K on 31 July 1994, marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life. He moved to Kolkata where he spent a lot more time with Ramakrishna Mission. He served several organizations in various honorary capacities for example, Mahendralal Sircar Research Professor in History of Science at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata (1995–2001); the AICTE Emeritus Fellow at the Jadavpur University (2001–2004); and INSA Research Fellow in Kolkata. He joined as a member of the INSA National Commission for History of Science and the editorial board member of the Indian Journal of the History of Science.

Post IIT Kanpur era
Research papers and book reviews

Biswas's academic interest and firm conviction that both social sciences and humanities and science and technology are essential for human progress, propelled him to publish a large number of research papers and reviews on a wide spectrum of topics. The topics covered included: Epic of Saltpetre to Gunpowder; Why did Scientific Renaissance take place in Europe and not in India; Brass and zinc metallurgy in the ancient and medieval world : India's primacy and the technology transfer to the west, Raman, Krishnan and the IACS Episodes of the 1930s; The Era of Science Enthusiasts in Bengal (1841–1891): Akshayakumar's; Vidyasagar and Rajendralala; Calcuttan Science 1784–1930 and the Awakening in India; Rammohun Roy, his Intellectual Compatriots and their Scientific Contributions; Science in the Path of Syncretism, Syncretism in the Future of Humankind – Some Golden thoughts of Swami Vivekananda; Social Factors in the Development of Technology in Ancient India; Science, Spirituality and Socialism: A Tribute to Joseph Needham; Science and Music with a Special Note on Helmholtz, James Jeans to Pandit Ravishankar. He also published some interesting book reviews, such as: Images and Contexts: The Historiography of Science and Modernity in India; Story of the Delhi Iron Pillar; The Indus Civilization, A People's History of India. Jagadish Chandra Bose and National Science; Kautilya's Arthasastra in the light of modern science and technology; An Eye For Excellence: (Fifty Innovative Years of IIT Kanpur); la vintage metallurgie (coffee table book, CSIR-NML); Caught between two Cultures – Science in Nineteenth Century Bengal, etc.

Books
Some of his well-known books after 1995 include:
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India (volume 1 – Archaeological Evidence, Volume – 2 Literary Evidence) (D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., 1996)
Gleanings of the past and the science movement : in the diaries of Drs. Mahendralal and Amritalal Sircar (The Asiatic Society, 2000);
History, Science and Society in the Indian context (The Asiatic Society, 2001);
Minerals and Metals in the Pre-Modern India (DK Printworld, 2001);
Father Lafont of St. Xavier's College, Kolkata and the Contemporary Science Movement (The Asiatic Society, 2001);
Collected Works of Mahendralal, Father Lafont and the Science Movement (The Asiatic Society, 2003);
Science in Archaeology and Archaeo-materials (DK Printworld, 2005);
Mineral Processing to Elemental Science in the Medieval World: India and Europe (The Asiatic Society, 2011);
Mineral Engineering in India – Reflections (IIME, 2012); etc.

Writings in Bengali

Biswas's writings were not confined to English language alone. He also wrote several books and articles in Bengali and the topics encompassed spirituality, art and science to short stories; for example:
ŚrīśrīRāmakr̥shṇa janmot̲asaba o abatāra-pūjāra ādiparba (Kalakātā :Phārmā Ke. Ela. Ema, 2003).
Aśarīrī (Ḍhākā : Dibyaprakāśa, 2007)
Raktakheko hīrera putula (Dhākā : Jāgr̥ti Prakāśanī, 2011)
Mâtri Sâdhanâ O Kamâlâkânta (Ananda Publishers Private Ltd. and Signet Press, Kolkata, 2013)
Rgveda Theke Rta Sri Ramakrishna (Samskrita Pustak Bhandar, Kolkata, 2008)

Postscript

As a part of IIT Kanpur Golden Jubilee Celebration, Biswas delivered the lecture (4th lecture under EC Subbarao Lecture Series), 'IIT Kanpur Formative Years: Some Recollections, Residents and Visitors' – a nostalgic recollection of IIT Kanpur formative years. He also delivered Institute Lecture (18 February 2009), Why did Scientific Renaissance Take Place in Pre-Modern Europe and not in India.

He died on 30 November 2015. As a mark of respect and tribute to Professor Biswas, the organising committee of The International Conference on Mineral Processing Technology (MPT 2016), the fourteenth edition in the series and the annual technical meeting of the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers (IIME) (January 2016, Pune), organized a special plenary session dedicated to his memory. A Special Commemorative Issue of Trans IIM on Mineral Processing and Metallurgy in Memory of Professor Arun Kumar Biswas is published (Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals, Volume 70, Issue 2, March 2017). The issue was released during MPT 2017, held at Mahabalipuram from 1–3 February 2017.

Ashwin Ram

American computer scientist
Ashwin is a pioneer in applied research at the intersection of human-centered computing and interactive AI. With entrepreneurial experience, a strong academic background, and business strategy and product management expertise, he brings his distinguished experience to the Office of the CTO for Google Cloud.

In this role, he engages with the leadership of top companies to reimagine their businesses using the power of AI. He also works with Google’s own AI teams to drive new technologies.

His core technical strengths are in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cognitive science, and human-centered design and, on the business side, in product innovation, entrepreneurship, startups, business strategy, and team leadership.

Ashwin's talks and publications can found at ashwinram.org

Ashwin Ram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ashwin Ram
Born July 27, 1960

New Delhi, India
Nationality Indian-American
Alma mater Yale University, University of Illinois, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Mayo College
Scientific career
Fields Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science
Institutions PARC, Georgia Tech, OpenStudy
Doctoral advisor Roger Schank

Ashwin Ram (born July 27, 1960) is an Indian-American computer scientist. He was chief innovation officer at PARC from 2011 to 2016, and published books and scientific articles and helped start at least two companies.

Biography

Ashwin Ram was born in New Delhi, India, on July 27, 1960. He is a great-grandson of Sir Ganga Ram and is the eldest of three children. He grew up in New Delhi with a brief stint in Bombay, and attended one of India's oldest boarding schools, Mayo College.[citation needed]

Ram received his B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, in 1982, where he received the President of India's Gold Medal for best undergraduate performance. He then traveled to the US, graduating with his M.S. in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984. He received his Ph.D. degree from Yale University for his dissertation on "Question-Driven Understanding: An Integrated Theory of Story Understanding, Memory, and Learning" in 1989, under advisor Roger Schank and Gerald DeJong.

Georgia Tech

He joined the faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1989.[3] He was associate professor in the School of interactive computing in the College of Computing, an associate professor of cognitive science, an adjunct professor in the School of Psychology, and an adjunct professor in math and computer science at Emory University.

In 1995 Ram co-edited (with David B. Leake) a book on goal-oriented learning. He co-edited (with Kenneth Moorman) a book on natural language understanding.

Ram founded Enkia Corporation in 1998 (which was purchased by Sentiment360 in 2011). He then co-founded Inquus Corporation, which operated OpenStudy, an online social learning network for students and faculty, and medical information company Cobot Health Corporation. OpenStudy was acquired in 2016 by Brainly.

Ram directed the Cognitive Computing Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology starting around 2006. He led research in artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science. His projects focused on AI for computer games and virtual worlds, consumer health and wellness, and educational technologies. Topics included knowledge-based machine learning, case-based reasoning, cognitive modeling, and natural language processing.

He was program chair and conference co-chair of the Sixteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci) in 1994, conference co-chair of the Third International Conference on the Learning Sciences (ICLS) in 1998, and program co-chair of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition in 2008.

PARC

Ashwin Ram became an innovation fellow at PARC (formerly Xerox PARC), around September 2011, and then chief innovation officer. His team created social computing technologies to augment human cognition in application areas including health and wellness. He was program co-chair of the International Conference on Case-Based Reasoning (ICCBR) in November 2011, with Nirmalie Wiratunga. In June 2013, he was interviewed on Australian radio about the trends toward finding medical information on the Internet, and was invited as a keynote speaker at the Amplify Festival.

Amazon

In May, 2016, he joined the Amazon Alexa development team as head of artificial intelligence.

Google

In 2018 he left Amazon and joined Google as technical director of AI for Google Cloud.

Anil Kumar Das
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anil Kumar Das
Prof. Anil Kumar Das
Born 1 February 1902

Chinsura, Hooghly, West Bengal, India
Died 18 February 1961 (aged 59)

Hyderabad, India
Alma mater

Chuadanga High School
Berhampore College
Presidency College
University of Calcutta
University of Paris
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Paris, (1925-26)
Known for
helioseismology investigations
Awards

Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society, 1935
Fellow of the National Institute of Science, now known as Indian National Science Academy, 1943
Padma Shri, (1960)
Das (crater) by IAU
Scientific career
Fields
Physics
Astronomy
Solar physics
Institutions

Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Paris
Institut für theoretische physik, Göttingen
Geophysikalisches Institut, Göttingen
Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge, 1934
Indian Meteorological Service, (1930 - 1937)
Upper Air Observatory, Agra
Assistant director of Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, (1937 - 1946)
Director of Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, (1946 - 1960)
Professor of astronomy in Osmania University, 1961
Director of the Nizamia Observatory, Hyderabad, 1961
Academic advisors

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
Charu Chandra Bhattacharya
Snehamoy Dutta
Signature

Anil Kumar Das FRAS, FNI (1 February 1902 - 18 February 1961) was an Indian scientist, astronomer. During the International Geophysical Year, observatories in Madrid, India, and Manila were responsible for monitoring solar effects. The Kodaikanal Solar Observatory in South India performed this monitoring using their recently built solar tunnel telescope. Das was the director of the Kodaikanal observatory at this time. In 1960 he was responsible for installing a tower/tunnel telescope at the facility that would be used to perform some of the first helioseismology investigations.[1] The crater Das on the far side of the Moon is named after him.

Biography

Solar Tunnel Telescope at Kodaikanal

After graduating ( Master of Science ) from the University of Calcutta, he studied spectroscopy with Charles Fabry at the Sorbonne in Paris. After obtaining his doctorate he was in Göttingen where he worked with Max Born at the Institut für Theoretische Physik and subsequently with Gustav Augenheister at the Geophysikalisches Institut and for a short period at the Solar Physics Observatory in Cambridge . He later worked at the Indian Meteorological Department in 1930 and then moved to the Kodaikanal observatory in 1937 as assistant director and director since 1946 and where he remained until his retirement in 1960.

Scientific contributions

Most of his scientific contributions were in the field of solar physics mainly as an experimenter in the spectrophotometric study of sunspots and the chromosphere . He contributed significantly to the development of the equipment present at the Kodaikanal Observatory and to the growth of numerous young researchers.

Award and Honors

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1935
Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India
The lunar crater Das (crater) dedicated to him by IAU
Padma Shri by Indian government
Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha
A. Lalitha, photographed in 1964 in New York.

Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha MIEE (27 August 1919 – 12 October 1979) was India's first female engineer.

Early life and education

Ayyalasomayajula Lalitha was born in Madras (now Chennai) on 27 August 1919. She was married at 15 and in 1937, gave birth to her daughter Syamala. Her husband died four months later. Her father, Pappu Subba Rao, supported her wish to complete her secondary education and study engineering at the otherwise all-male College of Engineering, Guindy(CEG) where he was a professor. At CEG, Lalitha studied alongside other women engineers P.K. Thressia and Leelamma Koshie (nee George).

Lalitha graduated in 1943 with a degree in electrical engineering - becoming India's first woman engineer. She completed her practical training with a one year apprenticeship in Jamalpur Railway Workshop, a major repair and overhaul facility.

Engineering career

After graduation, Lalitha worked at Central Standards Organisation, Shimla and helped her father research smokeless ovens and the jelectromonium (an electrical musical instrument).

She spent a year of practical training in the electrical department of the East Indian Railways, before becoming a technical assistant in the Indian Government’s Office of the Electrical Commissioner. Following this, in 1948, Lalitha joined a British firm Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in Calcutta and worked on the largest dam in India, Bhakra Nangal Dam, designing transmission lines, and substation layouts. She worked at AEI (later taken over by General Electric Company) for nearly thirty years before she retired in 1977.

In 1953 the Council of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) of London elected her to be an associate member, and promoted her to full member in 1966.

Lalitha was the only female engineer from India to have attended the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientist (ICWES) in New York in 1964.

Lalitha was elected as a member of the British Women's Engineering Society in 1965 and served as the Organising Committees' India representative for the Second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientist (ICWES) held in Cambridge in July 1967 and ensured that five women from India were able to attend.

Personal life

Lalitha did not remarry after her husband's death. She lived for most of her life with her sister-in-law who helped to bring up her daughter Syamala, who took degrees in science subjects and became a mathematics teacher.

In 1979, Lalitha died of a brain aneurysm, aged 60
आर्यभट्ट

The Genius Indian Mathematician-Astronomers

On आर्यभट्ट : The Genius Indian Mathematician-Astronomers
जन्म: 476 कुसुमपुर अथवा अस्मक
मृत्यु: 550

कार्य: गणितग्य, खगोलशाष्त्री

आर्यभट्‍ट प्राचीन समय के सबसे महान खगोलशास्त्रीयों और गणितज्ञों में से एक थे। विज्ञान और गणित के क्षेत्र में उनके कार्य आज भी वैज्ञानिकों को प्रेरणा देते हैं। आर्यभट्‍ट उन पहले व्यक्तियों में से थे जिन्होंने बीजगणित (एलजेबरा) का प्रयोग किया। आपको यह जानकार हैरानी होगी कि उन्होंने अपनी प्रसिद्ध रचना ‘आर्यभटिया’ (गणित की पुस्तक) को कविता के रूप में लिखा। यह प्राचीन भारत की बहुचर्चित पुस्तकों में से एक है। इस पुस्तक में दी गयी ज्यादातर जानकारी खगोलशास्त्र और गोलीय त्रिकोणमिति से संबंध रखती है। ‘आर्यभटिया’ में अंकगणित, बीजगणित और त्रिकोणमिति के 33 नियम भी दिए गए हैं।

आज हम सभी इस बात को जानते हैं कि पृथ्वी गोल है और अपनी धुरी पर घूमती है और इसी कारण रात और दिन होते हैं। मध्यकाल में ‘निकोलस कॉपरनिकस’ ने यह सिद्धांत प्रतिपादित किया था पर इस वास्तविकता से बहुत कम लोग ही परिचित होगें कि ‘कॉपरनिकस’ से लगभग 1 हज़ार साल पहले ही आर्यभट्ट ने यह खोज कर ली थी कि पृथ्वी गोल है और उसकी परिधि अनुमानत: 24835 मील है। सूर्य और चन्द्र ग्रहण के हिन्दू धर्म की मान्यता को आर्यभट्ट ने ग़लत सिद्ध किया। इस महान वैज्ञानिक और गणितग्य को यह भी ज्ञात था कि चन्द्रमा और दूसरे ग्रह सूर्य की किरणों से प्रकाशमान होते हैं। आर्यभट्ट ने अपने सूत्रों से यह सिद्ध किया कि एक वर्ष में 366 दिन नहीं वरन 365.2951 दिन होते हैं।

प्रारंभिक जीवन

आर्यभट्ट ने अपने ग्रन्थ ‘आर्यभटिया’ में अपना जन्मस्थान कुसुमपुर और जन्मकाल शक संवत् 398 (476) लिखा है। इस जानकारी से उनके जन्म का साल तो निर्विवादित है परन्तु वास्तविक जन्मस्थान के बारे में विवाद है। कुछ स्रोतों के अनुसार आर्यभट्ट का जन्म महाराष्ट्र के अश्मक प्रदेश में हुआ था और ये बात भी तय है की अपने जीवन के किसी काल में वे उच्च शिक्षा के लिए कुसुमपुरा गए थे और कुछ समय वहां रहे भी थे। हिन्दू और बौध परम्पराओं के साथ-साथ सातवीं शताब्दी के भारतीय गणितज्ञ भाष्कर ने कुसुमपुरा की पहचान पाटलिपुत्र (आधुनिक पटना) के रूप में की है। यहाँ पर अध्ययन का एक महान केन्द्र, नालन्दा विश्वविद्यालय स्थापित था और संभव है कि आर्यभट्ट इससे जुड़े रहे हों। ऐसा संभव है कि गुप्त साम्राज्य के अन्तिम दिनों में आर्यभट्ट वहां रहा करते थे। गुप्तकाल को भारत के स्वर्णिम युग के रूप में जाना जाता है।

कार्य

आर्यभट्ट के कार्यों की जानकारी उनके द्वारा रचित ग्रंथों से मिलती है। इस महान गणितग्य ने आर्यभटिय, दशगीतिका, तंत्र और आर्यभट्ट सिद्धांत जैसे ग्रंथों की रचना की थी। विद्वानों में ‘आर्यभट्ट सिद्धांत’ के बारे में बहुत मतभेद है । ऐसा माना जाता है कि ‘आर्यभट्ट सिद्धांत’ का सातवीं शदी में व्यापक उपयोग होता था। सम्प्रति में इस ग्रन्थ के केवल 34 श्लोक ही उपलब्ध हैं और इतना उपयोगी ग्रंथ लुप्त कैसे हो गया इस विषय में भी विद्वानों के पास कोई निश्चित जानकारी नहीं है।

आर्यभटीय

आर्यभटीय उनके द्वारा किये गए कार्यों का प्रत्यक्ष विवरण प्रदान करता है। ऐसा माना जाता है कि आर्यभट्ट ने स्वयं इसे यह नाम नही दिया होगा बल्कि बाद के टिप्पणीकारों ने आर्यभटीय नाम का प्रयोग किया होगा। इसका उल्लेख भी आर्यभट्ट के शिष्य भास्कर प्रथम ने अपने लेखों में किया है। इस ग्रन्थ को कभी-कभी आर्य-शत-अष्ट (अर्थात आर्यभट्ट के 108 – जो की उनके पाठ में छंदों कि संख्या है) के नाम से भी जाना जाता है। आर्यभटीय में वर्गमूल, घनमूल, समान्तर श्रेणी तथा विभिन्न प्रकार के समीकरणों का वर्णन है। वास्तव में यह ग्रन्थ गणित और खगोल विज्ञान का एक संग्रह है। आर्यभटीय के गणितीय भाग में अंकगणित, बीजगणित, सरल त्रिकोणमिति और गोलीय त्रिकोणमिति शामिल हैं। इसमे सतत भिन्न (कँटीन्यूड फ़्रेक्शन्स), द्विघात समीकरण (क्वड्रेटिक इक्वेशंस), घात श्रृंखला के योग (सम्स ऑफ पावर सीरीज़) और ज्याओं की एक तालिका (Table of Sines) शामिल हैं। आर्यभटीय में कुल 108 छंद है, साथ ही परिचयात्मक 13 अतिरिक्त हैं। यह चार पदों अथवा अध्यायों में विभाजित है:

गीतिकपाद
गणितपाद
कालक्रियापाद
गोलपाद
आर्य-सिद्धांत

आर्य-सिद्धांत खगोलीय गणनाओं के ऊपर एक कार्य है। जैसा कि ऊपर बताया जा चुका है, यह ग्रन्थ अब लुप्त हो चुका है और इसके बारे में हमें जो भी जानकारी मिलती है वो या तो आर्यभट्ट के समकालीन वराहमिहिर के लेखनों से अथवा बाद के गणितज्ञों और टिप्पणीकारों जैसे ब्रह्मगुप्त और भास्कर प्रथम आदि के कार्यों और लेखों से। हमें इस ग्रन्थ के बारे में जो भी जानकारी उपलब्ध है उसके आधार पर ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि यह कार्य पुराने सूर्य सिद्धांत पर आधारित है और आर्यभटीय के सूर्योदय की अपेक्षा इसमें मध्यरात्रि-दिवस-गणना का उपयोग किया गया है। इस ग्रन्थ में ढेर सारे खगोलीय उपकरणों का भी वर्णन है। इनमें मुख्य हैं शंकु-यन्त्र, छाया-यन्त्र, संभवतः कोण मापी उपकरण, धनुर-यन्त्र / चक्र-यन्त्र, एक बेलनाकार छड़ी यस्ती-यन्त्र, छत्र-यन्त्र और जल घड़ियाँ।

उनके द्वारा कृत एक तीसरा ग्रन्थ भी उपलब्ध है पर यह मूल रूप में मौजूद नहीं है बल्कि अरबी अनुवाद के रूप में अस्तित्व में है – अल न्त्फ़ या अल नन्फ़। यह ग्रन्थ आर्यभट्ट के ग्रन्थ का एक अनुवाद के रूप में दावा प्रस्तुत करता है, परन्तु इसका वास्तविक संस्कृत नाम अज्ञात है। यह फारसी विद्वान और इतिहासकार अबू रेहान अल-बिरूनी द्वारा उल्लेखित किया गया है।

आर्यभट्ट का योगदान

आर्यभट का भारत और विश्व के गणित और ज्योतिष सिद्धान्त पर गहरा प्रभाव रहा है। भारतीय गणितज्ञों में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण स्थान रखने वाले आर्यभट ने 120 आर्याछंदों में ज्योतिष शास्त्र के सिद्धांत और उससे संबंधित गणित को सूत्ररूप में अपने प्रसिद्ध ग्रंथ ‘आर्यभटीय’ में प्रस्तुत किया है।

उन्होंने गणित के क्षेत्र में महान आर्किमिडीज़ से भी अधिक सटीक ‘पाई’ के मान को निरूपित किया और खगोलविज्ञान के क्षेत्र में सबसे पहली बार यह घोषित किया गया कि पृथ्वी स्वयं अपनी धुरी पर घूमती है।

स्थान-मूल्य अंक प्रणाली आर्यभट्ट के कार्यों में स्पष्ट रूप से विद्यमान थी। हालांकि उन्होंने शुन्य दर्शाने के लिए किसी प्रतीक का प्रयोग नहीं किया, परन्तु गणितग्य ऐसा मानते हैं कि रिक्त गुणांक के साथ, दस की घात के लिए एक स्थान धारक के रूप में शून्य का ज्ञान आर्यभट्ट के स्थान-मूल्य अंक प्रणाली में निहित था।

यह हैरान और आश्चर्यचकित करने वाली बात है कि आजकल के उन्नत साधनों के बिना ही उन्होंने लगभग डेढ़ हजार साल पहले ही ज्योतिषशास्त्र की खोज की थी। जैसा कि हम पहले ही बता चुके हैं, कोपर्निकस (1473 से 1543 इ.) द्वारा प्रतिपादित सिद्धांत की खोज आर्यभट हजार वर्ष पहले ही कर चुके थे। “गोलपाद” में आर्यभट ने सर्वप्रथम यह सिद्ध किया कि पृथ्वी अपने अक्ष पर घूमती है।

इस महान गणितग्य के अनुसार किसी वृत्त की परिधि और व्यास का संबंध 62,832 : 20,000 आता है जो चार दशमलव स्थान तक शुद्ध है। आर्यभट्ट कि गणना के अनुसार पृथ्वी की परिधि 39,968.0582 किलोमीटर है, जो इसके वास्तविक मान 40,075.0167 किलोमीटर से केवल 0.2 % कम है।

The greatest scientist of India was a dalit
('where there is a will there is a way')
by Ultimate Dalit

It is true that the great astronomer-mathematician-scientist of India Aryabhata was a dalit. Although 'bhatta' implies a brahmin, Aryabhata spells his own name as 'bhata' in his writings and this is also how he is spelled by other Indian scientists like Varahmira and Brahmagupt in their works. Now the name 'bhata' implies a dalit.

Since dalits were not getting an education in Aryabhata's days how did he manage to become such a great scientist? The speculative answer is: by becoming a budhist. There was a physician-scientist called Vagabhata who made original contributions to Indian medicine and is believed to have been a dalit who later converted to Budhism. Presumably, Aryabhata was also able to gain a good education by the same method.

This reminds one of the old adage 'where there is a will there is a way'.

Aryabhata

Indian astronomer and mathematician
Written By:

Takao Hayashi

Alternative Titles: Aryabhata I, Aryabhata the Elder

Aryabhata, also called Aryabhata I or Aryabhata the Elder, (born 476, possibly Ashmaka or Kusumapura, India), astronomer and the earliest Indian mathematician whose work and history are available to modern scholars. He is also known as Aryabhata I or Aryabhata the Elder to distinguish him from a 10th-century Indian mathematician of the same name. He flourished in Kusumapura—near Patalipurta (Patna), then the capital of the Gupta dynasty—where he composed at least two works, Aryabhatiya (c. 499) and the now lost Aryabhatasiddhanta.

Aryabhatasiddhanta circulated mainly in the northwest of India and, through the Sāsānian dynasty (224–651) of Iran, had a profound influence on the development of Islamic astronomy. Its contents are preserved to some extent in the works of Varahamihira (flourished c. 550), Bhaskara I (flourished c. 629), Brahmagupta (598–c. 665), and others. It is one of the earliest astronomical works to assign the start of each day to midnight.

Aryabhatiya was particularly popular in South India, where numerous mathematicians over the ensuing millennium wrote commentaries. The work was written in verse couplets and deals with mathematics and astronomy. Following an introduction that contains astronomical tables and Aryabhata’s system of phonemic number notation in which numbers are represented by a consonant-vowel monosyllable, the work is divided into three sections: Ganita (“Mathematics”), Kala-kriya (“Time Calculations”), and Gola (“Sphere”).

In Ganita Aryabhata names the first 10 decimal places and gives algorithms for obtaining square and cubic roots, using the decimal number system. Then he treats geometric measurements—employing 62,832/20,000 (= 3.1416) for π—and develops properties of similar right-angled triangles and of two intersecting circles. Using the Pythagorean theorem, he obtained one of the two methods for constructing his table of sines. He also realized that second-order sine difference is proportional to sine. Mathematical series, quadratic equations, compound interest (involving a quadratic equation), proportions (ratios), and the solution of various linear equations are among the arithmetic and algebraic topics included. Aryabhata’s general solution for linear indeterminate equations, which Bhaskara I called kuttakara (“pulverizer”), consisted of breaking the problem down into new problems with successively smaller coefficients—essentially the Euclidean algorithm and related to the method of continued fractions.

With Kala-kriya Aryabhata turned to astronomy—in particular, treating planetary motion along the ecliptic. The topics include definitions of various units of time, eccentric and epicyclic models of planetary motion (see Hipparchus for earlier Greek models), planetary longitude corrections for different terrestrial locations, and a theory of “lords of the hours and days” (an astrological concept used for determining propitious times for action).

Aryabhatiya ends with spherical astronomy in Gola, where he applied plane trigonometry to spherical geometry by projecting points and lines on the surface of a sphere onto appropriate planes. Topics include prediction of solar and lunar eclipses and an explicit statement that the apparent westward motion of the stars is due to the spherical Earth’s rotation about its axis. Aryabhata also correctly ascribed the luminosity of the Moon and planets to reflected sunlight.

The Indian government named its first satellite Aryabhata (launched 1975) in his honour.

