theory and he also discussed various important mathematical equations in a systematic and simplified manner. He emphasized more on the works of Indian Mathematicians like Brahmagupta and

Ramanujan. Another star speaker was Dr. S.R.S Vardhan who spoke about Entropy and Probability. Dr. Vardhan related entropy to mathematics, physics and communications. They simplified the equations in laymen terms so that everyone understands it. The session followed by Prof. Subhash Khot, he added on the ‘Frontiers in Theoretical Computer Science”. His presentation focused on the computation problems and solutions for the same. His discussions emphasized the role algorithms in computation problem solving. He also explained the Compatibility Theory

and put light on the Game Theory and Economics along with Nash and Market Equilibrium. The last speaker was Dr. Madhu Sudan who spoke on ‘Reliable Meaningful Communication’. He drew the audience’s attention to the need of reliable communication and also discussed the importance of coding and encoding in the process of communication. He used The Shannon’s Communication Theory but elucidated the same with a mathematical touch. Dr. Madhu Sudhan will be receiving the Infosys Award on Sunday.

sOciAl busiNEss is busiNEss TO sOlvE humAN PrOblEms: mr.muhAmmAd yuNus Mumbai - Stressing on the importance of social business, Noble Price winner for peace, Prof. Muhammad Yunus said that social business is a business to solve human problems,shared his experience at the 102nd Indian Science Congress at the University of Mumbai.He observed that the poverty imposed by the outside forces as we design the world in a wrong way. While addressing the session, he further added that real human being is multi-dimensional. The capitalist society has misinterpreted human beings, pointed out that the problems faced by Bangladesh and how the social business helped reducing these problems. Addressing the employed issue in Bangladesh, Mr. Yunus said that nature of human being is to be an entrepreneur and the mission of an individual is not to seek the job but to give one,give the opportunity to people, they will come up with their ability.

Referring to the success of Gramin Bank, the fact that he knew nothing about banking was the reason for the success. merely looked at the conventional banks and did simply the opposite of it, said,Mohammad yunus.Focussing on problems of sanitations, financial hassles, water problems, electricity, health, malnourishment etc. of Bangladesh for which unique Social Business helped to resolve these problems.

mAThEmATics ANd cOmPuTiNg

isc bullETiN 3 JANUARY 2015

MANJUL BHARGAVA SUBHASH KHOT S. R. S. WARDHAN

MUHAMMAD YUNUS

4

NObEl lAurEATE sPEAks ON cElls AT isc 2015Mumbai : Human body is a complex machine, made up of million cells. Prof. Randy Schekman a 2013 Nobel laureate who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with James Rothman of Yale University and Thomas Sudhof of Strandford University said at the 102nd Indian Science Congress themed ‘Science and Technology’ for Human Development at University of Mumbai. Prof. Randy Schekman was one of the 6 Nobel Laureates who were invited to the 102nd Indian Science Congress themed Science and Technology for Human Development. In the plenary session which was chaired by Dr. Manju Sharma, Prof. Randy Schekman gave a talk on ‘How cells export proteins’. His talk comprised of a highly complex and in depth purview of an efficient method that he and his associates had developed in uncovering 21 genes which were involved in transport and secretion. Prof. Schekman spoke on the gene which he has named ‘sec1’ and how its association along with the second gene corresponds to produce another secretion defective mutant, was his discovery which was published in his 1979 paper highlighted by the Noble committee too. His talk was an exhaustive one which included a series of diagrams in his presentation that gave the audiences a very insightful understanding on the topic. Prof. Schekman’s lecture was followed by Prof. Sabeeha Merchant’s lecture. Prof. Schekman won the Nobel prize for his remarkable contribution in the field of molecular biology as his contribution was in discovering a set of genes required for transporting the proteins through and out of the cell in small packages- called vesicles in which the hitch a ride. Prof. Sabeeha Merchant is a UCLA professor of biochemistry and member of molecular biology institute. She gave a lecture on Selective sub cellular visualization of trace metals identifies dynamic sites of Fe and Cu accumulation in Chlamydomonas. Interestingly Prof. Sabeeha had left Mumbai 32 years ago to pursue higher education and this was her first lecture in India. Her lecture again was intensely diagrammatic and illustrious. She began by the basics of the Periodic table and moved on to explain how when one protein is substracted from the strawberry leaf how its physical structure changes etc. Her talk delt on metalloprotiens and she spoke ion her favourite modal organism which is the single-cell algae Chlamydomonas. She and her group for more than 20 years now have worked on the question of how organism can survive under conditions where essential metals like zinc, copper, iron or manganese are scarce. Her talk emphasised on the criterion of why certain Chlamydomonas produce less starch and more oily substances which can be precursors for Biodiesel.

isc bullETiN3 JANUARY 2015

PROf. RANDY SCHeKMAN

To lessen the burden of farmers and to help them improve the quality of their yield, experts from 28 laboratories were present at the MMRDA ground for the “Pride of India-Science Expo” exhibition. The exhibition was inaugurated by Governor of Maharashtra Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. The experts had a lively interaction with the people attending the exhibition. There were various exhibits by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Defense R&D organization(DRDO), Department of Atomic Energy.Videos depicting various agricultural methods were shown by Indian Council of Agricultural Research.DRDO, the R&D wing of the Ministry of Defence, with its 52 laboratories and establishments engaged in development of weapon systems, platforms & equipment for the armed forces. Many of these, particularly the solider support systems, have found civil applications. With increasing numbers of military systems indigenously designed & developed for the Indian armed forces being produced by Indian industries, the DRDO continued on path of building self-reliance.The Department of Atomic Energy exhibited various technologies that are used to generate electricity. Among the special features of nuclear industry is that it uses nuclear fission as sources of energy. Other special features of the Indian Atomic Energy Programme are the attention paid from the very beginning to the safe management of radioactive waste. As the emphasis of the exhibition was to improve Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety performance through technological & administrative measures and by enhancing awareness among employees.

exhibits with an innovative touCh- at mmrda groundisc bullETiN 3 JANUARY 2015

eXHIBITION INNAUGURAL SeSSION

DR. R. A. MASHeLKAR

eXHIBITION INNAUGURAL SeSSION

isc bullETiN3 JANUARY 2015 Album

ARRIVAL Of PRIMe MINISTeR

ROMANCe WITH SCIeNCe

isc bullETiN 3 JANUARY 2015Album

HON MINISTeR DR. HARSHWARDHAN

HON CHIef MINISTeR DeVeNDRA fADANVIS

DR. NIMSe GeN. PReSIDeNT ISCA

HON’BLe VICe CHANCeLLORDR. RAJAN WeLUKAR

feLICITATION Of NOBeL LAUReATe

isc bullETiN3 JANUARY 2015

Editor - In ChiefDr. M. A. KhanRegistrar, University of Mumbai

EditorLeeladhar BansodDeputy Registrar (Public Relations)

Executive EditorDr. Sunder Rajdeep Head, Department of Communication and Journalism.

Chief Sub-EditorSmt. Anushka KulkarniAssistant Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism.

Ms. Bhakti LokhandeAssistant Public Relation Officer

Layout DesignerMr. Vipul JagtapStudent, Department of Communication and Journalism.

ReportersTeam of students of Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai.

iN-hOusE PublicATiON

Editorial Board

Album





ISC BULLETIN102nd INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS, 2015

4 JANUARY 2015

DAY 2

A session encompassing the complexities of Ribosome along with humorous personal anecdotes was conducted by Nobel Laureate Ada E Younath at Kavi Kusumraj Bhasha Sankul (Marathi Bhasha Bhavan). The Theme of the session was “RIBOSOMES, RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS AND ORIGIN OF LIFE”. It was attended by people who had a keen interest in science including Students, Delegates and Professors. AdaEYounathisthefirstIsraeliwomanto win the Nobel Prize out of ten Israeli Nobel Laureatesandthefirstwomanin45yearstowinthe Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. The main focus was on the mechanisms that underlines protein bio-synthesis by ribosomal crystallography. Today, a chemist needs 2 hours to make a single peptide bond. To which she added, “When I was a chemist, as I am not practicing it now, I need 6 long hours to make a single peptide chain”, giggled Younath. Younath described the mechanisms of ribosome by showing two short movies based on the Crystallographic studies conducted by the Weizmann Institute, Rehvolt, Israel and Max Planck Research Institute, Hamburg. According to her, DNA are strings of instructions which arewrittenina4-letterlanguageinwhichthere

are 3 letterCodons, that codes for a specificamino acid and messenger RNA are the ones which translates into proteins. One RNA usually contains 1600 nucleotides. RNA can replicate and elaborate itself and has catalytic Capabilities. Within modern ribosomes, proto ribosome combines all ribosodmal functional centers, seems to be the machinery for signal transmissions. She visualized the path taken by the nascent proteins, namely the ribosomal tunnel, and revealed the dynamics elements enabling its involvement in elongation arrest, gating and intra-cellular regulation. Additionally, Yonath elucidated the modes of action of over twenty different antibiotics targeting the ribosome, illuminated mechanisms of drug and synergism. She along with other eminent Nobel Laureates conclude that Ribosome can be considered non-Crystallizable owing to their high degree of internal mobility, flexibility, functionalheterogeneity, chemical complexity and large size and asymmetric nature. The main concern in modern clinical science is resistance to antibiotics. The solution can be Crystallization of ribosome’s from bacteria that live under extreme conditions and using procedures that slightly extend the life or functionally active ribosome’s allowing for nucleatation before deterioration. It’s not possible to combat bacteria

fully because bacteria want to live. She also gave details about their current project where they are currently developing less aggressive antibiotic pair, she further added talked about stress induced periodic packing of ribosomal particles. She had a major breakthrough in her career by finding Cyro Temperature whichwas -195 degree Celsius while collecting theCrystallographic data. She thanked the entire WeizmannInstitutealongwitharich,Anfinsenand Sir J Kendrew for keeping up with her dream for 20years. Her group comprises of many girls as she believes that due to societal problems girls are not allowed to join Science. She is a lady with humble and diligent personality as she is not at all proud of her Nobel status and feels that she just understood ribosome. She also gave the session a humorous touch by sharing some personal pictures which depicts that Ribosome has become an integral part of her life. Her talk emphasized on the fact that ribosome can be organized periodically and can be orderly packed. Yonath introduced a novel technique, Cyro Bio-Crystallography which became routine in structural biology which allowed projects considered formidable.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE CELL WITH ADA E YONATH

2

ISC BULLETIN4 JANUARY 2015

In the history of Indian Science Congress Ancient SciencethroughSanskritwasheldforthefirsttimein University of Mumbai.Guest were accompanied by Vice chancellor Dr. Rajan Welukar and Dr. Nimse. This event was inaugurated by Union minister Prakash Javadekar.The session was all about the Engineering application of Ancient Indian Botany, Ancient Indian Aviation Technology, Advances in Surgery In ancient India, Neuroscience of yoga: Understanding the process, ScientificPrinciplesOfancientIndianArchitectureand civil engineering.

Prakash Javadekar was speaking at symposium on “Ancient Indian Sciences through Sanskrit,” organized as part of the ongoing 102nd Session of Indian Science Congress in Mumbai. He said those interested in pursuing knowledge don’t see what the source is, or how old it is. He said everything that is old may not be gold, but all that is old is also not a waste. Javadekar said the scientific communitygathered at the Congress should pay attention to the source material available in Sanskrit and use it for betterment of humanity. The Minister wondered when Germany could make use of ancient Indian concepts and adapt them to produce cutting edge

inventions, what prevents India from doing so. He said India is lacking in innovation and research, if thegapsarefilledwecanworkandgrowwell.Education plays an important role to promote science and technology.

Sanskrit is the philo -scientific mediumthe Indian philosophical system have contributed a lottoancientscientificstudyinIndiaastheyhavethe foundation for scientific thoughts. Scientificliterature progress through scientific debates inIndia. In ancient India there was the tradition of shastratharth. It provides freedom of thought and expression which is the basic requirement of progressinscientificresearch.

In session 2

Dr A. S. Nene professor of civil engineering mentioned about stabilization for brick earths, mud plasters, natural colours and pigments, herbal paste for water divining, stone softening and micro crack detection, Water purification, tempering of steelimplements, cementing glues etc.Dr. Rahul V. Altekar and Dr. Asawari Bapat the scientific principles thatwere followed in ancient

India in building structures. People don’t have correct information about what vastushastra is all about. It discusses the driving philosophy behind delicate and minute carving.Dr. Veena londhe and Dr. Leena Phadke they focuses on the process research that includes inquiry at 3 level the Atomic nervous system, Brain mechanism and Bio mechanics.Several studies were carried out during practices of various Yogasanas, Pranayams and Dhyan-dharma protocols.Dr. Ashwin Sawant he said that Sanskrit Samhita is the1st textof surgerycreatednot later than1500B.C in India. Indians had developed 20 types of sharp instruments and 101 types of blunt instrument required the Surgery, made from pure iron, many of which resembling with modern surgical instruments. in ancient time developed different procedures required in any surgery. Sanskrit Samhitha is perfect, it is applicable to modern surgeons too.Captain Bodas and Prof. Ameya Jadhav, Vaimaanikashastra deals about Aeronautics, including the design of aircraft. Great sage Bharadwaja explained the construction of aircraft. he also describe the construction of war planes and fighteraircraft’s.

ANCIENT SCIENCE THROUGH SANSkRIT

The second day of 102nd Indian Science Congress ended with the session by Dr.Paul Narse , Nobel Laurate. The session was chaired by Dr. Naresh Chandra. Topic of the much awaited session was “Trust in Science” . He started with saying “ the trust of science begins by the ways of the experiments of science , the regularities which lead to the hypothesis “ According to him , science requires imagination. Paul Narse advocates the philosophy of Karl Popper of trial and error. New observations are followed by hypothesis which are then tested. Unsatisfactory observations are rejected. But scientists should not feel ashamed of failed experiments. Dr. Paul says science should be accurate in process. The metallurgy invented by Greeks and the invention of Indian mathematician scientists of zero and decimal without which maths is incomplete are great illustrations of accurate science processes. He also mentioned the work of Issac Newton and his gravity theory. In the past years life expectancy has increased due to innovative science. He advocates that when accurate experiments become successful theybenefithuman kind. Trust in science has led to advances in

civilisation. According to Dr.Paul, The trust in science will be built by the behavior of a scientist . scientists should be honest and hard working. They should be skeptical abouttheirownwork,overallstrengthofthescientificexperiments need to be looked at and not the authority of the scientists. Scientists should choose the subject of their liking and they should be protectedbythemisguidedscientificmanagement. “Sciencetobenefithumanshouldbetrustedbypublic” Dr. Paul asserts. There should pertain a healthy relationship between scientists and the public. The public , private and the non governmental organisations should not be biased towards scientists. The government should support and savour science as education and science goes hand in hand. He also pointed out that the journalists should not be influencedormisguidedbyanyone.Headlines shouldnot be having poor arguments which are passed down to the public, they should avoid misquoting scientists. He concluded by stressing that scientists should be skeptical about their experiments and science should be understoodandtrustedbypeopletobenefithumankind.

“Science needs your trust”- Dr. Paul Narse

3

The 102nd Indian Science Congress witnessed a very crucial discussion about the Science andTechnologyofSAARCCountrieswhichwasfirstof its kind in the history of Indian Science Congress. The Session was chaired by Mr. Rajiv Saxena and co-ordinated by Dr. Sanjay Deshmukh. The Plenary session also includes A. M. Mubarak (Sri Lanka), VM Katoch (India) and Sameer Dixit (Nepal). Dr. A. M. Mubarak, Vice president of The National Academy of Science verbalizes about the technology, capacity building, promotion and management of innovation. He presented the Sri Lankanprofilewhichincludedpopulation,percapitaincome, life expectancy, HDI which has potential for improvement. In global competitive index, Sri Lankastandsin73outofthe144countries,whichis very low as compared to the other South Asian countries. He expresses his concern over this issue and mentions, “To understand the reason behind this, we have to look at the components which the world looks at”. The main areas of weakness were low amount of PCT Patentsin Sri Lanka. There is only 0.13 % of the GDP only that is spent on the research and development. Major areas of concern are narrow based Industries, low intensity of technology, imported technology. While conceptualizing the researcher said, “The major challenge is the inability to retain the quality of the scientists. The evolution of technology is low, there is only improvement of the existing technology”. The main objective of Sri Lanka is to improve science and technology and to encourage research and development. It also emphases on the promotion of international partnerships, creation of culture of innovation and to provide excellence awards toscholars for improvement. He concluded the session by saying that Sri Lanka is looking forward to collaborate with more research programs in India this year after the Indo – Sri Lankan initiative. The second panelist of the session, Mr. V M Katoch, Director General, Indian Council of Media Research (ICMR) addressed the audience and said “The tragedy of SAARC Countries is that they have the same problems but do not work together co-operatively” There is an urgent need for international collaborations between countries for effective campaigns to eradicate malnutrition, child – mother problems and other vaccines”. India is full of credible universities but the reach of science is very limited. Education and

health are interdependent of each other and both goes hand in hand. Agenda setting is very important when it comes to Cooperation and team work. In India regional cooperation is utmost essential. According to him, India acts as a mini republic where science is not at all uniform. He further adds that, “Together we can contribute much more for ourselves; there cannot be a better time than this. Indian Science Congress is a Kumbhmela of change” Sameer M Dixit, Country Director and Public Health Biomedical Scientists, Center for Molecular Dynamics, Nepal presented the perspective of Nepal, highlighting theprofile andHumanResourcedata.While talking about the Science and Technology in Nepal he verbalizes, “Science& Technology has never been a priority of Nepal”. On the brighter side, The Nepal Academy of Science & Technology is the largest institution of research in Nepal. Its main objective is to empower biological sequence, basic sciences and acts as an apex for biological sequences. The National Planning Commission does not have enough funding and Nepal also faces the problem of brain drain. Science & Technology in biomedical research faces challenges because there is no scope for innovation and mainly focuses on academic based research. These challenges persist because of the lack of collaborations. Private and public institutions in Nepal should come together for the ongoing projects. He concluded it by saying, “If worked effectively, there are lots of opportunities in SAARC nations”. Rajiv Saxena, Vice President of the South Asian University, New Delhi said, “Scholars from foreign countries are running negative stories about SAARC countries which have solutions”. There is a lot of differences between the perspectives of the western and eastern scientists. Struggles are mainly because of the differences between the culture and the ethos. India has little interest in experimental sciences and does not want to indulge itself in hard work. They have generally 2 options which are, Let the western countries make it, and we will just follow it or India must innovate things. He also pointed out that there is a need for collaboration in biotechnology, education and energy. The main achievement of SAARC is the South Asian University which was initiated on 13Th SAARC Summit,Dhakain2005.Heconcludedtheplenarysession by saying that the solution to these problems should be unity and undertaking possible initiatives.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT SAARC

As India’s population is growing at a rapid rate. Feeding India at 21st century is the biggest problem we are facing and we are onlyresponsibletofindthesolution.Withthehelp of science and technology we are now taking steps to save our most basic need that is food. In India 60,000 cores are lost due to bad production of crops. Today well known researchers enlighten us about the progress and the future prospects for stress tolerance on plants. Mr. Ashish Datta said, “Whenever we find the key to success someone changesthe lock”. Food security is the major issue to be solve in the 21st century and it is a social responsibility. Development of GM potatoes which have more protein content. Which is a step towards solving poverty in India. Mr. A. S. Raghvendra said, “Photorespiration is no more the evil”. But indeed is a necessary process of plants which takes place with the help of light which makes ADP. As chloroplast being the active element

for food making of the plant. If this is disturbed or stressed photosynthesis will stop. Thus photorespiration has an effect on plant and its stress level. Mr. Jitendra Khurana talked about rice being the staple diet all over India and its survival throughout the drought situations so introducing species with long roots which enables a good ground hold and can with stand the drought and other stress. So now rice could grow in limited water so we could save a lot of water. Dr. M. V. Rajan shared his knowledge about how plant develops protein after 24hrsand spoke about the thermo stability and said that protein is stable and can with stand stress in the plant and how can the plant manage the survival. He also showed the experiment table andresultofhisfindings. Prof. Dr. M. V. Rajan spoke about the development of DM tomatoes and their development. He also said that, “that every plant is infected by pest and it must be avoided

to maintain quality of tomato and other crop plants”. He spoke about how tomato is infected by root pathogen and how developments are done over 10 years to get rid of this pathogen. Mr. P. S. Ahuja talked about the plants growing on high altitude and how they are such strong resistance to stress and how can their genetic can be made in double transgenic and by selecting the best of it and then did analysis at the transcriptone level. This was then put in the potato and gave a good response to the drought stress and trails were conducted. Thus this invention is very helpful to increase the shelf life of a product as it is going to help a lot in preservation technique. Thus we know how essential is the study of stress on plants right from the seed to the development of the plant. As it can help India and the world in many ways and it can save a lot of money which is wasted every year.

RECENT PROGRESS & FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR STRESS TOLERANCE IN PLANTS

ISC BULLETIN 4 JANUARY 2015

ORATORS EXPRESSING THEIR VIEWS

4

“Are the crises of today confined withina single country or region?”, questioned Mr. Haiwon Lee, the president of Korea Nanotechnology Research Society. He seemed worried about the global challenges and raised this valid question at the second day of the 102nd Indian Science Congress (2015)attheUniversityofMumbai.The day started with a note of technological awareness along with some business ideas streaming through the heads of the students, delegates and others attending the morning session in Green Technology building. The session on Computational Electronics began under the careful conduct of the co-ordinator, Mr. H Muthurajan. Mr. Haiwon Lee, the president of Korea Nanotechnology Research Society began speaking about ‘Talent mobility and global research networking in science and technology’. Mr. Haiwon Lee also pointed towards a statement made by Hillary Clinton on science diplomacy and global partnership: Information using Science Corporation is to improve interrelation between countries. His speech encompassed the network of global collaboration. He concluded, ‘Without continuity, things could not be done well. We must face problems and we must overcome it.’ He also urged the young people of the nation to work for the overall development. He also encouraged merges between countries as he felt, ‘without collaboration science will not progress.’ The session was followed by the Director of Technology Policy Research Institute, Mr. Kyung ho-Shin who started confessing that he was greatly inspired by the speech of our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi yesterday. His presentation focused on the Bridge Program for the crystallization of sciences and technology. His presentation

explained the concept of ‘Valley Of Death’ and defined it to be the gaps betweeninvention and practical implementation of research and development.He adroitly commented on the barriers of commercialization of research and development and pointed out some core reasons behind this. He said that the low motivation is one of the barriers while the other one could be the tendency of researchers undertaking too many projects at the same time.In the question-answer session he showed his enthusiasm when asked about the future of Indian student in Korean Institutes. He said that positive interactions between the two ministries are going on regarding this subject and he also encouraged exchange educational and research program initiatives between the two countries.The next speaker was Dr. Paul Jeong, the director general of Christ University, Bangalore. With his presentation the agenda of the session took a turn towards business studies and management as he discussed about Science business showcase in Korea. His presentation was more focused on his personal experiences than stating the facts in general. His core topic encompassed Science business, Plasma enhanced and Gasification.Healsotalkedaboutthebrightfuture of India in Plasma based science business as India is a rich centre of low quality high ash coals.The last speaker of the session was Dr. Micheil Kolman, the senior Vice President of Global Academic Relations. The issue that he addressed with dexterity throughout his presentation was that: India’s universities and research institutions account for 10% in a ranking with their peers but did not make the cut for the top 10. Why not?“Collaboration (international or corporate

Universities)cansignificantlyboostIndia’sresearch performance and will impact rankings positively. Leading science nations, such as US, China & EU have strong and high-impact collaboration potential for India,” concluded Dr. Kolman.After they were felicitated with a small token from the University authority, they called it a day for the session giving way to another interesting session of Chemical Sciences to take place. The symposium of the session was Advances in Computation of Electronic StructureACES-2015.Undertheguidanceof the Co-ordinator, Mr. Sanjeev Chacko the session opened with the presentation of Mr. Kimihiko Hirao, RIKEN, Advanced Institute for Computational Science, Japan. He discussed The K Computer and computational chemistry which focused on heart stimulation, global climate stimulation and Supernova explosion and similar such points that have been dealt with using K computer programs.On the contrary, Stefan Grimme the chairman of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn emphasized on Quantum Chemistry for Supramolecular Complexes which is rather a theory based on empirical proceedings. “Because not every one of us has a K computer available,” he said when he went into deeper details about the process.The next two sessions of this segment was covered by Dr. Walter Thiel and Dr. H Bernhard Schlegel. The former speaker discussed about Chemistry with the Computer while the latter enlightened us about computational stimulation of molecules interacting with intense laser fields: A new frontier in chemistry andphysics. The session ended with a positive note with warm reactions from the audience giving the 2nd day of the Indian Science Congress a positive start.

COmPUTATIONAL ELECTRONICSPHYSICS AND CHEmISTRY


‘One in every hundred Indians is blind’, quoted Dr. Pawan Sinha, a professor at MIT, Delhi who is working on ‘Advance Knowledge and Help to Humanity’. It was the Platinum Jubilee Lecture which was delivered by him. He discussed Project Prakash, undertaken in Delhi where blind children were checked and then taken to Delhi hospital to detect if they needed eye surgeries. The causes of childhood blindness range from corneal scarring, cataract, retinal dystrophies, infections and congenitalrubellasyndromeofwhich40%are treatable causes. Problems arising due to childhood blindness include decreased educational prospects, employment and

increased mortality. Project Prakash aims to reach out to these blind people and help treat them and also to conduct in-depth research to treat and decrease childhood blindness in India.Challenges to its treatment, scale and scope were also discussed. The session was enriched with a Presidential address by Dr. Shashi Bala Singh on improving health and habituality of troops in extreme environment. Her talk described the hardships faced by our armed forces and various research and innovations by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Delhi. They have been pioneers in research of physiology and management of High

Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and have given the ascent plan and acclimatization at various altitudes which is followed by the defence department. DRDO also researches on various innovations including supplements for replenishment drinks, therapeutic strategies for HAPE, and oxygen enriched tents at high altitudes. In the field of Neuroscience, the delegates at the session tried exploring brain plasticity with functional MRI where analysis of resting functional connectivity – progressive cortical de-correlation following sight onset and development of functional specialization were main issues for discussion.

ONE IN EvERY HUNDRED INDIANS IS BLIND


‘ Every child is a story and every story of every child has great illumination’ these were the words expounded by Noble Peace prize winner Mr. Kailash Sathyarthi while adressing the Children Science Congress today. He said that the children are power houses of the Nation and events like these ignite and illumine their young minds who are the future. He further added that there is a change in the trend ofnonresidentialIndianswhoareflockingbacktotheir homeland for developing India. Elaborating on this he said that there are Indians who hold very high

crucial posts in prestigious organizations like NASA, MICROSOFT etc and Strandford Universitity. He also highlighted on a new aspect, he said ‘Indians were thought to be ill organized and labour oriented bytheforeignnations50yearsago’but thiswasamyth proved wrong, today the great brains of India are considered of at such high possibilities across the globe. A man who has worked with millions of children fromaround140countriesrelentlesslyandselflesslyto abolish child labour was touched by the warmth he received from these young children and reciprocated the same. He also added that Science is a constant quest and the progress that the world has made is all because of mankind’s constant curiosity of asking questions , he urged the children to constantly ask questions and not to be blind folded with any belief. According to him ‘Society is a melting pot which includes ethics and science’ and the functionality of scientific achievements should be high.He alsostressed that ‘Pure Knowledge is Science and the challenge of today’s generation is to convert this into applied science and the get it into laboratory science and then release it to wealth creation and society welfare’. He said in the process independent science should always be given importance. He inspired the children to be scientifically motivated rather thanbeing religiously or communally which according to him is the foundation of a successful nation. According to him the biggest challenge that the youth of India today face is Intolerance

towards the society. Concluding his speech he said that ‘If anyone of us has even a bit of transparency, persistence for learning and forgiveness is all because each one of us has a child inside’ All the accolades cannot evoke these aspects within us as much as this. 102nd edition of the Indian Science Congress2015haditsseconddaytodayandChildrenScience Congress was a part of it. The event was convened by Dr Vijay Joshi and was presided over by Honorable Vice Chancellor Dr Rajan Welukar , Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Naresh Chandra, Registar Dr. A.M Khan. The Honorable Vice Chancellor Dr. Rajan Welukar welcomed Kailash Sathyarthi and felicitated him. Mr. Sathyarthi was honored with a gold medal from the Indian Science Congress Association. Kailash Sathyarthi clad in a simple white kurta stole the hearts of all children as well as the adults who were present. He walked in with the simplicity of an ordinary man and walked on to the stage from amongst the children. His amiability and love for the children was profound. He spoke in a very a lucid tone and every expression that he expressed had an element of deep meaning in it. His speechwasfilledwith personal anecdotes andexperiences from his own life. He interacted with the young students in a very informal and endearing manner that captivated everyone’s heart.

CHILDREN ARE POWER HOUSES

Encouraging children - the future of nation- to follow their dreams, Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam made the gathering recite a poem which concluded as, “I will fly, I will fly, I will fly” The Missile Man was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of 22nd Children’s Science Congress at 102nd Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai. The 83 years old legend of inspiration instigated the power of excellence during the inaugural speech of the children science session. He explored the dream of an additional planet in the near future in order to accommodate the ever growing entire humanity. He pointed the field of genetic engineering and the remedies for the crucial diseases invented to transform the human civilization. He asserted that man is the great resource and is above the fear of future. Man has to work hard with confidence and vision to conquer the fear. An ancient poem was recited by him. In his speech he also

said that no youth should be afraid of their future, because they can create great society with the help of Science & Technology. Technology is the backbone of the nation. He recalled a young scientist from Hyderabad who invented a suitable walking leg for the polio affected children. Theyearof2014wasmarveledwiththe maiden Mars attempt. The medicine for diabetics is yest to be discovered by the bio scientist in next two years. The goal of all the inventions and discoveries are to be for the welfare and development of entire humanity he insisted. The Wright Brothers who flee for the first time and the discovery of Alva Edison, Telephone by Graham bell are worth mentioned here. The Equation of Einstein (E=MC2) was a solution to many problem of the science. He asked the children how long the sun will shine? Out of the 10 billion years,5billionyearsareremaining. Invention and discoveries are from creative minds with constant efforts. Young India has to track their resources for the developments. Dr. Kalam

envisionedthemissionof2015incorporatingfields of human civilization. Quality of water, power of energy, Quality education in science and technology, research and control over the global climate change, the creative usage of solar pole, Moon and Mars mission are some of the mission he enlisted. He ignited the minds of the youth to yield for the welfare of the humanity. Dr. Kalam further added that when you grow up you will face with the challenge faced by humanity. Bringing back the greenery is one among them. The ISC is a forum to encourage the youth and advised to go after high ideals of truth and dreams for the welfare of the entire humanity. Rajan Welukar, Vice Chancellor of Mumbai University observed two minutes of silence to pay tribute to the convener of exhibition of ISC2015which is held atMMRDA ground, Dr. Sahane’s untimely death. “ We should vow that science and technology we should change the world for the betterment of humanity”, VC said.

“I will fly, I will fly, I will fly”-Dr. kalam

5


Mumbai, 4 January: Dr. Deepak Sarkar thechairman of the session ‘Agricultural and ForestrSciences Sectional Programme’ being conducted in Green technology, introduced Dr. Mahapatra in his presidential address spoke about sustainable soil management needed for achieving the target of food security. He continued about the strategies of land utilisation and the need for system soil survey. He supported his speech by providing case studies for instance use of remote sensing and Geographic Information System techniques. He recommended various soil classes for sustainability of crops. He concluded by suggesting measures for effective use of land and mentioned soil physiography relationship and in bio river watershed. The next lecture was conducted by the director of National Bureau of Soil Survey Land Use Planning (ICAR), Dr. S.K.Singh. He spoke about large scale land resources inventory towards micro-level land use planning. Establishing relationship between physical and biological factors in the context of people’s need and societal demand was the prominent point on land use planning. In West Bengal the unplanned

use of soil development and sand dunes being reactivated due to haphazard development in Ganganagar, Rajasthan were the examples he explained. Some of his other examples was increase in acidic soil in West Bengal, increase in arsenic content in soil and shifting of Sunder ban deltas. He mentioned minerals been depleted due to mining activities. He continued to talk about the DCLR sand dunes policies, the real time data collection and transfer of land use by NBSSLUB. Several improvements in thefields likegeoportals forfarmers and development of interface between farmer and technology are rapidly being implemented. “Reaching information to framers is key to soil protection” was his concluding statement. The second half of the session conducted “Young Scientist Award Competition” First participant Dibyenda Chatterjee from Nagaland spoke about characterization of short range minerals and carbon sequestration property of plant. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar from Meerut talked about Production and consumption of nitrogen potassium and phosphorus. His experiment

involved integrated potassium magnate for enhanced growth that leads to healthy root system and if the same is replicated on large scale, could save lot of monetary expenses .One of the best and relevant topic was presented by Dr. Rakesh Kumar Ghosh from Kolkata, False detection of pesticides residues and trade and how to overcome that? His experiment developed a new method to detect false detection of pesticides using multi-dimensional GCMS method. The fourth participant Mr. Istkhar from Meerut explained Virulence and recycling potential of entomathogenge nematodes. These exceptional parasites could be mass produced and used commercially for the control of various insect pests. Dr. Somsubhra Chakraborty from Kolkata discussed about diffuse reflectancespectroscopy for monitoring of soil lead pollution. Arpana Rai ended the session with her presentation on Inorganic intervention for Aonla preserve making cottage industries. She discussed the conventional and improved method of Aonla pricking, which will lead to better workstation, no health hazards and is cost effective.

REACHING INFORmATION TO FRAmERS IS kEY TO SOIL PROTECTION

6

Mumbai, “A lavatory must be as clean as drawing room.”, quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman, Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai hailed Gandhi’s ideology of clean India. He said that Gandhiji practiced what he preached. Mr. Kulkarni was of the opinion that to make India clean, it is essential that sanitation should reach to all. He was speaking at a session on Clean India at the 102nd Indian Science Congress at University of Mumbai. Another eminent speaker Dr. Uday Salunkhe, director of We School said that education can change the nation and with the support of academia, government, industry,

extended community, media, NGOs, Alumni, students. Encouraging people to work collectively he said that “We is the new I.” Another speaker Rajeev Kher, CEO and Founder of 3 Sara Plast Pvt. Ltd said that it is essential to design high quality technology based on affordable sanitation solutions of waste disposal mechanism using enterprise and scale oriented models with specific standards, legislation andinformation education channels to create attitudinal change in people towards total sanitation, improved hygiene, sustainable environment and above all increased dignity.Swapnil Chaturvedi, CEO, Samgra, Pune

threw light on Psychology and technology for clean(er) India. Pradeep Lokhande, founder, Rural Relations, Pune was of the opinion that if one has to change the society, oneshouldfirstbringreforminhisvillage. The session was followed by the question answer session. Besides sanitation, the audience raised questions on issues related to environment, e-waste, public and rural sanitation. On a concluding note the chairman and the convener for the session, the notable scientist Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar answered to the queries put forth by the audience and agreed to the suggestion offindingsolutionstotheproblems.