Aryabhata Biography

Aryabhata was an ancient Indian mathematician-astronomer. This biography profiles his childhood, life, works, achievements and timeline.

Quick Facts
Born: 476
Nationality: Indian
Famous: Astronomers Mathematicians
Died At Age: 74
Born in: Assaka
Died on: 550

Aryabhata was an acclaimed mathematician-astronomer. He was born in Kusumapura (present day Patna) in Bihar, India. His contribution to mathematics, science and astronomy is immense, and yet he has not been accorded the recognition in the world history of science. At the age of 24, he wrote his famed “Aryabhatiya”. He was aware of the concept of zero, as well as the use of large numbers up to 1018. He was the first to calculate the value for ‘pi’ accurately to the fourth decimal point. He devised the formula for calculating areas of triangles and circles. He calculated the circumference of the earth as 62,832 miles, which is an excellent approximation, and suggested that the apparent rotation of the heavens was due to the axial rotation of the earth on its axis. He was the first known astronomer to devise a continuous counting of solar days, designating each day with a number. He asserted that the planets shine due to the reflection of sunlight, and that the eclipses occur due to the shadows of moon and earth. His observations discount the “flat earth” concept, and lay the foundation for the belief that earth and other planets orbit the sun.

Image CreditPrevious Next

Childhood & Early Life

Aryabhata’s birthplace is uncertain, but it may have been in the area known in ancient texts as Ashmaka, which may have been Maharashtra or Dhaka or in Kusumapura in present day Patna.

Some archaeological evidence suggests that he came from the present day Kodungallur, the historical capital city of Thiruvanchikkulam of ancient Kerala - this theory is strengthened by the several commentaries on him having come from Kerala.

He went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time. Both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, as well as Bhāskara I, the 7th Century mathematician, identify Kusumapura as modern Patna.

Career & Later Life

A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at

Kusumapura. Since, the University of Nalanda was in Pataliputra, and had an astronomical observatory; it is probable that he was its head too.

Direct details of his work are known only from the Aryabhatiya. His disciple Bhaskara I calls it Ashmakatantra (or the treatise from the Ashmaka).

The Aryabhatiya is also occasionally referred to as Arya-shatas-aShTa (literally, Aryabhata’s 108), because there are 108 verses in the text. It also has 13 introductory verses, and is divided into four pādas or chapters.

Aryabhatiya’s first chapter, Gitikapada, with its large units of time — kalpa, manvantra, and Yuga — introduces a different cosmology. The duration of the planetary revolutions during a mahayuga is given as 4.32 million years.

Ganitapada, the second chapter of Aryabhatiya has 33 verses covering mensuration (kṣetra vyāvahāra), arithmetic and geometric progressions, gnomon or shadows (shanku-chhAyA), simple, quadratic, simultaneous, and indeterminate equations.

Aryabhatiya’s third chapter Kalakriyapada explains different units of time, a method for determining the positions of planets for a given day, and a seven-day week with names for the days of week.

The last chapter of the Aryabhatiya, Golapada describes Geometric/trigonometric aspects of the celestial sphere, features of the ecliptic, celestial equator, shape of the earth, cause of day and night, and zodiacal signs on horizon.

He did not use a symbol for zero; its knowledge was implicit in his place-value system as a place holder for the powers of ten with null coefficients.

He did not use the Brahmi numerals, and continued the Sanskritic tradition from Vedic times of using letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities in a mnemonic form.

He worked on the approximation for pi thus — add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000, the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.

It is speculated that Aryabhata used the word āsanna (approaching), to mean that not only is this an approximation, but that the value is incommensurable or irrational.

In Ganitapada, he gives the area of a triangle as: “for a triangle, the result of a perpendicular with the half-side is the area”. He discussed ‘sine’ by the name of ardha-jya or half-chord.

Like other ancient Indian mathematicians, he too was interested in finding integer solutions to Diophantine equations with the form ax + by = c; he called it the kuṭṭaka (meaning breaking into pieces) method.

His contribution to the study of Algebra is immense. In Aryabhatiya, Aryabhata provided elegant results for the summation of series of squares and cubes through well tried formulae.

His system of astronomy was called the audayaka system, in which days are reckoned from uday, dawn at lanka or “equator”. His later writings, which apparently proposed the ardha-rAtrikA, or midnight model, are lost.

He correctly believed that the earth rotates about its axis daily, and that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth, challenging the prevailing view.

In Aryabhatiya, he writes that ‘setting and rising of planets’ is a perception similar to that of someone in a boat going forward sees an unmoving (object) going backward.

He correctly asserted that the planets shine due to the reflection of sunlight, and that the eclipses occur due to the shadows of moon and earth, and not caused by a demon called “Rahu”!

He correctly deduced that the orbits of the planets are ellipses; this is another great discovery not credited to him but to Johannes Kepler (a German astronomer, born AD 1571).

Major Works

Aryabhata’s major work, Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, was extensively referred to in the Indian mathematical literature, and has survived to modern times. The Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry.

Personal Life & Legacy

Aryabhata’s work was of great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition and influenced several neighboring cultures through translations. Some of his works are cited by Al-Khwarizmi, and in the 10th century by Al-Biruni.

The Aryabhata Knowledge University (AKU), Patna, has been established by the Government of Bihar in his honor for the development and management of educational infrastructure related to technical, medical, management and allied professional education.
India’s first satellite Aryabhata is named in his honor.
At the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIOS) near Nainital, India, research in astronomy, astrophysics and atmospheric sciences is conducted.

Trivia

Named after the great Indian astronomer of the same name, India’s first satellite’s image used to appear on the reverse of Indian 2 rupee banknotes.
Named after the great Indian astronomer is the remnant of a lunar impact crater located in the eastern Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. Submerged by lava-flow, now only an arc-shaped ridge remains.

Top 10 Facts You Did Not Know About Aryabhata

Aryabhata is credited to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.
Some sources suggest that Kerala was Aryabhata's main place of life and activity but others refute this statement.
He served as the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura and might have also been the head of the Nalanda university.
Some scholars claim that the Arabic text ‘Al ntf’ or ‘Al-nanf’ is a translation of one of his works.
His most famous text, ‘Aryabhatiya’, consists of 108 verses and 13 introductory verses.
Aryabhata did not use the Brahmi numerals; he used letters of the alphabet to denote numbers.
It is probable that he might have come to the conclusion that 'pi' is irrational.
He discussed the concept of ‘sine’ in his work by the name of “ardha-jya”, which literally means "half-chord".
Calendric calculations devised by Aryabhata are used for fixing the ‘Panchangam’ (the Hindu Calendar).
He correctly stated that the earth rotates about its axis daily.
Adinath Lahiri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adinath Lahiri
Born 24 August 1916

Pabna, British India (now Bangladesh)
Died 26 August 1975 (aged 59)
Occupation Geochemist
Fuel technologist
Years active 1942–1975
Known for Institution builder
Researches on Coal
Awards Padma Bhushan
Padma Shri
Imperial College Judd Memorial Prize
Signature

Adinath Lahiri (1916–1975) was an Indian geochemist and fuel technologist, known for his efforts in developing Central Fuel Research Institute, Dhanbad (CFRI) into one of the premier research institutions in India. He was the director of the National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC) and contributed towards the establishment of the Central Mining Research Station, which was later merged with CFRI to form the present day Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research). The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1960 and followed it up with the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1969, for his contributions to Science and Technology.

Biography

Adinath Lahiri was born on 24 August 1916. After completing his master's degree in geology and geochemistry from the University of Calcutta, he obtained Sir Palit Foreign Fellowship of the university and did his doctoral studies at the Imperial College of the University of London to secure a PhD, winning the Judd Memorial Prize for the best thesis in geochemistry. He started his career as a research associate at the Department of Chemical Technology at Imperial College in 1942, but joined the Royal Air Force during World War II to serve as a Scientific Officer and, later, as the Head of the Fuel and Oil Research Section at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough airfield. After the war was over, he returned to India, in 1945, to take up the position as the Assistant Director (Planning) at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) when he contributed to the planning and establishment of the Central Fuel Research Institute (CFRI), Dhanbad. He joined the institute after its inception as the Deputy Director and when the founder director, J. W. Whitteker left, he took over as the director in 1953 to stay with the institute till his superannuation in 1974. In between, he also underwent training under a Summer Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science in 1950. After his retirement from CFRI, he joined the United Nations as an advisor and served in Chile when he died on 26 August 1975, two days after his 60th birthday, succumbing to a cardiac arrest.

Lahiri's research interests covered the fields of petrography, oxidation mechanisms, solvent extraction, surface chemistry of coal, catalysts and adsorbents and he was credited with several innovations in fuel technology, which earned him over 90 patents. His contributions have been reported in the development of beehive coke oven, process technologies for the isolation and recovery of useful chemicals from the byproducts of coal, process technologies for the production of resins and other compounds, and active carbon and ion exchangers for determination of water-based coal. He published his research and professional experiences by way of over 500 articles, Reaction of coals under plasma conditions: direct production of acetylene from coal, National Coal Development Corporation A New Approach, and Trekking on the Southern Bhutan Frontier counting among them. During his tenure with CFRI, he proposed the setting up of Central Mining Research Station for overcoming the coal mining issues faced in India and served as the director of the National Coal Development Corporation. In 1954, he proposed energy studies, a pioneering effort in India, and served the Indian Energy Survey Committee of 1965 and the National Fuel Policy Committee of 1974, as a member.

Lahiri was an elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Institute of Fuels (London) and the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), and served as a member of the INSA council from 1968 to 1970. In 1960, the Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri. Nine years later, he was included in the Republic Day Honours list again, this time for the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan.[3] Central Fuel Research Institute, the institute he helped found, have since renamed their conferencing facility as Adinath Lahiri Hall, in his honour.
B. Paul Thaliath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. Paul Thaliath
Born 18 September 1952

Kerala, India
Occupation Oncologist
Known for Radiation oncology
Spouse(s) Mary Paul
Children Augustine Paul; Dr Sebastian Paul
Awards Padma Shri

B. Paul Thaliath is an Indian radiation oncologist from the South Indian state of Kerala. He is the additional director of the Regional Cancer Centre and the Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital, Prayagraj. He is known to be involved with several cancer awareness programs and has been a part of the Cancer and Women programme in connection with the National Cancer Awareness Day of 2006. Thaliath was honored by the Government of India, in 2007, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
B. L. K. Somayajulu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. L. K. Somayajulu
Born 5 March 1937

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Died 19 December 2016 (aged 79)
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India[citation needed]
Alma mater
Andhra University
Bombay University
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Known for Studies on marine processes
Awards
1978 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1981 Hari Om Ashram Prerit Award
2006 MoES National Award for Ocean Science and Technology
Scientific career
Fields

Geochemistry
Geochronology
Oceanography
Institutions

BARC Training School
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Physical Research Laboratory

Bhamidipati Lakshmidhara Kanakadri Somayajulu (1937-2016) is an Indian geochemist and a CSIR Emeritus Scientist at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. He is known for his studies on ancient and contemporary marine processes and is an elected fellow of several science societies such as the National Academy of Sciences, India, Geological Society of India, Indian Geophysical Union, American Geophysical Union, European Association for Geochemistry, Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 1978.

Biography
Physical Research Laboratory

B. L. K. Somayajulu, born on 5 March 1937 in the port city of Visakhapatanam in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, completed his graduate studies (BSc hons) from Andhra University in 1956. Subsequently, he joined BARC Training School, simultaneously enrolling at Bombay University for pursuing his doctoral studies. During the course of his PhD studies, he moved to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and had a three-year stint at Scripps Institution of Oceanography before securing a PhD in 1969 from Bombay University. His post-doctoral work was also at Scripps Institution and on his return to India, he joined Oceanography and Climate Studies Area, Earth Sciences and Solar System Division of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in 1972. He served the institution for the whole of his career till his superannuation in 1997 and post-retirement, he continues his association with PRL as an honorary professor and a CSIR Emeritus Scientist.

Legacy

Somayajulu is known to have done extensive researches on the physico-chemical reactions within the oceans and the water-sediment interface and has developed many research methodologies which include the nuclear methods for the determination of the growth rates of manganese nodules, advection-diffusion mixing of ocean waters, cosmic ray-produced 32Si and 10Be in studies for determining the calculation of sediment accumulation rates and geochemical methods for studying reactive elements in sea water. He conducted beryllium-10 studies on manganese nodules which helped establish the slow rate of growth of the nodules.His researches have been documented as chapter in a book, The Indian Human Heritage, and as several peer-reviewed articles, the article repository of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 100 of them. He has also edited a book, From Mantle to Meteorites: A Garland of Perspectives - A Festschrift for Devendra Lal, published by Indian Academy of Sciences in 1990 and his work has been cited by several authors.

Somayajulu served as the chief scientist for many studies conducted in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and was a part of the Antipode expedition to the South Pacific and the GEOSECS Indian Ocean Expedition. He was among the scientists who established the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. He has been a member of the governing council of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, the research advisory committee of the Department of Ocean Development, and the executive committee of the International Association of Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO). He has been involved in the organization of many seminars, served as a member of the Indian National Science Academy during 1988–90 and has mentored 7 doctoral scholars in their studies.

Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Somayajulu the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1978. He received the Hari Om Ashram Prerit Award in Oceanology in 198 and the National Award for Ocean Science and Technology of Ministry of Earth Sciences in 2006. The Indian Academy of Sciences also elected him as a fellow in 1980 and the Indian National Science Academy followed suit three years later. He became an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, American Geophysical Union and the European Association of Geochemistry in 1989, 2003 and 2004 respectively. He is also a fellow of the Geological Society of India and the Indian Geophysical Union. The award orations delivered by him include Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award of the Indian National Science Academy in 1997 and the Prof. K. R. Ramanathan Memorial Lecture of Physical Research Laboratory in 2001.

Selected bibliography

Books
K. Gopalan; Vinod K. Gaur; B.L.K. Somayajulu; J.D. MacDougall, eds. (1990). From Mantle to Meteorites: A Garland of Perspectives - A Festschrift for Devendra Lal. Indian Academy of Sciences. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-19-562581-3. ASIN 0195625811.

Chapters
D. Balasubramanian; B. L. K. Somayajulu (1998). "Contributions of Chronology to Indian Human Heritage". The Indian Human Heritage. Universities Press. ISBN 978-81-7371-128-2.

Articles
B. L. K. Somayajuu; T. J. Walsh; C. Radhakrishnamurthy (1975). "Magnetic susceptibility stratigraphy of Pacific Pleistocene sediments". Nature (published February 1975). 253 (5493): 616–617. doi:10.1038/253616a0. S2CID 4276167.
BLK Somayajulu; R Rengarajan; D Lal; RF Weiss; H Craig (1987). "GEOSECS Atlantic 32 Si profiles". Earth and Planetary Science Letters (published October 1987). 85 (4): 329–342. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(87)90131-2.
BLK Somayajulu; R Rengarajan; D Lal; H Craig (1991). "GEOSECS Pacific and Indian Ocean 32 Si profiles". Earth and Planetary Science Letters (published October 1991). 107 (1): 197–216. doi:10.1016/0012-821X(91)90055-M.
Somayajulu, B. L. K., Srinivasan, M. S. (2000). "Paleoceanography". Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy: 77–85.
R Rengarajan; MM Sarin; BLK Somayajulu; R Suhasini (March 2002). "Mixing in the surface waters of the western Bay of Bengal using 228Ra and 226Ra". Journal of Marine Research. 60 (2): 255–279. doi:10.1357/00222400260497480.
BLK Somayajulu; R Rengarajan; RA Jani (2002). "Geochemical cycling in the Hooghly estuary, India". Marine Chemistry (published October 2002). 79 (3): 171–183. doi:10.1016/S0304-4203(02)00062-2.
M. Tiwari; R. Ramesh; B. L. K. Somayajulu; A. J. T. Juli; G. S. Burr (2005). "Paleomonsoon precipitation deduced from a sediment core from the equatorial Indian Ocean". Geo-Mar Lett. (published 2006). 26: 23–30. doi:10.1007/s00367-005-0012-0. S2CID 129925442.
B. E. Vijayam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Professor
B. E. Vijayam
Ph.D. (Osmania)

ప్రొఫెసర్ బి. ఈ. విజయం అయ్యగారు
Professor Vijayam with his students at Osmania University, Secunderabad (1973)
(Courtesy Mennonite Church USA archives)
Born 20 November 1933

Giddalur under Madras Presidency (present day Andhra Pradesh)
Died 30 January 2019 (aged 85)

Secunderabad (Telangana)

Nationality Indian
Other names Bunyan Edmund Vijayam
Citizenship Indian
Education B. Sc. (Andhra),
M. Sc. (Andhra)
Ph. D. (Osmania),
Postdoctoral researcher (Northwestern)
Alma mater
Madras Christian College, Tambaram (Tamil Nadu),
Andhra University, Waltair (Andhra Pradesh),
Osmania University, Secunderabad (Telangana),
Northwestern University, Evanston United States
Known for Teaching and research in applied Geology
Awards Prof. Bal Dattatreya Tilak Endowment Lecture (1995), Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi
Scientific career
Fields Sedimentology
Institutions
Geological Society of India,
Osmania University,
Patrons Fulbright Program
Thesis

Sedimentation in the upper proterozoic near Kurnool
Doctoral advisor Prof. S. Balakrishna
Other academic advisors Prof. C. Mahadevan,
Prof. U. Aswathanarayana
Influences Bishop Bunyan Joseph
Influenced Founding of MERIBA, PROGRESS and TENT
Website http://bevijayam.com/

Bunyan Edmund Vijayam (1933–2019) was an Indian geologist with major contribution to the field of Geology. A 1958–1959 Technical Report of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research heralded the news that new developments had taken place in scientific matters led by a team of researchers at the Andhra University,

A new technique for the ion-exchange separation of uranium from thorium and rare earths has been developed. A simple chromatographic method for the estimation of thorium (present in very small quantities) has been evolved. This utilizes thenoyl trifluoroacetone (TTA) in benzene as solvent-C. Mahadevan, U. Aswathanarayana, V. V. S. S. Tilak, B. E. Vijayam and D. Purushottam, Department of Geology, Andhra University.....

Even as a student of geology at Andhra University, Waltair, Vijayam and his fellow researchers were already carrying out research in the field. During 1954–1958, Vijayam had carried out research on geology in parts of Kurnool district. Vijayam's research articles began appearing in geological and other inter-disciplinary scientific journals for more than three decades and continue to be referred by the present generation of Geologists.

Vijayam stood witness to Christ and inspired many. During the Fifth National Convention of the Christian Businessmen's Committee in 1987 held in Hyderabad, he spoke on the theme You shall be witnesses unto me and shared dais with Archbishop Samineni Arulappa, Member of parliament, Lok Sabha Marjorie Godfrey and Policeman G. Alfred, IPS. Vijayam also led honorary initiatives towards Christian missions by equipping the Laity not only with knowledge of the Gospel, but also a means of livelihood was recognised by Theologians, comprising the Missiologist, Roger Hedlund, SB, and Bishop Ezra Sargunam, ECI. During the 2000s, the Christian artist P. Solomon Raj, AELC made an Empirical research highlighting the new and indigenous missions, and Vijayam's effort falls in such line of indigenous missions to equip the grassroot Evangelists, which even the Old Testament Scholar, Victor Premasagar, CSI appreciated such initiatives.

Life and background

Vijayam was born in 1933 in Giddaluru in erstwhile Madras Presidency during the colonial era to Bunyan Joseph, an Evangelist and grew up in rural India in the drought-prone Rayalaseema zone in southern India. The Church made an impact in the life of Vijayam as those were the days' of early Christians in the Telugu hinterland where the Catholic and the Protestant Missions had already set foot. Among the Protestant missions, the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society (LMS) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) were the Christian missions at work in the Rayalaseema area. Vijayam grew up in a Christian household in mission compounds of the Churches as his father was a Priest, Canon and later Bishop. When Vijayam moved to Waltair in the 1950s, he also took part in the fellowship gatherings of the Canadian Baptist Ministries (Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars).

Education and career
Education

After initial studies in schools across Andhra Pradesh, wherever his father (Bunyan Joseph) was transferred, Vijayam moved to Madras Christian College, Tambaram for a pre-University course (PUC). For undergraduate studies, he enrolled at Andhra University, Waltair, in 1953 and pursued graduate and postgraduate courses specialising in Geology. He was a direct student of Professor Calamur Mahadevan and U. Aswathanarayana and imbibed the subtle nuances for research which infused in him a flair for scientific research throughout his career in geological sciences. One of his companions during his study days at Waltair included the Theologian G. D. Melanchthon, AELC. Vijayam was awarded with an M. Sc. in 1957.

Vijayam also pursued a Ph. D. programme during his early years at Osmania University, Secunderabad, on the topic Sedimentation in the upper proterozoic near Kurnool under the supervision of Prof. S. Balakrishna and was awarded a doctorate in the year 1965. He also spent time at Northwestern University, Evanston (United States) as a Postdoctoral researcher through the benevolence of Fulbright Program and also published a research article, Tectonic framework of sedimentation in the northwestern part of the San Andreqa fault zone at Park field, California on his return to India.

Career

Vijayam joined the ranks of Geological Survey of India in 1961. He then moved to academics and joined Osmania University, Secunderabad, A State-run university, where he also pursued a Ph. D. programme. In 1965 and became a lecturer in the same university. Over the years, he rose to the ranks of a reader and professor and in 1984, he became head of the Department of Geology and chairperson of the board of studies.

Articles published

During the three decades, beginning with the 1960s, Vijayam researched together with his fellow geologists and brought out different aspects of the Earth's rich resources to the fore. He was also managing editor of Journal of Indian Academy of Geoscience during the 1970s.

1960–1969

Vijayam, B. E.; Aswathanarayana, U.; Mahadevan, Calamur (1960). "Sand movement on the Waltair beach, Visakhapatnam, India" (PDF). Physical Sciences. 26. ISSN 0370-0046.
Vijayam, B. E. (May 1964). "Transgressing marine beach in Cuddapah basin, South of Kurnool, A. P." (PDF). Current Science. Bangalore. 33 (9). ISSN 0011-3891. OCLC 1565678.
Vijayam, B. E. (1964). "Sedimentary petrographic analysis of Gulcheru conglomerate, Kurnool district,A.P." Journal of Indian Geology Association. 4.
Vijayam, B. E. (5 January 1968). "An interesting dyke near archaean-Cuddapah Boundary, Veldurthi, Kurnool District, A. P." (PDF). Current Science. Bangalore. 37 (1). ISSN 0011-3891. OCLC 1565678.
Vijayam, B. E. (1968). "Tectonic framework of sedimentation in the northwestern part of the San Andreqa fault zone at Park field, California" (PDF). Journal of Osmania University (Science). Secunderabad. Golden Jubilee Volume.
Kamal, M. Y.; Vijayam, B. E. (1968). "Sedimentary tectonics of the Kurnool Cuddapah basin". 6 (2). Hyderabad: NGRI.
Balakrishna, S.; Vijayam, B. E. (1968). "Sedimentation of non-clastics in the western part of the Cuddapah basin". 6 (2). Hyderabad: NGRI.
Vijayam, B. E. (5 March 1968). "Worm Burrows in Narji Limestones, near Govindinne, Kurnool District, A. P." (PDF). Current Science : A Fortnightly Journal of Research. Bangalore: Current Science. 37 (5). ISSN 0011-3891. OCLC 1565678.
Vijayam, B. E. (1969). Plutonic rocks in the Cuddapah basin. 11. Journal of the Indian Geoscience Association. ISBN 9781862393455.
Vijayam, B. E. (1969). "Occurrence of Tuffisites in Pebble Dyke, Ulindakonda, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh" (PDF). 5. Geological Society of India.
1970–1979[edit]
Vijayam, B. E. (1973). "Geological Time Scale". Journal of the Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences. Hyderabad. 9.
Reddy, P. H.; Vijayam, B. E. (1974). "Environmental significance of clay minerals in Auk and Nandyal shales of Palnad Basin". Indian Mineralogist. 15.
Janardan Rao, Y.; Vijayam, B. E.; Narasimham, J. S. V. L. (1974). "Natural and human influence on the hydrological cycle in South India" (PDF).
Vijayam, B. E. (1974). "Sedimentary tectonics of Kurnool Group : in Evolution of orogenic belts of India and geological history of platform areas". The Quarterly Journal of the Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Society of India.
Janardan Rao, Y.; Vijayam, B. E.; Ch., Sudarsana Raju (1975). "Optimum design of dug wells in hard rock terrains". Indian Farming.
Vijayam, B. E.; Reddy, P. H. (December 1976). "Tectonic Framework of Sedimentation in the Western Part of the Palnad Basin, Andhra Pradesh". Journal of Geological Society of India. Bangalore. 17 (4).
Vijayam, B. E.; Stephen George, T. (January 1978). "On the Occurrence of Barite in Kurnool District". Journal of Geological Survey of India. 19 (1).
Vijayam, B. E.; Deshpande, Y. R. (1979). "Lithofacies Analysis of Barakar Formation of Kothagudem Area, (A. P.) India". 2. Geological Survey of India.

1980–1989

Madhavan Nair, K.; Vijayam, B. E. (October 1980). "Sedimentology of Limestones in Niniyur Formation, Paleocene, Cauvery Basin, South India". Journal of Geological Society of India. Bangalore. 21 (10).
Vijayam, B. E.; Kamal, M. Y.; K., Veeriah (1981). "Sedimentation in the Kurnool group". Hyderabad: Indian Institute of Peninsular Geology. doi:10.1007/s12665-017-6972-3.
Osmani, A. S.; Vijayam, B. E. (1981). "X-ray diffraction studies of the Intertrappean Fuller's Earth, Alipur, Vikarabad". The Indian Mineralogist. 21–25.
Madhavan Nair, K.; Vijayam, B. E. (1981). "Depositional and diagenetic characteristics of reef and flank facies, a comparative study in the Lower Cretaceous limestones in Kallakkudi Embayment, Cauvery Basin". Bulletin of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. 18 (1).
Kamal, M. Y.; Vijayam, B. E. (20 February 1982). "Intraformational conglomerate of the Banganapalle formation, Kurnool group" (PDF). Current Science. Bangalore. 51 (4). ISSN 0011-3891. OCLC 1565678.
Shyam Prasad, Mokkapati; Kamal, M. Y.; Vijayam, B. E. (1982). "Study of beach profiles of Nizampatnam Bay". Geoviews. 9.
Shyam Prasad, Mokkapati; Prabhakar, K; Kamal, M. Yusuf; Vijayam, B. E. (March 1982). "A Study of the Movement of Beach Sand at Nizampatnam Bay by Tracer Techniques". Journal of Geological Survey of India. Bangalore. 23 (3).
Kamal, M. Y.; Vijayam, B. E. (1982). "Intraformational conglomerate of the Banganapalle Formation, Kurnool Group" (PDF). Current Science. Bangalore. 51 (4).
Vijayam, B. E. (1985). "Sedimentary tectonic history of Cuddapah Basin". Journal of the Indian Association of Sedimentologists. 5

1990–1999

Vijayam, B. E. (1992). "Mobilizing the Laity". Chennai: Mission India 2000.
Vijayam, B. E. (1992). "Tentmaker Evangelism". Chennai: Mission India 2000.
Linda Prabhakar Babu, B.; Vijayam, B. E. (1996). "Geochemistry and sedimentology of cherts and its associated carbonate rocks of Mallampalli Formations of Pakhal Super Group" (PDF). The International Symposium of Applied Geochemistry.