GANDHIJI PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED: SUDHEENDRA kULkARNI


THE mAGIC TOUCH OF BIOLOGY

mATERIAL SCIENCE

Prof. Sib Sankar Roy from CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata delivered the Presidential talk on Role of Growth Factors in Proliferation, Invasion and Migration of Ovarian Epithelial Cancer at the 102nd Indian Science Congress themed ‘Science and Technology for Human Development. The inauguration of the same was done by sectional President Prof. Roy and Sectional Secretary Prof. Dr. Bhupendra Pushkar, B.P. Chatterjee, WBUT, Kolkata chaired this session. The study done by Prof. Roy showed mechanistic insights of how VEGF and FGF16 cause proliferation, scattering and invasion in ovarian epithelial cancer cells. He concluded that VEGF and FGF play very important role in the invasion-metastasis of ovarian cancer and therefore agents that target these growth factors and their receptors might be useful in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The session was followed by Prof. Debi Prasad Sarkar, who belonged to the department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi. She delivered the Platinum Jubilee Lecture on “Targeted gene delivery to liver cells using engineered Sendai viral envelopes:

A Preclinical Experience.” They have found that F-virosomes would be an efficient vehicle for hepatocyte-specificgenedelivery.Theypostulatedthatthelack of immune response against the F-protein may have resulted from rapidclearance of F-virosomes by hepatocytes. The next person to talk was Professor Yasuhiro Ozeki, Ph.D. who belonged to the Glycobiology and Marine Biochemistry Laboratory Department of Life and Environmental System Science, Graduate School of NanoBio Sciences, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan delivered a talk on “Glycomics, a Tool for the Innovation of Biomedicine”. Their recent achievement was that of isolating a novel carbohydrate-binding protein (lectin), “MytiLec” from the Mediterranean mussel successfully. Our next study will be focusedtofindoutthemechanismofMytiLec-triggered cell death. The knowledge of such integrated research approach can open a new door for life-saving biomedicines. Professor Asim K. Duttaroy, Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway

delivered a talk on “Environmental factors affecting human pregnancy: Nutrients and metabolic pathways”. He stressed on the fact that successful human pregnancy requires extensive invasion of maternal uterine tissues by the placenta. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying placentation facilitates the development of better intervention of this disease.Hemanta K. Majumder, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata spoke on Therapeutic intervention in kala-azar research: A molecular biological approach. Visceral leishmaniasis or kala-azar is one of the most fatal and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Globally 90% of total kala-azar cases occur in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia and Sudan. Until today there is no effective vaccines against any form of visceral leishmaniasis, co- infections with HIV have made the situation even worse. So improved drug therapy against leishmaniasis infections is absolutely needed. The session ended with a thanks of vote to all the invited speakers and dignitaries present and with a positive wave of furthering the researches to reach new heights in the coming future.

Talks about Multi Functional materials for sustainable development marked as the focal theme for the Material Science session in the 102nd Indian Science Congress. The president of the session Dr. Arvind Kumar Saxena who is a scientist DMSRDE (Kanpur) and local secretary was Professor D.C. Kothari from the Department of Nano Science. He spoke about how material determines the age of human civilization. The session mainly focused on material properties and its application and the thermal stability for

space application and choosing material for them. Today as Nano material plays a crucial role in our day to day life the section focused on functions of the materials like metal and polymer. From the last five years world hasfocused on functions of Nano Material and its property. As these material are useful for manufacturing household items like filter,textile self cleaning. The seminar contained new class materials that have come into the research area. With the use of these functional materials in smart cities there will be use of sensor for temperatures and oxygen and even in health care there will be use of sensors in blood where

thePhpaperwillbeusedtofindtheglucoseand it will all depend on sensors connected with internet technology, and the future is going to be of multifunctional properties. They highlighted the innovation of multifunctional materials which includes a combination of Polymer, Fiber and Nano Materials and the combination of these functions available in nature, trying to bio-mimic the technologies and how it will provide protection to skin and inner organs having sensing, actuation and self-healing properties along with sweating glands and hair, and how these natural technologies are recyclable without any waste.

7




5 JANUARY 2015

DAY 3ATOmIC ENERGY’S USE fOR ThE pRODUCTION Of pRImARY ENERGY

Take iT seriously, manage iT safely and share worldwide research and developmenT on nuclear

A huge collection of magnificent rocks, colourful mineral slabs from the collection of international expert Mr. M.F. Makki, Mumbai Collector Mr. Rao Vikram Singh and the great fossil collection from the Deccan College, Pune is displayed at a grand exhibition at the Shankarrao Chavan Building,Vindyanagari Campus. The Centre for Extra-Mural Studies of University of Mumbai, in collaboration with Instucen Trust, Mr. M.F. Makki, Mr. Rao

VikramSingh, and Deccan College, is organizing this Rocks, Minerals and Fossils Exhibition. One will get to see several breathtaking Zeolytes, Geodes,semiprecious native minerals as they are found deep in the pockets of earth’s crust, along with a huge priceless Meteor remnant and some fossils of extinct animals and plants, like the Ferns, the Mammoth and the Dinosaurs. All the specimens will be accompanied by information tags. The exhibition will also have a section on

Geo-archaeology interface.Man’s first extension of his hands- the stone tools, will also be on display and geo-archaeological information will be available. The exhibition will give information about rock forming minerals, types of rocks, fossil formation as the experts will be present with a team of geology and paleontology students. On the spot quizzes are conducted and prizes are given to children between age 10 to 15.

ROCkS, mINERALS AND fOSSILS

pyrite for geo exhib amethyst geodes for exhibition

A group of experts spoke on ‘Holistic approach to Atomic Energy-Present and Future’ they presented their views on atomic energy and its need for development. The Chairman and Convener for the session was Nobel Laureate, Mr. Anil Kakodkar. The speakers for the session were SP Sukhatme, IIT B, Shekhar Basu, BARC, Mumbai, Dhiraj Bora, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, RK Sinha, Department for Atomic Energy, Bernard Bigot, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Arunabha Ghosh, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, coordinated by Naimesh Patel. Mr. SP Sukhatme spoke about atomic energy and its needs. He stressed on the point that prices should be different for different people, higher prices for richer people and lower prices for people who don’t earn well. Mr. Shekhar Basu concentrated on applications in healthcare, cancer treatment, near medicine using radio pharmaceuticals, application in agriculture, nuclear desalination etc. He said, “We provided world class facilities which will attract Indian as well as

International students”. Dr. Bora’s session was on Fusion -Alternate Source of Energy. During his talk he said, “Technology developed for fusion could provide contribution to one of the greatest challenges of mankind. Spin off technology will be beneficial to the societies.” “My deep conviction is that the world is facing energy supply requirement which is not easy to fulfil. I do believe that we’re depending on 80% of our energy consumption from fossil fuels which cannot last forever for many reasons. That is why we need to take advantage of two other way to supply energy, nuclear and renewable so that is why even if people are questioning about do we need nuclear, we need to explain them that there is no other way to go around and to take it seriously, to manage it safely and to share worldwide research and development on nuclear as well as industry or in order to take best knowledge worldwide” said Mr. Bernard Bigot, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission on being asked about the general scenario of atomic energy.

2


Discovery of a solution to a problem is often more difficult than verifying the correctness of a given solution, said Prof. Mahindra Agrawal, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur. He was the speaking at the Platinum Jubilee Lecture at the 102nd Indian Science Congress themed Science and Technology for Human Development held at University of Mumbai.Prof. Agrawal spoke on the topic “The P <>NP Hypothesis”. According to him, a solution to the problem is more difficult than verifying the correctness of a given solution. Thus, he explained that solving a Sudoku puzzle, is at times difficult whereas verifying the correctness of any given solution of a Sudoku puzzle is very easy. It is widely believed that P does not equal to NP, but there is no proof of known despite intensive efforts over the last 40 years. For him, during the attempts to prove separation of P and NP, Two major barriers have been discovered. In this talk he not only did he introduce these problems but also made an effort to solve them. The second session in this section had three invited speakers. The first speaker Prof. P. K. Biswas, Head, Computer & Informatics Centre, IIT Kharagpur, spoke on the topic “Creation and Processing of 3-D Images”.

His talk covered topics such as the importance of 3D point cloud in various applications, the use of 3D modelling in making digital copies of monuments and virtual museums and development of 3D scanner. For him, their motivation to design and prototype a low-cost system is threefold. In his lecture, he spoke of the algorithms for acquisition, registration and visualization and discussed the results of their. The second speaker was Pritee Khanna, PDPM Indian Institute of technology, Design and Manufacturing Jabalpur, who spoke on the topic “Advances in Medical Imaging and Image Analysis”. In her talk she highlighted points such as medical imaging, disease detection and image processing. She also spoke of CADs (Computer Aided Diagnostic) systems that they developed. The last speaker for this session was Prof N.S. Chaudhary, VNIT Nagpur & IIT Indore. The speaker said “Information Technology (IT) revolution has been changing our lives.” He spoke on the topic ‘information technology and computer sciences and engineering: mega-trends’. During the talk he spoke of the functions of information technology, its benefits, theoretical understanding and the diverse applications of IT.

ORAL PRESENTATION FOLLWED

The next was an oral presentation session. The first session started with a wide range of topics including “Car License Plate Detection System”, “Real-time Facial Expression Recognition Using Eigen Faces”, “Implementing Document Image Segmentation Using Region Based Methods” and “Design of Levenberg-Marquerdt based Artificial Neural Network identifier for fabric image defect”.The next session of oral presentations included topics such as “Preservation and conservation- The Science in Library and Information science”, “E-book, Need of the Hour in Academic Library: Analytical Study”, “An Ontology Based Cloud Computing Framework for efficient sharing of e-resources between consortia members” and “Citation Analysis of Computer Science Literature”. The last session concluded with topics ranging from “Breast Cancer Diagnosis- Analysing image mining techniques on Mammogram” to “Visual Enhancement of Mammogram image using discrete Fourier Transform” to “Challenges in Plaque layer analysis with intravascular ultrasound images based on Shape Parameters measurement” to “Digital watermark security model for Data Storage in Public Cloud model”.

The ‘Young Scientists’ Award Programme’ was organized at the 102nd Indian Science Congress, 2015 held at the University of Mumbai. President of Section of Materials Science Dr. A.K Saxena headed the award function.“This session is mainly dedicated to the young scientists in order to determine how they look at a subject and how do they identify the problem and come up with a suitable solution with an original and innovative method” said President Saxena, “we encouraged and invited people with exceptionally exclusive ideas to participate in the programme” he added. The main aim of the programme was to encourage more and more candidates with the required qualification to bring out the best of their creativity in the face of various kinds of challenges, which will help shape them into future leaders in the global world and the

scientific community. The session included poster presentations and oral presentation followed by the Young Scientist Award. Some of the awardees included, Deepalekshmi Ponnamma from Kerala. The subject of her presentation was ‘Designing transparent and stretchable touch screens from elastomer/graphene nanocomposites’. Mrinmoy Gorai from Kolkata presented on the topic ‘Ex-situ vs. In-situ Generated in Silver & Gold Nanometal in SiO2 – MgO –Al2O3 – B2O3 – K2O – MgF2 Glass: Impact on Thermal and Mechanical Properties’. ‘Stress mediated tuning of electrocaloric effect in ferroelectric materials’ was the topic chosen by Aditya Chauhan from Himachal Pradesh. Abhijeet B. Joshi, a native from Maharashtra presented on ‘Novel Method of Internal Gelation for Aliginate Micro- capsules preparations’.

‘Study of deformation texture evolution during Accumulative roll bonding using viscoplastic self-consistent simulation’ was the topic of N.P Gurao from Kanpur whereas Inderjeet Singh and Amreesh Chandra from West Bengal presented on the subject ‘Colossal catalytic activity in hollow CuO nanoparticles obtained under droplet confinement’. In order to enrol for the programme, a prospective candidate had to register themselves on the official ISC website. It was then screened by the Kolkata head office on 31st July, 2014. Being a young scientists’ award programme, the main eligibility criteria was for the candidate to be below 32 years of age. The three judges of the award programme were President Saxena, the recorder of the programme, and one of the eminent senior scientists present in the session.

INfORmATION AND COmmUNICATION SCIENCE AND TEChNOLOGYINCLUDING COmpUTER SCIENCE SECTIONAL pROGRAmmE.

SEARCh fOR YOUNG SCIENTISTSYOUNG SCIENTISTS AwARD pROGRAmmE ORGANISED

Third consecutive day of the Aquatic Biology and Fishery session witnessed many speeches and lectures from many eminent personalities. Prof. H.S Sehgal, Prof. B. D. Joshi and Prof. Sudhir Meshram delivered the lectures. Restoration of water quality, management of freshwater environment, the recreational and sport fishing use of lake and streams was discussed by Prof. B.D. Joshi.. the furthering

cooperation among industry, agriculture, and the public, which is necessary to achiev individual and mutual goals is very much important, said Joshi. Prof. Sudhir Meshram stated, natural resources are limited and population is increasing day by day thus dependency on fishes and other food also increases. So increase in amount of these fishery food, we need technology to rise the quantity, technology which is and made in

India. It is important to give priority to Indian Technology so as to cultivate more fishery food. It’s always better to give importance to Indian technology to cultivate fishery food. “These kind of science sessions must be held at rural part of India to educate those people who is deprived and must interact with science and technology. Educating literate people is not worth, matter is to increase the rate of literacy by making illiteracy vanish”, said Meshram.

SCIENCE SESSIONS mUST REACh ThE RURAL AREAS

3


The session based on the innovation and progress, development of countries on technology and research took place at 102nd Indian Science Congress at University of Mumbai. Notable speakers from the field of Science presented their views on the same.Dr. Ajoy Kumar Kar of Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, presented his research on laser development: Innovation of technology for future laser health care and communication. He co-related the research to technology for human development. He also gave his inputs on how laser was helpful to make health care technology. Dr. R.N.Singh discussed on impact

of basic research in physics on societal advancement. He said that, “If we know better science, then we know better development.” This will lead to development. He also referred to the Nobel prize 2014 of physics for invention of Blue LED. And also spoke about MARS orbiter mission (MOM) and its achievement and also basic science and applied science.Dr. B.N. Jagtap, Head of the atomic and molecular physics division at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre another notable speaker presented his views on basic research and technology development. He said that technology is a major component for research. Talking about Bush

Report –science: the endless frontier, he said, that “If we understand the problem we find the better solution. Better science for better development”.Dr. Murukeshan Vadakke Matham, Dy.Director,Centre for Optical & Laser Engineering (COLE), Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, discussed on multi modeling imaging -nanoscale perspective for early cancer diagnosis and high resolution ocular imaging. He stated that by using the different optical science and technology concept for human development. He added that it is a challenge in getting a competitive grant these days.

If wE kNOw BETTER SCIENCE ThEN wE kNOw BETTER DEVELOpmENT: DR. R.N.SINGh

The Theme of Tribal People’s Health session was “Population and Health situation of India’s Tribe population: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century”. The session was the most hyped session at the 102nd Indian Science Congress. The session was chaired by Snehalata Deshmukh along with Abhay Bang as the convener. The other speakers include Chander Shekhar, Neeru Singh, A. Laxmaiah, Abhay Bang and Ajit Jagtap. The session was first addressed by Dr. Chander Shekhar from International Institute. He said according to the 2011 census, there are 104 million Schedule Tribes in India, the 12th most populated country in the world. He compared the population of other countries and said Philippine’s total population was less than the total tribal population of India. The most densely ST populated districts of India were Dohad, Nasik and Thane. According to CHC, 2700 specialist doctors were needed to cater the needs of the Scheduled Tribes. To summarize, he points out certain traits for comparison. The per capital calorie intake per day in ST is less than General population. The MCH indicators have improved but were very substandard. In higher studies, the ratio was very less in ST and were seen engaged in primary occupation such as Labour, Agriculture etc. Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption was very high in Scheduled tribes. The scheduled tribes were considered uncouth because of electricity, Household fuel, drinking water, sanitation. He concluded by saying that there were very scanty data available to measure health outcomes. The next speaker was Neeru Singh, Director of National Institute for Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur. She focused on the “High priority diseases in ST Populations awaiting solutions”. She was a proud recipient of Academy Award for “Environmental Entomology” for the year 1999. In India, there were around 700 different types of tribals, of which Bhil, Gond and Santhal are prominent. They were exposed to certain hazardous diseases like Malaria, Sickle Hemoglobin, Anemia, Fluorosis, Diarrhea, and Scabies. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal were known to Constitute 60% of the total population of Malaria in India. The Risk factors includes perennial factors,

poor clothing and inaccessible Terrain. According to 2011 census, Young children below the age of 5 are prone to Malaria. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are highly dominated with Sickle hemoglobin. As per statistical data, 776 patients were registered for check-up but unfortunately 500 patients did not turn up While 258 were contacted and 102 were died. The mean age of the patients were around 14 years of age. The reasons were long distances, wage loss and expensive cost of treatment. 29 out of 50 districts of Madhya Pradesh are pretentious with Fluorosis. 10569 sources out of 6277 villages are highly affected. Nutritional intervention and safe drinking water model are developed by the Committee to eradicate this problem. Scabies are found majorly in Bharia Tribe whereas Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh are highly pompous with Anemia. She terminated the session by expressing that Tribal Research Centre Forum have been established by 17 ICMR to answer the problems of the scheduled tribe. The Plenary session was continued by A Laxmaiah, Scientist F and Head of National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, and Hyderabad verbalizes on the “Nutritional problems in tribal population in India and awaiting solutions”. 8.2% of India’s total population was preoccupied by Adivasis. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan together account for half the world’s underweight children. Children stunting will remain as one of the world’s most public health problem. 42% of total population are victims of underweight. Wealth, Caste, Religion and gender were some of the possible reasons of low birth weight in India. Inadequate food and morbidity were some of the causes of this issue. The Determinants were Agro climatic, Socio Cultural, Pathological and demographic factors. Every year 53% of total population died due to under nutrition. There was a technical error and the session resumed after 15mins. Children who were below 2.5kg are categorized as underweight. Literacy rate, Type of family, occupation, type of house and possession of sanitary latrine are some of the determinants. WHO recommends optimal nutrition, optimal environment, and optimal health care for child safety? He finished the session by declaring that WHO have established DISHA to prevent and control under nutrition.