Other initiatives

In addition to his academic pursuits, Vijayam was involved in founding entities as a means to bring in development in rural areas. Vijayam himself hailed from a rural family and his career pursuits brought him to an urban setting. In spite of it, he chose to better the lives of those in special circumstances. Towards this end, he drew talent from universities as a matter of service and also sought the partnership of United Nations Development Programme,[23]Government of India, and other funding agencies. In 1982, he also went to Bangla Desh to see the work of Social Entrepreneur and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. In 2012, two sets of researchers working independent of each other had written about the work of Vijayam beyond the portals of learning.

A University of Hyderabad researcher, Gadde Peda Rattaiah referred to the work of Vijayam in the context of partnerships with United Nations Development Programme and writes,

Professor Vijayam was a retired professor of Geology who worked, at the Department of Geology, Osmania University in Hyderabad. He founded MERIBA, PROGRESS, TENT, JVI, I-WILL agencies and his approach to poverty alleviation in rural India, was inspired by the Judeo-Christian values approach and was promoting attitudes of love, unity, mutual respect, self-help and collective action to overcome the hindrances to human deprivation, poverty and suffering.

Similarly, a group of Earth Scientists regarded the work of Vijayam in connecting Geology with development and write,

Community development initiatives without adequate geological input are potentially doomed to failure. For many years now, wonderful counterexamples have functioned under the guidance of distinguished geologist B. E. Vijayam in India. Vijayam’s NGO creations, including PROGRESS and TENT, integrate geological principles into almost every aspect of holistic rural development. Many of the village-level projects under TENT are planned to consider improvements in the context of a unified watershed. Water sources, sanitation, erosion, agriculture, land-use planning, and energy provision are all analyzed and managed as components of a larger, single geological system.

MERIBA

During 1978 Vijayam founded Mission to Encourage Rural Development in Backward Areas (MERIBA) as an entity to bring forth development in select areas of drought-prone Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh amidst caste-ridden hegemony. The work of MERIBA was taken up in Kurnool district in the villages of Balapanuru, Kouluru, Neravada, Bhimaram and Yerraguntla. For organising Dalits through participatory management initiatives through Sarvodaya Sanghams, Vijayam's entity was also locked in horns with those oppressing the Dalits. There was indeed some resistance to the reformation that MERIBA ought to bring in and even the State executive was found to be in tandem with those oppressing the Dalits. It took judicial intervention to get the oppressors behind bars, but in no time they were freed and were ready to seek vengeance, but for the timely presence of Vijayam who sought reconciliation, an act which stunned the oppressors. Incidentally, Nagi Reddy, an advocate by profession, became MERIBA's first project director, and there was renewed activism in taking legal recourse in curbing atroticities on Dalits through SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

PROGRESS

By 1982, Vijayam founded Peoples Research Organization for Grass-root Environmental Scientific Services (PROGRESS) as a platform to share the benefits of technological advancement with the rural poor. Select case studies and stories relating to the success of PROGRESS had been documented in 1994 by National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board and there also had been significant contribution by scientists working in PROGRESS to the environmental studies. In 1996, P. Sita Janki and K. Sumalini contributed a paper entitled Enhancement of seed germination in Amla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) by different growth regulator treatments[38] that appeared in the Journal for Tropical Forestry. A 2007 report of the University Grants Commission (UGC) listed PROGRESS among those NGOs supported by it in advancing Rural development. PROGRESS was a member in the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee.

TENT

The Theologians, F. Hrangkhuma and Sebastian Kim had recognised the efforts of Vijayam towards Tentmaking. At the same time, Roger Hedlund had acknowledged Vijayam's efforts towards founding TENT in equipping individuals with means of livelihood as well as basic theological principles. It was in 1985 that Vijayam founded Training in Evangelism Needs and Technology (TENT), intertwining technology with theology for ministerial advancement, which the notable Entomologist P. Judson has also been associated.
Bhaskar Saha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bhaskar Saha
Born 2 January 1964

Kolkata, India
Nationality Indian
Awards 2009 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Immunology
Cell biology
Institutions

Pune University
Vidyasagar University
National Centre for Cell Science

Bhaskar Saha (born 2 January 1964) is an Indian immunologist, cell biologist and a senior scientist at National Centre for Cell Science, Pune. He is known for his contributions in the fields of immunology and cell signaling . He is an elected fellow of two of the major Indian science academies, National Academy of Sciences, India and Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 2009, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Bhaskar Saha obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta (1993). He did his postdoctoral fellowship at Naval Medical Research Institute and also served as Principal Investigator at NMRI, and Faculty, Dept of Medicine, USUHS, Bethesda, USA (1996–97). He joined National Centre for Cell Science in 1998 where he serves as a Scientist-G and carries out his researches on immunology and cancer biology. His early researches were focused on immunology and he has since shifted his focus to explore that therapeutic uses of his findings. At NCCS, he is involved in five projects viz. Leishmania-macrophage interaction, CD40 signaling, DC subset mediated priming against prostate cancer, Development and regulation of regulatory T cells in leishmaniasis and DC subsets in leishmaniasis and regulation of T cell response. He has published several research articles, reviews and book chapters that could be found in Pubmed. He has also served as a faculty member of Pune University and Vidyasagar University.

Saha, who is known to have a calm and composed personality, was in the news in 2013 when he staged a hunger strike in protest against the mismanagement of research programs at National Centre for Cell Science. He is married to Ratna, a school teacher at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the couple has a son, Baibaswata and a daughter, Saptaparnee. The family lives in Pune.

Awards and honors

Saha's contributions to the biological sciences earned him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 2009. He was elected as a fellow by the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2011 and a year later, he became an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He is also recipient of National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the Department of Biotechnology in 2007.
B. K. Anand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
B. K. Anand
Born 18 September 1917

Lahore, British India
Died 2 April 2007 (aged 89)
Nationality Indian
Citizenship India
Alma mater King George Medical College, Lucknow
Awards Padma Shri
Scientific career
Fields Neurophysiology
Institutions Lady Hardinge Medical College,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Professor Bal Krishan Anand (1917–2007), better known as B. K. Anand, was an Indian physiologist and pharmacologist. He was credited for the discovery of the feeding center in the hypothalamus in 1951. He is considered the founder of modern Neurophysiology in India.

He was born in Lahore as Bal Krishan Anand in 1917. He was graduated from King George Medical College in 1940 and obtained his M.D. degree in 1948. He joined in 1949 the Lady Hardinge Medical College as Professor of Physiology.

He went to Yale University as a Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1950 and worked with John Brobeck. They had published their research work in 1951. He \ returned to India in 1952 and continued his research in Lady Hardinge Medical College.

He joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences as its first professor in the Department of Physiology in 1956. He was instrumental in establishing the guidelines of education for M.B., B.S. and Postgraduate students. He became Dean of that Institute.

He was instrumental in the establishment of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in 1982.

Bibliography
B. K. Anand and J. R. Brobeck: Hypothalamic control of food intake in rats and cats. Yale J. Biol. Med. 24:123-40, 1951.
B. K. Anand and S. Dua: Hypothalamic involvement in the Pituitary Adrenocortical Response. Journal of Physiology. I955. I27, I53-I56.
B. K. Anand and S. Dua: Circulatory and Respiratory changes induced by Electrical stimulation of Limbic system (Visceral brain). Journal of Neurophysiology. 19: 393-400, 1956.
B. K. Anand, S. Dua and Baldev Singh. Electrical activity of the hypothalamic 'feeding centres' under the effect of changes in blood chemistry, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. Volume 13, Issue 1, February 1961, Pages 54–59.
B. K. Anand, G. S. Chhina, and Baldev Singh. Effect of Glucose on the Activity of Hypothalamic "Feeding Centers". Science 2 November 1962: Vol. 138. no. 3540, pp. 597 – 598.

Awards
He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Medical Sciences in 1963.
Government of India awarded him Padma Shri in Medicine in 1969.
He was a fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences.
The Medical Council of India awarded him the Dr. B. C. Roy Award in 1984.
Biswa Ranjan Nag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biswa Ranjan Nag
Born 1 October 1932

Comilla, Chittagong division, British India
Died 6 April 2004 (aged 71)

Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

Presidency College
Rajabazar Science College
University of Calcutta
University of Wisconsin
Known for Studies on semiconductors
Awards

1964 BIRE J. C. Bose Memorial Prize
1974 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1993 INSA Materials Science Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Semiconductor physics
Institutions

University of Calcutta
Doctoral advisor

Arun K. Choudhury

Biswa Ranjan Nag (1 October 1932 – 6 April 2004) was an Indian physicist and the Sisir Kumar Mitra chair professor at Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta. Known for his research in semiconductor physics, Nag was an elected fellow of Indian National Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Physical Sciences in 1974.

Biography
Nag completed his master's degree and served as faculty in University of Calcutta's Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (IRE).

Born on 1 October 1932 to Sailabala and Satyaranjan Nag at Comilla, a city along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in the undivided Bengal of the British India (presently in Bangladesh), B. R. Nag did his graduate studies at Presidency College, Calcutta during 1949–51 and earned a master's degree in technology (M.Tech.) from the Institute of Radiophysics and Electronics (IRE) at the Rajabazar Science College campus of the University of Calcutta in 1954. He started his career in 1956 as a faculty member at IRE and simultaneously pursued doctoral studies, mentored by Arun K. Choudhury. In between, he spent one year at University of Wisconsin obtaining an MS in 1959. Mr. Nag returned to Calcutta to resume his doctoral work, and earned his PhD in 1961. Continuing his teaching career, he became a full professor in 1968. Further research which earned him a Doctor of Science degree from Calcutta University in 1972. He served out his regular academic career at the university and continued his association past his superannuation in 1997 as its Sisir Kumar Mitra professor. In between, he also served as a Commonwealth Visiting Professor at Bangor, Gwynedd.

Nag was married to Mridula Roy Choudhury and the couple had two children, Biswadeep and Mriduchanda. He died on 6 April 2004 in Kolkata, at the age of 71.

Legacy
Silicon crystals, a common semiconducting material

Nag's work focused on semiconductors and it helped in widening our understanding of the electrical transport phenomena in those high electrical resistant solids. During his early years at Calcutta University, he led a group of students who were engaged in the studies on microwave measurements of semiconductor properties and did advanced research on Gunn effect and microwave radiation. He demonstrated the temperature independence of Two-dimensional electron gas and its alloy scattering limited mobility which was a first time discovery. His studies revealed the non-parabolic nature of electron energy dispersion in narrow quantum wells and this modified the theory of interface roughness scattering limited mobility for Quantum Wells with finite barrier height and Well width. Liquid phase Epitaxy Semiconducting III–V compounds, acousto-electric effect and free carrier absorption, Gini ratio and Si coefficient related to hot-electron galvanomagnetic transport were some of the other areas of his research. He contributed to the development of electron transport theory related to semiconductors and developed a Monte Carlo method for the computation of coefficients related to velocity correlation, diffusion and noise parameters. His body of work is reported to have relevance to the fields of microwave communications and radar, especially in the development of microwave semiconductor devices. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and the article repository of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 190 of them. He authored three monographs, Theory of electrical transport in semiconductors, Physics of Quantum Well Devices and Electron Transport in Compound Semiconductors of which the last mentioned is reported to be a significant reference text for researchers. He also contributed chapters to books published by others and his work has drawn citations in a number of books.

Awards and honors

Nag, a founder fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, received the J. C. Bose Memorial Prize of the British Institution of Radio Engineers in 1964. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1974. He was selected for the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1975 and the Indian National Science Academy elected him as a fellow in 1978; the academy would honor him again in 1993 with the INSA Prize for Materials Science. He became an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. The department of radio physics and electronics of the University of Calcutta instituted an annual conference, International Conference on Computers and devices for Communication (CODEC), in his honor in 1998, a year after Nag retired from academic service
Bhanu Pratap Jena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bhanu Pratap Jena
Jena in 2012
Born 1 November 1955

Jajpur, Odisha, India
Nationality American
Alma mater BJB College, Utkal University, Iowa State University
Known for Porosome, Membrane fusion
Awards
Ranbaxy Award
"Distinguished Scientist Award" from SEBM
George E. Palade Medal
Hallim Distinguished Award
Sir. Aaron Klug Award
Ranbaxy Award
Fellow AAAS
Scientific career
Fields Chemistry, cell biology

Bhanu Pratap Jena (born November 1, 1955) is an American cell biologist and the "George E. Palade University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Physiology" at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, who discovered porosome in mid 1990s & demonstrated it to be the universal secretory machinery in Plasma Membrane.

Biography

Jena was born in Jajpur, Odisha, India on November 1, 1955, to Manju and Prafulla Jena.

He majored in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany from BJB College (B.Sc.,1975) and studied Zoology (Endocrinology) at Utkal University (M.Sc.,1978). Following four years of lectureship at various colleges in Utkal University (1978–82), he received a teaching and research fellowship from Iowa State University in 1982 to pursue studies leading to a doctorate degree.[citation needed] In December 1988, he received his PhD in Zoology (Molecular Endocrinology) from Iowa State. Followed by postdoctoral studies at Iowa State and Yale Universities (1988–1994), he joined Yale University as an Assistant Professor, and in 2000, joined as Professor in the Department of Physiology, at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Scientific career

Using Atomic force microscope on live cells, Jena was the first to report the discovery of a new cellular structure the Porosome in the mid 1990s. The Porosome are permanent supramolecular structures at the cell Plasma membrane, where secretory Vesicle (biology and chemistry) dock and fuse to release intravesicular contents to the outside of the cell. This discovery was a major breakthrough in our understanding of cell secretion. The Porosome, has been determined as the universal secretory machinery in cells, from exocrine cells of the pancreas, to neuroendocrine cells, and neurons. Jena and his research team has determined the structure and dynamics of the Porosome in live cells, at nm resolution and in real time. The structure of the Porosome was further confirmed by electron microscopy in whole cells, and in isolated Porosome preparations. The isolated Porosome has been both structurally and functionally reconstituted in lipid membrane and live cells, and its composition determined. The discovery of the Porosome, and an understanding of its structure, function, composition, and reconstitution, has opened a new field in cell biology; nano cell biology.
B. N. Suresh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Byrana Nagappa Suresh (born 12 November 1943) is an Indian aerospace scientist. He is presently the Chancellor, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, IIST at Thiruvanthapuram and Honorary Distinguished Professor at ISRO HQ. He was President Indian National Academy of Engineering, INAE at Delhi, for four years during 2015 to 2018. He served as the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram during the period 2003–2007. He is known for his contribution to the development of Indian launch vehicles, Space Capsule Recovery Experiments (SRE) and also for R& D management. Suresh also served as the founding director of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram. He retired from IIST in November 2010. He was Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor at ISRO HQ for 5 years since November 2010 and also as distinguished professor at IIT, Mumbai and MIT, Manipal for 3 years. He was a member of the board of governors (BOG) for IIT, Madras for 7years till july 2018. He is also chairman of the governing council for MVJ College of Engineering at Bangalore. He is the vice chair for the Design Division of Aeronautical Society of India. He is one of the associate editors of the book From Fishing Hamlet To Red Planet and a co-author of Ever Upwards: ISRO in Images, both tracing the history of Indian Space Research Organisation.

Early life and education

Suresh had a very humble early life, with his father determined to make him an engineer. His father B. Nagappa was an agriculturist in Hosakere, Andagar, a small village near Koppa town situated near the holy town of Sringeri in Karnataka, India. He attended his entire schooling in Andagar and Koppa and studied in Kannada medium. After his bachelor's degree in science in 1963 and engineering in 1967 from Mysore University, he took his master's degree in mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1969. He did his doctorate in control systems from Salford University, United Kingdom, in 1978.

He is a fellow of several professional bodies like Indian National Academy of Engineering, FNAE (INAE),Indian National Academy of Sciences, FNA, (INSA), Astronautical Society of India (ASI), Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), Indian Society of System Engineering for Science and Engineering (ISSE) and full member for International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) at Paris. He is also Fellow and past President for System Society of India (SSI).

He has made significant contributions in the international area too. To name a few, he was head of the Indian delegation for the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at Vienna, Austria, during 2004–2007. He was selected as chairman of the United Nations Scientific and Technical Committee for the year 2006 from the Asia Pacific Countries. This was a unique distinction, since from the inception of UN Committee in the last 42 years a technical expert from a developing country was selected for this coveted post. He was Chairman for the selection of members in S&T area for International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) for five years. He was also co-chair for programme committee for the conduct of International Astronautical Congress in 2007.

He has delivered several prestigious guest lectures like, Ramanujam memorial, Vikram Sarabhai memorial, Dr. Srinivasan memorial, APJ Abdul kalam memorial lecture, Dr Subir Kar memorial lecture and many more in prominent Institutions and national conferences. He has given invited lectures at several International Institutions like, European Space Policy Institute, Paris, Space Institute at Strasbourg, United Nations conferences at Vienna, NASA conference on Project Management at Houston, US, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Los Angeles, and many more. He has written a book titled "Integrated Design for Space Transportation System" in association with his colleague Dr. K Sivan in November 2015 highlighting the complexities of rocket science, Published by international publisher M/s Springers. This book has been awarded Engineering Science Book Award by International Academy of Astronautics for year 2019.

He has published around 42 papers in reputed international and national journals, conferences and guided more than 450 technical reports on various technology developments at VSSC during his stay of 38 years. The areas encompass a variety of subjects ranging from vehicle control system design, navigation and guidance, actuation systems, sensors, simulation, the test systems, vehicle & mission design aspects and also on management topics.

Awards

He received

1. Dr.Biren Roy Space Science and/or Design Award, 1993,by the Aeronautical Society of India.

2. ASI Award 1996, for Rocket & Related Technologies, by Astronautical Society of India, 1996.

3. “AGNI” Award for excellence in Self Reliance by Defence Research & Development Laboratory , Ministry Of Defence in 1999.

4. Distinguished Alumni Award’ From IIT Madras, Dec 2004.

5. “Ramanujam Memorial Award” PSG Coimbatore at National System Conference, 2005.

6. “Technical Excellence award’ by Lions International, Trivandrum , Jan 2006.

7. Selected as Chairman for S&T Committee of UN-Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) by the Asian Countries for the year 2006 by the Countries of Asia Pacific Region.

8. “Outstanding Achievement Award” by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Government of India, in June 2007.

9. “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Indian National Academy of Engineering, (INAE) Delhi, in Dec 2007, for contributions in Science and Technology.

10. “National Systems Gold Medal” for lifetime contributions for large Systems by System Society of India in Dec 2007.

11. “Aryabhata Award” for life time contributions in space technology by Astronautical society of India,for 2009.

12. “Big Kannadiga Award” by FM 93.7 Radio for Science in 2014 for contributions in Science and Technology.

13. “Karnataka State Rajyotsava Award” for 2014 for outstanding contributions in Science & Technology, the top award from Government of Karnataka.

14. "Lifetime achievement Award” by Malenadu Vipra Vedike, Bengaluru (2014)

15. “MR Kurup Endowment Award” by Centre for Indian Consumers Research, Trivandrum, for outstanding contributions in space education and research in 2015.

16. “Lifetime achievement Award” by Karnataka Science and Engineering Academy for excellent contributions to technology and education in 2015.

17. "Sir M Visweswariah Science Award", for his outstanding contributions to Space science, research and Education by the Karnataka Branch of "Vijnana Bharathi",(Science India), 2016, in Karnataka Science Congress.

18. “Life time Achievement Award” by Department of Space for his outstanding contributions for the space programme, particularly for launch Vehicles.

19. National Honour of ‘ Padmasree’ by President of India in 2002 in recognition of meritorious services in the areas Science and Technology.

20. National Honour of “Padmabhushan” by President of India in 2013 for meritorious contributions in Science and Technologies.

21. “Global Pioneer Award” by International Council of System Engineering (INCOSE) at Washington, DC, USA in July 2018 for his pioneering contributions to space system engineering.

22. “Engineering Sciences Book Award”, by the International Academy of Astronautics for the outstanding contribution to astronautics by Publication of ‘Integrated Design for Space Transportation System’ Springers, at International Astronautical Congress, at Washington DC in October 2019.

23. Honorary Doctorate from Gitam University in 2019 for his outstanding contributions for Science and Technology

24. "IEEE Simon Ramo Award" from IEEE Organisation for exceptional achievement in systems engineering and System Science and will be awarded in May 2020 at Vancouver , canada
BANNEKER, BENJAMIN

(b. Baltimore County, Maryland, 9 November 1731; d. Baltimore County, 9 October 1806)

observational astronomy, ephemerides, almanacs.

A tobacco farmer, and amateur astronomer, Benjamin Banneker was an inspiration for his mathematical achievements. He is frequently described as the first African American man of science.

Early Life. Banneker was born free in Baltimore County, Maryland, on 9 November 1731. He was the son of a freed slave from Guinea named Robert and of Mary Banneky, daughter of a formerly indentured English servant named Molly Welsh and her husband, Bannka, a slave whom she freed and who claimed to be the son of a Gold Coast tribal chief.

Banneker’s early years were spent with his family, including three sisters, growing tobacco on his parents’ 100-acre farm near the banks of the Patapsco River. In his early years he had been trained to read and write by his grandmother by means of a Bible she had purchased from England, but his only formal schooling was attendance for a week or two in a nearby Quaker one-room schoolhouse. Benjamin became a voracious reader, borrowing books from wherever he could, and developed considerable skill in mathematics. He enjoyed devising mathematical puzzles and solving those brought to him by others. At about the age of twenty-one he constructed a striking wall clock, without ever having seen one. It is said that it was based on his recollections of the mechanism of a pocket watch. Apparently, he visualized it as a mathematical puzzle, relating the numerous toothed wheels and gears, carving each carefully from seasoned hardwood with a pocket knife. For a bell, he utilized either part of a glass bottle or metal container. The timepiece appears to have been the first clock in the region and brought those who had heard about it to his cabin to observe it and listen to it strike. The clock continued to function successfully for more than fifty years, until his death.

Inheriting the family farm at his father’s death, Banneker lived with his mother until her demise. Then living alone, he continued to grow and sell tobacco until about the age of fifty-nine, when rheumatism forced him to retire. His farm made him virtually self-sufficient, with a productive vegetable garden, thriving fruit orchards, and several hives of bees that he maintained. Banneker and his family had been among the first clients of the newly established Ellicott Store, in nearby Ellicott’s Lower Mills, and during his leisure he continued to visit it frequently, purchasing small items he required, perusing the wealth of imported merchandise, occasionally purchasing an inexpensive book for his own small library. Most of all he enjoyed the opportunity to read newspapers from other cities that the store sold and that provided him with a link to the outer world.

Now, with the freedom of retirement from work, Banneker turned with new vigor to his astronomical studies, often whiling away the hours until dawn scanning the night skies with his telescope and recording notations for an ephemeris for an almanac he was compiling for the following year.

Work in Observational Astronomy. It was just at this time that fate sought him out for an important role to play in the nation’s history. The surveyor Andrew Ellicott had recently been appointed by President George Washington to produce a survey of selected lands on which to establish a national capital. Ellicott urgently required an assistant with some knowledge of astronomy to work in the field observation tent during the night hours. He traveled to Ellicott’s Lower Mills hoping to hire his cousin George Ellicott, Banneker’s neighbor, who was an amateur astronomer. However, his cousin, being unable to leave his own work, instead recommended Banneker, whom he felt had become sufficiently informed on the subject to fulfill the position. Banneker was hired and, overwhelmed by the opportunity, he traveled together with Andrew Ellicott to the site that was to become the national capital, arriving early in the new year of 1791.

Banneker worked in the observatory tent for more than four months, from the beginning of February until the end of April 1791. It was grueling work, for he was forced to spend the long hours of the night lying on his back in order to use an instrument called a zenith sector. His assignment was to observe through the instrument’s telescope as stars transited over the zenith, noting the exact moment of each star’s transit and recording it for Ellicott’s use when he arrived the next morning.

It was extremely tiring work for a man of Banneker’s advanced years, but despite the discomfort, he derived considerable pleasure and pride from the knowledge that he was contributing to such an important project. Also, after taking a nap during the early daylight hours, Banneker had the privilege of using Ellicott’s astronomical textbooks, which were maintained in the observatory tent. This enabled him to complete the ephemeris he was compiling for an almanac for the following year, 1792. For his participation on the survey, including travel, Banneker was paid a total of $60.

Correspondence with Jefferson. Soon after returning home, Banneker sent a handwritten copy of his completed ephemeris to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson because, as he wrote, Jefferson was considered to be “measurably friendly and well disposed towards us,” referring to the African American race, “who have long laboured under the abuse and censure of the world. … And have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt, and … long have been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely able of mental endowments (1792).”

Submitting his calculations as evidence to the contrary, Banneker urged Jefferson to work toward bringing an end to slavery. Jefferson answered promptly:

No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given our black brethren, talents equal to those of other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owed merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & in America. … No body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition of both their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will admit. (Payne, 1862, pp. 168–171)

Jefferson was so impressed with Banneker’s calculations that he sent a copy to the Marquis de Condorcet, secretary of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, with an enthusiastic cover letter. No reply was forthcoming from Condorcet, however, because at just the time of the arrival of Jefferson’s letter, the French diplomat had been forced to go into hiding for opposing the monarchy and for having supported a republican form of government. During the following year, the two letters, the one from Banneker to Jefferson and the statesman’s reply, were published in the United States in a widely distributed pamphlet and in at least one periodical.

Publication of the Almanac. James McHenry, a senator from Maryland, had been so impressed with Banneker’s almanac manuscript that he wrote an endorsement for it that was published together with the almanac by the Baltimore printer Goddard & Angell. The almanac bore the title Benjamin Banneker’s Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris for the Year of Our Lord 1792. In addition to its sales in Baltimore, the almanac was made available also by printers in Alexandria, Virginia, and in Philadelphia. It proved an immediate success, and Banneker’s lifestyle soon changed somewhat, as he became acknowledged by neighbors and occasionally by others visiting the region.

During the next five years, Banneker continued to calculate ephemerides, which he sold and which were published in almanacs bearing his name in the title. Promoted by the abolitionist societies of both Pennsylvania and Maryland, Banneker’s almanacs were published by several printers and sold widely in the United States and also in England. Twenty-eight separate editions of his almanacs are known to have been published.