The session continued with Mr Abhay Bang (Conveyor), Director of SEARCH, Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. He emphasized on the “ Tribal Friendly Health Care: Taking health sciences to the tribal people”. He gave a brief intro of Gadchiroli. 70% of the surface area were covered with dense forests, Madia and Gond are the prominent tribes, Paddy cultivation was the primary occupation, limited use of science and technology. There were collection of wooden deities which represent relief from diseases. 30% of the population contains sickle cell genes. It was a backward area with poor geographical and physical parameters. They felt that their culture, beliefs and practices are good whereas western medicine is like an alien to tribal culture. Mr Bang along with his wife constructed a hospital for tribes which was very unusual and they can easily relate with it. It has temple, patients can stay with their families, and the infrastructure was similar like a hut. The tribes named it as “Ma Danteshwari Dawakhana”. It has conducted around 500 major surgeries and mobile hospitals were also introduced. He concluded the session by briefing certain points of tribal-friendly healthcare which includes community participation, cultural sensitivity, service and health education and appropriate health priorities. The last speaker of the session was Mr Ajit Jagtap, EA of MKCL. His theme was “How to bridge the educational gap in ST population using IT?” Google experiments are two way communication. He Smiled and said, “Will it work in India?” The answer was probably yes. In 2014, community women have trained as community health workers. The program were basically in Hindi. 26 women were involved in this pre pilot. Out of which 22 have successfully completed their course. The Director of ISC finally concluded the session by thanking all the delegatory speakers. He mentioned that it was for the very first time in the history of science congress that the tribal health and policy was introduced. The most promising announcement of the session was that the Govt of India along with the ministry of tribal affairs appointed the above four speakers as the national group for tribal health.

TRIBAL pEOpLE’S hEALTh mAkES A wAY

Under the neat and careful co-ordination of Professor M.K. Jyoti, who presided over the event, 12 esteemed delegates from all over the country exhibited poster presentations explaining their works and researches. The chief guest for this session was Professor Kuldeep Sharma, University of Jammu accompanied by Professor Kadambari Gupta. Various veterinary challenges that the animals of our country are facing in the contemporary situation were addressed at the concurrent poster presentation at the 102nd

Indian Science Congress. The first presenter, Professor Amita Hembrom presented a report on pseudoscorpion from reclaimed coal mine spoil of Kathava followed by Professor B. Bibin Becha and K.N. Aravinda Ghosh from College of veterinary and animal science. The duo presented a poster addressing the topic: endocrinological investigation of infertility condition in postpartum cross breed cows exhibiting prolonged oestrus. The next session encompassed protective role of saffron against zearalenone induced toxity on

morphology of female Mics Mus Musculus. This exhibition was presented by Professor Bashir Ahmad and Vinoy Shrivastav from Barkatullah University, Bhopal. They were subsequently followed by Ahirao Kiran Dhanaji who focused on body proportions and water percentage of the fresh water snails. Different other speakers form different esteemed University also expressed their valuable views on animal science and researches filling us with profound positive understanding of the subject.

CONCURRENT pOSTER SESSION GIVES LIGhT ON ANImAL SCIENCES Of INDIA

pRIDE Of INDIA EXpO•Union Minister for Science and technology, Shri

Harshvardhan today inaugurated the ‘Pride of India Expo’ a mega science & technology exhibition showcasing cutting-edge

technologies, leading scientific products and services.

• The Pride of India Expo is spread across approximately 15,000 Sq. meters, and has the participation of over 250 premier organizations.

• This is the first time in Mumbai where apart from students from science stream general public was also taking interest. Major attractions at the exhibitions are the pavilions of Defense Research Development

Organization (DRDO), showcasing defense related technologies, ISRO exhibiting actual scale models of rockets and satellite

transponders, Mangalyan model, etc.

• The ISRO stall attracted huge bunch of curious students and delegates, wanting to find out

more about ‘Mangalyaan’, the Mars space orbiter.

4


The session commenced with Dr P.K. Madhu (TIFR) stating the importance of “Probing amyloid Fibrils and Transient Oligomers with Solid-State NMR” this session was planned by chairman R V Hosur under the of control of Mr. Neeraj Agarwal at Kavivarya Kusumagraj Marathi basha bhanvan, Vidyanagri campus with following spokespersons Pushpa Mishra from Department of Chemical Sciences and Himanshu Singh from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Dr. Ashish Arora from central drugs research institute, lucknow Hanudatta S Atreya from MMR Research center (IISC) Bengaluru, T. S. Mahesh Indian Institute of Science of Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Subhash Khushu from Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), New Delhi. The main Focus of this session was the two young scientists Pushpa Mishra &

Himanshu Singh who are from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Pushpa Mishra spoke about Structure and Dynamics of plasmodium Falciparum P2 Homo-tetramer. As plasmodium Falciparum P2 which is a Ribosomal stalk protein has been observed to perform various extra-ribosomal functions. This has important implications in curing the Malaria. This was observed to translate to RBC surface during the division process using different biophysical techniques. This protein exists as a molten globule behavior and might be this molten globule nature is important for binding to different targets. The session was followed by Scientist Himanshu Singh who spoke about visualization of green micro-alga chamydomonas reinhardtii by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. As he said there is amazing alga which is a small photosynthetic organism, the main Focus of Alga Research

has been on oil productivity. Alga has gained prominence since last 3-4 years and scientist are trying to optimize on cultivation of growths, bio reactor design and Economic stability for the production of lipid from alga. However, very little is known about the formation mobilization of Carbone energy reserves in the form of (TAG & stanch) at the subcellular level. Dr P.K Madhu (TIFR) explained structure of Amyloid Beta and toxic molecules as he researched with his whole team, Dr. Ashish Arora spoke about Doro vane coifing , Gondi ADF, Elegance ADF, melanogaster twister. Subhash Khushu explained role of MMR in Medicine they were the first one to start NMR in India. He explained it by giving suitable examples. Session was concluded with feedback form the Audience and they also emphasize of the main objective i.e. “Emerging Frontiers in Nuclear magnetic”.

EmERGING fRONTIERS IN NUCLEAR mAGNETIC


5

What happens when microbial substances are released into the atmosphere ? Prof. S.T Tilak, former Dean and Head, Marathawada University, Aurangabad, asked a question to the audience about the relevance of aero mycology to bio deterioration and crop diseases. He shared an interesting story of how his interest in the topic grew when he was younger. He explained the development of this specific branch in India. The second speaker, Dr. K.S Ramachander Rao (Prof. and head, Department of Biotechnology, Hyderabad) spoke about nanotechnology and environmental pollution. He explained what is nanotechnology, shared a brief history about it and explained various terms like Nano biotechnology, nanoparticles, and nanotechnology. He talked about the various applications of nanotechnology in various industries like cosmetics, technology, etc. Dr. Paromita Chakraborty (SRM Research Institute, Tamil Nadu) spoke about atmospheric emission of polychlorinated biphenyls in India: Implications for health risk assessmen. She explained how they are released in the environment, what are the toxic effects and E-waste. Dr. G. Panduranga Murty (Mandavya First Grade College, Mandy) spoke about

providing safe (fluoride free) and sufficient drinking water to economic growth – A pilot study. He explained nature’s science and art of water management. He defined Talapariges, their types, features, places they are found and shared various pictures. Dr. Anil K Dwivedi (Department of Botany, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur) spoke about the risk over water resource. He shared information about floristic composition in Jammu and Kashmir. He shared pictures of various species of flowers in the lower catchment area of the Cherab basin and in the upper Cherab basin. Dr. S.B Jogdand (Associate Scientist, Department of Botany, Yashwantrao Mohite College, Pune) spoke about eco-friendly environmental dynamics of house dust mites and their role in manifestation of allergy. He shared information about environmental dynamics of house dust mites and their role in manifestation of allergies. He explained all about house dust mites and shared various pictures of male, female, baby mites and their eggs. Dr. Anil Yadava (Department of Chemistry, Dr, H.S. Gour Central University, MP) spoke about diuretic active plants. He shared information about an experiment that

was conducted over animals to determine acute toxicity. Dr. Prasanjit Mukherjee (Plant Taxonomy and Ecology Research Lab, Dept. of Botany, KKM College, Pakur) spoke about the studies on status of aquatic and semi aquatic angiospermic biodiversity of Jharkhand and their conservation, shared pictures and explained why there is a need to conserve plants and lakes.Dr. Asis Kumar Nandi (Department of Botany and Forestry, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal) spoke about aphrodisiac herbs Chlorophytum spp – their occurrence, diversity and conservation in the state of West Bengal. He explained the origin and introduction of the genus, various uses of the safed Musli and said that wide experimentation on cultivation of these crops in being conducted in India. Dr. R. R. Jhu another notable speaker spoke about adsorption. He explained what it is, what factors affect it and the nature of adsorptants. Dr. K.K. Singh (Associate Prof, Department of Chemistry, A.N. College, Patna) spoke about the use of constructed wetland based system for waste water treatment. He spoke about the correlation between fluoride in drinking water and dental carries in teeth.

The ever changing environmental conditions are the biggest challenge that the world is facing today and it’s not just humans who find ways to cope but also plants react to the fast changes. Prof. Usha Vijayaraghavan of Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, gave a lecture on “Function for some evolutionarily conserved transcription factors in rice inflorescence and flower development”. She talked about how the first flowering plants evolved million years ago and the divergence that occurred between monocots and decocts 120 million year ago. She spoke on her research done on grass species and enlightened the audience about the importance of different models in

plant species. Further in the session, Prof. Usha Vijayayaraghavan was felicitated by sectional President Prof. Arun Kumar Pandey. Prof. Usha’s lecture was followed by Prof. Pramjit Khurana who is from Department of plant molecular Biology University of Delhi. She gave a lecture on “Engineering Plants for Changing Climatic conditions”. Prof. Khurana also introduced by S.B. Babbar who knows her for past forty years. Prof. Khurana has done her research in tissue culture. He talked about HVAI transgenic and Osmotingene. Prof. Khurana shared her concern of the most challenging problem that the world is facing today that is

the problem of feeding the world professor was very much concerned with food security issue. Before starting she gave a brief on the decreasing level of water table in the world, and this is what had inspired her to study and research mulberry and wheat plantation, two crops that require high water intake. “We are outgrowing the earth, hence we have to tailor plant for this situation” Prof. Paramjit Khurana, Her contribution to the field is that she has made draught tolerant Mulberry and Wheat seeds in her laboratory. There was also an interactive session with Dr. Vidal de Freitas Mansano, Instituto de Pesquisas, Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Too many cooks spoil the soup! Not anymore. The session which was dedicated to Biodiversity Conservation – Current Issues and Way Forward witnessed many speakers and many ideas which turned it into a very thought provoking and pensive session. “India is tremendously committed towards biodiversity.” quoting Mr. R. Ramamurthi, INSA scientist and convener of the session - Biodiversity Conservation-Current Issues and He was introduced by Mr. S. S. Barve who was the coordinator at the symposium. Mr. Ramamurthi then introduced the topic and all of the speakers for this symposium. Mr. J K Mishra from the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology, Pondicherry gave a detailed talk about the strategies for conservation of marine biology with focus on a specific species –Horseshoe crab. He informed that in the present day horseshoe crabs and sea cucumbers are being

illegally poached for their medicinal value. He concluded by saying that new and effective strategies should be implemented for the conservation of these rare species. The second eminent speaker of the day was Mr. Hem Pande, Chairman of NBA, Chennai who gave an Overview of Biodiversity Governance in India. In the course of his presentation he made the audience aware of the prevalent laws of biodiversity. He mentioned that India is the only country having the Biodiversity Act (2002) which was established in October, 2003 in Chennai. Another speaker of the day was Mr. W. S. Lakra, Director of CIFE who presented on Aquatic biodiversity Conservation, their issues and strategies on various endemic species. He mentioned several applications of the new technique DNA barcoding and its uses for identification of new species. This was the second time that Mr. Krishna Dronamraju’s attended the ISC. He

attended the first session as a student volunteer with Prime Minister Nehru as the chief guest in the year 1960. Mr. Dronamraju spoke widely about how tribes are unaware of various environmental changes and biodiversity laws. He also spoke about conservation of biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in India. The next scientist Mr. Pudur Jagadeeswaran defines himself as the FRS i.e. Frustrated Research Scientist at the University of North Texas, as it took twelve years to accomplish his goal. He spoke on the topic Genome-Wide Knockdowns in Zebrafish to Study Thrombocyte Function. He came up with cost efficient and more effective method of morpholino. The next two speakers Mr. S. Subramaniyam, Member of NBA, Chennai and Mr. R. Ramamurhti convener of the session spoke about traditional knowledge and Self Help Groups and touched upon Aichi targets and Education for sustainable development

ASSESSmENT AND mITIGATION Of ENVIRONmENTAL pOLLUTION fOR BETTER LIVELIhOOD

UNITY IN BIODIVERSITY

fLORA: ThE ChANGING wORLD


6

The 8th Science Communicators’ meet held in the 102nd Indian Science Congress at the D.N. Marshall Hall, J.N Library, University of Mumbai was inaugurated on 4th January, at 2 p.m in the august presence of eminent personalities. The event was graced by Padma Bhushan Dr. R.A Mashelkar as the Chief Guest, Dr. S.B. Nimse, Vice Chancellor, Lucknow University, General President- ISCA; Dr. Rajan Welukar, Vice Chancellor of University of Mumbai; Dr. B.P. Singh, Head of National Council for Science & Technology Communication, DST; Dr. Naresh Chandra, Pro Vice Chancellor of University of Mumbai and Local Secretary, ISCA; Dr. Arun Kumar, General Secretary, ISCA; Dr. Amit Krishna De, Executive Secretary ISCA; Dr. Anuradha Ghosh Majumdar, Convener of the event. The ceremonial lamp was lit by the dignitaries present. Dr. Naresh Chandra welcomed the gathering. Dr. R. A. Mashelkar released the Abstract Book of 8th Science Communicators’ Meet as a compilation of the works of scientists and science communicators participating in the conference. Dr. Naresh Chandra welcomed the Dignitaries. Dr. Arun Kumar started his speech by praising the Chief Guest and thanked Mumbai University for organizing the Congress in a grand manner and stated that the theme for the year was very much relevant in today’s age. Dr. B.P. Singh in his remarks backed the need for such a meet and hoped that the sheer presence of personalities like Dr. Kalam and Dr. Mashelkar would encourage communication as a tool to enrich the community and touch lives to a deeper level. Dr. Anuradha Majumdar, Convener of the event, then broadly outlined the need and objectives of the meet and reiterated that such deliberations were crucial to propagate science to percolate to the grassroots. She added, “It is imperative to dissipate scientific knowledge in layman’s language and should transcend the entire horizon as well as keep pace with the changing paradigm. We have

traversed the full circle to fathom the wonders of nature and understand the aberration. The onus is upon the scientific community to infuse the spirit of effective communication. The main attraction of the meet, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar addressed the gathering by praising the efforts involved in bringing together an array of Nobel laureates and equivalent and lauded the ongoing meet. He stated that Innovation as an aspect of Science which should assume the central position for research in India. Dr. Mashelkar also pointed out the all encompassing speech of Hon’ble Shri Narendra Modiji, which focused upon utilizing the available resources to advance the sciences. He stated,” Social innovation is a must and the power of communication is tremendous but untapped for Science & Technology. The need to couple together government policies and research assumes significance in this aspect.” Dr. Mashelkar also stressed upon the need to eradicate the misconceptions about nuclear energy and thus hoped that Science Communicators’ Meet would achieve this objective. Dr. Mashelkar also hoped that the young innovators would turn towards and stay in the field of science and have scientists as role models. While concluding, Dr. Mashelkar aptly quoted, “I only think of the future, as that is where I am going to stay”. Dr. Rajan Welukar, in his speech promised that the entire event and the symposia will be uploaded on YouTube. Dr. Amit Krishna De, on behalf of Indian Science Congress and University of Mumbai, proposed the Vote of Thanks and expressed his gratitude to Dr. Mashelkar for his encouraging talk. In conclusion he hoped the meet would garner a huge turnout and be a grand success. The two day meet witnesses an array of Oral and Poster presentations by ISCA selected presenters from different states of India on Advances in Science and Technology, Improving

its Communication and Improvement in Science Educational Tools in School/University. A series of invited lectures focusing on Policies on Science Communication, Use of on line tools, Reporting of Mars Orbiter Mission, Science Communication in effective Conservation, Science Communication in improving public perception of use of peaceful use of Atomic Energy, Cheaper diagnostic tools lead to constructive deliberations to improve the effectiveness and outreach of various forms of Science Communication. The valedictory function was held on 5th January 2015 at 4 pm. It was graced by Nobel Laureate of 2013 in Physiology and Medicine Prof. Randy Schekman as the guest of honor and Hon’ble Minister pf Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra, Shri Vinod Tawde as the Chief Guest. The valedictory session started with Dr. Anuradha Ghosh Majumdar summarizing the 2 days of the 8th Science Communicators’ Meet. Dr. Randy Scheckman gave a talk on the steps for communicating research papers to peer reviewed journals and had a lengthy Q and A session with the delegates. Dr. Rajpal Hande then addressed the gathering and appreciated the organizing team for their meticulous efforts for the Meet. Hon’ble Shri Vinod Tawde then elaborated that, “The success of Science and Technology is incomplete without it reaching the common man”. He mentioned the need for innovation to reach the grass root level of the society and not just be limited to the scientific community and the importance of propagation of science to right ears so that it is implemented for the progress of mankind. Dr. Naresh Chandra expressed gratitude to the minister present for his highest support and the members of the organizing committee. The session was concluded with Dr. Majumdar’s Vote of Thanks. The 8th Science Communicators Meet was supported by grant from NCSTC, DST, Government of India.

SCIENCE COmmUNICATOR’S mEET

Chief Guest Dr. R. A. Mashelkar lighting the ceremonial lamp during inauguration of 8th Science








Editorial Board




6 JANUARY 2015

DAY 4

Urbanization denotes a diffusion of the influence of urban centers to a rural hinterland. The first speaker Mr. Sandeep Kapila from IIT, Powai is a Co-founder of the Swasth India, a social business organisation which aims at improving the health of low-income segment in urban and rural India. The session on urbanization discussed various hurdles that are faced by cities while modernizing them and its eco-friendly solutions. Urban development is a serious topic which needs utmost importance in developing India. He showed the map of the village they worked on like Tuljapur, Akalkot etc where they were funded medical “primary case” to reduce half of health shock. They created a model for delivering primary health care doctors, dentists, diagnostics etc in slums at 50% discount in Mumbai named as ‘Swasth India Medical Center’ under the name of Micro health insurance Program. They have 15 centers in Mumbai situated in slums, targeting the low-income groups to provide them cheap and good quality of health facilities.

2nd speaker was Mr. Gopal Naik, Chairperson of Center of excellence in urban development from IIM, Banglore who spoke about the poor management of the cities and

the drawbacks of the management. He mainly focused on the water issues and its distribution. He suggested that if we want to manage the problems of the city then we need to strengthen the governance, should use technology and database properly and over all there should be a proper governance structure. 3rd speaker Mr. Ram Subramanian from IIT, Powai spoke about the use of ecological material for construction of house and buildings and also mentioned about the problems of bricks industry and also the problems of its labourers that they are not paid adequately for their work as they work in a polluted environment which results in health problems.

The Convener of the session Mr. Krithi Ramamritham, Head of Center for Urban Science and Engineering, IIT, Powai also spoke about the environmental hurdles in urban development. He suggested that the recycling of electronic gadgets can be done and appealed the audience to come forward and take the initiative to save tress, resources etc to keep our environment clean which ultimately affects the health of the people living in it by decreasing the rate of health diseases.

Emphasizing the importance of ancient Indian science,India will become the hub of Scientific innovation and development in next few years and the provide the solutions to the other countries said the computer scientist dr. Vijay bhatkar in the Make in India session , at the 102nd session of Indian Science congress hosted by University of Mumbai. Former prime minister P.V Narsingh Rao and Rajiv Gandhi had a great contribution to build our nation and most developed countries had exhausted their manpower and manufacturing resources India could suggest well to the other countries and be the leader.

focussed on the historical background,The dream became a reality of India when great leaders of India had planned economically,but now india is facing from lots of problems including the lack of foreign exchange highly dependent on other developed countries for technological solutions.

The great need is to come up with the new innovations and future technologies for the industries to come out with the new products and be sought out after the world and i belive that soon we will touch the success in the advance scientific technolgies,said Dr. vijay

Bhatkar.India started manufacturing colour

television, when the gauntlet was thrown at the scientist to make colour televisions eight months before the Asian games the India had eminent scientist they provide there expertise to foreign countries as a result of which manufacturing contributed only 14 percent to the Indian economy.

Other speakers like Dr Pramod Chaudhari of Praj said that the dependent on science and technology and innovation based on industry needs as well as positive policies will be the solution for India to become a manufacture leader. “Only if the research and policies come together will the Make in India dream be achieved,” said Dr Chaudhari.

Ravi Pandit of KPIT Pune warned that innovation and technology in manufacturing would lead to drop in jobs. Even challenges faced in fulfilling the Make in India dream were Employment, Energy and Environment and this had to be addressed on a priority else India would face a situation similar to America where a large part of the population is without jobs due to automation in manufacturing.

DEVELOPING CITIES IN A SCIENTIFIC WAY

INNOVATE AND MAkE IN INDIA

Dr. Vijay Bhatakar speaking at MAKING INDIA SESSION

2


STEM innovation with emerging industry was the prime theme of discussion. Dr. R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific adviser to the Government of India insisted the necessity of a curriculum based on the concept of teaching four subjects like science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a mind of real world application in his key note address. The concepts of Marketable Skills that are of economic value generating income are to be promoted. He continued pointing the flexibility concept practiced in the University of California where the course like mathematics, technology, engineering, computer programs and robotics are aligned together.

He emphasized that the teaching methodology and the power of marketable skills should be taken seriously. Skill development in the STEM.E-connectivity should be initiated in school education so as to give an equal platform to progress to the financially underprivileged class.

Dr.Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce shared his experience holding big firm of Training centre for 1 million aspirants. He observed the less average preference for job aspirants in production sector and skill management in India.

Dr. Anil Sahastrabudhe explained the success stories of skill management in various technical institutions across India. He also added, large scale skill development and production, timely delivery, safety and the right environment are the necessary aspects for further productivity in making India.

Anil Sahastrabudhe was followed by Dr. Drew Rosen, the Sr. Director of Cisco System, California, USA. His presentation was about the Future of Talent. He mentioned that we have entered a global economy and that the IT sector has tremendous potential. He presented A Unique Partnership Model where he described about the industry readers collaborating to drive next generation 10T talent.

S.P Kochhar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO),TSSC started his speech on the background of India, that India is doing progress in a isolated island ,but this islands should get connected, he also expressed his commitment to the industrial progress and technology by saying we are for the industry, by the industry and of the industry. He expressed his view that the best teacher must be taken to the worst people and this creative idea was highly appreciated by the audience. He also presented the online skilling model.

The public Lecture –II on Gravitation and the cosmos by Prof. Abhay Ashtekar from Pennsylvania State University explained Einstein’s gravitational theory as the supreme triumph of the human intellect. His speech covered the topics, Einstein’s Revolution, Cosmology and Big bang, Space - time and Black holes, Gravitational flow. The progress of science in the field of cyber science, quantum physics, astrophysics is helpful to explain the world better. He reminded the golden opportunity for Indian talents in assisting scientific researches further.

Nobel Laureate Dr. Robin Warren (physiologist at Royal Perth Hospital, Australia) spoke about the Helicobacter and the ease and difficulties of his own new discovery. He faced many difficulties like medical teaching ADAMENT, good quality biopsies were rare. His presentation was about the bacterial stain and tissue stain and his personal experiences of his research. His publications and papers launched in 1983 and 1984 LANCET.

The concluding session was by Dr. Sarad Shah, Gastroenterologist, Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai. He is famously known as the doctor who treated Mr. Amitabh Bachhan after his movie ‘coolie’. He chose a very interesting topic for discussion that is Victory of Modern Medical Science. His presentation was all about the hard core data depicting effectiveness of preventive treatment is good, discovery of NASH and the risk factors.

A session on Nutrition and Health commenced by Dr Gabriel Fernandez (Professor Emeritus, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Texas, USA) was attended by over 140 delegates including students. The session gave an overview about ‘Protective Role of n-3 Fatty Acids Health and Disease’. He emphasized that fish oil and food restriction prolongs lifespan more than corn oil. Also, n-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA, appear to inhibit breast cancer cells proliferation and invasion, both in vitro and in vivo. The session was convened by Prabhakar Ranjekar, Director of Research Institute, IRSHA at Bharati Vidyapeeth and chaired by R Rammurthy, Ex Vice-Chancellor & INSA Honarary Scientist, SV University, Tirupati and also was General President, Indian Science Congress, 2007-2008.In addition, Dr. Anil D Kulkarni, Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, USA who gave an overview of the increasing prevalence of non-communicable or lifestyle diseases and emergence of immunonutrition to enhance immune function. Furthermore, Dr. Umesh Kapil from Department of Human Nutrition, AIIMS discussed the strategies to combat micronutrient deficiencies. He mentioned about fortification of iodized salt as a successful campaign in India. Speakers like Dr. A Laxmaiah, Senior Deputy Director, NIN, ICMR, from Hyderabad shared his thoughts on dietary risk factors for non-communicable diseases. He emphasized

on obesity and nutritional deficiency among Indian population as a major risk factor for non-communicable/lifestyle diseases like Cardiovascular diseases, Stroke, Chronic lung diseases, Diabetes and Cancer. The fifth speaker was Dr. Sadhana Joshi, Head, Department of Nutrional Medicine, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune shed light on the effects of maternal nutrition on the health in the next generation. She discussed about the impact of maternal malnutrition on epigenetic profile of the fetus and it leads to increased risk of pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation and pre-term births. The next speaker was Dr. Harish Pant, Distinguished Senior Scientist, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA who talked about novel translational approach to neurodegenerative diseases and the role of peptide TFP5 in preventing hyper activation of neuronal cyclin dependent like kinase (Cdk5) and thus in preventind phenotypes of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. The last speaker was Dr. Arvind Kumar Shukla who works at Indian Institute of Soil Sciences, Bhopal and talked about micronutrients and Human/animal health. He mentioned about various approaches to prevent micronutrient malnutrition like Biofortification and food fortification. It was concluded by vote of thanks by Dr. Laxmi Menon who was the co-ordinator for this session on Nutrition and Health.

Technology upgrading in agriculture field too; when it comes on agriculture, technology turns to biotechnology plant science.

‘Symposium on Genetically Modified (GM) Crops- The Use Of Modern Biotechnology In Agriculture’ session was graced by expert speakers like Bryan Delaney, Miguel Angle Gomez Lim, Dilip Kumar, Deepak Kumar, Swapan kumar Datta, Anupam Verma. They spoke on an array of topics including genetically modified crops (GMCs, GM crops, or biotech crops) which are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic techniques.

Former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research Rajendra Singh Paroda chaired the symposium. Here the participants spoke about burgeoning population and the need for GM crops to ensure food security.

It was, however, pointed out that due to failure of GM crops in Vidarbha and other parts of the country, farmers have turned to “desi” or indigenous varieties of crops. Others said that an attempt has been made to spread misinformation about GM crops by

using media and non-governmental organisations.

Paroda said GM crops should be encouraged on a scientific basis in the interest of farmers. He expressed displeasure over non-use of Bt brinjal despite successful trials. Scientists said that The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, pending before Parliament, should be cleared quickly and until then, an ordinance must be promulgated. Bryan Delaney of Global Industry Affairs and Regulatory, USA, who spoke on ‘Safety Assessment of Intractable Proteins from Genetically Modified Crops’ said that proteins play an important role in GM crops. He informed the audience about the progress in Elisa test research in GM technology. Deepak Pental of the Department of Genetics, of the University of Delhi spoke about research in India on GM crops. While GM crop technology is being used all over the world, India imports edible oil worth Rs 60,000 crore per year. Misconceptions about GM crops should be removed and their use should be encouraged, he said.

NUTRITION AND HEALTH SYMPOSIUM STEM THE SkILL DEVELOPMENTDAY 3 CONTINUED

SCIENCE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT ROCkET SCIENCE

3


A symposium on disaster management with Indian Context was held on the fourth day of 102nd Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai. Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of the Earth s Sciences & Chairman, Earth Commission Prithvi Bhavan , New Delhi spoke today, most places are vulnerable to one or other hazards such as earthquake, cyclones, storms, tsunamis, landslides, etc. Global observations of atmosphere, ocean, land, surface, cry sphere, along with satellite and aircraft observations processed in real time are required their utilization in hazard prediction models. Satellites and GIS having capability to acquire data from many platforms, from variety of observing stations, organize into a data base, analyze and model and visualizing various hazard processes as well conveying advisories through web and location services , are Extremely powerful tools that have made difference in responding to any hazard. Communicating the information to all stakeholders is another very critical area. The existing social systems, political, economic, and industrial structures are equally important to provide resilience to society. There is a need to prepare human system as they need to respond to instructions given by local administrations.

Dr. N.P. Kurian, National center for earth sciences studies Earth system science organization, Ministry of earth sciences, Thrivananthapuram presented on the topic Technology for Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction. He stated that the coasts are continuously under threat from different hazards and will be exposed to increasing hazards over the coming decades due to climate change and sea level rise. With scientific and technological advancements, accurate prediction of these hazards has become a reality as seen in the case of the recent cyclones. The talk will illustrate how the advancements in ICT, development of early warning systems and technological

advances in coastal protection can contribute to disaster risk reduction in the coastal zones of the country

Prof: S.S. Thigale, Symbiosis International University, Pune spoke on the topic Technology for preparedness and awareness process in landslide prone areas. He stated that Natural disaster can be grouped into non-predictive and predictive types, earthquakes being the example of former and floods cyclones and landslides the later. One disaster which shows the symptoms is landslide the case of study of landslides in western mountain chain of Maharashtra which suggest that a number of symptoms are variety seen well before ultimate triggering occurs. But unawareness about seriousness of these symptoms led to death, damage to the property and disruption of communication systems. There is wide scope to utilize information and communication technology through blended learning, media GIS etc

O P SINGH (IPS DG NDRF) and ALOK AVASTHY (NDRF) jointly presented on the topic Technology in disaster Risk Reduction. They mentioned about the disaster, global distribution of natural hazards. They pointed out that 75% of our earth is earthquake prone. He elaborated on the capabilities of the NDRF which is one of its kind in the world. They presented their views on forecasting disasters, Dissemination of a warning, Disaster risk reduction, Technologies for disaster risk reduction, Role of remote sensing in earthquakes etc. They further discussed on the communication technology which includes Internet,HF/VHF,Mobile phones ,fax etc.

They also threw light on flood cyclone rescue which includes underwater communication system, Equipment for collapsed structure search and rescue Air lifting bag, Victim location unit, hydraulic cutter, life detector type which is mainly used by NASA etc.

MATERIAL SCIENCE

SYMPOSIUM ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT WITH INDIAN CONTEXT HELD AT 102ND ISC 2015

The session was about material science. It was started by the sectional president Dr Arvind Saxena assisted by sectional recorder Dr Ashish Kumar in which speakers spoke about different materials and the scientific qualities and how there is a change due to stress on them. Speakers also spoke on alternate source of energy. We also got a good knowledge on different material and its vibrations and its effects. The session also had new topics like spin electronic and fabrication of hierarchical zinc.

The 1st speaker Mr Jitendra Kumar Quamara spoke about liquid crystal polymers which is also known as (LCPs) which is a type of a polymer which crystalizes as well has liquid properties. He also spoke about his TSDC experiment and his analysis on it. He even enlightened us on the various properties of LCPs which are a helpful to us and how they work under pressure.

The 2nd speaker Shyam Kishor spoke about solar cell technology which is Single crystal SI based PVs and Polycrystalline semiconductors thin films and other new concepts. He gave us more knowledge on organic solar cell technology which is upcoming technology which is cost efficient. Further he added about QD which can be used instead of dye, and a combination of dye and QD (Quantum Dot). He also spoke about the

novel approach and methodology of QD. The 3rd speaker Dr Archana Sharma who

spoke on NBM which is used to treat arthritis to reduce swelling. She also spoke about the experimental and calculated result of NBM. Further she gave information about molecular electrostatic potential which were found near oxygen atom and its development. She even briefed on natural bond orbital analysis of matrix in NBO basis (NBM). She even threw light on her analysis on the atoms and her experiments and calculation. We also got knowledge about naphthalene ring vibration, carbonyl group vibration, methylene group vibrations and its effects and experiments.

The 4th speaker Dr B Chakraworthy who spoke spin electronic which have higher speed and use low power and have high density. He even spoke on the difficulties to design the magnetic semiconductor with high Tc. He even shared details on different models and the origin of ferromagnetism and stoner criterion.