Generally, in the production of an almanac, the astronomer provided only the ephemeris, and the remaining content was selected and furnished by the printer, who often selected random prose and poetry taken from the published press or journals. Frequently included were useful tables of weights and measures, coinages, interest rates and scales of depreciation, measurements of roads, and distances of cities from the place of publication, a calendar of meetings of courts of law holding sessions where the almanacs would be sold, and so forth.

The remainder of the pages of these inexpensive and poorly printed pamphlets generally were filled with moral elevating scriptural quotations, proverbs, allegorical stories, and puritanical essays. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, however, the almanac’s content changed distinctly in tone from its earlier religious bias to one of more practical considerations, with emphasis on education and literary and historical content. As a consequence, in time the almanac became more entertaining, with homely wisdom cast in contemporary language. By the end of the eighteenth century, the publication had become the most common printed item in the American republic, printed in every state, each vying with others in developing a new marketable item. In the period that Banneker was undertaking the preparation of an ephemeris, the century was drawing to a close and once more the almanac content was undergoing a change, with new emphasis on local causes and national events.

In a period when clocks and watches were luxuries and common timepieces consisted primarily of time glasses and sundials, information about the times of sunrise, noon, and sunset were of considerable importance to the prospective purchaser, as well as the phases of the moon, eclipses, and conjunction. Among the most desirable and useful features of Banneker’s almanacs proved to be a tide table for the Chesapeake Bay region, which made his almanacs particularly desirable for river pilots, fishermen, and others living near and making their living on the water. It listed times for high water or high tide at Cape Charles, Point Lookout, Annapolis, and Baltimore. Why Banneker’s competitors ignored this feature is hard to understand, because it was simple enough to calculate the high tide at Annapolis, for instance, which was two hours later than at Point Lookout, while at Baltimore and Head-of-the-Bay the high tide was five hours later than at Point Lookout. The tide table was simplified considerably in Banneker’s almanacs for the years 1795 and 1796, which provided data for determining tides in ports as distant north as Halifax and Boston. This feature was titled “Rule to find the Time of High Water in the following Places” and consisted simply of an additive for each of the places listed, to be combined with the day of the Moon’s age.

It was Banneker himself and not his printer who compiled the tide tables for his almanacs. It was a simple matter to acquire the data, and no mathematical

achievement was involved. The changing of the tides had been associated with the motion of the Moon for centuries. Once the time of the highest or spring tide was known at a particular point at the age of the full or new moon, it was a simple matter to derive a table for each day of the month at the same place. Banneker applied the standard daily retardation of forty-eight minutes, or four-fifths of an hour. This determination of the highest tide waters or spring tides on the days of the full or new moon was known as “the establishment of the port” and generally was marked on the charts for the port in question.

From data in his published almanacs, it is evident that Banneker made his observations from a point of latitude 39°30’ north and a longitude of 4 hours, 59 minutes west. In addition to recording in his manuscript astronomical journal the ephemerides for each of the years for which he calculated them, Banneker also included miscellaneous exercises in mathematics and astronomy.

In the pages of his manuscript astronomical journal as well as in his commonplace book, Banneker occasionally recorded miscellaneous items about unusual atmospheric phenomena he had observed. Typical of these random notes was an entry on the very first page of the journal, under the date of 23 December 1790. He noted, “About 3 o’clock A.M. I heard a Sound and felt the Shock like heavy thunder I went out but could not observe any Cloud above the Horizon. I therefore Conclude it must be a great Earth Quake in some part of the Globe.” Another item, recorded on 4 May 1792, described how “In a Squall from the N.W. I observed the Lower regions of the Clouds to move Swiftly before the wind, and the upper region Slowly against it.”

Even in his later years the weather continued to preoccupy him. On 2 February 1803, he noted,

in the morning part of the day, there arose a very dark Cloud, followed by Snow and haile a flash of lightning and loud thunder crack, and then the Storm abated untill after noon, when another cloud arose the Same point, viz, Northwest with a beautiful Shower of Snow but what beautyfyed the Snow was the brightness of the Sun, which was near Setting at the time.

A comparison of the contents of Banneker’s published ephemerides made with those calculated and published by his contemporaries Ellicott, William Waring, and Mary Katherine Goddard, has revealed that Banneker’s calculations consistently reflected an overall high degree of comparative accuracy. An error analysis of the astronomical data in Banneker’s almanacs revealed that his data compared very favorably with that published by his contemporaries. There was no significant difference between Banneker’s star data and that published by the two contemporary almanac makers. Although Banneker’s planetary data may have appeared to be somewhat less accurate than that of Ellicott or Goddard, it was still quite usable by the ordinary purchaser of the almanac. Considering that the length and complexity of the calculations involved in determining the rising and setting of certain stars and planets, and realizing that this was only a small segment of the mathematics required for one year’s almanac, one can have only the greatest respect for this self-taught man of science.

Although Banneker continued to calculate ephemerides every year through the year 1802, those after 1797 remained unpublished, but were carefully recorded in his manuscript journal and commonplace book, which survive as unique records of an eighteenth-century almanac maker.

Character. Banneker espoused no particular religion, but as an early biographer noted, “His life was one of constant worship in the great temples of nature and science.” (Allen, 1921) As places of worship in his vicinity grew in number, Banneker visited each of them, but gave preference to the meetings of the Society of Friends, where “he presented a most dignified aspect as he leaned in quiet contemplation on a long staff, which he always carried after passing his seventieth year. And he worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff.” (Allen, 1921)

A description of Banneker was provided by Martha Tyson, daughter of George Ellicott, who had seen him when she was a young woman. “The countenance of Banneker,” she wrote,

had a most benign and thoughtful expression. A fine head of white hair surmounted his unusually broad and ample forehead, whilst the lower part of his face was slender and sloping towards the chin. His figure was perfectly erect, showing no inclination to stoop as he advanced in years. His rainment was always scrupulously neat; that for summer wear, being of unbleached linen, was beautifully washed and ironed by his sisters. … In cold weather he dressed in light colored cloth, a fine drab broadcloth constituting his attire when he designed appearing in his best style.

No known portrait of Banneker exists. Lacking such, an image frequently used is a woodcut portrait bust of a young black man, imaginary and not based on life, wearing the typical Quaker garb of the period. Purported to be of Banneker, this image illustrated the cover of a 1797 edition of one of his almanacs. The most accurate representation known may be found on a modern mural painting by the late William H. Smith of the survey of the federal territory. It hangs in the Maryland House on the John F. Kennedy Highway in Aberdeen, Maryland. In 1980 the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Banneker based on imagined features.

On 9 October 1806, during a nap following his usual morning walk, Banneker quietly died in his sleep, just one month short of his seventy-fifth birthday. In accordance with instructions he had left, immediately following his death all the items that had been borrowed from his neighbor George Ellicott, including the worktable, instruments, and books, had been returned to him by Banneker’s nephew. Included also was Banneker’s astronomical journal.

Banneker was buried two days later, on Tuesday, 11 October, in the family burial ground within sight of his house, a few yards away. During the services, as his body was being lowered into his grave, the mourners were startled as they looked up to see his house, a wooden building, suddenly burst into flame. Before help could be summoned, the entire structure burned to the ground. All its contents were totally destroyed, including Banneker’s clothing and other personal possessions, a few bits of furniture, a sparse collection of books and printed copies of his almanacs, as well as the fabled well-worn striking clock. The only item known to have escaped destruction was his quarto Bible, which had been removed from his house after his death and before the funeral, probably by one of his sisters. The cause of the conflagration was never determined.

Banneker’s death did not pass totally unnoticed. An obituary announcement appeared in the Federal Gazette on 28 October 1806, almost three weeks after his death. It provided a description of Banneker’s way of life and concluded, “Mr. Banneker is a prominent instance to prove that a descendant of Africa is susceptible of as great mental improvement and deep knowledge into the mysteries of nature as that of any other nation.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORK BY BANNEKER

Copy of a Letter from Benjamin Banneker to the Secretary of State, with His Answer. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Daniel Lawrence, 1792.

OTHER SOURCES

Allen, Will W. Banneker, the Afro-American Astronomer. Washington, DC, 1921.

Bedini, Silvio A. Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers. Washington, DC: U.S. Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, 1964. See pages 22–25.

———.The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African-American Man of Science. 2nd ed., revised and expanded. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1999.

Conway, Moncure D. “Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer.” Atlantic Monthly (January 1863): 79–84.

Kurtz, Benjamin. “The Learned Negro.” Lutheran Observer16, no. 31 (25 August 1848): 134–345.

Latrobe, John H. B. “Memoir of Benjamin Banneker: Read before the Historical Society of Maryland.” Maryland Colonization Journal, n.s., 2, no. 23 (May 1845): 353–364.

LePhillips, Phillip. “The Negro, Benjamin Banneker; Astronomer and Mathematician, Plea for Universal Peace.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society 20 (1917): 114–120.

McHenry, James. “Account of Benjamin Banneker, a Free Negro.” Universal Asylum (November 1791).

Payne, Daniel Alexander. “A Literary Curiosity—Letter from Benjamin Banneker to Hon. Thos. Jefferson.” Repository of Religion and Learning and of Science and Art4, no. 7 (July 1862): 168–171.

Tyson, Martha E. A Brief Account of the Settlement of Ellicott’s Mills, with Fragments of History therewith Connected, Written at the Request of Evan T Ellicott, Baltimore, 1865. Baltimore, MD: Printed by J. Murphy, 1871.

———.Banneker, the Afro-American Astronomer from the Posthumous Papers of Martha E. Tyson. Edited by Her Daughter. Philadelphia: Friends’ Book Association, 1884.

Silvio A. Bedini
Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography

Banneker, Benjamin
Views 1,605,853Updated Jun 11 2018

Benjamin Banneker

Born November 9, 1731 (Baltimore County, Maryland)

Died October 9, 1806 (Baltimore County, Maryland)

Mathematician, astronomer

Benjamin Banneker was an accomplished self-taught mathematician and astronomer. He is considered America's first black scientist. Banneker calculated the daily position of celestial bodies (visible stars and planets in the night sky) and printed this information in charts, which he published in yearly almanacs. His almanacs also featured calendars, times of sunrise and sunset, phases of the moon, and other useful information. Banneker's almanacs for the years 1792 to 1797 were widely published. They brought international attention to Banneker, in large part because it was an unparalleled achievement for a black American to publish at all at that time in history.

"I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings who have long laboured under the abuse and censure of the world."

Benjamin Banneker, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson

In 1791, Banneker assisted in the land survey of the future site of Washington, D.C. Perhaps Banneker's greatest accomplishment was his plea for civil rights in his correspondence with then-U.S. secretary of state Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; see entry in volume 1). Banneker called for the abolition (prohibition) of slavery and challenged Jefferson to work for the ideals he had promoted for all citizens in the 1776 Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was the historic document announcing that the American colonies had rejected British rule and were forming a new nation, the United States of America.
The New World

Benjamin Banneker was a free black (non-slave) born in the British colony of Maryland in 1731. At the time, thirteen colonies made up the new land of America. Banneker's birthplace was on the family farm near the Patapsco River, in the area that eventually became known as Oella, Maryland.

Banneker's grandmother was a white woman named Molly Welsh. Accused of a crime in England, she was pardoned on the condition that she leave the country and settle in the American colonies. She arrived in Maryland in 1683 aboard a ship filled with other laborers headed for the New World. After working to pay off the money she owed for her transportation to America, Welsh established a small tobacco farm on the Patapsco River. Tobacco was an important crop in Maryland, where the weather and soil provided perfect growing conditions. Because she needed help on the farm, Welsh purchased two slaves who had just arrived from Africa and put them to work. She married one of them, a man named Banna Ka. People called him Bannaky, although over time the spelling was altered to Banneky. The couple had four children together.

In 1730, the Bannekys' eldest daughter, Mary, married a freed black slave named Robert, and he took her last name, Banneky, as his own. Benjamin was the first child born to Robert and Mary Banneky. (The family name was later changed to Banneker.) He was soon joined by three sisters. The entire family lived in Molly Welsh's cabin, and all of them did their part to make the farm successful. Few black families owned farms at that time, because most blacks were slaves, but the Bannekys made a good living raising tobacco. Grandmother Molly taught Benjamin and his sisters to read and write by having them study the Bible she had brought with her from England, the only book the family owned.

A Land For Life

By 1737, Robert and Mary Banneky had saved enough money to buy an additional 100 acres on a tract of land called Stout. Although Benjamin was only six years old, his father added the boy's name to the deed of ownership. The land was located near the Chesapeake Bay. The Bannekys built a log cabin there, and Benjamin would live in that cabin for the rest of his life.

Benjamin enjoyed learning and attended a one-room country school for several years during the winter months, when work on the farm slowed down. For the rest of the year, he taught himself literature, history, and religion with books he borrowed. He was especially gifted in mathematics and showed a talent for creating and solving mathematical puzzles. It was around this time that the spelling of Benjamin's family name changed to Banneker.
On Time

The demands of the farm soon ended young Banneker's formal education, but his love of learning continued. Along with mathematics, he was particularly interested in studying machines. When Banneker was twenty-one years old, he was given a pocket watch to examine. Always interested in a mathematical challenge, he took the watch apart and drew pictures of what he saw. He then calculated the ratio of the gears and wheels in order to build a clock for himself. He carved each piece from wood with a pocketknife and, with a few necessary metal pieces, built a clock that kept perfect time for the rest of his life.

The clock was a rare sight in rural eighteenth-century America and became the subject of considerable interest throughout the region (see box). Banneker was soon quite famous in his community, as word spread rapidly about his fascinating timepiece. People who lived in the county may not have heard of Benjamin Banneker the farmer, but they soon began talking about Benjamin Banneker the clock maker. They came from all over the valley to visit his farmhouse and see the clock with the brass bell that chimed on the hour.

In 1763, Banneker purchased his first book, a Bible, in which he recorded the date of his own birth as well as the date of his father's death, July 10, 1759. His sisters married and moved to their own homes nearby, while Banneker and his mother continued to work the farm until her death in 1775. Banneker bought a flute and a violin and learned to play them by practicing after his regular work-day was over. Occasionally, neighbors or relatives would stop by to enjoy the music he played each evening on his front porch.

Astronomy's Pull

In 1771, Banneker turned forty. That same year, he had new neighbors—the Ellicott family—who purchased large tracts of land next to his farm. The Ellicotts built flour mills, sawmills, and a general store, which together invigorated the area's economy. Once the flour mills opened, local farmers were able to produce crops other than tobacco for a profit.

Banneker's relationship with the Ellicotts began with a contract to supply food for the many workers they employed, but he soon became friends with the family. Even though it was less expensive to buy slaves than to hire workers at the time, the Ellicotts chose not to own slaves. They belonged to a Christian church called the Society of Friends, whose members were called Quakers. Quakers opposed slavery and believed that all people should be treated with equal respect.

Keeping Time

Clocks were rarely seen in rural America in the eighteenth century, because few people needed to keep precise track of time. Most people told time by watching the position of the sun in the sky. Farmers in particular began their workday when the sun came up, ate lunch when the sun was high overhead, and ended the workday when the sun went down. In a society where most people were farmers, the position of the sun was far more important than the position of hour and minute hands on a clock.

Rural America tended to view timepieces as a novelty. Church bells rang on the hour and were often used to announce celebrations or emergencies. However, most people lived on farms and plantations, too far from settlements to hear them ringing. The boom of a cannon was substituted for the ringing of a bell when time came to announce important events such as the arrival of a supply ship at the docks in tidewater Maryland.

Banneker continued working his farm and devoted more acres to grain that would be sold to the Ellicotts. In 1775, the American Revolution (1775–83) began. Free blacks like Banneker were not required to join the army, and none of the battles took place within Maryland's borders; therefore, Banneker's life remained much the same as it had always been. By the late 1780s, Banneker had developed a special friendship with George Ellicott (1760–1832), largely based on their common interest in the sciences. Ellicott, nearly thirty years younger than Banneker, was a skilled surveyor and astronomer. He loaned Banneker a telescope, several astronomy books, and a sturdy wooden table on which to use them. Banneker studied the books and the skies for hours each night. He faithfully recorded the movements of the stars and planets he observed. Banneker taught himself so well that he was able to predict the solar eclipse of April 14, 1789, which even well-known scientists had not expected.

Banneker spent most of 1789 observing the sky every night in order to calculate information for a 1790 almanac he hoped to produce. Armed with all the necessary astronomical calculations, Banneker contacted several different publishing houses, but he was unable to get his work published. Members of abolitionist societies (organizations opposed to slavery) in Maryland and Pennsylvania heard of his accomplishments and rallied to try to help Banneker find a publisher. They knew that if an almanac authored by a free black was published, it would serve as valuable proof of the intellectual abilities of all blacks; this, in turn, would help them in the fight against slavery. Their efforts to find a publisher came too late for the 1791 almanac, so Banneker began work on calculations for 1792.

Building The Nation's Capital

Although America had finally won its independence in 1783, the new country did not yet have a capital city. In 1790, U.S. president George Washington (1732–1799; served 1789–97; see entry in volume 2) appointed a famous French architect named Pierre-Charles L'Enfant (1754–1825; see entry in volume 2) to design a new city that would be the nation's capital. It was to be located on the Potomac River (which separated parts of Maryland and Virginia). Washington also appointed a land surveyor, Major Andrew Ellicott (1754–1820), who was George Ellicott's cousin. Major Ellicott needed an assistant to make astronomical calculations for the survey; he naturally recommended Banneker. George Ellicott's wife, Elizabeth, helped Benjamin pick out new clothes for the trip, anticipating that he would meet many important people while working on the survey.

In January 1791, Banneker left his farm in the care of his sisters and joined the team assigned to build the capital of the United States. It was his first trip away from his cabin in Maryland. By the end of April, his work completed, Banneker returned to his farm and resumed his calculations for a 1792 almanac.

A Plea For Freedom

With the support of George Ellicott and the Pennsylvania and Maryland abolition societies that had previously shown an interest in his work, Banneker's 1792 almanac was published in late 1791. A few months before publication, Banneker sent a manuscript copy to Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson; Banneker enclosed a letter urging the abolition of slavery. Jefferson wrote back quickly, thanking him for the almanac. In his response, Jefferson expressed a desire "for raising the condition" of slaves and stated that Banneker's book could prove the intellect of blacks. Otherwise, he largely avoided the issue of freedom for blacks in his brief letter.

The correspondence between Banneker and Jefferson was published as a pamphlet and distributed at the same time that the almanac appeared. The almanac's first edition came out in December 1791. It sold out immediately, so a second edition was required. The following year, Banneker's almanac included the letter he had written to Jefferson and Jefferson's reply. In 1795, the almanac added a new feature, a portrait of Banneker on the cover. Banneker published an almanac every year until 1797, when sales declined. Competition had increased from publishers of other almanacs (see box). In addition, interest in the abolition movement, which had promoted Banneker's almanac as proof of black Americans' potential, was dwindling. Banneker continued with his annual calculations until 1804, but none of them were ever published. He simply continued the practice for his own enjoyment.

The financial success of his early almanacs allowed Banneker to spend less time farming. He sold most of his land and pursued a variety of interests, although his health was declining. He continued to live in his own home until his death on October 9, 1806, just one month short of his seventy-fifth birthday. Prior to Banneker's funeral, at Banneker's request, a nephew had collected all the borrowed texts and instruments from his uncle's cabin in order to return them to George Ellicott. All of Banneker's other possessions were destroyed when his cabin caught fire; this occurred at the same hour that his relatives were burying him in the family graveyard. Everything was lost, including his clock and most of his personal papers. Benjamin Banneker did not live to see the end of slavery, which would not occur for nearly sixty years. However, Banneker's accomplishments helped shape America by providing inspiration for others in the quest for freedom.

Almanac: An Important Reference Book

In colonial times, most people owned an almanac. It contained a yearly calendar that determined when holy days and festivals were celebrated. It also told people when they could expect an eclipse (when Earth blocks the Sun's light on the Moon or the Moon blocks the Sun's light on Earth). If a person did not own a clock, an almanac could report on the time of day. It listed the times of sunrise and sunset. Farmers used their almanacs to gauge when to plant their crops and to find predictions about weather changes from season to season. Sailors referred to the almanac's charts of the stars to determine their position on the seas.

Many publishers produced almanacs each year, but perhaps the most popular ever produced was Poor Richard's Almanac, created by statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790; see entry in volume 1). First published in 1732, it became the model for other almanacs to follow.

For More Information
Books

Bedini, Silvio A. The Life of Benjamin Banneker. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1999.

Cerami, Charles A. Benjamin Banneker: Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot. New York: J. Wiley, 2002.

Conley, Kevin. Benjamin Banneker. New York: Chelsea House, 1989.

Logan, Rayford W., and Michael R. Winston, eds. Dictionary of American Negro Biography. New York: W. W. Norton, 1982.

Web Sites

"Benjamin Banneker 1731–1806." Mathematicians of the African Diaspora.http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/banneker-benjamin.html (accessed on August 11, 2005).

"Who Was Benjamin Banneker?" The Banneker Center for Economic Justice.http://www.progress.org/banneker/bb.html (accessed on August 11, 2005).
Shaping of America, 1783-1815 Reference Library

Chitra Mandal
Chitra Mandal , Ph.D.
SERB Distinguished Fellow
Cancer Biology & Inflammatory Disorder
Born : 5 May 1934
Honours & Awards
Patents & Publications
CV
https://iicb.res.in/faculty/chitra-mandal
Research Interest

The main aim of our laboratory is to understand the mystery of glycosylation of biomolecules with special emphasis on the role of sialoglycoconjugates in different disease models and its potential applications in disease management, its specificity and recognition in immune responses mainly in the field of cancer biology/tumor immunology and host-pathogen interactions dealing with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). We have analyzed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), VL and PA-associated biomolecules by exploring the diversity of sialylation with a common set of questions through proteomic and glycobiological aspects.

Additionally, another important goal of our laboratory is to deliver low cost affordable healthcare to all using India’s vast resources of medicinal plants. Currently we had put lots of effort towards chemotherapeutic advancement in cancer since 2008. My group has identified a non-toxic herbal molecule alone/or extract/or in-combination with existing-known drugs showing great potential against an array of cancer cell lines/ cancer stem cells both in vitro and in vivo and even in hypoxic condition.

Honours & Awards

J.C. Bose National Fellow
2014-15: Acting Director, CSIR-IICB , Project Director, NIPER-Kolkata
2010-15: Head, CSIR-Innovation Complex, Kolkata
1981-2015: Scientist B to Scientist-H, CSIR-IICB
1978 -81: Post Doc, University of Pennsylavania, Philadelphia, USA
1974-78: Ph.D (Bio-Organic Chemistry), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Patents & Publications

A few selected Publications on cancer, sialoglycobiology of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA)

Cancer

Shalini Nath, Chhabinath Mandal, Uttara Chatterjee and Chitra Mandal (2017) Association of cytosolic sialidase Neu2 with plasma membrane enhances Fas-mediated apoptosis by impairing PI3K-Akt/mTOR-mediated pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. Cell Death and Diseases Accepted, 30th Nov 38/187 Cell Biology (In press).

Devawati Dutta, Ranjita Das, Chhabinath Mandal and Chitra Mandal. (2017) Structure-Based Kinase Profiling To Understand the Polypharmacological Behavior of Therapeutic Molecules. J Chem Inf Model. Dec 15. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.7b00227

Samarpan Maiti, Susmita Mondal, Eswara Murali Satyavarapu and Chitra Mandal (2017) mTORC2 regulates hedgehog pathway activity by promoting stability to Gli2 protein and its nuclear translocation. Cell Death and Disease (2017) 8, e2926; doi:10.1038/cddis.2017Nature Publishing Group

T. Aruna, Saraswati Kulkarnia, Manjusha Chakraborty, S. Senthil Kumara, N. Balajia, Chitra Mandal (2017) A comparative study on the synthesis and properties of suspension and solution precursor plasma sprayed hydroxyapatite coatings. Ceramics International 43,9715–9722

K Bhattacharya, S Maiti and Chitra Mandal (2016) PTEN negatively regulates mTORC2 formation and signalling in grade IV glioma via Rictor hyperphosphorylation at Thr1135 and direct the mode of action of an mTORC1/2 inhibitor. Oncogenesis, 5, e227; doi:10.1038/oncsis.2016.34

Mahua R Das, Arup K Bag, Shekhar Saha, Alok Ghosh, Sumit K Dey, Provas Das, Chitra Mandal, Subhankar Ray, Saikat Chakrabarti, Manju Ray and Siddhartha S Jana (2016) Molecular association of Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase and Pyruvate kinase M2 with Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in cancer cells. BMC Cancer, 16:152

Pintu Kumar Khan, Arnab Mahato, Biswanath Kundu, Samit K. Nandi, Prasenjit Mukherjee, Someswar Datta, Soumya Sarkar, Jayanta Mukherjee, Shalini Nath, Vamsi K. Balla & Chitra Mandal (2016) Influence of single and binary doping of strontium and lithium on in vivo biological properties of bioactive glass scaffolds. Scientific Reports, 6:32964 | DOI: 10.1038/srep32964

Aparajita Pal, Dipa Talukdar, Anirban Roy, Subhankar Ray, Asish Mallick, Chitra Mandal, Manju Ray (2015) Nanofabrication of methylglyoxal with chitosan biopolymer: a potential tool for enhancement of its anticancer effect” International Journal of Nanomedicine 10, 3499– 3518

Sayantani Sarkar, Chandan Mandal, Rajender Sangwan and Chitra Mandal(2014) Chk1/Chk2 couples with G2/M cell cycle arrest and perturbed canonical Wnt/β -catenin pathway to elicit apoptosis in pancreatic adenocarcinoma’ Endrocine Related Cancer, 21, 1-14

Ranjita Das, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Suman K Samanta, Bikas C Pal and Chitra Mandal(2014) Improved chemosensitivity in cervical cancer to cisplatin: synergistic activity of mahanine through STAT3 inhibition Cancer Letters 351, 81-90

Ranjita Das, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Sayantani Sarkar, Suman K Samanta, Bikas C Pal and Chitra Mandal, (2014). Mahanine synergistically enhances cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil through ROS-mediated activation of PTEN and p53/p73 in colon carcinoma Apoptosis 19:149-164

Bhattacharya K, Bag AK, Tripathi R, Samanta SK, Pal BC, Shaha C, Mandal Chitra, (2014). Mahanine, a novel mitochondrial complex-III inhibitor induces G0/G1 arrest through redox alteration-mediated DNA damage response and regresses glioblastoma multiforme. Am J Cancer Res. 4(6):629-47

Suman K. Samanta, Devawati Dutta, Sarita Roy, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Sayantani Sarkar, Bikas C. Pal, Chhabinath Mandal, Anjan K. Dasgupta and Chitra Mandal, (2013). Mahanine, a DNA minor grove binding agent exerts cellular cytotoxicity with involvement of C-7-OH and -NH functional groups. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 56:5709-21

Sarkar, D. Dutta, S.K Samanta, K. Bhattacharya, B.C Pal, J. Li, K. Datta, CN Mandal, and Chitra Mandal, (2013). Redox sensitive inhibition of Hsp90 coupled with disruption of super-chaperone complex attenuate pancreatic adenocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo Int. J. Cancer 132:695-706. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27687

Sarita Roy, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Chitra Mandal and Anjan K. Dasgupta (2013) Cellular response to chirality and amplified chirality. Journal of Materials Chemistry B. 1:6634-43 DOI: 10.1039/C3TB21322F

Susmita Mondal, K. Bhattacharya, A. Mallick, R. Sangwan and Chitra Mandal, (2012). Bak compensated for Bax in p53-null Cells to Release Cytochrome c for the Initiation of Mitochondrial Signaling during Withanolide D-induced Apoptosis. PLoS ONE 7(3): e34277. Epub 2012 Mar 29

Bhattacharya, S.K. Samanta, R. Tripathi, A. Mallick, S. Chandra, BC. Pal, C. Shaha and Chitra Mandal, (2010). Apoptotic effects of mahanine on human leukemic cells are mediated through cross talking between Apo-1/Fas signaling with Bid protein and via mitochondrial pathways. Biochemical Pharmacology79: 361-72

S Mondal, Chandan Mandal, RS, S Chandra, Chitra Mandal, (2010). Withanolide D induces apoptosis in leukemia by targeting the activation of neutral sphingomyelinase-ceramide cascade mediated by synergistic activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. Molecular Cancer9, 239

Chandan Mandal, A. Dutta, A. Mallick, S. Chandra, L. Misra, R. Sangwan and Chitra Mandal, (2008). Withaferin A induces apoptosis by activating p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade in leukemic cells of lymphoid and myeloid origin in a transcription-dependent manner through mitochondrial death cascade. Apoptosi 13, 1450-1464

A few selected publications on Proteomic and glycomic study of glycoconjugates induced on cancer cells and their modulation

Shalini Nath, Chhabinath Mandal, Uttara Chatterjee and Chitra Mandal (2017) Association of cytosolic sialidase Neu2 with plasma membrane enhances Fas-mediated apoptosis by impairing PI3K-Akt/mTOR-mediated pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. Cell Death and Diseases Accepted, 30th Nov 38/187 Cell Biology (In press).

Devawati Dutta, Chhabinath Mandal, Chitra Mandal. (2017) Unusual glycosylation of proteins: Beyond the universal sequon and other amino acids. BiochimBiophysActa.1861, 3096-3108

Chandan Mandal, Sayantani Sarkar, Uttara Chatterjee, Reinhard Schwartz-Albiez, Chitra Mandal, (2014) Disialoganglioside GD3-synthase over expression inhibits survival and angiogenesis of pancreatic cancer cells through cell cycle arrest at S-phase and disruption of integrin-β 1-mediated anchorage The Int J Biochem Cell Biol, May 16th pii: S1357-2725(14)00173-3

K Mehta, S Verma, S Mohanty, P. Jena, B. Khatua, R. Jena, S. Sethy, Chitra Mandal, (2014) K.H. Roehm, and A. Sonawane Mutations in subunit interface and B-cell epitopes improve antileukemic activities of Escherichia coli asparaginase-II: Evaluation of immunogenicity in mice. J. Biol. Chem 289, 35555-70

Bhattacharya, Kaushik; Chandra, Sarmila; Mandal, Chitra, (2014). Critical Stoichiometric ratio of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg and CD4+CD25- Tresp persuades immunosuppression in patient with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Immunology May; 142(1):124-39

Chandan Mandal and Chitra Mandal (2013). Identification and analysis of O-acetylated glycoproteins, A chapter in “ Methods in Molecular Biology” Chapter 6, Series Editor Dr. John Walker, Human Press, Springer publishing group, USA 981:57-93

Chandan Mandal, Chhabinath Mandal, S. Chandra, Schauer and Chitra Mandal(2012). Regulation of O-acetylation of sialic acids by sialate-O-acetyltransferase and sialate-O-acetylesterase activities in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia Glycobiology 22:70-83

Chitra Mandal, R. Schwartz-Albiez and R. Vlasak (2012). Functions and biosynthesis of O-acetylated sialic acids. A Review “ Topics in Current Chemistry” Volume: SialoGlyco Chemistry and Biology, Volume Editors: Rita Gerardy-Schahn, Philippe Delannoy, Mark von Itzstein, Feb 28, DOI: 10.1007/128_2011_310 2, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Mandal Chitra, Roychoudhury S, Roy S. (2011). Cancer research: India meets the West. Cell Death Differ. 18, 1675– 1677, Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/cdd.2011.85 [Epub ahead of print]

Chandan Mandal, C. Tringali, S. Mondal, L.A, S. Chandra, V. Burno and Chitra Mandal, (2010). Down-regulation of membrane-bound Neu3 is negatively correlated with disease progression and associated with apoptosis suppression of lymphoblasts in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. International J Cancer 126:337-349 (Impact factor 5.441)

Mukherjee, AK Chava, S. Bandyopadhyay, A. Mallick, S. Chandra, Chitra Mandal, (2009). Co-expression of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins and their binding proteins on lymphoblasts of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: an anti-apoptotic role. Biol Chemistry 390, 325-335
Chowdhury, S. Bandyopadhyay, Chandan Mandal, and S. Chandra, and Chitra Mandal, (2008). Flow-cytometric monitoring of disease-associated expression of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins in combination with known CD antigens, as an index for MRD in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a two-year longitudinal follow-up study BMC Cancer, 8, 40
Bandyopadhyay, A. Bhattacharyya, A.K. Sen, T. Das, G. Sa, D. K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2005). Over expressed IgG2 antibodies against O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates incapable of proper effector functioning in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) International Immunology 17, 177-91

Ghosh, S. Bandyopadhyay, S. Pal, B. Das, D.K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2005). Increased interferon gamma production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to stimulation of over expressed disease-specific 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates in children suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. British J Hematol 128: 35-41

Ghosh, S. Bandyopadhyay, A. Mullick, S. Pal, R. Vlasak, D.K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2005). Interferon gamma promotes survival of lymphoblasts over-expressing 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J. Cellular Biochemistry 95, 206-16

Bandyopadhyay, K. Mukherjee, M. Chatterjee, D.K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2005), Detection of immune-complexed 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates in the sera of patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J. Immunol Method 297, 13-26 (Impact factor 2.74)

Ghosh, D.K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2005). Altered erythrocyte membrane characteristics during anemia in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Ann Hematol 84, 76-84

Pal, S. Ghosh, S. Bandyopadhyay, C.N. Mandal, S. Bandhyopadhyay, D. K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2004). Differential expression of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates on leukemic blasts: a potential tool for long-term monitoring of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Internat. J. Cancer 111, 270-277

Pal, S. Bandhyopadhyay, M. Chatterjee, A.G. Hall, D.K. Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2004), Antibodies against 9-O-acetylated sialoglycans: a potent marker to monitor clinical status in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Clinical Biochem37, 395-403

Pal, S. Ghosh, C.N Mandal, G. Kohla, R. Brossmer, R Isecke, A. Merling, R. Schauer, R. Schwartz-Albiez, DK Bhattacharya and Chitra Mandal, (2004). Purification and characterization of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins from leukaemic cells and their potential as immunological tool for monitoring childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia Glycobiology 14, 859-870

Mandal Chitra, Chatterjee M, Sinha, D. (2000). Investigation of 9-O-Acetylated sialoglycocongugates in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. British J. 110, 801-812

Pal S, Chatterjee M, Bhattacharyya DK, Bandhyopadhyay S and Mandal Chitra (2000). Identification and purification of cytolytic antibodies directed against O-acetylated sialic acid in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 10, 539-549

Sinha D, Mandal Chitra and Bhattacharya DK, A colorimetric assay to evaluate the chemotherapeutic response of children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) employing achatinin: a 9-O acetylated sialic acid binding lectin. Leukemia Res. 23, 803-809(1999).

Sinha D, Mandal Chitra and Bhattacharya DK, Development of a simple, blood based lymphoproliferation assay to assess the clinical status of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia Research23, 433-439(1999).

Sinha D, Mandal Chitra and Bhattacharya DK, (1999). Identification of 9-O acetyl sialoglycoconjugates (9-OAcSGs) as biomarkers in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia using a lectin, AchatininH, as a probe. Leukemia, 13; 119-125 (Impact factor10.561)Corresponding author

Sinha D, Mandal Chitra and Bhattacharya DK, (1999). A novel method for prognostic evaluation of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia, 13, 309-312 (Impact factor 10.561)Corresponding author

Understanding sialoglycobiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) for their survival in host

Biswajit Khatua, Jeremy Van Vleetb, Biswa Pronab Choudhuryb, Chitra Mandal, Sialylation of OprD protein: A mechanistic basis of antibiotic uptake in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 13(6):1412-28. Impact factor 7.4 (2014). 5yrs average IF 8.4

Biswajit Khatua, Saptarshi Roy and Chitra Mandal, Sialic acids siglec interaction: A unique strategy to circumvent innate immune response by pathogens. An invited review Indian Journal of Medical Research138(5):648-62(2013).

Khatua, K. Bhattacharya, Chitra Mandal, α 2, 3 linked Sialic acids acquired by Pseudomonas aeruginosa facilitate their survival by impeding neutrophil extracellular trap through siglec-9. Journal of Leucocyte Biology, 91, 641-55. Epub Jan 11 (2012) (Impact factor 4.992)

Khatua B, Ghoshal A, Bhattacharya K, Mandal Chandan, Saha B, Crocker PR, Mandal Chitra. (2010). Sialic acids acquired by Pseudomonas aeruginosa are involved in reduced complement deposition and siglec mediated host-cell recognition. FEBS Lett. 584, 555-561 Impact factor 3.60

Role of glycosylations/unique sialylation on host immune cells and parasite specific biomolecules in visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and their immunological role in host-pathogen interaction

Saptarshi Roy, Devawati Dutta, Eswara M Satyavarapu, Pawan K Yadav, Chhabinath Mandal, Susanta Kar, Chitra Mandal (2017) Mahanine exerts in vitro and in vivo antileishmanial activity by modulation of redox homeostasis. Scientific Reports

A Mandal, S Das, A Kumar, S. Roy, S Verma, A K Ghosh, R Singh, K Abhishek, S Saini, A H Sardar, B Purkait, A Kumar, Chitra Mandal, Pradeep Das (2017) Cationic Amino Acid Transporter 2 Mediated L-arginine Transport Regulate Leishmania donovani Survival Inside Macrophage: Modulation of Arginase-iNOS Balance. Frontiers in Immunology, section Microbial Immunology

Tripathi CD, Kushawaha PK, Sangwan RS, Chitra Mandal, Misra-Bhattacharya S, Dube A (2017) Withania somnifera chemotype NMITLI 101R significantly increases the efficacy of antileishmanial drugs by generating strong IFN-γ and IL-12 mediated immune responses in Leishmania donovani infected hamsters. Phytomedicine. 2017 Jan 15; 24:87-95. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2016.11.012.

Saptarshi Roy and Chitra Mandal (2016)Leishmania donovani utilize sialic acids for binding and phagocytosis in the macrophages through selective utilization of siglecs and impair the innate immune arm. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004904 August 5, 2016

Mandal A, Das S, Roy S, Ghosh AK, Sardar AH, Verma S, Saini S, Singh R, Kumar A, Mandal Chitra and Das P (2016) Deprivation of L-Arginine induces Oxidative stress mediated Apoptosis in Leishmania donovani Promastigotes: Contribution of the Polyamine pathway. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016, 10, e0004373. Impact factor 4.45

Kumar GA, Roy S, Jafurulla M, Mandal Chitra, Chattopadhyay A (2016) Statin-induced chronic cholesterol depletion inhibits Leishmania donovani infection: Relevance of optimum host membrane cholesterol. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1858(9):2088-96

Bag AK, Saha S, Sundar S, Saha B, Chakrabarti A, Mandal Chitra, (2014) Comparative proteomics and glycoproteomics of plasma proteins in Indian visceral leishmaniasis. Proteome Sci. 12 (1):48This work has been highlighted in Aalatimes English News paper (aalatimes.com/2012/11/20/Indin-scientists-unravel-secret-behind-hospital-infection)

Sajal Samanta, Angana Ghoshal, Kaushik Bhattacharya, Bibhuti Saha, Peter Walden and Chitra Mandal Sialoglycosylation of RBC in visceral leishmaniasis leads to enhanced oxidative stress, calpain-induced fragmentation of spectrin and hemolysis PLoS ONE 7(7):e42361.doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042361. Epub 2012 Jul 31(2012).

A Ghoshal, G.J. Gerwig, J.P. Kamerling, and Chitra Mandal (2010) Sialic acids in different Leishmania spp., its correlation with nitric oxide resistance and host responses. Glycobiology 20: 553-66.

Jain R, Ghoshal A, Mandal Chitra, Shaha C. (2010) Leishmania cell surface prohibitin: role in host-parasite interaction. Cell Microbiol. 12, 432-52.

Ghoshal, S. Mukhopadhyay, R. Demine, M. Forgber, S. Jarmalavicius, B. Saha, S. Sundar, P. Walden, Chhabinath Mandal and Chitra Mandal (2009) Detection and characterization of a sialoglycosylated bacterial ABC-type phosphate transporter protein from patients with visceral leishmaniasis. Glycocon J 26, 675-89. (Impact factor 7.446)

Ansar, S. Mukhopadhyay, S. Basu, SK.H. Habib, B. Saha, A.K Sen, and Chitra Mandal (2009) Disease-associated glycosylated moleclar variants of human C-reactive protein activate complement-mediated hemolysis of erythrocytes in tuberculosis and Indian Visceral leishmaniasis. Glycocon J26, 1151

Ghoshal, S. Mukhopadhyay, B. Saha and Chitra Mandal(2009) 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoproteins: Important immunomodulators in Indian visceral leishmaniasis, Clinical and Vaccine Immunology 18, 889-898

Ghoshal, S. Mukhopadhyay, GJ. Gerwig, J.P. Kamerling, M. Chatterjee, Chitra Mandal (2009) 9-O-acetylated sialic acids enhance entry of virulent Leishmania donovani promastigotes into macrophages, Parasitology. 15:1-15.

Ghoshal, S. Mukhopadhyay nee Bandyopadhyay and Chitra Mandal (2008) sialoglycotherapeutics in protozoal diseases. Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, Bentham Science Publishers, 8, 358-369

Mukhopadhyay nee Bandyopadhyay S and Chitra Mandal (2006) Glycobiology of leishmania donovani. Indian J. Medical Res 123, 203-220

K. Chava, M. Chatterjee, and Chitra Mandal (2005) O-acetyl sialic acids in parasitic diseases, in a “ Hand book of carbohydrate engineering” Edited by Kevin J. Yarema; published by Taylor and Francis Group, book division, USA in Chapter 3, 71-98

Dutta A, Chitra Mandal and M. Chatterjee (2005) Development of a modified MTT assay for screening antimonial resistant field isolates of Indian visceral leishmaniasis. Parasitology International 54, 119-22

Bandyopadhyay, M. Chatterjee, T. Das, S. Bandyopadhyay, S. Sundar and Chitra Mandal (2004) Antibodies directed against O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates accelerate complement activation in Leishmania donovani promastigotes. J. Infect disease 190, 2010-2019

Bandyopadhyay, M. Chatterjee, S. Pal, RF Waller, S. Sundar, M. McConville and Chitra Mandal (2004) Antibodies against O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates; their purification, characterization and application as a novel probe for diagnosis and follow up of Indian Visceral Leishmaniasis patients Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease 49, 15-24

K Chava, M. Chatterjee, V. Sharma, S. Sundar and Chitra Mandal (2004) Variable Degree of alternative complement pathway– mediated hemolysis in Indian visceral leishmaniasis Induced by Differential Expression of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycans, Journal of Infectious Disease 189, 1257-1264

K. Chava, M. Chatterjee, GJ. Gerwig, JP. Kamerling and Chitra Mandal (2004) Identification of sialic acids on leishmania donovani amastigotes, Biol. Chem 385, 59-66

K. Chava, S. Bandyopadhyay, M. Chatterjee, and Chitra Mandal (2004) Sialoglycans in protozoal diseases; their detection, modes of acquisition and emerging biological roles, a review in Glycoconjugate J 20, 199-206

Bandyopadhyay, M. Chatterjee, S. Sundar and Chitra Mandal (2004) Identification of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycans on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in Indian visceral leishmaniasis. Glycoconjugate J20, 531-536

Chatterjee, AK Chava, G. Kohla, S. Pal, S. Hinderlich, GJ. Gerwig, JP. Kamerling, R. Vlasak, PR. Crocker, R. Schauer, R. Schwartz- Albiez and Chitra Mandal (2003) Identification and characterization of adsorbed serum sialoglycans on leishmania donovani promastigotes. Glycobiology 13, 351-361

K. Chava., M. Chatterjee, S. Sundar and Chitra Mandal (2002) Development of an assay for quantification of linkage-specific O-acetylated sialoglycans on erythrocytes; its application in Indian visceral leishmnaiasis J. Immunol. Meth. 270, 1-10

Sharma V, Chatterjee M, Sen G, Ch. Anil Kumar and Mandal Chitra (2000) Role of linkage specific 9-O-acetylated sialoglycoconjugates in activation of the alternate complement pathway on mammalian erythrocytes. Glycoconjugate J. 17:22

Chatterjee M., Baneth G, Jaffe C L, Sharma V and Mandal Chitra (1999) Diagnostic and prognostic potential of antibodies against O-acetylated sialic acids in canine visceral leishmaniasis” Veterinary Immunol. Immunopathol, 70, 55-65

Chatterjee M., Jaffe C.L, Shyam S, Basu D, Sen S and Mandal Chitra (1999) Diagnostic and Prognostic potential of a Competitive Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay for Leishmaniasis. Diagnos. Lab. Immunol6, 550-554

Chatterjee M., Sharma V., Mandal Chitra, Sundar S, and Sen S. (1998) Identification of antibodies directed against O-acetylated sialic acids in Visceral Leishmaniasis: its diagnostic and prognostic role. Glycoconjugate J. 15, 1141-1147.

Sharma V, Chatterjee M, Mandal Chitra, Sen S, Basu D. (1998). Rapid diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis using Achatinin-H, a 9-O-acetylated sialic acid binding lectin. Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 58, 551-554.

Contact
Main Campus*
cmandal@iicb.res.in
+91-33-24995-717
Room # 304, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4 Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata - 700032,

Webpage

Research Group
Ranjita Das, RA
Eswara Murali Satyavarapu, RA
Prasun Sinha, PA
C. Palanivelu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*Dr C. Palanivelu**Born*
Avarankattupudur, Paramathi Velur, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India
*Occupation GastroenterologistParent(s) ChinnusamyAwards Lifetime Achievement Award International congress on cancer 2016**Website Not Available*

Dr. C Palanivelu is well known gastroenterologist in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He was born to poor farm workers from the village Avarankattupudur in Paramathi Velur, Namakkal.

Innovations*He invented new technique for cancer esophagus in esophagectomy. This procedure named after him and called "Palanivelu’s technique of esophagectomy".Laparoscopic Whipple operation for cancer Pancreas first to perform and completed first time in the world.Choledochalcyst laparoscopic excision & HepatojejunostomyHydatid cyst excision ( palanivelu’s hydatid trocar system )Single incision colorectal cancer resection ( SAGES award winning operation)**Gastrectomy for cancer stomach (Key note address Japanese society 2006)*

Awards

He has been awarded "Life Time achievement" for his contribution in field of cancer. He also the recipient of the highest honour of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom in appreciation of his scientific contribution in the field of minimal access surgery at global level.

Dr.B.C.Roy National Award : Government of India recognised and bestowed upon him Dr BC Roy National Award under the category of development of specialty medicine namely laparoscopic surgery in 2006 & Eminent Medical Person category in 2016.

International Olympic Silver medal winner : First Indian to win International Olympic Silver Medal for surgery which was held at Phoenix US In 2009. Sages and JSES jointly organised international Olympic surgery in MAS which was held at Phoenix Texas first ever in history of surgery.

Best paper award winner : 6 th World congress of Endoscopic surgeons , Rome , Italy 1998. Best paper award for the paper "Laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy.

First Indian to win Best Video award in EAES : 16th European Best video award and first prize 2500 Euros in 2007. First Indian and only Indian to win award till now.

Best Technique Award International Society for Diseases of Esophagus : During 10th world congress of ISDE International Society for Diseases of Esophagus, Kagoshima Japan 2010.

Honorary Fellowship - Honorio causa : Recipient of Honorary Fellowship of medicine " Honorary Causa" 2014 by the San American university, Lima PERU, the oldest university in the world formed in the year 1551.

Gold Medal in honor : Kazhaskhan National Association of Medicine "Gold Medal" in honor significant contribution for development of surgery during

Pan Russian countries Medical conference in 2013 at Astana.

Top Two Great Surgeons : First Indian honoured by European Association of Endoscopic Surgeons for Significant contribution to development of Laparoscopic Surgery during World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery at Paris June 2014. 1. Prof Palanivelu India 2. Prof John Hunter USCharity

*Not forgotten his background, he goes to villages regularly to organise free camps and select patients for free operations through GEM Medical Foundation a charitable organisation.**GEM Digestive Diseases Foundation*

To serve the needy and economically backward common public.Conduction of 65 in house periodic free medical camps.Bearing of all the medical expenses.Provision of high tech medical facilities and treatment at free / affordable cost.Served 47,526 of patients till now 3,485 of free laparoscopic surgeries.Financial assistance for poor students to persuade education.GEM Mobile Clinic - "To reach the unreachable"

*Conduction of free medical camps in rural areas.Early detection of diseases.Awareness creation in public health issues.Incorporates eminent expert team of doctors.Equipped with modern scientific tools.Facilitated with laboratory, ultrasonology and endoscopy.Free checkup, free treatment.**Establishment of first Preventive gastroenterology Clinic*

To create awareness among the public in prevention.For early detection.For health education.Cancer screening.Obesity clinic.

Health Education

*To make everyone realize "Prevention is better than cure"Health care awareness creation via lectures, meetings and media journals, dailies, magazines and television.A serial of lectures in Doordarshan - "Vayirae Nalama", 2005Major issues for discussion: Obesity and GI Malignancies aiming Prevention, early detection, cure.Public health education.Periodic Hepatitis-B Awareness and free vaccination.programmes every year one month in August.**GEM Nursing Education*

For brilliant, poor female students food, accommodation, college fees and transport are all made free for studying B.Sc Nursing.
Debraj Roy
Debraj Roy is an Assistant professor at the Computational Science Lab, University of Amsterdam. He is also a guest researcher at the Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainable Development (CSTM) at the Faculty of Behavioural, Social and Management Science, University of Twente. Debraj is part of the vibrant group of 18 early career researchers across 4 Dutch technical universities supported by the 4TU.DeSIRE - the Strategic Research Program on Resilience, the Netherlands. Debraj holds a PhD degree in Computational Social Science from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and has two years of postdoctoral research experience at the University of Amsterdam.

Debraj has a strong passion for understanding how cities ‘emerge’ due to uncoordinated self-organization and how inequality is shaped in this era of rapid urbanization. His current research focuses on understanding the dynamics of poverty traps and on the development of novel computational methods for designing poverty alleviation pathways through regime-shifts. His previous research presented the first step towards a new generation of computational tools that uses complex systems theory and participatory demographic surveys in the management of informal settlements on the Global South. At CSTM, Debraj also studies the nexus between climate change and poverty traps - whether climate change could widen or deepen poverty traps.

He has been active in the open exchange of data and models for the scientific community and dissemination of research results to the general public (Open Science). In this page, you can see his current projects and research interests.

2003 - 2007

Visvesvaraya Technological University
Bachelor of Engineering

Urban Complexity
Strategy-making in a relational world.

Complex Systems Theory
Order, complexity and Chaos

2012 - 2016

Nanyang Technological University
Doctor of Philosophy

Agent-Based Modelling
Modelling your world bottom-up.

2016 - 2019

University of Amsterdam
Postdoctoral Researcher

Population Dynamics
Segregation, migration, inequality and identities.
Dorairajan Balasubramanian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dorairajan Balasubramanian
Born 28 August 1939

Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater BITS, Pilani
Occupation Biophysical chemist
Years active since 1965
Known for Ocular biochemistry
Spouse(s) Shakti
Children Katyayani
Akhila
Awards Padma Shri
National Order of Merit (France)
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Third World Academy of Science Award
Khwarizmi Award
UNESCO Kalinga Prize
INSA Indira Gandhi Prize
DST National Prize
Goyal Prize
INSA J. C. Bose Medal
Om Prakash Bhasin Award
IACS Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar Prize
Fukui Award
Ranbaxy Research Award
SBCI Sarma Memorial Award
FICCI Award
ICMR M. O. T. Iyengar Award
Rev. Fr. L. M. Yeddanapalli Memorial Award
Website Profile on Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

Dorairajan Balasubramanian, popularly known as Professor Balu, is an Indian biophysical chemist and ocular biochemist. He is a former President of Indian Academy of Sciences and a Director of Research at the Prof. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre of L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. A recipient of the National Order of Merit (France), Balasubramanian was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri

Biography

Dorairajan Balasubramanian was born on 28 August 1939 in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He graduated in Chemistry (BSc) from Madras University in 1957 and secured his master's degree (MSc) in Chemistry with first rank in 1959 from BITS, Pilani. He moved to the United States in 1960 for researching for his doctoral studies and completed it in 1965 to obtain PhD in biophysical chemistry from Columbia University He continued in the United States for his post doctoral research as a Jane Coffin Childs Fund Fellow at the University of Minnesota Medical School till 1966.

Balasubramanian returned to India in 1966 and joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur as a lecturer where he rose in ranks over the years to become an assistant professor and a professor. In 1977, he was appointed as the professor and dean of the School of Chemistry at the University of Hyderabad where he worked till 1982 when he took up the post of the deputy director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. He retired from the institution as its director in 1998 and moved to L. V. Prasad Eye Institute where he is the director of research of Prof. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre. He also serves as the visiting professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and as the adjunct professor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

Balasubramanian is married to Shakti who is associated with E TV as a producer and the couple has two daughters. The elder daughter, Katyayani is a research analyst and the younger one, Akhila works as a public health professional. The family lives in Hyderabad.

Positions

Balasubramanian is a visiting scientist at the National Eye Institute, Bethesda and is a senior Fellow of ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne. He is the chairman of the Task Force on Stem Cell Research set up by the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India. He is a former president of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2007-2010) and is the incumbent the chairman of the Biotechnology Advisory Council of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. A former secretary general of The World Academy of Sciences, he has served as the project coordinator of Translational Centre in Eye Diseases of Champalimaud Foundation (C-TRACER) and the Affordable Healthcare Project of the Wellcome Trust for finding solutions for the use of scaffolds for cultivating stem cells. He is a former member of the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, the International Basic Sciences Panel of UNESCO and the International Chapter Affiliate Committee of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), United States. He has also served as an editorial board member of several international journals.