The 5th speak Mr S Singh spoke about his experimental setup about and fabrication of hierarchical zinc and gave us the whole experimental details and details of the sensor parameters. He gave us details about the PSD curve.

The invited speaker Dr Arvind Dixit presented his lecture titled “Studies on the structural properties of multifunctional polyphosphazene elastomers” in which he

talked about polyphasphazene and its properties and also spoke about cryogenic which is a fire resistant. He also spoke about synthesis of cyclophosphazenes. He also spoke about the stricter and property relationship of the polymer and even amphiphilic polymers and membrane material. He even shared details of advance polymer for high performance and speciality application and advanced elastomers. He also spoke about polyphosphazene and every small detail about this material.

The 7th speaker Mr Amit Saraiya spoke about gas sensor and its details about its use and its principles and how can we use it in India. As India needs it as the market demands it in the Nano size. He even shared his literary survey with the basic mechanism of metal oxide gas sensor and its testing system with its software.

The 8th speaker Mr M K Deore spoke about the metal semiconductor gas sensor, he shared details about the formulation material, physical characterization, gas sensing parameters. He even showed us the microstructural analysis and its images.

The 9th speaker Dr N S Pradhan had a detailed talk about optical and magnetic properties of manganese and even spoke to us the experimental details and the result of the experiments. He also spoke about the formation of DMS with the help of Nano technology. He also gave details of magnetization by SQUID.

The session was based on the how new biology helps to disclose the disease. Speakers from the field of biology presented their views on the same.Dr. Abhijit Chakraborty, SINP, Kolkata, presented his research on Red cell, Disease, proteomics and Chemical Biology. This was his second visit to Indian Science Congress. His research was about blood cell and management of Thalassemia and types of Proteins. He also talked about how the increase and decrease in hemoglobin affect our body.Dr. Parimal Mishra, Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad. He discussed on stress induced type 2 diabetes: The role of transcriptional co-activator binding protein (PIMT). He spoke about the major disease like Diabetes. “There is huge difference between the Diabetic patients in India and western countries due to difference between fats”.DR. Madhu Dikshit, Chief Scientist, CSIR- Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, another notable speaker presented her views on the L-Plastin-S-glutathionylation attenuates human neutrophil chemotsxis polarization and bactericidal activity. She mentioned about the 1st biology gas Nitric Oxide (NO). She also spoke about her work on NO & Neutrophils.Dr. Satinath Mukhopadhyay, Professor, Dept. of endocrinology and metabolism, IPGMER&SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. He discussed on overcoming lipid- insulin resistance: The challenges ahead. He spoke about how insulin work in our body and the effectiveness of the insulin depends upon its way of consumption.Dr. Sharmishta Day, Dept. of Biophysics AIIMS spoke on identification of serum strains as novel. She presented her research on the diseases frailty that is found generally after the age of 60. She also spoke about her another study of sirtuin decreases with aging.The session was very informative. All the notable speakers presented their studies in very informative manner.

EXERCISE, IF YOU WANT TO BE HEALTHY: DR. PRIMAL MISHRA

4


A symposium on ‘Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology for Human Health’ was organised at the Alkesh Dinesh Modi Institute, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus. The session was chaired by Prof. W.S Lakra, Vice Chancellor, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, with Prof. B.L Jadhav as the co-ordinator.

The symposium comprised of six speakers who focussed on the recent developments in aquaculture and marine biotechnology and their role in human health.

M Vijay, Assistant Director General World Fish Centre (Retd), Hyderabad, spoke on ‘Sustaining Contribution of Aquaculture to Food Security and Nutrition in Growing Global Population: The challenges’. K Sunil Mohamed, Principal Scientist and Head Molluscan Fisheries Division Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, Kerala, shed light on ‘Future of India’s Marine Fisheries’. P Jayasankar, Director, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture Kausalyanga, Bhubaneshwar, presented on the need and scope of ‘Research and Development in Genetic Improvement- Journey from Black Box approach to Geonomics’. Dr. Maroti A. Upare, Consultant World Bank, FAO. Mumbai, talked

about ‘Aquaculture Technology Management for Development of sustainable Livelihood- Experiences in India and Vietnam’. The topic chosen by Arun Ninawe, Advisor, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi was ‘Sustainable livelihood options for nutritional and food security through Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology’. The subject on ‘Pioneering efforts in Cage Culture, & Ranching for restoration of Mahseer Sanctuary in Indrayani River at Dehu, Dist: Pune (M.S) was touched upon by SN Ogale, Former Consultant to World Bank & TATA Power Company for Mahasheer Conservation, Pune.

“Fish is the most important component of a food basket in developing countries” said Dr. M.V Gupta, also a renowned world food laureate, in the course of the session he mentioned that Indian Agriculture sector is a rising sector which is growing between 6-8% per annum.

Though India is the second largest producer of fish, there is a huge gap between India and China, the top producer of fish. They spoke on how the future increase in agriculture will focus on South East Asia to feed the rapidly growing global population.

These researchers believe that the

increasing use of antibiotics and chemicals possess a great challenge to the trade and consumers. Hence exists the need for fish vaccines in India. Marine fisheries in India are heading towards stability with major large species depleting rapidly requiring major policy and governance decisions to ensure sustainability of resources for the future. “The issue of marine pollution due to anthropogenic activities needs immediate attention”, said Dr. Sunil Mohammed from CM FRI. The production of first improved strain of fish “Jayanti Rohu” by 1 Car provides new hope to fish farmers for increasing productivity and profitability.

Integrated development of village fishermen has immense potential in both coastal and inland areas. Discovery of new genes and biomolecules from marine organisms in a neglected area in the country needs priority action and programs. Aquaculture biotechnology using genetic manipulation could solve future fish food requirements. Inland saline aquaculture is another promising field.

The success of fish breeding by Tata Power Company and CIFE holds great promise for inland aquaculture and conservation of endangered species.

AQUACULTURE AND MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR HUMAN HEALTH

“Earthquake does not hurt people, collapsing of building does,”said Professor V.K. Gaur at the morning session of the 5th day of 102nd Indian Science Congress. A special session on ‘The Dynamic Earth and its near and far Environment: New Paradigms’ which was held in the Nano Sciences building from 9:15 am put forward several other such important hypothesis in front of the audience.

Mrs. Geetha Menon, the coordinator of the session handled the proceedings with complete dexterity while 6 esteemed speakers delivered their presentations addressing the earthquake phenomenon. The first speaker Dr. Prasad Subramanian from IISER Pune delivered a well drafted presentation on ‘living with our star, the sun’. Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of steadily accumulating strain energy in rock masses when the resulting stress exceeded their breaking energy. The presentation discussed this natural calamity in a very comprehendible manner.

The next speaker Professor VK from CSIR-CMMACS talked about ‘earth quake hazard assessment in the Indian continent and a critique of the VAN method’. “Earthquake is a quantitative number,” said he discussing the formula: H= P{GM(x,y,z,….t) <_*GMMAX} thus deriving the formula of earthquake risk= H*U.

His presentation was followed by Dr. Lucie Rolland, French scientist, and her presentation encompassed ‘ionospheric seismology: monitoring earthquakes

and tsunami from space’. Events such as earthquakes, volcanoes and Tsunamis can induce atmospheric and ionospheric perturbations through various coupling mechanisms. She discussed the three types of signals addressing earthquake phenomenon.

After a short break the session moved onto its second segment with the presentation of Prof. Joanna Haigh from London who focused on ‘solar variability and climate’. Moving out into the far space environment, the sun impacts the terrestrial environment through its particle and radiation outputs. The sun has been undergoing some kind of ‘calmness’ beginning with the prolonged solar minimum during 2005-2010. Dr. Haigh enlightened us with the details of such events with her brilliant presentation.

Dr. Nat Gopalswamy from NASA took the session forward with another piece of brilliance; his presentation on ‘earth-affecting solar eruptions’. How earth directs CMEs (coronal mass ejections) was the core subject of his discussion. At length, Professor SK Tandon’s presented on ‘climate-energy CO2 challenges and the CCS (carbon capture and storage) debate. Recently it has been suggested that carbon capture and geological storage should be adopted as a mitigation strategy for containing greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere. Prof. Tandon discussed the issue briefly.

The session came to an end with distributing token of respect and gratitude from ISC 2015 and University of Mumbai.

EARTH AND OTHER TERRESTRIAL AFFAIRS There is a need to attract and motivate

people to consider archaelogy as a very important field of science - Dr. Shinde.

If you want to understand development you need to know the roots of development said Dr. Shinde,Vice Chancellor of Deccan college, Pune on the fourth day of the 102nd Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai in a session on ‘Future of the Past’. He timelined the evolution of archaelogy in India among which Harappan civilisation was the most prominent and important discovery in the past. He focused on the criticality of the gap in the Indian history which is segmented unlike the Chinese history which is continuous. According to him there is a need to attract and motivate people to consider archaelogy as a very important field of science.He concluded by saying that there is a need for identification or nomenclature for Harappan civilisation to avoid the confusion.

Professor K.S. Saraswat from Birla Sahani Institute for Paleobotany, Pune spoke about Archaeobotany. His research was about pre-columbian indo-american contacts:streching of some potential and iconograpghical evidences. His speech included impressions of maize, cashewnuts, sunflower, ananas and naglinga which were found way before the Europeans as opposed to their claims. He studied the carving on temples in places such as Udaygiri in Madhya Pradesh and in parts of Tamilnadu.

The third speaker Mrs.Shanti Pappu from Sharma Research Centre, Chennai, researched about tools, techniques and time, Multiple approches to study of South Asia’s prehistoric pasts. She focused on heritage management and also explained in detail the dating methods and techniques used to conduct it. She ended with need to know to make stone tools that indians have forgot.

Dr. Kurush Dalal of Department Extra Mural Studies, University of Mumbai, presented on excavation and new technology. His study was based in medival period. He identified that mere discovery of an artifact is not sufficient, the analysis of the context and its understanding is aslo required.

“Computer technology is soul pillar for almost all the feilds possible today”, said Nisha Yadav,Tata Institute of Forensic Research. She studied the importance and use of computers in archaelogy for instance creation of research data base, linking data to maps, survey and graphic display, onsite recording of excavation and post-excavation analysis and creation of web resourses and electronic archives.

Another speaker from Deccan college, Dr.Vijay Sathe threw light on what answers can archaelogists seek from any scientific analysis. He explained how his college has ushered into a new era of several scientific laboratory and their collaborations with Mumbai University for research.

Lastly, the coordinator of the session M.N.Vahia,TIFR, summarized the session and also presented his paper which concentrated on need of archaelogists.He ended with a strong comment that Archeological monuments do not speak and we need to listen them carefully.

FUTURE OF THE PAST


5

The primary aim of National Statistical system is to provide relevant timely robust and meaningful picture/profile of the economy and the society to support the formulation and monitoring of economic and social policies by government at all levels. This will contribute to the development of the country by identifying new issues, monitor policy and evaluate policy, said A.K.Meher DG & CEO , NSSO (Ministry of statistics and PI government of India ) presented on National Statistical system on the fourth day of 102nd Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai. The statistics was collected and derived by the government agencies and instrumentalities of the government. New technology today is remote sensing. He also stated the UN Fundamental principles of official statistics determine transparency, interpretation and legislation.

Key principles of official statistics are laws, regulations and measures of statistical system which operates the public. He also spoke about NSS (National Statistical System) , data user , assessment of national statistical system, statistical legislation , historical background and its important milestone.

A.K. Meher mentioned that Dr.

Rangarajan , chairperson of NSC reviewed the Indian Statistical System and also identified its deficiencies. NSC is permanent set up which identifies core statists of national importance. New initiatives of NSC is pooling of central and state sample data.

Prajneshu : ICAR ( Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute) , New Delhi presented his views on “Statistical Modeling In the Welfare of the society.”

He spoke about the current procedure for computation of CGR n also gave the required formula for more understanding about agriculture , production ,productivity of the area and mentioned about the compound growth rate and model employed for estimating. It was based on the given equation. And this model was famous Malthus model .Various modifications are made in the current procedure though Malthus model can be replaced by more realistic model. Web solution for estimating of compound growth rate (web ECGR).

He then mentioned about the optimal time for spraying insecticides for APHTD populations. Aphid is recognized as the serious pests of cereals, oil seeds, pulses and vegetables crops in our country. He further

mentioned about the efficient management of fish populations with the help of diagram.

He also stated that the economic growth is more as compared to biological growth referring to Fox Model and Schaefer Model. He also forecasted about India’s food grain production and volatile hike onion prices in India. Engle (1982) was awarded Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 2003, proposed the famous (ARCH) Model.

He concluded by saying “Agriculture without statistics has no roots and Statistics without agriculture has no fruits”.

Another eminent speaker Mr.Nirupam Ghosh spoke on the successive sampling that has been extensively used to estimate change of a parameter such as a mean or total and the testing of direction of this change or to estimate the parameters on the most recent occasion utilizing the information of the previous occasions. Calibration approach elaborated by Deville and sandal (1992).calibration approach to estimate of finite population parameters that consists of computation and mentioned about the uses of calibration approach in successive planning.

THE PRIMARY AIM OF NATIONAL STATISTICAL SYSTEM IS TO PROVIDE RELEVANT TIMELY ROBUST AND MEANINGFUL PICTURE OF THE ECONOMYSYMPOSIUM ON AGRICULTURE

The Symposium on Engineering Sciences of the 102nd Indian Science Congress -2015 was held in the New Lecture Complex, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, from 2:30pm to 4pm. It was presided over by Prof. Atul Sitaram Padalkar (Founder and Principal, Flora Institute of Technology, Pune)

The session began with a Presidential Address delivered by Prof. Padalkar, who spoke about “Engineering and Technology for Development of India”. This was followed by a Platinum Jubilee Lecture delivered by Dr. Anand Deshpande (Founder, Persistent Systems Limited, Pune), who spoke about “How could technology be the Bramhastra for India’s Development”. There were three presentations for the Young Scientist Award by Debarghya Chakraborty, U. Ashok Kumar, Shveta Mahajan and Dhanya C. T. Mr. Pramod

Choudhari (Founder of Praj Industries Limited) spoke about “Different Technologies for the Clean Ganga Project”. Prof. R. K. Khandal (Vice Chancellor, Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow) spoke about “Emerging Trends in Technical Education in India vis-à-vis Sustainability and Growth”. Dr. Mohan Khedkar (Vice Chancellor, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University) spoke about “Efficient Solar Power System: Need of the Day”. Dr. Chandan Chowdhury (Managing Director, Dassault Systems India) spoke about “Accelerating the Growth of Indian Economy by Leveraging Scientific Software and Applications”. Sudarsan Dash spoke about “Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship Opportunities in the U.S”. Dr. D. Datta spoke about “Development of Intelligent Computational Tools for Management of Water Quality and its sustainability”.

SYMPOSIUM ON ENGINEERING

PRIDE OF INDIA

ROLE OF BIO CULTURALANTHROPOLOGY

The responsibility of the anthropologist is to guide and explain how to prevent obesity said Rashmi Sinha, Discipline of Anthropology who Spoke on Anthropology in combating obesity which focused on the measures of obesity, evolutionary conceptualization at the 102nd Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai. She defines how our bodies today are shaped through micro and macro adaptations. Obesity leads to higher risk of diseases like diabetes and metabolic disorders. Bio cultural perspectives are also important in comprehending how social processes become embodied, directly shaping individual exposure and reaction.

Dr. Suba Ray talked about the bio cultural perspectives of menopause and also about some anthropological observation. He raised the question about why people should study Menopause. And further told about changes in human germ cell number, menopausal age etc. He further mentioned about the factors of age menopause which was face due to smoking that advances menopause and also getting married late. Marcha Flint studied on the Indian women during research basically of West Bengal.Cultural construction is marked as risk. It is also found that ovulation,menstruation,gestation etc are main cause of menopause.

Dr Milika Mehrotra Professor of Anthropology presented his views on disability rehabilitation and Social justice.he further added on Invisibility of the disabled in anthropological literature. Mostly many of them neglect the subject of disability. Theoretical perspective of disability is divided as medical model and social model. He referred to Disability as an axis of inequality. The future agenda of critical ethnographical accounts requires focus on disease, illness and cure to disabling conditions, environment and disability cultures etc…

Dr.Shaunak S.Kulkarni spoke on Bio logical adaptations in human dentition. He elaborated on diet and variation and then moved on to dental anthropology which is a tool to describe a population the main objective is to study the dental evolutionary pattern. Living population of Maratha, mahar and mahadeo koli was elaborated.archaeological populations includes Mesolithic, Harappa, Patholithic, Neolithic, bronze age and chalcolithic.

After witnessing a grand exhibition organised in an 8000 sq meter area on MMRDA ground, students of the Department of Communication and Journalism got an opportunity to meet Mr. Ravi Boratkar, Joint Managing Director MMActive (Science-Space Communication). Here are some views shared from a talk with him1.What motivated you to organize such a grand exhibition? We were into advertising business earlier and working as one of the top advertising agencies. It was Dr. Mashilkar’s idea to bring science to common man and organise the Indian Science Congress. We brought shape to this idea by organising research projects and exhibition. The success of this event, a lot of knowledge addition and collaborations were also motivating factors while organising this grand exhibition. 2. What is a theme of this exhibition? Pride of India is the idea under which the exhibits are set. Theme for the exhibition always is similar to that of the Indian Science Congress. It is Science and Technology for Human Development this year. We organise various exhibits concurrent to the theme. Make in India is also one of the topics that are promoted through the exhibition this year. The Hall of pride talks about famous and intellectual personalities talking about this lifetime achievements. The personalities who are selected for the Hall of Pride are not just scholars from academics but also those who have been successful entrepreneurs. 3. What is purpose behind organising this exhibition? Bringing innovators together, promoting research collaborations, making people know the importance of science and technology. Making life easier through the use of science and making valuable additions in the scientific knowledge is the expected outcome from this exhibition. Sections like Eduvision are arranged at the exhibition that makes the students know the various courses that are available in and outside the country. It helps in widening their scope. 4. Can you tell us the significances of Vidnyanjyoot? Vidnyanjyoot is a torch of science which has a burning flame that is carried to the place where Indian Science Congress takes place. It is believed to be an auspicious flame spreading scientific knowledge. This year the torch was not carried at the venue but a flame was lit to keep the trend going. 5. What is the outcome through his exhibition? Innovations, Association and Research are an outcome of this exhibition. The exhibition is a way to reach young minds and promote the sense of research and innovations in them.

Ravi Boratkar


6








Editorial Board

A new Nobel prize for renewable energy donated by Ludwig and Robert Nobel Trust Fund from this year onwards, mentioned Dr. Soli Arceivala, ex-director, NEERI, Mumbai who was the invited lecturer for symposium on Documentation, Utilization and Conversation of Biodiversity for Inclusive Development at the 102nd Indian Science Congress. He discussed why green technologies are good for India’s Economy and Environment. He discussed on green technology, social engineering and reducing emission of carbon dioxide.

The first speaker was Dr. Narayan Chandra Mandal, Department of Botany, Visva-Bharti, Santiniketan from West Bengal who spoke on ‘Mechanism of degradation of a herbicide 2,4 diochlorophenoxyacetic acid by a strain of

pseudomonas putid’The second speaker Dr. Arup Kumar Mitra,

Department of Micro biology, St. Xaveir’s College from Kolkata whose topic was ‘Dynamism of airborne Aspergillus spp’. He discussed SPM, calcium recycling, Siderophore and Spirotryprostatin.

The next speaker Mr. Bihari Singh, Department of Environmental Sciences, A.N. College from Bihar who spoke about use of constructed wetland based system for waste water treatment. He discussed about sewage and industrial effluents and dissemination of technology. The following speaker Mr. Sanjoy Misra, Department of Chemistry,

Ranchi University from Jharkhand spoke on contamination of sugar by the corrosion of metallic container. He discussed on mild steel, acid, corrosive gases and potentiostat. Dr. Raj Rajan Jha from the same university presented on Comparative Study of the natural and synthesized material for defluoridation. The next speaker Dr. A.K. Pandey, Department of biological sciences, R.D. university, from Jabalpur presented on the topic Muncipal solid waste leachate management in Jabalpur city.

This session was followed by an Oral Session where in delegates across the country presented topics ranging from “Studies on airborne indoor fungi at a heritage building in Kolkata to ‘Isolation of a novel microbe capable of degrading azodye’ to Fuel Cells: Eco-friendly

NEW GARDEN OF EDEN

ROCkS, MINERALS, FOSSILS EXHIBITION

NEW BIOLOGY “My topic - Evolutionary rates of Yeast proteins from the perspective of protein complex assembly, answers the most controversial question in this field”, explained Dr. Tapash Gosh who addressed a session on New Biology. “Based on the neutral theory the essential genes should evolve slowly, but our studies prove it wrong”, claimed Dr. Gosh. He elucidated all the aspects of his topic. Prof. Uttam Chand Banerjee followed and spoke on the application enzymes ABD whole cells for the enantiomeric synthesis of chiral drugs and drugs intermediates. He focused on the thalidomide drug and explained all the important elements of his topic. One of the speakers Dr. Sudip Gosh who presented on the early events of entamoeba encystation explained the entire process of encystation. As per the speaker a fact about an amoeba is that it can be drawn easily by anyone but studying the same is much difficult. Another notable speaker, Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay from Mohali evaluated his topic based on the bacterial pore forming toxins. His study emphasized on the membrane interaction mechanism, membrane pore formation mechanism and Vibrio Cholerae Cytolysin (VCC). Dr. Soumen Acharya who previously worked at the AIMMS hospital claimed that the genesis of the Maori took place in India, during his presentation that flashed on the study of orthographic learning in dyslexic Maori speaking children in Wanganui, New Zealand. Followed by him was an oral presentation by Dr. Sanatanu Das who discussed his paper themed on subtyping of HIV-1 by gag heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA). He highlighted the fact that its been over 35 years to the invent of HIV but still there is no cure found yet. “In 2013, around 1.5 million people died of HIV cases globally”, he claimed. “As there is no cure yet, we should now learn to live with aids”, he suggested.The entire session was interactive and informative too.




7 JANUARY 2015

DAY 5

“We would need to think of new approaches and new innovations, pull in every resource and maximize its benefit, being conscious at the same time of maintaining sustainability and welfare of those engaged in the sector”, said the chief guest, Mr. Ram Naik, Governor of UP being the Chief Guest at the 102nd Session of the Indian Science Congress which saw more than 15,600 visitors. Emphasizing on the need to make the farmers aware he spoke about how they must be involved in various activities with a sensitivity that safeguards their rights in their land and its produce. A proper scientific approach may galvanize all of them to increase the productivity. The ISC drew curtains with the valedictory function graced by distinguished dignitaries. The guests of honour were Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Railways and Mr. Vinod Tawde, Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Maharashtra and Chief Advisor to ISC 2015. “This event will be written in the history of the University of Mumbai in golden letters”, said Dr. Naresh Chandra, Pro- Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai. He also announced Mr. A. K. Saxena as the President of ISC 2016, to be held at Mysore. Dr. Rajan Welukar, Vice- Chancellor of Mumbai University declared the centre for

Nanosciences and Nanotechnology open to not just the students of the university but to anyone willing to conduct research. This is a major step in the development of science and technology in the state. He highlighted the efforts put in by many since 2010 for this very ISC. Speaking about Women Science Congress, he said that women scientists can bring about significant social change by working at the grass root level for women’s empowerment through the application of science and technology. Vinod Tawde took responsibility for all the problems that people must have faced during the proceedings at ISC and also thanked the Mumbai Police and Mumbaikars for making this event a success. “I will start a task-force to implement the recommendations made at the ISC, especially in Maharashtra. Just like in Bollywood and Cricket, we must project Scientists as heroes as stated by our PM”, said he. In order to increase genius research aptitude in students, schools should facilitate more activities throughout the year rather than just an Annual Science Exhibition. Scientific thinking needs to be generated in the minds of the children. “We must look at what people want and then turn to science in order to achieve it.

Because of technology one is turning a blind eye towards the depletion of fossil fuels. Science must come up with solutions in a way that it doesn’t create problems. Industrialization of the world has been made possible only because of science and technology. New challenge before science is how to create something that does not destruct the existing resources, without depleting the natural capital. Science creates monsters. We shouldn’t create monsters only to end up fighting them,” said Suresh Prabhu. He further added that new fundamental research should be into finding new sources of energy as we are going to surpass China’s population and would be the largest energy users in the world. In order to meet the demands by 2030 we must come out with innovative ideas. Young scientists were felicitated with certificates and cash prize of rupees 25,000 each. Best poster presentation awards were presented to two women. Medical Sciences Essay Competition winners were also announced. The event concluded with the Chief Guest’s speech followed by the national anthem, bringing an end to this year’s Indian Science Congress.

MAkE fARMERS MORE AwARE : RAM NAIk

2

To implement the world class infrastructure and facilities, University of Mumbai’s most ambitious and state of art project Nano Science and Nano Technology center will be open for all researchers, said, Honorable Vice Chancellor,Dr. Rajan Welukar. He added to promote research and innovation we have world class infrastructure and facilities, we have created these infrastructure in 4 years to host the ISC, It

was a great pleasure to work with all. For the first time, In 102nd session of Indian Science Congress at University of Mumbai 15,651 registration has been done and maximum Nobel laureates were present in this mega event.Accomodation facilities were maintained for delegates in luxurious hotels and transportation facilities arrangements were put in a place. There are 42 ongoing infrastructures that can be

able to access the Students of University of Mumbai in its jurisdiction including Thane-Ratnagiri sub campus. We have planned these infrastructure from 2010 to hosting the Indian Science Congress and for this purpose we are serving all facilities for students of University of Mumbai. Minor and Major research projects have also increased or the futuristic carrier of students.

NANO SCIENCE AND NANO TEChNOLOGY CENTER OpEN fOR ALL

Focusing on the need for scientist to become role models for science’s benefits to reach the common man, State Higher and technical education Minister Vinod Tawde said, whatever recommendations of ISC will be implemented, for such Nobel cause and its implementation we will set up a taskforce, we will promote research in all varsity and for these there will be financial provision, and also upcoming scientist will honor as a hero. Said Tawde while addressing the Valedictory function of 102nd session of Indian Science Congress in University of

Mumbai. Mr. Tawde added Though

Technology has brought the world closer through social media students of Mumbai were fortunate to see the ISC being hosted in the city he said that they should take maximum advantage of the same and use it as a platform to pursue the scientific studies. It gives me immense pleasure to hosting 102nd session of Indian Science Congress in University of Mumbai and I will try to make Scientific Temperament among all universities and will promote research and innovations said Tawde.

RECOMMENDATIONS Of ISC wILL BE IMpLEMENTED ThROUGh A TASkfORCE


3

The chief secretary of Maharashtra Swadheen Kshatriya has appealed to scientists to come up with a permanent solution to famine in the state and help farmers improve their produce by making innovations in their farming techniques. Mr Kshatriya was speaking at a symposium on Science and Technology for Inclusive Development at the Fort Campus of the University of Mumbai on Wednesday, the last day of the 102nd Indian Science Congress. Experts also highlighted the means of promoting innovation and discussed challenges and opportunities for building world class innovation institutes in Maharashtra.

Speaking about the losses the state suffered due to the droughts and f loods in the past three years, Mr Kshatriya said that though the state was making speedy progress in the fields of industry, town planning and farming, such natural calamities had put a dent in the financial status of the state. “I appeal to scientists to help the state by coming up with a technology that will predict

natural calamities that may affect crops,” said Mr Kshatriya.

Elaborating on the lead taken by Maharashtra in the use of technology in the country, Mr Kshatriya said that permissions for small and medium sized industry were being given through e-platform and nearly 80 per cent of the population in the state had got Aadhar cards. He said that 100 per cent would be achieved in the next six months.

Mr Kshatriya also asked the scientists to come up with technologies that would support state policies for people living in the tribal belt and rural areas. “I appeal to scientists to conduct research and help the state government beat malnutrition problems,” he said.

At the event, Dr Charudatta Mayee from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, spoke on how advancements in farm technologies in Maharashtra had enabled the state to promote inclusive development of people.

pAUL NARSE This was the most interesting visit, impressive battery of equipment and people. Good luck with your future research.

RANDY SChEkMANExciting beginning, now the challenge is to fill the building with excited young scholars.

ROBIN wARREN A fantastic laboratory with wonderful equipment and hope u can advance projects as you suggest making money rather than just opening it.

MOhAMMAD YUNUS What a great opportunity to see the great lab in the University of Mumbai dedicated to Nano-technology. Lot of things can happen to improve the lives of the poor people, it direct our research in that direction.

A STATE Of ART pROjECT


SCIENTISTS MUST COME Up wITh pERMANENT SOLUTIONS

4


The session on Environmental Biology was based on the multidisciplinary field of science concerning with the study of the harmful effects of various chemical, biological and physical agents on living organisms. Eco toxicology is a sub discipline of environmental toxicology concerned with studying the harmful effects of toxicants at the population and ecosystem levels.

The speakers in the session presented papers on harmful effects of chemical and biological agents that can include toxicants from pollutants, insecticides, pesticides, and fertilizers all of

which can impact an organism and its community through shifts in species diversity and abundance. Resulting changes in population dynamics impact the ecosystem by altering its productivity and stability.

There are many sources of environmental toxicity that can lead to the presence of toxicants in our food, water and air. These sources include organic and inorganic pollutants, pesticides and biological agents, all of which can have harmful effects on living organisms.

A symposium on Earth science system with Indian Context was held on the concluding day of Indian Science Congress held at the University of Mumbai. Prof. K. L. Shrivastav President, Jai Narain Vyas, University Department of Geology, Jodhpur, spoke on , ‘Frontiers of Earth Science’ in the Earth science. A symposium on this topic was one of its kind and it was for the first time that this issue was addressed in the 102 year old history of ISC.

Prof Shrivastav stated that since vedic days Earth science is prime science, studies of mineral resources and Ground water resources for human development. He suggested

that with the changed scenario, there should be at least five IIT pattern institutes of ‘Indian Institute of Earth Science and Technology’ in India.

In human resource development at school level, the subject should be named as ‘Earth Science’ because it includes geology, geography, oceanography,climatology,etc.

Mineral exploration should be rejuvenated (including petroleum, coal energy minerals with metallic and non metallic economic minerals).

Ground water research and management needed to be reorganized of human development and service to the society.

ENvIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY

EARTh SCIENCE SYSTEM

“We are in for change and I am sure that we will take a leap and go forward”, said former BARC scientist U.C. Mishra who was addressing a session based on the theme of ‘Research in the field of environmental science’.

The scientist emphasized on ‘New methods in environmental health and safety’ and also elucidated on the pros and cons of the widespread ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’. He suggested that the movement should adopt the foreign policies to replace technology in the process of cleanliness.

Another renowned speaker was Dr. Deepak Kantawala, a veteran environmental engineer who presented on ‘Waste Water Management’ stressed on the essentiality of sewage management. “Around 70% of the total drinking water is polluted by sewage”, noted Dr. Kantawala. He also advised the need of dry toilets in order to manage sewage. “Building such toilets is easy but convincing people

in India to use them is far more difficult”, he added. The first speaker of the session Prof. Shyam R Asolekar also elucidated the hazardous waste management in India. He focused on the minimization of toxicity in the environment. “Protection of our environment is our fundamental right”, he stressed upon while presenting the annual creation of hazardous waste in the nation.

Other panel of speakers were RN Singh (INSA Senior Scientist), Virendra Sethi (IIT, Bombay) and Janki Andharia(Professor in Tata Institute of Social Science) who presented on topics ranging from research needs in environmental studies, air quality management and challenge of integration social concerns in environmental research respectively. The session was overall interactive and informative. Even the concepts explained in this session were simplified by the speakers so as to make them easy for the common man to understand.

TAkING A LEAp fORwARD IN ENvIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

The afternoon session at C.D. Deshmukh Bhavan discussed on emotional eating, stress among the employers, vocational rehabilitation of disabled persons and Technology in the mental makeup. Seven Papers were presented in this session. The first topic by Dr. Jyoti D. Vora, Head of the department of Biochemistry and food science and Quality Control, Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, Mumbai was on the biochemical and bio statistical assessment of urban Indian population with the perspective of emotional eating. She concluded that 75% of over eating is caused by emotion. The perspective towards food consumption is in a vicious cycle in urban India while coping with boredom, lonliness, stress, depression, frustration and anxiety. Another Speaker Professor V.M. Ponniah from SRM School of Management, Kattankulathur pointed out the impact of stress among women in Chennai with reference to private sector banks. Having taking up the challenges, the modern women are prone to stress to efficiently balance the role taken up by them. He observed that they endure occupational

stress to bring in laurels for their career as well as for their families. He was followed by professor, Wilbur Gonsalves, Department of Applied Psychology and counseling Centre, University of Mumbai who made a concrete attempt to measure the vocational rehabilitation process in terms of responsiveness of persons with disabilities for expedition and monitoring. He further pointed out the psychometric properties of the Vocational rehabilitation. Puneet Gawali from SES college of Engineering, Karjat came up with a challenging topic. The paper focused on the technological advances such as artificial wombs, robotic surgeons, nano composite contact lenses for treating diabetes with require elaborations to show technology is actually playing the role of a dangerous drug in humans which is perilous. The group presentation was by Nupur Wagle, Darshana Jain and Amandeep Kaur Chandhoke on women Sarpanch in Maharashtra in the Era of e-governace. They made an attempt to understand to what extent woman sarpanchs experience gender and caste discrimination

by the villagers while performing duties as sarpanch. This paper further gauges the self esteem of woman sarpanch and also highlights the psychological and legal interventions in empowering them. Professor Umesh L Bharte, Department of Applied Psychology, Mumbai presented the paper on beyond the dichotomy of culture and personality: implications for human development. He focused on the fact that personality should not be considered as linear consequences of significant social interactions but it should be conceptualized as if embedded in a system of social interaction. The last session by Professor and head, Smt. Rupam, Department of Psychology, Patna was on a study of tension among the youths in relation to caste, habitat and sex. Tension was measured by Pawan’s Test of Tension Measurement and the result indicated that youths from urban background and lower cast group showed higher mean score in comparison to their counter parts. She concluded that the background factors have important roles in the experience of tension among youths.

pSYChOLOGISTS TALkS ON STRESS AND ALLIED TOpICS

5


This informative session began by Dr.K K Saini, Director General of CCLS Group of Institutes from Rohtak, Haryana. He spoke on “ Algorithm for latest Multi- Applications on wireless Sensor Network Information Communication Industry Based Systems”. He focused on the chaotic system for secure communication which is an important area in research and development. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are used in variety of fields which includes military, healthcare, environmental, biological, home and other commercial applications. With the huge advancement in the field of embedded computer and sensor technology, wireless sensor networks (WSN), which is composed of several thousands of sensor nodes which are capable of sensing, actuating and relaying the collected information. He concluded by giving an overview of the various research issues in WSN based applications. The last speaker was Dr.P.N Singh, Principal Of GIST Engineering College, Rayagada, Odisha. He verbalizes on “ Metamorphosis Images- Better Application of Genetic Algorithms”. He focused on Image processing which generally involves Importing the image with optical scanner or by digital photography and then analyzing and manipulating the image which includes data compression and image enhancement and spotting patterns that are not to human eyes like satellite photographs. Output is the last stage in which result can be altered image or report that is based on image analysis. After these two invited talks, there were three presentatations and this session was dominated by image processing, water marking and medical imaging. Dr. G PadmaVathi spoke on various Intrusion Detection Systems and security approaches in Cloud computing. Dr. K Sridevi spoke on “ medical Image Watermarking in Dual Domains using LSB and Additive techniques. This research work was on its preliminary phase. Dr. Somesh Katta from AU college of Engineering, Andhra University spoke on “ An approach to predict Liver Disorders based on Cluster Analysis”. In this research work expert intuition and cross validation techniques were used. He concluded the session by saying that the clustered training set out performed the classifier with original ILPD dataset. The application of clustering to cluster objects into more number of taxons in Liver diseases need to be verified as the original ILPD dataset that consists of only two classes. Mr. D. Bhoopathy from Coimbatore have been selected for the Young Scientist Award. The session was terminated by giving vote of thanks to the delegatory members and speakers for attending the conference by Mrs. Aparajita Ojha, Sectional President.