Legacy
Cataract in human eye
Ginko tree
Withania

Balasubramanian started his research activities in 1965 focusing on the structure and functions of proteins and polypeptides and worked on the thermodynamic analysis of their stability. The focus of his research changed in 1984/85 when he started to work on ocular science and concentrated on crystallins of eye lens and their function as an agent in keeping the lens transparent His research revealed how cataract is caused when crystallins are damaged photochemically, thereby leading to diminished lenticular transparency. He argued that the oxidative stress on the lens induces covalent chemical changes in the constituent molecules and these changes lead to cataract.He researched further on the subject to find out that, by supplementing antioxidants and cytoprotective substances, the progression of cataract can be slowed down. These findings are known to have introduced a prophylactic approach to addressing the issue of cataract, which is reported to be the causal factor for 47.9 percent of the blindness in the world. Further, he attempted to identify the cataractostatic agents and proposed the benefits of tea polyphenols, Ginko Biloba and Withania somnifera extracts. These substances contained antioxidants and cytoprotective compounds which slow down the progression of oxidative cataract and this was verified during experiments in animals.
Advanced vision loss from Glaucoma.

After the turn of the century, Balasubramanian and his colleagues started working on inherited eye diseases and their molecular genetics. The group carried out research on diseases such as congenital glaucoma with a sampling set of over 400 families and this has helped in revealing 15 mutations in the gene CYP1B1, with mutation R368H being the most common one. The research has also recorded the genotype-phenotype correlations and the structural changes occur in mutated protein and these findings have assisted in clinical prediction of the disease and in early therapeutic intervention to avert blindness.

Balasubramanian is now working on stem cell biology and its use in restoring lost vision. He and his group have been successful in isolating the adult stem cells found in the limbus, around the cornea, and culturing them on human amniotic membrane. These cultured stem cells were, later, used to produce corneal epithelia that can be stitched on to human eye. Clinical tests on 200 patients who lost eyesight due to chemical or fire burns returned significantly good results with vision restoration to 20/20 levels, with or without subsequent corneal grafts or transplantation. These tests are reported to be the largest successful human trial of adult stem cell therapy in the world.

Balasubramanian has published 6 books of which two books, one on chemistry and the other in biotechnology, are prescribed text books for academic studies. He is credited with over 450 articles, published in peer reviewed national and international journals and Microsoft Academic Search, an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 52 of them. He has presented more than 170 scientific papers and has contributed in popularizing science by writing columns in leading newspapers such as The Hindu and The Times of India since 1980. On the academic front, he has assisted 16 doctoral students in their PhD studies. His efforts are also reported behind the establishment of a vaccine unit at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and in designing a quality improvement program for the Sericulture Laboratory of the state government.

Awards and recognitions
Padma Shri India IIIe Klasse
Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (France)

Dorairajan Balasubramanian, an honorary Professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, is an elected member of Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina,[8] Germany, Mauritian Academy of Sciences[8] and the International Molecular Biology Network.

He has delivered many award lectures in India and abroad. In 1985, he delivered the National Lecture of the University Grants Commission and the next year, the Prof. K. Venkataraman Endowment Lecture. K. S. G. Doss Memorial Lecture and the SERC National Lecture were delivered in 1991 followed by Pasteur Centenary Lecture, R. P. Mitra Memorial Lecture and the Platinum Jubilee Lecture of the Indian Science Congress Association in 1995. Some of the other award lectures given by Balasubramanian are:

Madurai Kamaraj University Convocation Address
Ranganathan Centre for Information Studies Annual Lecture
J. C. Ray Memorial Oration Award
C. V. Raman Lecture
B. C. Guha Memorial Lecture
Lily Pithavadian Endowment Lecture
BHU Foundation Lecture
TNAU-MFL Endowment Lecture
Kumari L. A. Meera Memorial Lecture
Prof. McBain Memorial Lecture
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany Foundation Day Lecture
Jana Reddy Venkata Reddy Endowment Lecture
Sri Venugopal Oration Medical Research Foundation Lecture
Elite School of Optometry Convocation Address Foundation Day Lecture
Dr. P. S. Murthy Memorial Lecture
Dr. Ram Mohan Rao Oration
Dr. K. Gopalakrishna Oration

Balasubramanian received his first award, the Rev. Fr. L. M. Yeddanapalli Memorial Award and Medal of the Indian Chemical Society in 1977. In 1981, he was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in chemical science by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The year 1983 brought him three awards, the SBCI Sarma Memorial Award, FICCI Award and the ICMR M. O. T. Iyengar Award. He received the Ranbaxy Award in 1990, the Fukui Award of the National Foundation for Eye Research, United States, in 1991 and Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar Prize from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in 1994.

The Third World Academy of Science honoured Balasubramanian with the TWAS Prize in 1995 and Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST) conferred the Khwarizmi Award of Iran on him in 1996. He received the Om Prakash Bhasin Award and the Kalinga Prize in 1997 and the next year, he received Goyal Prize of the Goyal Research Foundation and J. C. Bose Medal of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). The Government of India honoured him with the civilian award of Padma Shri in 2002. The Government of France followed suit with the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Merite, the same year. He received a third award in 2002 from the Department of Science and Technology, the National Prize for Science Popularization. He is also a recipient of the INSA Indira Gandhi Prize and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Award for Achievement in Science of the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
दादाजी खोब्रागड़े

कृषिरत्न, कृषिभूषण

विश्वप्रसिद्ध एचएमटी धान (चावल) समेत अन्य 8 से अधिक धान की नई प्रजातियों के संशोधक च्रदपुर नांदेड़ निवासी 80 वर्षीय कृषिरत्न, कृषिभूषण दादाजी खोब्रागड़े पैरालिसिस के कारण दुःखद निधन हुआ। पिछले कुछ महिनों से पैरालिसिस के कारण उनपर इलाज चल रहा था. स्‍थानीय नीजि अस्‍पताल 'सर्च' में वे में भरती थे. साल 2015 में उन्हें अर्धागवायु अर्थात पैरालिसिस का अटैक आया था.

आज अगर आप 'बिग बाजार' या 'डी मार्ट' जैसे बीग ब्रांड ग्रोसरी माल में जाते है तो राईस सेक्‍शन में आपको एचएमटी राईस की कई वरायटी मिलेंगी. उन्‍होंने विकसित की हुई एचएमटी धान ने भारत में चावल की फसल में क्रांतिकारी बदलाव लाया है. मध्‍यभारत के एक लाख हेक्‍टर से ज्‍यादा जमीनपर यह एचएमटी धान उगाया जाता है.

चंद्रपुर जिले की नागभीड़ तहसील के गांव नांदेड़ निवासी अनुसूचित जाति में जन्‍में कृषि मजदूर दादाजी रामाजी खोब्रागड़े सिर्फ 3 री कक्षा तक की शिक्षा अर्जित कर पाए थे। थोड़ी-सी जमीन में परंपरागत पद्धति से धान की फसल लेकर और बचे हुए समय में मजदूरी कर उनका परिवार गुजारा करता था। कुछ नया करने की चाह में दादाजी हर चीज का गहनता से अध्ययन करते थे। जिससे उनकी निरीक्षण शक्ति बढ़ी।

परंपरागत धान प्रजाति से अलग धान प्रजाति का उत्पादन करने का विचार मन में आते ही उन्होंने वर्ष 1983 को पटेल-3 नामक धान प्रजाति की फसल बोयी। उसमें उन्हें तीन अलग-अलग किस्म के धान के बीज मिले।

उन्होंने तीन वर्ष में कड़ी मेहनत कर धान की नई प्रजातियां तैयार कीं। उस वक्त इन प्रजातियों के धान का नाम रखे बिना ही इन्हें बाजार में बिक्री के लिए लाया गया। व्यापारियों ने जब उनसे इस धान के नाम पूछे तो उन्होंने इसका नाम उस समय की प्रसिद्ध घड़ी HMT बता दिया। तब से सामने आई HMT चावल की नई प्रजाति।

इससे दादाजी खोब्रागड़े HMT चावल के जनक के रूप में सुप्रसिद्ध हुए।

कृषि क्षेत्र में दिए गए योगदान के लिए महाराष्‍ट्र राज्य सरकार ने 2006 में कृषि क्षेत्र के सर्वोच्च पुरस्कार कृषि रत्न से उन्हें सम्मानित किया।

5 जनवरी 2005 को अहमदाबाद में तत्कालीन राष्ट्रपति डा. एपीजे अब्दुल कलाम के हाथों उनका अनुसंधान के लिए सम्मानित किया गया।

2010 में अंतरराष्ट्रीय फोब्र्स मैग्जीन ने विश्व के सर्वोत्तम ग्रामीण उद्योजकों की सूची में स्थान देकर उन्हें सम्मानित किया था।

वर्ष 1990 से लेकर 2015 तक वे अनेक पुरस्कारों से नवाजे गए।

भारत एवं विश्‍व की तमाम अखबारों की सुर्खियों में रहें दादाजी भारत सरकार के विज्ञान एवं प्रौद्योगिकी विभाग क स्‍वायत्‍त संस्‍थान राष्‍ट्रीय नवप्रवर्तन प्रतिष्‍ठान के राष्‍ट्रीय अन्‍वेषकों की सूचि में गर्व से शामिल हैं.

साल 2015 में उन्हें अर्धागवायु अर्थात पैरालिसिस का अटैक आया और उनका काम वहीं रुक गया।

किसानों एवं युवा कृषि संशोधकों के ल‍िए दादाजी खोब्रागड़े आदर्श है एवं प्रेरणास्‍थान हैं. उन्‍होंने एचएमटी, विजय नांदेड, नांदेड 92, नांदेड हिरा, डीआरके, नांदेड चेन्नूर, नांदेड दीपक, काटे एचएमटी आणि डीआरके 2 यह नौ धान प्र‍जाति विकसित की. उनकेे द्वारा व‍िकस‍ित धान किसानों के लिए कम जमीनपर ज्‍यादा फसल उगाने में क्रांतिकारी साबित हुई. उनके निधन से देश ने एक प्रतिभाशाली कृषि संशोधक खोया है.

एमएनटी न्‍यूज नेटवर्क उन्‍हें विनम्र अभिवादन करता है.

From-MNT News Network
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1894621500828502&id=1703045756652745

Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade in English

68-yr-old Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade is a Indian Buddhist farmer with a grouse. Ten years ago he shot to fame for breeding a variety of rice called Hmt which went on to become one of the highest yielding varieties in the region.It even became popular in neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In Maharashtra it is grown in over 6,88,000 hectares ..
Dadaji Khobragade, HMT Rice Variety Developer

” When my neighbours took it to the market to sell it, the traders could immediately tell this was different variety and asked for its name. One of the farmers was wearing an Hmt watch and decided to call the rice variety that. Eversince it been called Hmt rice”.

Grassroots innovation like Khobragade’s are classic example of necessity being the mother of invention. And yet he is a bitter man today. While the seeds he helped develop sell for as much as 1500 rupees a quintal he’s got nothing. Leave alone money even recognition seems to be taking its time finding him.

By 1994 when Hmt became a rage with paddy farmers as far as Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The local agricultural university took 5 Kgs kg of HMT seeds from Khobragade saying that the rice station wanted to experiment with it. In 1998, the university released a new variety in the State called Pkv hmt after the researchers say they “purified” the seed they had obtained from Khobragade.

Sharad Nimbalkar, Vc Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth says”The original seed may have come from Khobragade but now it is entirely the University’s intellectual property.”

In a tragic twist of fortunes. Khobragade has fallen on hard time. He has to work for daily wages to support his seven-member family but his grassroots research has helped fellow farmers.

Dadaji Khobragade, Rice Variety Developer says “I have worked very hard to develop this new variety of paddy. I though this will help me and my family economically. But today we lead a hard life due to poverty.”

Bhimrao Shende, Neighbour says ” In 1990 we all had haystack roofs… Now we have pucca roofs and better homes and our village’s economic condition has improved because of his high yield producing seeds”.

Khobragade has not lost hope. He showed us his six new varieties of rice. Each of them carefully framed and labelled. One of them is called Drk after himself. He’s asked the government to convince the university to allow him to claim royalty for his variety of rice.

Pic1: D R Khobragade indiginious research thesis, who is going to hear him?
Nagpur: He fought for his rights but could never quite get his due. Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade, the inventor of HMT-Sona and ten other popular rice varieties died on Sunday at the Search hospital in Gadchiroli. The Dalit farmer, who won global acclaim for his innovations, had suffered a crippling paralytic attack a month ago.

He is survived by his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

The 80-year-old had been unwell for the past six months. He was frail and his listening capabilities were hampered.

For his work and farm innovations, Dadaji earned a lot of goodwill and support from many quarters including institutions and individuals. This was something that kept pushing him to work, even in his old age.

Dadaji was active until last year when he would make at least one visit to his farm every day. The veteran stopped working when his body would no longer back up his mind and his ideas.

During his childhood, he reared the village cattle and could never go to school. As an adult, he invented 11 popular rice varieties that occupy vast stretches of paddy land in central India.

HMT-Sona gives an average yield of 40–45 quintals per hectare and has short grains, high rice recovery and good aroma. The variety is now marketed in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Chinnour, Nanded-92, Nanded-Hira, Vijay-Nanded, Dipak-Ratna and the latest DRK-I and II, were some of his other finds with an average yield of about 20 quintals per acre in rain-fed conditions.

For many years, the octogenarian lived in a dingy hut in Chandrapur’s Nanded village. A few years ago, with the money from his awards and help from a few people, Dadaji built a house that also became his seed godown. Awards, medals and citations would hang by the walls in a room.

He first shot to fame when he accused the state-run Punjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) for taking credit for the brand that he had originally bred on his farm and given to the university scientists. This was in early 2000s.

While Dadaji claimed the PKV had appropriated his variety, the PKV held that sourced it from him and significantly improved the variety with their scientific inputs. The issue remains unresolved till date. PKV never officially gave Dadaji his credit in its varietal release proposal.

The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) recognised his work in 2003-04 and the Maharashtra government gave him the Krishi Bhushan and Krishi Ratna awards for his innovations. One of his varieties called Chinnour is akin to the Basmati of the north. He named his latest variety after himself: DRK.

In 2010, Dadaji’s name figured in the Forbes list of top seven Indian rural entrepreneurs, after it was picked up by the IIM-Ahmadabad professor and founder of the Honey Bee Network Anil Gupta. Dadaji could not make any sense of what it meant. “I am happy, but I don’t know what it means to me and to my fellow farmers,” he said.

When I first met Dadaji in August 2005, he recounted to me a number of heists that took place on his farm every day. Someone stole pumpkins one day; the other day, it would be a wooden cot that he kept for himself. In summers, people stole wild berries and even rice.

He wasn’t bothered about those thefts as much as he was about the fact that the PKV never quite officially acknowledged the HMT-Sona as his discovery. Even the name was given by Dadaji when he went to the market in Mul town, back in early 1990, and a trader asked him to suggest a name for the rice variety.

“I’d wear an HMT-Sona watch on my wrist,” Dadaji recounted in my first interview. “I looked at it and told the trader ‘let it be named HMT-Sona’.” It took the consumers by a storm for its fragrance and taste.

In 1983, Dadaji noticed three yellow-coloured strains of paddy corns in his farm. “They were different," he told me. The innovator preserved them and sowed them again on his farm the following year. The rice it yielded was soft and tasty with better oil contents. He repeated the process over seven years with the selection method. A decade later, it became a hit with the local farmers.

Dadaji had bred this particular variety from the Patel-3 variety that he would plant on his fields. He had an eye for the best grain and a heart for farming. As his son Mitrajeet would once tell us: “Dadaji spoke to his paddy strains as if they were his kids, softly and lovingly.”

He was uneducated, but he was deeply inspired by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Dadaji was a Mahar by caste and an Ambedkarite by political belief. “I stopped skinning the cattle on the call of Dr Ambedkar,” he once told me. “I never got to see Babasaheb, but my generation came out of our past shadows because of him.”

During one of our interactions at his home, Dadaji told me how he was landless once. “This present land is my daughter-in-law’s land. One-and-a-half acres, it came to her as property from her side.” That land had dual purposes — it was his family’s sustenance and his lab.

“No one told ever me how to breed the varieties; I kept doing it out of my love for the best grains.”

Like a true parent breeder, he could separate the real from the fake. “This is not my rice,” he once told me of a variety I had taken to him. A Nagpur grocer sold it as HMT-Sona. Dadaji said it wasn’t.

He gave me a few kgs of the original, the rice he had found on his farm and bettered it. It tasted much better and was qualitatively different from the one I had bought from a shop in my home city.

Dadaji once tried experimenting with paddy and turmeric as an inter-cropping system on his farm. He succeeded with the yields but held commodity prices were a key factor. “Farmers will remain poor unless they get remunerative prices and capital to start allied activities,” he told me.

In 2006, Dadaji took on the Vilasrao Deshmukh-government for having gifted him with a fake gold medal. Dadaji discovered that a 14-carat gold medal that he got from the government as part of the Krishi-Bhushan award package was actually made of sub-standard silver whose value was no more than Rs 500. “I am shocked,” an agitated Dadaji said then. “Why insult us like this?”

Dadaji was presented a 50 gram 14-carat gold medal, cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation from the Maharashtra Governor for his achievement. “I used all my cash awards to buy some land for research work.” When he wanted to sell the gold medal to buy a motor-pump, he was told the medal was actually a dud.

Dadaji returned his award in anger, prompting other medallists to return their awards and the state government to launch an inquiry and apologise to the farmers by reinstating their awards with original gold medals. Dadaji favoured the intellectual property rights to be bestowed upon farmers like him.

Seed savers like him were crucial to food security and seed diversity, he once told me at his home. “Farmers must not merely complain of the problems,” he held. “They should also try to be a solution.”

(The author is a Nagpur-based journalist and a volunteer for the People’s Archive of Rural India. Views are personal)
Ganesh Prasad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ganesh Prasad
Born 15 November 1876

Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died 9 March 1935 (aged 58)

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater University of Allahabad, University of Calcutta,

University of Cambridge,University of Göttingen
Known for Establishing the culture of organised mathematical research in India

Notable work A Treatise on Spherical Harmonics and the Functions of Bessel and Lame

Title Hardinge Professor of Mathematics

Ganesh Prasad (15 November 1876 – 9 March 1935) was an Indian mathematician who specialised in the theory of potentials, theory of functions of a real variable, Fourier series and the theory of surfaces. He was trained at the Universities of Cambridge and Göttingen and on return to India he helped develop the culture of mathematical research in India. The mathematical community of India considers Ganesh Prasad as the Father of Mathematical Research in India. He was also an educator taking special interest in the advancement of primary education in the rural areas of India.

Early days

Ganesh Prasad was born on 15 November 1876 at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. He obtained the B.A. degree from Muir Central College, Allahabad, M.A. degree from the Universities in Allahabad and Calcutta and the D.Sc. degree from Allahabad University. After teaching at the Kayasth Pathshala, Allahabad, and at the Muir Central College, Allahabad, for about two years, he proceeded to Cambridge for higher studies and research. While at Cambridge he became acquainted with mathematicians like E.W. Hobson and Andrew Forsyth. He also sat, though unsuccessfully, for the Adams prize competition.

Later he moved to Göttingen where he was associated with Arnold Sommerfeld, David Hilbert and Georg Cantor. In Göttingen, Prasad showed his paper titled On the constitution of matter and the analytical theories of heat, the one he had submitted for the Adams prize competition, to Felix Klein, who appreciated it very much and arranged its publication in the Göttingen Abhandlungen. Ganesh Prasad spent altogether about five years in Europe.

Mathematical career

Prasad returned to India from Europe in 1904 and was appointed professor of mathematics at the Muir Central College, Allahabad. Within a year of his appointment at Allahabad, Prasad was sent to the Queen's College, Banaras and he continued there till 1914 when he was invited to head the mathematics department of Calcutta University. Ganesh Prasad was the Ras Behari Ghosh Chair of Applied Mathematics of Calcutta University (he was the first person to occupy this Chair) from 1914 to 1917 and Hardinge Professor of Mathematics in the same University from 1923 till his death on 9 March 1935. In between these two assignments he served Banaras Hindu University as professor of mathematics (1917–1923). While at Banaras, he helped found the Banaras Mathematical Society. Ganesh Prasad was elected President of the Calcutta Mathematical Society and the Vice-President of the Indian Association for Advancement of Science, Calcutta in 1924 and continued in the same position till his death. He was a founder member of the National Institute of Sciences, India, which has now been rechristened as the Indian National Science Academy. Ganesh Prasad authored 11 books including A Treatise on Spherical Harmonics and the Functions of Bessel and Lame and over fifty research papers in mathematics.

Other areas of work

Ganesh Prasad worked hard for the promotion of education in general in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh. He was instrumental in the introduction of compulsory primary education in villages in Uttar Pradesh. He donated from his private savings an amount of Rs. 22,000 for the education of girls in Ballia. He also donated an amount of Rupees two hundred thousand for establishing prizes for the toppers at the M.A. and MSc examinations of the Agra University. He donated large amounts of money to the Allahabad and Banaras Universities also.

Works

1909: A Text-book of Differential Calculus, via Internet Archive
1929: "On the differentiability of the integral function", Journal fur die reine und angewandte Mathematik 160: 100–110 doi:10.1515/crll.1929.160.100
1930: "On the nature of Θ in the mean-value theorem of the differential calculus", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 36: 289–91 doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1930-04937-X
1933: Some Great Mathematicians of the Nineteenth Century via Internet Archive
Govindappa Venkataswamy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Govindappa Venkataswamy
Govindappa Venkataswamy
Born
Govindappa Venkataswamy
1 October 1918

Ayan Vadamalapuram, Vilathikulam, Thoothukudi District,
Madras Presidency, British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Died 7 July 2006 (aged 87)

Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Other names Dr V
Occupation ophthalmologist

Govindappa Venkataswamy (1 October 1918 – 7 July 2006) popularly known as 'Dr V.' was an Indian ophthalmologist who dedicated his life to eliminate needless blindness. He was the founder and former chairman of Aravind Eye Hospitals. He is best known for developing a high quality, high volume, low-cost service delivery model that has restored sight to millions of people. Since inception, Aravind Eye Care System (a registered non-profit organisation) has seen over 55 million patients, and performed over 6.8 million surgeries. Over 50% of the organisation's patients pay either nothing or highly subsidised rates. Its scale and self-sustainability prompted a 1993 Harvard Business Case Study on the Aravind model.

Venkataswamy was permanently crippled by rheumatoid arthritis at age 30. He trained as an ophthalmologist, and personally performed over 100,000 eye surgeries. As a government servant he helped develop and pioneer the concept of eye camps and received a Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1973.

In 1992, Venkataswamy and partners of Aravind founded Aurolab, an internationally certified manufacturing facility that brought the price of the intraocular lens down to one-tenth of international prices, making it affordable for developing countries. Today, Aurolab manufactures ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, instruments and equipment, in addition to intraocular lenses, and exports to 160 countries worldwide. In 1996, under Venkataswamy's leadership, the Lions Aravind Institute for Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) was founded. LAICO is a training and consulting institute that has helped replicate the Aravind model in 347 hospitals across India and 30 other developing countries

Early life and career

Born in 1918 in a poor farming village, Venkataswamy was the eldest of five children in a farming family. He walked two kilometres to school each day and his early lessons were written in sand from the riverbed. There were no doctors in his village, and by the age of 10 he had lost three cousins due to pregnancy-related complications. The untimely deaths spurred his decision to become a doctor. As a young man, he followed the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. Venkataswamy earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1938 from American College, Madurai. In 1944 he received his medical degree from Stanley Medical College in Madras, graduating second in his class. In 1951 he qualified with an MS in Ophthalmology at Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Madras. He was in medical school when his father died, leaving him the head of the family. After receiving his medical degree, Venkataswamy served as a physician with the Indian Army from 1945 to 1948. He was discharged after contracting a rare form of rheumatoid arthritis. He was 30-years-old at the time. The condition permanently twisted his fingers out of shape, and left him bed-ridden for two years. Upon his return to medicine his condition barred him from training in obstetrics, his chosen field. He decided to train instead in ophthalmology.

In 1956, he was appointed head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Government Madurai Medical College and eye surgeon at the Government Erskine Hospital in Madurai. He held these posts for 20 years. In 1965, at a conference on rehabilitation for the blind, Venkataswamy met Sir John Wilson, founder of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (later known as Sightsavers International). The latter had been blinded in childhood by an accident in his school chemistry lab. The two established a lifelong friendship. Venkataswamy. credits Sir John Wilson's mentorship for helping him develop a global view on blindness prevention. The two men met with then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, to help launch India's National Program for the Control of Blindness. Venkataswamy then led Tamil Nadu's initiative to establish mobile eye camps that took sight-restoring services into rural India. He established a rehabilitation centre for the blind in 1966, and an Ophthalmic Assistants Training program in 1973. In his clinical work, Venkataswamy personally performed over one hundred thousand successful eye surgeries. With Wilson's support, Venkataswamy also started India's first residential nutrition rehabilitation centre in Madurai where children with potentially blinding Vitamin A deficiency received treatment, while their mothers were given training in how to grow and prepare nutritional meals.

Study of Aravind Model

Venkataswamy pioneered mobile eye camps with the government, and later implemented this practice at Aravind. Teams of doctors and nurses from Aravind regularly visit rural villages where they conduct 'eye camps' that screen patients for vision impairments. Those requiring glasses receive them on site. Patients requiring surgery are brought back to an Aravind hospital, where they receive surgery, room and board, return transport and a follow up visit at no charge. Each year Aravind hosts over 2,500 camps, averaging 40 camps every week with 500 community partners.

Venkataswamy introduced a tiered pricing system at Aravind. There are no income assessments or eligibility criteria for free or subsidised treatment. Patients decide whether they would like to access free, subsidised or paid services. Within this system, a cataract operation ranges from free to a little under US$900 (~ Rs. 53,700) based on the accommodations associated with the surgery and the type of lens implanted. Patients can self-select services and room type based on preference and ability to pay, without compromising clinical outcomes. In practice, one patient who pays, subsidises the no-frills surgeries and pre- and post-operative care of two non-paying patients.

Nurses, known within the Aravind system as Mid-Level Ophthalmic Personnel (MLOP), are trained extensively in discrete skills, and specialise in different areas of the hospital work flow, including administrative work, diagnostics, nursing and counseling. The MLOPs are primarily women who are high-school graduates recruited from surrounding villages. In the operating room each surgeon, is assisted by four MLOPs. With stream-lined processes, Aravind averages 2,000 surgeries per doctor per year compared to a national average of 400. Tina Rosenberg for The New York Times writes, "Aravind can practice compassion successfully because it is run like a McDonald’s with assembly-line efficiency, strict quality norms, brand recognition, standardization, consistency, ruthless cost control and above all, volume. Each year, Aravind does 60 percent as many eye surgeries as the United Kingdom’s National Health System, at one one-thousandth of the cost."

Since 1993 Harvard Business School has distributed more than 150,000 copies of 'In Service for Sight' (their original case study on the Aravind model) to the top twenty business schools in the United States.

Founding of Aravind

In 1976, at the mandatory retirement age of 58, Venkataswamy founded the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu with his four siblings, G. Nallakrishnan, R. Janaky, G. Srinivasan, G. Natchiar and their respective spouses, Meenakshi, R.S. Ramasamy, Lalitha S. and P. Namperumalsamy. Together, they formed the Govel Trust to manage the hospital, and defined Aravind's mission: To eliminate needless blindness by providing high quality and compassionate eye care affordable for all. P. Namperumalsamy's sister, P. Vijayalakshmi and her husband, M. Srinivasan also joined his work. In the initial years he and his team faced many financial difficulties. Venkataswamy is the founding member of Seva Foundation (a US-based non-profit organisation), that partnered with Aravind in the early years by widening the organisation's access to the latest technology, and skilled volunteers. Seva continues to collaborate with Aravind in various aspects of eye care management, education, and research. Today, the Aravind Eye Care System encompasses a growing network of eye care facilities which include seven tertiary centres, six secondary hospitals, six outpatient eye examination centres and seventy primary eye examination facilities, as well as a post-graduate training institute for ophthalmology, an international eye research centre, eye bank, training and consulting institute and manufacturing facility.

Personal life

Venkataswamy never married. He lived with his younger brother G. Srinivasan (Aravind Eye Care System's Director of Finance and Building) and his family. Today, over 35 members across three generations of Venkataswamy's family work at Aravind. Venkataswamy was a Gandhian and a disciple of the spiritual teachers Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a friend of his, wrote, "In the Aravind experience I see the path we need to take, a transformation of life into a powerful instrument of right action."

Quotes of Govindappa Venkataswamy
When we grow in spiritual consciousness, we identify ourselves with all that is in the world, and there is no exploitation. It is ourselves we are helping. It is ourselves we are healing.
Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful."
To some of us bringing divine consciousness to our daily activities is the Goal. The Hospital work gives an opportunity for this spiritual growth. In your growth you widen your consciousness and you feel the suffering of others in you.
Aravind Hospital aims at bringing higher consciousness to transform mind and body and soul of people. It is not a mechanical structure repairing eyes. It has a deeper purpose. It is not about buildings, equipment, money or material things, but a matter of consciousness.
You don't just find people. You have to "build" them.
To keep the mind absolutely still, to understand the reaction, impulse and attitude and to work from the Soul is the Aim.
To get things done in a big and permanent way it must be done spiritually.

Books, films and other media
Books
Illuminated Spirit by Govindappa Venkataswamy
Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World's Greatest Business Case for Compassion
Namaste, Dr. V! He restored eyesight for the most marginalisedFilms
Infinite Vision
Healing the Eyes of the World
PBS Religion and News WeeklyInterviews
Spiritual Consciousness and HealingMedia articles
The Perfect Vision of Dr Venkataswamy (Fast Company, 2001)
Man of Vision (Business Today, 2004)
McDonalds and Dr Venkataswamy (Forbes, 2010)
A Hospital Network with a Vision (New York Times, 2013)
McSurgery: A Man Who Saved 2.4 Million Eyes (Wall Street Journal)

Degrees earned
Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from American College in Madurai in 1938
Doctor of Medicine from Stanley Medical College in Madras in 1944
Doctor of ophthalmology at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951
Honorary Doctorate from University of Illinois, 1985
Honorary Fellowship awarded by The Royal College of Ophthalmology, London, 1994

Awards and honours
Padma Shri in 1973
Lifetime Service Award from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 1982
Helen Keller International Award, 1987
Harold Wit Lectureship, Harvard Divinity School, 1991
Pisart-Lighthouse for the Blind Award, 1992
International Blindness Prevention Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology, 1993
Susruta Award, Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, 1997
Dr B. C. Roy Award – 2001
ASCRS Ophthalmology Hall of Fame, 2004
On 1 October 2018, search engine Google commemorated Dr Venkataswamy with a Doodle on his birth centenary.
Gautam Radhakrishna Desiraju
Professor
Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore 560 012
Phone: +91 (0)80 2293 3311
E-mail: gautam.desiraju@gmail.com
Fax: +91 (0)80 2360 2306
ORCID: 0000-0002-7708-9176

ISA medal for science of the University of Bologna – 2018

Gautam R. Desiraju is a structural chemist who has been in the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India since 2009. Prior to this, he had been in the University of Hyderabad for 30 years. He has played a major role in the development and growth of the subject of crystal engineering. He is noted for gaining acceptance for the theme of weak hydrogen bonding among chemists and crystallographers. His books on crystal engineering (Elsevier, 1989; World Scientific, 2011) and the weak hydrogen bond in structural chemistry and biology (OUP, 1999) are particularly well known. He is one of the most highly cited Indian scientists with more than 430 research papers, 40000 citations and an h-index of 83. He has won international awards such as the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis and the TWAS award in Chemistry. He has guided the Ph.D work of around 40 students. He has edited three multi-author books in solid state and supramolecular chemistry. He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Communications and Journal of the American Chemical Society. He is a former President of the International Union of Crystallography. He is a recipient of an honorary doctorate degree of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina and of the Rayalaseema University, Kurnool. He was awarded the Acharya P. C. Ray Medal (2015) of the University of Calcutta for innovation in science and technology. He was awarded the ISA medal for science of the University of Bologna for the year 2018. At present, he is the chairman of the Governing Council of the Bose Institute, Kolkata. He has formerly been the chairman of the Research Councils of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. Born 21 August 1952. http://desiraju.in/
H.Y. Mohan Ram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Holenarasipur Yoganarasimham Mohan Ram (24 September 1930 - 18 June 2018) was an Indian botanist who influenced numerous students as a professor of Botany at Delhi University. His research areas included studies in floral biology, plant physiology, insectivorous plants and on the family Podostemaceae. He was a brother of H. Y. Sharada Prasad and the father of Indian Ocean's Rahul Ram.

Mohan Ram was born in Karnataka and grew up in Mysuru where he studied at the Saradavilas High School (1943–46) and Intermediate College (1946–48), receiving his bachelor of science degree from St. Philomena's College, Mysore and a master's degree in Botany from the Balwant Rajput College, Agra in 1953. He then joined as a lecturer in Botany at University of Delhi and worked on seed development in the Acanthaceae under Professor Panchanan Maheswari. He subsequently worked at Cornell University as a Fulbright Scholar with F.C. Steward and became a specialist in tissue culture. He also worked at the Laboratoire de Physiologie Pluricellulaire with J.P. Nitsch.

Professor Mohan Ram published over 240 research papers and edited four books while also guiding 32 PhD students. He helped in the establishment of the Department of Genetics and Environmental Biology at Delhi University. He was an honorary scientist of the Indian National Science Academy from 2006 and was a vice-president of Indian Academy of Sciences between 1988 and 1990. He was the chairman of the NCERT biology textbook committee from 1986 to 1988. He was awarded the JC Bose Award in 1979, the Om Prakash Bhasin Award (1986), the Sergei Nawashin Medal of the USSR (1990) and numerous other recognitions.
Harish-Chandra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harish-Chandra
Born 11 October 1923

Kanpur, India
Died 16 October 1983 (aged 60)

Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Citizenship United States
Alma mater University of Allahabad
University of Cambridge
Known for Harish-Chandra's c-function
Harish-Chandra's character formula
Harish-Chandra homomorphism
Harish-Chandra isomorphism
Harish-Chandra module
Harish-Chandra's regularity theorem
Harish-Chandra's Schwartz space
Harish-Chandra transform
Harish-Chandra's Ξ function
Awards Fellow of the Royal Society
Cole Prize in Algebra (1954)
Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics, Physics
Institutions Indian Institute of Science
Harvard University
Columbia University
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Institute for Advanced Study
Doctoral advisor Paul Dirac

Harish-Chandra FRS (11 October 1923 – 16 October 1983) was an Indian American mathematician and physicist who did fundamental work in representation theory, especially harmonic analysis on semisimple Lie groups.

Harish-Chandra was born in Kanpur. He was educated at B.N.S.D. College, Kanpur and at the University of Allahabad. After receiving his master's degree in Physics in 1943, he moved to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for further studiesHomi J. Bhabha.

In 1945, he moved to University of Cambridge, and worked as a research student under Paul Dirac. While at Cambridge, he attended lectures by Wolfgang Pauli, and during one of them pointed out a mistake in Pauli's work. The two were to become lifelong friends. During this time he became increasingly interested in mathematics. At Cambridge he obtained his PhD in 1947.

Honors and awards

He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was the recipient of the Cole Prize of the American Mathematical Society, in 1954. The Indian National Science Academy honoured him with the Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal in 1974. In 1981, he received an honorary degree from Yale University.

The mathematics department of V.S.S.D. College, Kanpur celebrates his birthday every year in different forms, which includes lectures from students and professors from various colleges, institutes and students' visit to Harish-Chandra Research Institute.

The Indian Government named the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, an institute dedicated to Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, after him.

Robert Langlands wrote in a biographical article of Harish-Chandra:

He was considered for the Fields Medal in 1958, but a forceful member of the selection committee in whose eyes Thom was a Bourbakist was determined not to have two. So Harish-Chandra, whom he also placed on the Bourbaki camp, was set aside.

He was also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1977.
H. Sudarshan Ballal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
H. Sudarshan Ballal
Born September 15, 1954

Udupi, Karnataka State, India
Nationality Indian
Years active 1986 – Present
Known for First Cadaver Kidney Transplantation in Karnataka
Triple Board certified in Internal Medicine, Nephrologyhorsbife and Critical Care
Set up the first postgraduate center in Nephrology in Karnataka
Relatives H. S. Ballal (brother)

Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal speaking at Bangalore Health Festival 2nd edition 2018

Dr. H Sudarshan Ballal (born; 15 September 1954) is a Nephrologist, director of Manipal Institute of Nephrology and Urology, the chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Manipal Hospitals Group and Senate Member of Manipal University.

Ballal is also the Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Manipal University, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Saint Louis University Medical Centre, Chairman of the Board at Stempeutics Research Pvt. Ltd. and examiner for the Royal College of Physicians London.

He performed the first cadaver Kidney transplantation in Karnataka. In 2005, he was awarded the prestigious Rajyotsava Award by the Government of Karnataka for his contributions to the field of Medicine. He was awarded an honorary FRCP (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London) without having worked or trained at any of the hospitals in UK.

Dr Ballal actively supports in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ayushman Bharat Yojana campaign.

Dr. Ballal is the member of the Consultative Group of Covid 19 fight. And provide supports to the Government to fight against Corona Virus.

Early Life & Career

Ballal was born in Udupi, a coastal district of Karnataka, India. He did his MBBS degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal in 1977 and won the Dr. T. M. A. Pai Gold Medal for the Best Outgoing Student for the year 1976. After completing his MBBS degree he went to US for further study of M.D.. His teachers in the US accepted his training in India very well and his three-year program was relaxed by a year and he completed M.D. in just two years. After obtaining his M.D degree, he did his Residency at Deaconess Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He then pursued his Fellowship in Nephrology at St. Louis University Medical Centre, Missouri, USA.

His department at Manipal Hospitals performs more than four thousand dialysis every month.[15] The two-year training program in Nephrology started by him in the year 1999 is well-recognized by the National Board and Rajiv Gandhi University. He was conferred with the Teacher of Excellence Award, 2014 by the National Board of Examination.

As a Columnist, Dr. Ballal provides his column on various news papers on regular basis

Philanthropy

Ballal has been involved in numerous CSR activities aimed at improving the conditions of the economically disadvantaged sections of the society and of those afflicted with serious kidney issues who are unable to access good quality medical care. Launched free Pediatric Kidney Transplants (Kidney Transplants for children) for disadvantaged sections of the society in the name of Master Yatarth, whose parents donated his organs after his unfortunate demise. This program is jointly shared by Belanje Sanjeeva Hegde Trust and Manipal Hospitals, Bangalore. He conducts in awareness programs about preventive aspects of kidney disease in association with philanthropic organizations like Rotary Club India, Lions Club India. Health insurance policies for poor people covering all diseases

Awards & Achievements

Rajyotsava Award by Government of Karnataka, 2005
Namma Bengaluru Award, February 2010
Dr. B. C. Roy Award, Govt. of Karnataka, 2010
Aryabhata International Award, 2011
Padma Awards nominee 2014
Inder Bir Singh Passi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inder Bir Singh Passi
Born 20 August 1939
Nationality India
Awards Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
Scientific career
Fields Algebra
Institutions Kurukshetra University, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali

Inder Bir Singh Passi (I.B.S. Passi) is an Indian mathematician who specialises in algebra.

He was awarded in 1983 the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, the highest science award in India, in the mathematical sciences category. Prof. Passi is a noted group-theorist in India, has made significant contribution to certain aspects of theory of groups specially to the study of group rings. His results on the dimension subgroups, augmentation powers in group rings, and related problems have received wide recognition. His 1979 monograph summarizing the state of the subject is a basic reference source.
Janaki Ammal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Janaki Ammal
Born 4 November 1897
Tellicherry, Madras Presidency, British India
Died 7 February 1984 (aged 86)
Madras, Tamil Nadu
Nationality Indian
Alma mater University of Michigan
Awards Padma Shri 1977
Scientific career
Fields Botany, Cytology
Institutions Madras University, John Innes Centre
Thesis Chromosome Studies in Nicandra physaloides
Signature

Janaki Ammal Edavalath Kakkat (4 November 1897 – 7 February 1984) was an Indian botanist who worked on plant breeding, cytogenetics and phytogeography. Her most notable work involved studies on sugarcane and the eggplant (brinjal). She also worked on the cytogenetics of a range of plants and co-authored the Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants (1945) with C.D. Darlington. She took an interest in ethnobotany and in plants of medicinal and economic value from the rain forests of Kerala, India. She was awarded a Padma Shri by the Indian government in 1977.

Biography

E.K.Janaki was born in Tellicherry, Kerala. Her father was Diwan Bahadur Edavalath Kakkat Krishnan (sub-judge) and Devi Kuruvayi. Her mother was an illegitimate daughter of John Child Hannyngton (colonial administrator and Resident at Travancore) and Kunhi Kurumbi Kuruvai. Frank Hannyngton, Indian civil servant and entomologist, was thus a half-brother of Janaki Ammal's mother.

Janaki did her primary schooling at Sacred Heart Convent in Thalassery followed by Queen Mary's College, Madras. She obtained an Honours degree in Botany from the Presidency College and then moved to the University of Michigan in 1924, obtaining a masters degree in botany in 1926 with a Barbour Scholarship. She returned to India to work as a professor in the Women's Christian College in Madras for a few years, returned to the University of Michigan as an Oriental Barbour Fellow and obtained a PhD in 1931. Her thesis was titled "Chromosome Studies in Nicandra Physaloides". The University also awarded her an honorary LLD in 1956.

On her return, she became Professor of Botany at the Maharaja’s College of Science in Trivandrum (Now, University College,Trivandrum) and served there as Assistant Professor for two years between 1932 and 1934. Janaki then joined the John Innes Institute, Merton, London, where she worked with C D. Darlington, who would become a long-term collaborator. She then worked at the Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore and worked with C.A. Barber. Her worked involved the production of hybrids including several intergeneric crosses including the variety SG 63-32.

In 1939 she went to attend the 7th International Congress of Genetics, Edinburgh and was forced to stay on due to World War II. She then spent the next six years at the John Innes Centre as an assistant cytologist to C.D. Darlington. Together they published a Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants in 1945. She was invited to work as a cytologist at the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley from 1945 to 1951. During this period she studied Magnolias, their cytology and conducted experiment on their hybridization. The Indian government invited her to reorganize the Botanical Survey of India, and she was appointed as the first director of the Central Botanical Laboratory at Allahabad. From 1962, she served as an officer on special duty at Regional Research Laboratory in Jammu. She also worked briefly at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay and then settled down in Madras in November 1970, working as an Emeritus Scientist at the Centre for Advanced Study (CAS) in Botany, University of Madras. She lived and worked in the Centre’s Field Laboratory at Maduravoyal until her demise in February 1984.

Research

As an expert in cytogenetics, Janaki joined the Sugarcane Breeding Station at Coimbatore to work on sugarcane biology. At that time, the sweetest sugarcane in the world was the Saccharum officianarum variety from Papua New Guinea and India imported it from Southeast Asia. In a bid to improve India’s indigenous sugarcane varieties, the Sugarcane Breeding Station had been set up at Coimbatore in the early 1920s. By manipulating polyploid cells through cross-breeding of hybrids in the laboratory, Janaki was able to create a high yielding strain of the sugarcane that would thrive in Indian conditions. Her research also helped analyse the geographical distribution of sugarcane across India, and to establish that the Saccharum Spontaneum variety of sugarcane had originated in India. However, her status as a single woman from a caste considered backward created irreconcilable problems for Janaki among her male peers at Coimbatore. Facing caste and gender based discrimination. Impressed by her work, the Royal Horticulture Society invited Janaki to work as an assistant cytologist at their campus at Wisley, near Kew Gardens, famous for its collection of plants from around the world.

During the years she spent in England, Janaki did chromosome studies of a wide range of garden plants. Her studies on chromosome numbers and ploidy in many cases threw light on the evolution of species and varieties. The Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants which she wrote jointly with C. D. Darlington in 1945 was a compilation that incorporated much of her own work on many species. At the Society, one of the plants she worked on was the magnolia. To this day, in the Society’s campus at Wisley there are magnolia shrubs she planted and among them is a variety with small white flowers named after her: Magnolia kobus 'Janaki Ammal'. A flower celebrated in Japanese and Chinese legends, the blooms of this variety are made up of fused sepals and petals called ‘tepals’. Today, only a few nurseries in Europe cultivate the variety.

Janaki also worked on the genera Solanum, Datura, Mentha, Cymbopogon and Dioscorea besides medicinal and other plants. She attributed the higher rate of plant speciation in the cold and humid northeast Himalayas as compared to the cold and dry northwest Himalayas to polyploidy. Also, according to her, the confluence of Chinese and Malayan elements in the flora of northeast India led to natural hybridisation between these and the native flora in this region, contributing further to plant diversification.

Following her retirement,Janaki continued to publish the original findings of her research focusing special attention on medicinal plants and ethnobotany. In the Madras University Field Laboratory where she lived and worked she developed a garden of medicinal plants.

As a geneticist working for the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Wisley in the early 1950s, Dr. Janaki was investigating the effects of colchicine on a number of woody plants, including Magnolia, where a stock solution in water is made up and applied to the growing tip of young seedlings once the cotyledons (seed leaves) have fully expanded. Doubling of chromosomes occurs, giving the cells twice the usual number. The resulting plants have heavier textured leaves; their flowers are variable, often with thicker tepals, helping them last longer. As Magnolia kobus seeds were available in quantity, a number of seedlings were treated by Dr Janaki Ammal and ultimately planted on Battleston Hill at Wisley.

Awards and honours

Janaki is mentioned among Indian Americans of the Century in an India Currents magazine article published on 1 January 2000, by S.Gopikrishna & Vandana Kumar: "In an age when most women didn't make it past high school, would it be possible for an Indian woman to obtain a PhD at one of America's finest public universities and also make seminal contributions to her field?!" Kerala-born Janaki was arguably the first woman to obtain a PhD in botany in the U.S. (1931), and remains one of the few Asian women to be conferred a DSc (honoris causa) by her alma mater, the University of Michigan. During her time at Ann Arbor she lived in the Martha Cook Building, an all-female residence hall and worked with Harley Harris Bartlett, Professor at the Department of Botany.

She was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1935, and of the Indian National Science Academy in 1957. The University of Michigan conferred an honorary LL.D. on her in 1956 in recognition of her contributions to botany and cytogenetics said: "Blest with the ability to make painstaking and accurate observations, she and her patient endeavours stand as a model for serious and dedicated scientific workers." The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on her in 1977. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Government of India instituted the National Award of Taxonomy in her name in 2000.

She produced many hybrid brinjal varieties (Indian name for eggplant).

Two awards were instituted in her name in 1999: EK Janaki Ammal National Award on Plant Taxonomy and EK Janaki Ammal National Award on Animal Taxonomy.[12] There is herbarium with over 25000 plant species in Jammutawi named after Janaki Ammal. The John Innes Centre offers a scholarship to PhD students from developing countries in her name.

Plants and Animals in her name

To honour her work in plant breeding, the Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley, U.K.named a variety of Magnolia she created as Magnolia Kobus 'Janaki Ammal'.[15] In 2018, to celebrate her remarkable career and contribution to plant science, two rose breeders, Girija and Viru Viraraghavan bred a new rose variety which they named E.K. Janaki Ammal.

The name Janakia arayalpathra is also after her.

Sonerila janakiana, a species of plant in the family Melastomataceae, is named after her.

Dravidogecko janakiae, a species of geckos found in India is also named after her.
Joyanti Chutia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joyanti Chutia
Born 1-8-1948

Sivasagar, Assam, India
Nationality Indian
Citizenship India
Alma mater Cotton University (BSc)

Dibrugarh University (MSc, PhD)

University of Pune
Scientific career
Fields Physicist
Institutions Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology

Joyanti Chutia is an Indian physicist who specializes in solid-state physics and plasma physics. She was the among the first women who have headed scientific institutions in India when she became the Director of the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology in Guwahati, Assam, which is the first major research institution in North East India. She is a fellow of National Academy of Sciences. She is an Emeritus Scientist at the Department of Science & Technology in the Government of India.

Early life and education

Chutia was one of the first girls to take Mathematics as a main subject in her school. She later studied physics at Cotton University, Assam where she obtained a BSc in 1967. She continued teaching at Cotton College before obtaining an MSc in physics at Dibrugarh University in 1969. Following this, Chutia taught for some time as a lecturer, eventually deciding to continue with research by pursuing a PhD at Dibrugarh University on a fellowship in 1976. Her research focused on the conduction mechanism of thin polymer films and she was awarded her degree in 1981.

Career

After her PhD, Chutia continued her research at Dibrugarh University for another year as a CSIR-postdoctoral fellow. She entered the field of plasma physics at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and then joined the Institute for Plasma Research in Gandhinagar.[7] She then returned to the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology as a faculty member and set up the Plasma Physics Laboratory.

After finishing a fellowship awarded by the Japanese government in 1988 to work at the Plasma Laboratory of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Tokyo, in 2005 she became the Director of the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology.

Research

Chutia's research focuses on biomedicine, material science and biotechnology. Her research has led to the development of a highly durable and degradable wound suturing material from Muga Silk.
Kannan Soundararajan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kannan Soundararajan
Soundararajan teaching at Stanford University
Born December 27, 1973
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Michigan
Princeton University
Awards Ostrowski Prize (2011)
Infosys Prize (2011)
SASTRA Ramanujan Prize (2005)
Salem Prize (2003)
Morgan Prize (1995)
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Stanford University
University of Michigan
Doctoral advisor Peter Sarnak
Doctoral students Maksym Radziwill

Kannan Soundararajan (born December 27, 1973)[citation needed] is an India-born American mathematician and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Before moving to Stanford in 2006, he was a faculty member at University of Michigan where he pursued his undergraduate studies. His main research interest is in analytic number theory, particularly in the subfields of automorphic L-functions, and multiplicative number theory.

Early life

Soundararajan grew up in Madras and was a student at Padma Seshadri High School in Nungambakkam in Madras. In 1989, he attended the prestigious Research Science Institute. He represented India at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 1991 and won a Silver Medal.

Education

Soundararajan joined the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1991 for undergraduate studies, and graduated with highest honours in 1995. Soundararajan won the inaugural Morgan Prize in 1995 for his work in analytic number theory while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, where he later served as professor. He joined Princeton University in 1995 and did his Ph.D under the guidance of Professor Peter Sarnak.

Career

After his Ph.D. he received the first five-year fellowship from the American Institute of Mathematics, and held positions at Princeton University, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the University of Michigan. He moved to Stanford University in 2006 where he is currently[when?] a Professor of Mathematics and the Director of the Mathematics Research Center (MRC).

Work

He proved a conjecture of Ron Graham in combinatorial number theory jointly with Ramachandran Balasubramanian. He made important contributions in settling the arithmetic Quantum Unique Ergodicity conjecture for Maass wave forms and modular forms.

Awards

He received the Salem Prize in 2003 "for contributions to the area of Dirichlet L-functions and related character sums". In 2005, he won the $10,000 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize, shared with Manjul Bhargava, awarded by SASTRA in Thanjavur, India, for his outstanding contributions to number theory. In 2011, he was awarded the Infosys science foundation prize. He was awarded the Ostrowski prize in 2011, shared with lb Madsen and David Preiss, for a cornucopia of fundamental results in the last five years to go along with his brilliant earlier work.

He gave an invited talk at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2010, on the topic of "Number Theory".[5] In July 2017, Soundararajan was a plenary lecturer in the Mathematical Congress of the Americas. He was elected to the 2018 class of fellows of the American Mathematical Society. Kannan Soundararajan has been invited as a plenary speaker of the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians, that will take place in Saint Petersburg.

Personal life

Soundararajan resides in Palo Alto, California with his wife and son, who is a student at the University of Southern California.
K. C. Nag

From Wikipedia,
Keshab Chandra Nag
Born 10 August 1893
Gurap, Hooghly, Bengal, British India (present-day West Bengal, India)
Died 6 February 1987 (aged 93)
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation Mathematician, School Teacher of Mitra Institution and writer of many mathematics books.
Genre Mathematician
Literary movement Indian Freedom Movement
Spouse Laxmimani Debi

Keshab Chandra Nag or K.C. Nag [ Bengali কেশবচন্দ্র নাগ ] (10 August 1893 – 6 February 1987), was an Indian Bengali mathematician, author of various mathematics textbooks and educator.

Early life

K. C. Nag was born in Nagpara, Gurap, Hooghly, Bengal, British India (present-day West Bengal, India) on the holy day of Rath Yatra, 10 August 1893. His Father was Raghunath Nag and Mother Khiroda Sundari Debi. He lost his father at an early age of three. He was only cared for by his mother.