TEChNOLOGY AND COMpUTER fANATICS CONCLAvE AT ThE INDIAN

SCIENCE CONGRESS

RENEwABLE ENERGY: A SUBjECT Of CONCERN.

SCIENCE & TEChNOLOGY fOR INCLUSIvE DEvELOpMENTA session on Science & Technology for

Inclusive Development was held in the last day of the 102nd Indian Science Congress at the Fort Campus of University of Mumbai. Anil Kakodkar, Indian nuclear scientist and mechanical engineer, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India started the event by stating that the intention of the conference is to look at the interface of the activities that we do in science and technology. Their prime focus will be on the agriculture, tribal development and industry.

Swadhin Kshatriya who is new Maharashtra secretary was also present at the session. He spoke about urban areas, urban population which is likely to increase in coming years. Areas which need to be focus. He further stated that first priority should be given to agriculture. He was of the opinion that the farmers should be educated regarding growing the crops, taking care of them till packaging, the process should be clear in their mind. Mr. Kshatriya stated that climate change is the biggest draw back and challenge that farmers face mostly. Disaster again has ill effect. He further suggested that insurance company and Information technology should come forward for the farmers and be their helping hand because crops have failed in many areas such as Aurangabad ,Nasik , Nagpur mainly for cotton and soya bean crops. He then spoke about having a proper warehouse to lessen the loss of crops, provide banking facility and taking care of malnutrition. Industry again was the main thrust on manufacture. There should be policy for the manufacturing activity. He also mentioned about

“Make in India” policy of our government. He suggested to create ease by cutting down the lengthy procedure. He further spoke on using technology at its best by coming up with the idea of e-tendering, digital locker etc. he said that future planning is to come up with UID that is Unique ID number that can be used as very important document in future. He then mentioned about re-survey on land and how this survey can happen fast and in accurate manner. Science and technology is the only way to come out of drought as per him. He gave example of milk Revolution that happened in Gujarat and wheat revolution that took place in Madhya Pradesh.

Dr C.D.Mayee Adjunct Professor, IARI,New Delhi

Farm Technologies for Inclusive growth He spoke on percentage of water

that is used by the overall population,Food production in which perennial crops also requires water. The areas where there are problems of water but still sugarcane is grown. Cotton is best fibre and we cannot replace it by any other crops. Technology achievement have proved its best result in food grain revolution as it has developed 260 tons of grains but still problem of storage face by the people. Milk revolution and sugar revolution is result of Technology. He further mentioned about the impact on growers of varieties of rice and wheat, impact on growers on hybrids of bajra and maze. Growth in vegetables is seen after 1991.Onion and potatoes has access production. He also mentioned that production is increased but the farmers income are not increasing that why they are unhappy. New technology has helped pusa basmati break through in punjab upto 3.2 million ton. Earlier we use to import the cotton but now exporting the cotton on the large scale. He mentioned about the water saving technology and adopt 2 village the way gujarat has done. National initiatives on climate change is seen. Crops diversification has adopted remunerative intercroping system .IPM and CBC government has

adopted the technology to avoid the further loss.

Mr.Mishra.BrajamohanFarmers suicides Raising questions for

possible causesFarmers suicide is a complex phenomena

of multiple dimensions of financial, economic and social causes. It is seen that after very 30 minutes farmer dies in India. Farmers suicide is the national phenomena. Highlighted on the agricultural production and farmers suicide, natural calamities and its impact. Particularly in vidharbha region is drought. It is seen that 75% of the farmers have land of 2 acre’s. Adequacy of irrigation facility and its impact.95% of the people in vidharbha are suffering from the debt. Specially the cotton farmers are paying higher prices for inputs like seeds, pesticides, fertilizers ,electricity, water and labour where as productivity has decreased.

After Nanotechnology, Agriculture Science, Physical Science, 5th day of 102nd Indian Science Congress was set for environmental science. There were professors gathered together from different states from country for the session. To secure future, many experts claim their experiments and state many remedies and product substitutes. SK Dash, KIIT, Bhubaneswar, CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar presented on the topic ‘A journey from waste material to resource material-preparation, characterization and strength evaluation of pelletized lightweight f ly ash aggregate’

which claims pervious substitute to cement. Professor Usha Bajpai, University Of Lucknow explained about ‘Using renewable energy for clean environment and better livelihood’. Her presentation about renewable energy like solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy and small hydro power energy gave in-depth detail about these uses of energy and their benefits. Later she showed current use of these renewable energy. Use of renewable energy should be promoted for overall development of India. She presented

current Indian scenario of ‘power installed capacity’. India is both a producer and consumer. It currently ranks as the world’s seventh largest energy producer accounting for about 2.49% of the world’s total annual energy production. It is also the world’s fifth largest energy consumers accounting for about 3.45% of the world’s total annual energy consumption. Because of global warming, count of species of Indian sparrows are decreasing day by day. The MSc Renewable Energy Programme had started from 2007-08 academic year under Lucknow University Specialized Courses Admission Programme

(LUSCAP) of the University of Lucknow at the New Campus. The program is being supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.

Anamika Tripathi, Associate Professor, Pollution Ecology Research Laboratory, Hindu College, Moradabad informed about ‘e-waste’. The Moradabad city is fast emerging as the new hub of unauthorized disposal of e-waste, exposing laborers as well as residents to killer toxic fumes. Hundreds of workers, including women and children, in several localities here burn motherboards and other discarded gadgets to extract small quantities of gold and silver from it. The hazardous activity fills up the area with choking fumes, causing serious health complications to not only the offenders but also residents in nearby areas. Prof. Ravidra K Joshi, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Almora gave presentation about ‘Development of Pollination Management Plan in Mustard Agro-Ecosystem of West Himalaya’.

6

The last day of ISC proceeded towards its end with a session on EBT (Environmental Biology and Toxicology). It included a segment which had oral presentation session encompassing veterinary and animal husbandry. In each of the segments, however, more than two dozen papers were discussed with very special emphasis on toxicity and fauna sufferings.

The chair persons of the oral presentation session were Professor Seema Jain and Professor A K Mathur. In this segment there were three esteemed speakers giving presentations focusing animal science. The first speaker, A. K. Thiruvenkadan from Veterinary College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu, spoke about ‘conservation of firm animal genetic resources for food security in regional and global context.’ Conservation of animal genetic resources refers to all human activities including strategies, plans policies and actions undertaken to ensure that the diversity of animal genetics resources being maintained to contribute to food and agricultural production and productivity or to maintain other values of this resources now and in the future. His presentation explained this phenomenon withy adroitness.

The next speaker Professor S.S. Kamavisdar, KITE, Naradaha, enlightened us with his presentation on human development index and trajectory of science and technological vision

in Chhattisgarh. Problems of hunger, poverty, insanitation, illiteracy, superstitions and dreadful customs of vast resources running to wastes of a rich country have been minimized through science and technological researches and globalization efforts. He shaped our understanding about minimizing problem of hunger, poverty etc through global education by his presentation.

Following speaker Dr. B.K. Barun from WBUAFS, Kolkata, talked about Rabies or hydrophobias in animal, human and prevention. He expressed his concern saying, “All warm blooded animals are at risk for contracting rabies, however, some species are much more resistant than others.” He also suggested some precautions and preventions against the misery.

All the scientists have expressed great concern about the environmental toxicity due to which a lot of problem is happening to both the marine animals and those residing on the landscape. They also offered many suggestions regarding maximizing sustainable development. They have also talked about creating some new guidelines to maintain the diversity of marine animals as well as those residing on the land. The session was held under the dexterity of Professor MK Jyoti and Professor B.L. Jadav from University of Mumbai.

Intellectuals and educators from different field of science assembled to discuss various matters on science as well as society. On the same context a session on ‘Challenges for Education in Modern India’ was held at Nehru Centre in Worli under the chairmanship of Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan Dr. Anil Kakodkar. Science is part of Education, keeping this in mind experienced professors from renowned universities were invited. Varun Sahni (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), Sanjay Dhande, Former Director, Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), Pandit Vidyasagar, Vice Chancellor, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathawada University (Nanded) and H C Pradhan had addressed the session.

The session exclusively dealt with topics like ‘Technology Vision 2035 – Education’, ‘Education for Global Leadership in Technology’, ‘Revitalization of Teaching Learning Process’, and ‘Science and Mathematics Education –

Perspective and Prospects’. Varun Sahni the former V.C. of University of Jammu gave a five steps approach to make technology helpful in making education system better in India, and says that India is, and will remain the country of diversity. Sanjay Dhande sites his views on the topic, and suggests twelve evaluations in the academics like certificate to colleges and universities on the bases of qualitative education, evaluation of schools etc. He assured that India is capable of giving international level education at 1/3rd of actual costs that students pay for Higher Education in foreign countries.

The problem with current education system in India is that students’ involvement is missing due to structural and functional diversity in the system. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) has made some suggestions to the government regarding skill development of students of secondary school. Research Universities should be established in the country

for the smooth and supportive education to the knowledge seekers of the country. Pandit Vidyasagar during his presentation says, “A teacher should be an evaluator, innovator and administrator”. Moreover they suggested to make education such that that it can produce Intellectual Property. Intellectual Property is the responsibility of educational institutes. Indian education system is analysis type than synthesis type. Students under this system are in constant pressure of time, cramming and to do well in exams. H.C.Pradhan in his speech emphasis in making pupils independent for taking rational decisions. Dr. Uday Panchpor and Anil Ranade from MSC-IT gave a presentation about how education can be provided in rather practical way than just typical way of teaching.

The session came out to be very informative for those working in the profession of teaching and for the students as well.

“INDIA IS GUTkALISED, RAThER ThAN GLOBALIzED”

ANIMAL SECURITY AGAINST TOxICITYpics in abhi 7 folder


ThE fIELD Of ANIMAL vETENARY SCIENCE AND

fIShERYThe poster presentation displayed the

research work of students from all Universities represented through their posters. There were different type of research based on topics like Animal Veterinary science and fishery. All the topics were related to environment. Approximately there were 25 participants from all over India like Chandigarh, Guwahati, Chennai and many more. Professor Kadambari Gupta organized the session.

All participants who have a skill of presenting their work through posters, for them it was a better opportunity said Professor Kadambari. The candidates were selected on the basis of their abstract work registered few months back. It mainly highlighted topics like organic constituents of each component determined by methods such as glycogens; lipid and then the results were expressed on dry weight basis. The other topics were the effect of dietary protein levels on growth, feed conversion ratio and feed conversion efficiency of Juvenilis of Labeorohita which was presented by Ritu Kumari and Roopma Gandotra from Jammu University.

Through such poster presentation it seemed a better scope for youngsters who researched in various fields and provided them a platform to outcast their talent. The judges were experts from the field of animal vetenary science.



8








Editorial Board

Personalized medicine is a new concept in cancer treatment. Traditional, Clinical and Pathological features of a tumor needs to decide the treatment. Dr. Sandeep Gupte (ACTREC, Mumbai and TMC), Mumbai illustrated in their talk that new multi-gene parameters are being increasingly used for clinical decision making. He also stated that their own trawl which showed that an inexpensive single injection of progesterone could improve the outcome of breast cancer patients in terms of long term survivors.

Dr. Samit Chattopadhyay (NCCS), Pune, stated that disease is a combination of expression of certain gene or a set of genes like Cancer. The tumor suppressor genes represent the opposite side of cell growth control whereas the oncogenes or cancer prone genes are over expressed. Such expression of genes are inherently depended on chromatin structure. In his talk he explained how one such transcription factor SMARI can regulate or suppress a set of the inflammatory genes in cancer. Especially in case of colitis the

expressions of this genes is recurring causing a set of genes expressed. Thus we should really understand the basic mode of gene regulation to better understand any human diseases.

Resolution of Intra-tumor Heterogeneity was introduced by Sharmila Bapat at the session. She said that tumors are highly diverse and contain different tumor functions and regenerative potential.

Dr Parvatam Giridhar(CFTRI), Mysore spoke about Transcriptional regulation of N-methyl transferees involved in caffeine biosynthetic pathway during ontogenesis of coffee, fruits and the influences of salicylic acid and methyl pastorate.

Dr Rambir Singh, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi presented on Insulin secretagogue activity of aqueous extract of momordica charantia due to increase in PKC activity in rat islets which stated that due to high cost of treatment and toxicity of present day anti-diabetic drugs lead to search for new anti- diabetic drugs from herbals. Antibiotic activity of momordica charatic is well known.

The paper highlighted the mechanism of anti-diabetic activity of increase in insulin production in the chief anti diabetic activity of the plant.

Role of cell surface receptors in modulation of MMP activity in human cancer cells was presented by Dr Aniruddha Banerji, St Xaviers College, Kolkata where he studies the role of cell surface reception in modulation of matrix metallopratnare activity in human breast cancer cells.Breast cancer cells MCIF.7 and MDA-MB-231 were used as models cultured in presence of fibronection and EGF respectively the MMP- 2 were studied and the various pathways involved in regulation of MMP and PI3K| ERK| NF-KB in MCF-7 and FAK in case of MDA-MB231 were highlighted. Interaction of cell surface receptions with their specific ligands regulates MMP activity via intracellular signaling cascades in breast cancer cells.

Session was concluded with feedback from the audience and wisely emphasized on the main objective to understand the New Biology.

NEw BIOLOGY AND ITS AppLICATIONS

Tissue banking and Tissue Engineering session focused on about how tissue engineering will save lives by improving health and quality of life. In India we have few tissue banks, it’s a new field which has gained momentum in the last two decades.

Mr Rony Thomas spoke about new frontiers in tissue engineering and its life saving application. He started his talk by giving a brief about allograft and its needs. He gave small gist about the need of organ donation and Indian scenario on organ donation. He also spoke about the need of human tissue and its importance. He explained the steps taken during organ donation. He then gave details on the service namely osteocleanse and also on ground breaking technology.

He was followed by Mrs Raj Manda who spoke about allograft advantage-empirical evidence based machine, and briefed us on global tissue banking, regulation of tissue banking, clinical practices and unique advantages. Also gave details about unique regulatory status of allografts and clinical acceptance. She also explained about amnion, its advantages and the potential possibility and feasibility of amnion.

The 3rd speaker Scott A Brubaker spoke on

enhancing quality and safety of allograft tissue for transplantation. He gave details about the layer of safety and the AATB standards. He even gave us details on updated standards and how the tissues engineering industry is growing. He even spoke on topics like accreditation, donor screening. He concluded by talking about tissue device labelling, its advantages and safety consideration.

Astrid Lobo Gajiwala spoke on establishing a tissue bank at Tata Memorial Hospital. She spoke about India and tissue banking and difficulties to setup a tissue bank in India. She also gave details on bone banks and what are they about. She even spoke on amnion as a biological dressing, creating a market for tissue bank as there was a vast demand so to develop it in India was a difficult task. She also gave details about the tissue bank at Tata hospital and how it’s helping people. She even spoke on the laws and regulation in India and over the world for tissue banking and organ donation. She gave details about her tissue bank and how it started in India. She concluded by showing her bank and amnion separating video, process of how the tissues are saved and how amnion has changed lives of people.

TISSUE BANkING AND TISSUE ENGINEERING CLEAN ENERGY SYSTEM

fOR ThE fUTURE “Clean Energy system for the future and High Energy Physics in 2014” at Phirozshah mehta Bhawan was a highly informative session. Expert speakers like A Miotello, Walter Merida, Ram Gupta, Rajiv Dusane, Satish, Ogale and SK Gupta graced the session with their presence. It was co-ordinated by Pravin Walke. Walter Merida (Director, clean for research center, the University of British Columbia , Canada ; gave the presentation on the ‘the hydircity age : renewable source in transition to sustainable energy system’

102nd INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS, 2015

Documents