Education

Keshab Chandra Nag started his education in a Bengali Medium School at his Village Gurap. At that time that was the only school at Gurap. From Class VII he changed his school to Bhastara Yojneshshar Uccha Vidyalaya (Yojneshshar High School), 3 miles from his village. He would start walking early in the morning to reach his school and came back home at evening every day. In Class IX he got admitted to Kishenganj High School. In 1912, he passed the entrance examination with a First Class and joined Ripon College (now Surendranath College), Kolkata, in Science. In 1914, he passed the I.Sc examination with a First Class. After this due to severe financial crisis he had to discontinue his education and start earning money.
Working life

He started his career as Third Master in Bhastara Yojgeshshar Uccha Vidyalaya. He also did private tuitions when teaching there. His family was dependent on him but he resigned from his job to pursue higher studies. In 1917 he passed B.A with Mathematics and Sanskrit. He then received a job offer from Kishenganj High School as a Mathematics Teacher. He taught for some time in that School, after which he got another offer from Baharampur Krishnanath Collegiate School and joined the school as a mathematics teacher.[2] In 1919 he got Diksha from Ma Sarada Devi. During that time the Maharaja of Kasimbazar (Cossimbazar) Manindra Chandra Nandi was a great admirer of Keshab Chandra. Maharaj allowed Keshab Chandra to use his vast library. In that library, he studied extensively about the history of India and especially the history of mathematics. At first, he lived in a mess at Rosa Road in Kolkata. From 1964 he started to live at his own house at Gobinda Ghoshal Lane in South Kolkata.
Meeting with Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay

In 1905 Sir Ashutosh Mukhopadhay established Mitra Institution (Branch) in Bhowanipore so that the students of South Kolkata can also get chance to study in that school. In 1906 Sir Ashutosh Mukhopadhay became the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University and tried to bring various teachers from different parts of India to establish Calcutta Universities as one of the best university of India. Similarly, he tried to bring teachers to Mitra Institution (Branch). Sir Ashutosh heard about Keshab Chandra, and he took him to Mitra Institution, Bhabanipur as a mathematics teacher. Due to his way of teaching mathematics Keshab Chandra came very close to Sir Ashutosh . Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukhopadhay son of Sir Ashutosh became a very good friend of Keshab Chandra and requested him to join politics which Keshab Chandra declined.
Mathematics books

In 1909 Sir Ashutosh along with his teacher Shyamacharan Bose wrote a book titled "Arithmetic for Schools". After the death of Sir Ashutosh, his son Shyamaprasad Mukhopadhay took the initiative to revise that book and requested Keshab Chandra to help him. After an untiring effort of Keshab Chandra Nag along with a few mathematicians in 1937, a revised edition of the book was published in the name "Patiganith". Kabisekhar (কবিশেখর) Kalidas Roy was a colleague of Keshab Chandra Nag. There was a regular gathering of various stalwarts in the field of academics and literature like Sarath Chandra Chattopadhyay, Premendra Mitra etc. was held at Kabisekhar's House, Keshab Chandra was a regular to that gathering. One day Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay requested Keshab Chandra to write a mathematics book. After a few days, the same request came from Kabisekhar. Keshab Chandra was very confused whether to write the book or not and ultimately decided to write it for the benefit of students. His first book was Nava Patiganit (নব পাটিগণিত) from U.N. Dhar & Sons. Within a short time, this book became very famous among the students of class five and six. In the year 1942 Matric Mathematics, one of the famous books of K.C. Nag was published by the publisher Calcutta Book House. After this, he wrote many more books for various classes from IV to XII. These books were published in Bengali, English, Hindi, Urdu, and Nepali language. His younger son Late Taraprasad Nag started his own publishing house named "Nag Book House". This publishing house has now been renamed as " Nag Publishing House" and is managed by his grandson Dr. Tridibesh Nag. Tridibesh did his B.E. in Electrical Engineering and M.E from Jadavpur University. After this, he took over the publication and took every measure to ensure that the mathematics books by the legendary "K.C.Nag" never lost its reputation. His sole motive was to see to it that the students are not deprived of the privilege of learning mathematics from K.C. Nag's maths books. K.C. Nag's books from class 4–12 are the books which the students aspiring to excel in every walk of life had depended on at some time or other for the past three generations. Tridibesh formed a board consisting of eminent professors, school teachers, examiners, and successful students in order to revise the book from time to time.
Kalappa Muniyappa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kalappa Muniyappa
Born 8 September 1952
Karnataka, India
Nationality Indian

Alma mater
University of Mysore
Indian Institute of Science
University of Georgia
Yale University School of Medicine

Known for Molecular basis of homologous genetic recombination
Awards 1980 Hanumantha Rao Memorial Medal
1992 Rockefeller Foundation Career Development Award
1994 IISc M. Sreenivasaya Memorial Award
1995 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1995 ACS Eleanor Roosevelt Award
1999 Yamagiwa International Cancer Fellowship Award
2002 Anima Sen Memorial Award
2007 IISc Alumni Award
2007 BBMP Kempe Gowda Award
Scientific career
Fields

Molecular genetics
Functional genomics
Molecular cell biology
Institutions

Indian Institute of Science
American Cancer Society
University of Washington, Seattle
Osaka University
University of Sydney
Medical Research Council

Kalappa Muniyappa (born 8 September 1952) is an Indian molecular biologist and geneticist, known for his researches on the chromatization of DNA and gene targeting. He is a professor and chairman of the department of biochemistry of the Indian Institute of Science and an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1995, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Born on 2 February 1951 in the South Indian state of Karnataka, Kalappa Muniyappa, after graduating in science from Mysore University in 1974, secured his master's degree in 1976 from the same university with first rank. His doctoral degree came from the Indian Institute of Science in 1980 after which he did his post-doctoral studies (1981–86) at the University of Georgia and at Yale University School of Medicine and returned to India in 1987 to join the Indian Institute of Science the next year as a member of faculty. He was made a professor in 1999 and is the incumbent chairman of the department of biochemistry of IISc. In between, he held visiting professorships at American Cancer Society, University of Washington, Seattle, Osaka University, University of Sydney and the Medical Research Council, London.

Legacy
Chording mycobacterium tuberculosis culture - luminescent microscope image

Focusing his early researches on the molecular basis of homologous genetic recombination and employing RecA paradigm, Muniyappa demonstrated the effects of chromatization of DNA on homologous pairing and strand exchange and his studies are known to have assisted in exploring ways for gene targeting, cell senescence and genome stability. His studies on chromosome synapsis, genetic recombination and telomere dynamics attempted to widen the understanding of cellular recombination and Holliday junction and he is credited with the discovery of a negative regulatory mechanism of homologous recombination. His contributions in deciphering genetic recombination in mycobacterium tuberculosis are also reported to have influenced further researches on the mechanism of genetic exchange and lateral gene transfer. His researches have been published in a number of articles, 136 of which have been listed by ResearchGate, an online article repository.

At the Indian Institute of Science, he set up a laboratory, K. Muniyappa's Lab, to pursue researches in the fields of Cancer biology, Genetics, Biochemistry and Biophysics, where he mentors a number of doctoral and post-doctoral research scholars. Under his leadership, IISc introduced new academic programs such as the integrated PhD program, interdisciplinary program in chemical biology, and national post-doctoral training program in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. He served as their coordinator at inception.

A member of the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular Signaling, he has also been associated with Journal of Biosciences and Indian Journal of Biophysics and Biochemistry as their editorial board member and has served as the vice president and secretary of the Society of Biological Chemists.

Awards and honors

Muniyappa received the Hanumantha Rao Memorial Medal of the IISc in 1980 and the Rockefeller Foundation Career Development Award in 1992. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1995. The same year, he received the M. Sreenivasaya Memorial Award of the Indian Institute of Science. The American Cancer Society extended the Eleanor Roosevelt Fellowship Award to him in 1995. He received the Yamagiwa International Cancer Fellowship Award in 1999. The Indian Science Congress Association selected him for the Anima Sen Memorial Award in 2002. In 2007 he received the Indian Institute of Science Alumnus Award and the Kempe Gowda Award of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). He was given the Sir M. Visvesvaraya Award for lifetime contributions to Science & Technology by GoK, and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award by GoK. A founder member of the Karnataka State Academy for Science and Technology, Muniyappa is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He was elected to The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the National Academy of Sciences, India.
K. T. Achaya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

K. T. Achaya
Born 6 October 1923

Kollegal, Chamarajnagar district, Karnataka
Died 5 September 2002 (aged 78)
Occupation oil chemist, nutrician

K. T. Achaya (6 October 1923 – 5 September 2002) was an oil chemist, food scientist, nutritionist and food historian. He is the author of Indian Food: A Historical Companion, The Food Industries of British India, and A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food.

Early life and education

K. T. Achaya was born in on 6 October 1923 in Kollegal, in the Madras Presidency, (now part of Karnataka). After graduating from University of Madras in 1943, he worked in the Indian Institute of Science for the next three years. He did his PhD work in T. P. Hilditch's lab at the University of Liverpool in United Kingdom.

Career

He researched on cottonseed processing and castor oil derivatives in Regional Research Laboratory in Hyderabad for 22 years starting from 1950. During this time, he published 150 publications and acquired 11 patents. In 1971, he became the Executive Director of Protein Foods and Nutrition Development Association of India in Mumbai. In 1977, Achaya moved to the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore as Consultant to the United Nations University (UNU) Programme for advanced training in Food Science and Technology for fellows from developing countries. He retired from CFTRI in 1983 and wrote several books after his retirement.

Books

K. T. Achaya published several books on oil milling and food history of India.
Oilseeds and Oil Milling in India: A Cultural and Historical Survey (1990),
GHANI: The Traditional Oil Mill of India (1993)
The Food Industries of British India (1994)
The Story of our Food (2000)
The Food Industries of British India (Oxford University Press, 1994)
Indian Food: A Historical Companion (Oxford University Press, 1994)
A Historical Dictionary of Indian food (Oxford University Press, 1998)
The Illustrated Foods of India, A-Z (Oxford University Press, 2009)
K. S. Manilal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kattungal Subramaniam Manilal
K. S. Manilal and wife Jyotsna
Born 17 September 1938
Cochin, British India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Sagar University
Known for Biodiversity studies,
Discoveries at Silent Valley,
Translation of Hortus Malabaricus to English and Malayalam
Scientific career
Fields Botany, Taxonomy
Institutions University of Calicut,
Royal Society of London,
Westfield College,
Bangor University,
Smithsonian Institution
Influenced Conservation of Silent Valley,
Social history studies of Kerala
Author abbrev. (botany) Manilal
Notes

http://envfor.nic.in/citizen/award/ekjanaki.pdf

Kattungal Subramaniam Manilal (Malayalam: കാട്ടുങ്ങൽ സുബ്രഹ്മണ്യം മണിലാൽ) (born 17 September 1938) is an Emeritus of the University of Calicut, a botany scholar and taxonomist, who devoted over 35 years of his life to research, translation and annotation work of the Latin botanical treatise Hortus Malabaricus. This epic effort brought to light the main contents of the book, a wealth of botanical information on Malabar that had largely remained inaccessible to English-speaking scholars, because the entire text was in the Latin language.

In January 2020, Manilal was conferred with the Padma Shri award, the fourth-highest civilian honour of India, for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering.

Despite the existence of Hendrik van Rheede's Hortus Malabaricus over the last three centuries, the correct taxonomic identity of many plants listed in Hortus Malabaricus, their medicinal properties, methods of use, etc., as described and codified by renowned traditional medical authorities of 17th century India remained inaccessible to English language based scholars, until Manilal commenced publication of research papers and books on Hortus Malabaricus.

Manilal's efforts ultimately resulted in an English edition of Hortus Malabaricus, for the first time, 325 years after its original publication from Amsterdam. The English edition contains a word by word translation of all the twelve volumes of the book, retaining the original style of language. Medicinal properties of plants are translated and interpreted, with commentaries on their Malayalam names given by Van Rheede. In addition, the correct scientific identity of all plants, acceptable under ICBN are set out along with their important synonyms and basionyms.

Whilst the scope of Manilal's contributions to botany extend far beyond the research and publications around Hortus Malabaricus, his research work on Hortus Malabaricus alone are of botanical and socio-historic significance, and can be broadly classified under two heads:

Botanical and Medicinal aspects of Hortus Malabaricus; and
Historical, Political, Social and Linguistic aspects of Hortus Malabaricus.

Manilal has over 198 published research papers and 15 books to his credit as author and co-author. He and his associates have credits to discovering over 14 species of flowering plants, varieties and combinations new to science. Dr. Manilal is the Founder President of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT).

Birth, early life and interest in Hortus Malabaricus

Manilal was born in Cochin on 17 September 1938. He is one of three children born to his parents; father Advocate Kattungal A. Subramaniam (b:1914~d:1973) and mother K. K. Devaki (b:1919~d:1989). Manilal's father, K. A. Subramaniam, was besides being a practising advocate, also a writer, who authored the biography of Sahodaran Ayyapan. Manial's Kattungal family members are natives of North Paravur in Kerala, India.

As a young boy, Manilal's interest in Hortus Malabaricus was inspired by his father, whose avid reading habits and enthusiasm for sociology exposed Manilal to a collection of books, and more specifically newspaper cuttings on Hortus Malabaricus during the late 1940s and 1950s.

Manilal schooled initially at the Government Boys’ High School, Kodungallur and later at the Government S.R.V. Boys’ High School, Ernakulam. He enrolled for undergraduate studies in Botany at the Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, following which, he secured MSc Botany and PhD Degrees from University Teaching Department, Sagar, in Madhya Pradesh.

During his post-graduate studies, while on a study tour to the Forest Research Institute in Dehra Dun, Manilal was able to see, for the first time, a set of volumes of the original Hortus Malabaricus. This was set of volumes acquired by the Institute's library during the days of the British Raj, when the Institute was called the Imperial Forest College. Manilal remarks “it fired my imagination!” on seeing a Latin book in which the names of plants were also written in native Malayalam language. Manilal maintained his interest in the book through his studies and professional life until 1969, when he commenced serious work on the transliteration of Hortus Malabaricus.

He presently stays in Kozhikode.

Major research and academic achievements
Botanical and medicinal aspects of Hortus Malabaricus
Frontispiece of the original Latin Hortus Malabaricus

As Hortus Malabaricus is a pre-Linnaean book, the scientific names of plants, equivalent to local Malayalam names, were not included. Since voucher specimens for the book are also not known to exist, the correct identity of many of the plants described was unclear and not verifiable to original specimens. Earlier attempts, over three centuries, by European and Indian botanists to correctly identify all specimens were futile. Under two research projects; one sponsored by the U.G.C. (1975–1978) and the other by the Smithsonian Institution (1984–1987), Manilal collected all plants, described in Hortus Malabaricus, from localities in Malabar from where they were originally collected in the 17th century. Specimens were subjected to detailed studies and their correct identities were established in consultation with research institutes in Europe and USA. Based on this work, initially a concise reference book: An Interpretation of Van Rheede's Hortus Malabaricus, was published (with his collaborators) from Berlin (1988), by the IAPT. This remains the only book by Indian authors published by them (IAPT) till date and is an essential resource in study on the taxonomy of Southeast Asian plants.

Richard H. Grove, in his book 'Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins', states that Itty Achudan and his team selected the plants which were to be drawn and included in Hortus Malabaricus, with accurate identification and mentioning of vernacular (local) name of the plants. Itty Achudan also disclosed the medicinal and other uses of the plants which was known to him from his own experience as a herbal physician and from the 'palmleaf scripture' carried by his family as 'wealth of knowlede'. Achudan dictated the material, in his native Malayalam language, which was then translated into Latin. Hortus Malabaricus was compiled over a period of nearly 30 years and published in Amsterdam during 1678–1693.

Historical, political, social and linguistic aspects of Hortus Malabaricus

The compilation and publication of Hortus Malabaricus is intimately connected with the history of India, politics of the 17th century Netherlands and the then social conditions of Malabar. It is also an important source of information, and the oldest printed, authentic document, on the evolution of Malayalam language and script. Manilal studied these aspects for over 35 years bringing to light many interesting facts, some of which were included in his book: Botany & History of Hortus Malabaricus, published from Rotterdam and Delhi (1980). Another book, in Malayalam: A study on the role of Itty Achudan in the compilation of Hortus Malabaricus, was published from Kozhikode in 1996.

In the research paper published in the journal Global Histories, entitled 'Plants, Power and Knowledge: An Exploration of the Imperial Networks and the Circuits of Botanical Knowledge and Medical Systems on the Western Coast of India Against the Backdrop of European Expansionism', Malavika Binny states that Kerala had medical traditions that existed even prior to Ayurvedic tradition. As per the author, Ezhava Tradition of Healing Practices or 'Ezhava vaidyam',as it is called, was prominent among other medical traditions that existed in Kerala which involved a considerable contribution from Buddhism which was a major force from the sixth century to about the eleventh century. This Buddhist tradition of treatment of diseases using plants and the knowledge of the indigenous plants preserved by the Ezhavas was exploited by the European endeavour as suggested by the inclusion of Itty Achuden in the compilation of Hortus Malabaricus which is basically an ethno-botanical treatise on the flora of Malabar. Van Rheede's motivation to compile a book on the natural plant wealth of Malabar was to prove his belief that Malabar is self-sufficient in all requirements of military and commerce and hence that Cochin was better suited to be the south east Asian Headquarters of the Dutch overseas forces, compared to Colombo in Ceylon.

Information is also available in the text of Hortus Malabaricus not only about the vegetation in 17th century Malabar, but also about the general social conditions prevalent in those days. Significant inferences could also be drawn on some of these matters, indirectly from the data available in the book. Several research papers have been published by Manilal on these topics. Some more, particularly on the different Numerals and Numerical Systems used in Hortus and their sociological implications and significances in the Indian society, are under preparation.

Taxonomic and biodiversity studies in Kerala

Manilal pioneered taxonomic research and biodiversity studies in Kerala by training a genre of young taxonomists and identifying and cataloguing local plants in biodiversity-rich South India. A comprehensive study on the flora of the Greater Kozhikode area, consisting of the western sectors of the present day Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, covering an area of about 600 km2. was started in 1969. When completed in 1975, this work resulted in recording about one thousand species of flowering plants from the region, including several species recorded for the first time in India and importantly seven species new to science. Based on this work, a book: Flora of Calicut, was published (from Dehra Dun), and was taken as a model for subsequent research in India.

Research and revelations at Silent Valley

In the 1970s, when a proposal to build a hydro-electric project in Silent Valley triggered political controversy in Kerala due to an impending ecological disaster, the Government of Kerala appointed an experts’ committee of scientists to study, inventorise and report on Silent Valley's flora and fauna. The experts’ committee reported that the forests there could not be classified as tropical evergreen rainforests and that they contain only 240 species of flowering plants, which are also found elsewhere, and also that the Valley does not possess any new or rare species. Despite protests by environmentalists the State Government was about to go ahead with the project, only awaiting a clearance form the Central Government. At this juncture, the Department of Science and Technology (India) accepted Manilal's proposal to study the flora of Silent Valley and also required him to make a general study of the ecological status of the forests.

Over a four-year period commencing 1981, Manilal and research assistants undertook a study that brought to light:

A record of nearly 1,000 species of flowering plants;
Seven species new to science;
Several plants believed to be found only in Sri Lanka, Philippines, etc.;
Some species which were believed to be extinct, such as the Malabar Daffodil, which was last seen in 1850 by a scientist named Thomas C. Jerdon in Nilgiris;
Rare medicinal plants until then known to grow only in the islands of Philippines;
Many endemics of the neighbouring countries, where their existence was threatened, were found to have migrated to these forests for safety.

Further Manilal's study found that the Silent Valley forests fulfilled required parameters of tropical evergreen rainforests and, therefore, could be rightly so classified. His work was soon considered as model of how taxonomists could assist in solving socio-environmental issues; and many scientists and journalists from Europe, Africa and South America visited Silent Valley to study the working of this project.

Orchids of Kerala

Detailed studies of the orchid wealth of Kerala were started by Manilal in the late 1970s, including their taxonomy, anatomy, biology and floral evolution, which are essential for any further studies on their hybridisation. During these studies, contrary to the highest expectations, over 215 species of orchids were collected, including species that were till then believed to be extinct, like the ladies' slipper orchid Paphiopedilum druryii.

Origin and evolution of the flower

Manilal has led studies on the directions of evolution of flowers and the structure and anatomy of various floral organs in cash crops such as coconut palms, grasses (rice), orchids, compositae (sun flower), rubiales (coffee), etc. Many enigmas in these subjects could be solved, and results were published in around 45 research papers. These studies have, besides seeing the flower as the most significant part of the plant, with biological, commercial, aesthetic, evolutionary and taxonomic importance, also promoted success in hybridisation and breeding experiments, to create new high-yielding varieties.

Radioactive resistant marine phyto-planktonic algae

As the beaches in southern Kerala and Tamil Nadu (particularly in the Districts of Kollam and Nagarcoil) have natural deposits of radioactive minerals causing genetic damage to flora and fauna, Manilal undertook studies to familiarise with the techniques of research in the field of radiation ecology. These studies were undertaken at the Marine Biology Laboratory of North Wales University at Menai Bridge, Wales. The Royal Society of London granted Manilal a Visiting Scientist-ship for this work for two years in 1971–1972.

Two species of marine phyto-planktonic algae were discovered, which could withstand a very high degree of radioactivity. It was found that these species could absorb and adsorb as much as 40 times their body weight of the radioactive Thorium compounds from surrounding seawater, and continue to live normally. In the 1970s these findings were farfetched to be accepted for publication in a journal in U.K. However, on Manilal's return to India, a part of these findings was published in the journal Current Science (1975), by the Indian Institute of Science. About ten years later, some British scientists did a similar work and their results were published in the prestigious U.K. journal Nature, and wide publicity in the press as a biotechnological break-through. Dr. Manilal's experiments (and the subsequent work by the British scientists) show that such marine planktonic algae could be used to quickly and safely clean up ocean surfaces where radio-active materials have accumulated, by cultivating such algae in a specific area and later removing them from there.

Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT)

Manilal was instrumental in establishing the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT). Manilal, as founder President, established IAAT in the year 1990 with its headquarters located at the Department of Botany, University of Calicut, Kozhikode, India. The IAAT works to promote the science of Angiosperm Taxonomy in India, to provide a common forum for Angiosperm taxonomists in India to organise meetings, hold discussions and exchange ideas on scientific and academic matters, and encourage collaborative work among taxonomists. The IAAT publishes a journal Rheedea (named after Hendrik van Rheede). The Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy works as an affiliate of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy.

From 1969 Manilal commenced training research students in Taxonomy (leading to PhD degree in the subject), with a view to attain self-sufficiency in Taxonomy. During the years 1972–1998, he and his students discovered over 240 new species of flowering plants and several new records for India from Kerala, and published many research papers in Taxonomy in national and international journals.

Biomass Research Centre

A Biomass Research Centre was established by Manilal in the University of Calicut, with funding from the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources. The Centre does research and field experiments to establish the (taxonomic) identification of fast-growing fuel-wood trees suitable for various agro-climatic zones of Kerala.

Summary of Manilal's discoveries

New species and varieties discovered, and combinations established by Manilal and his research associates are summarised are follows:New species discovered in Silent Valley

Liparis indiraii Manilal & C.S.Kumar
Eria tiagii Manilal & C.S.Kumar
Hydnocarpus pendulus Manilal, T.Sabu & Sivar.
Robiquetia josephiana Manilal & C.S.Kumar
Sauropus saksenianus Manilal, Prasann. & Sivar.
Cucumella silentvaleyi Manilal, T.Sabu & P.J.Mathew
Oberonia bisaccata Manilal & C.S.KumarNew species discovered under biodiversity studies
Hedyotis erecta Manilal & Sivar.
Cinnamomum nicolsonianum Manilal & Shylaja
Bulbophyllum rheedei Manilal & C.S.Kumar
Heliotropium keralense Sivar. & Manilal
Borreria malabarica Sivar. & Manilal
Phyllanthus kozhikodianus Sivar. & Manilal
Habenaria indica C.S.Kumar & ManilalNew varieties of flowering plants discovered
Borreria stricta (L. f.) K.Schum. var. rosea; Sivar. & Manilal
Borreria articularis (L. f.) F.N.Williams var. hispida Sivar. & Manilal
Portulaca oleracea L. var. linearifolia Sivar. & ManilalNew combinations established
Thunbergia bicolour (Wight) Manilal & Suresh
Eria chandrasekharanii (Bharg. & Moh.) C.S.Kumar & Manilal

Notable awards and positions held

Awards
Padma Shri award by Government of India (2020)
Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau award (Dutch: Orde van Oranje-Nassau) by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. (The Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Ms. Marijke A. van Drunen Littel conferred this honour on 1 May 2012, at Kozhikode, Kerala, India.)
E.K. Janaki Ammal National Award for Taxonomy (2003) – Constituted by The Ministry of Environment and Forests
Y. D. Tyagi Gold Medal (1998) – by the Indian Association of Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT)
Vishwambhar Puri Medal (1990) – by The Indian Botanical Society

Positions

Chief Editor, Rheedea, The Journal of Indian Association of Angiosperm Taxonomy (1991–present)
President, Botanical Society of India (1999)
Treasurer, Botanical Society of India (1984–1986)
Founding President, Indian Association of Angiosperm Taxonomy (1991)
Chairman, CRIKSC (Centre for Research in Indigenous Knowledge, Science & Culture)
Plants named in honour of Manilal (Eponyms)[edit]
Lindernia manilaliana Sivar. (Kew Bull. 31: 151. 1976)
Fimbristylis manilaliana Govind. (Rheedea 8(1): 87, f. 1. 1998)
Cyathocline manilaliana C.P.Raju & R.R.V.Raju (Rheedea 9 (2): 151-154. 1999)
Schoenorchis manilaliana M. Kumar & Sequiera (Kew Bull. 55: 241. 2000)
Cololejeunea manilalia Manju, Chandini & K.P.Rajesh (Acta Bot. Hung. 59(1–2): 262, 1–2. 2017)
Fissidens manilalia Manju, C.N., Manjula, K.M. & K.P. Rajesh (The Bryologist 120 (3): 263-269. 2017)
Isachne manilaliana Sunil, K.M.P. Kumar & Thomas (Webbia 72: 161-164. 2017)

Publication of the English and Malayalam versions of Hortus Malabaricus

Publisher's appeal for donation of royalties

Hortus Malabaricus as transliterated by Manilal was published in English and Malayalam languages in 2003 and 2008 respectively. Manilal's copyright, as author of the English and Malayalam versions, was bequeathed, free of royalties, to the publishers, the University of Kerala. This assignment of rights was a gesture by Manilal in good faith and in response to a specific appeal from the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kerala, that the University wanted to generate funds from this publication for utilisation of such royalty incomes toward re-publication of old Malayalam classical works, which are out of print, and not forecasted to generate a viable level of income due to limited sale of such classical works.

Book-release functions conducted by the publishers

In a recorded interview with Manilal in August 2008, he expressed his regret and frustration at the manner in which the publishers subjected him to digression from the publication project soon after he legally assigned his rights as author. Apparently there was a move to exclude Manilal's name from the book (2003), but was reinstated on account of questions raised by the academic community. On 14 August 2008, the University of Kerala officials again conducted a function at Thiruvananthapuram to formally release the Malayalam edition of Hortus Malabaricus. The book was released by the Governor of Kerala (also Chancellor of the University), at the function; where due recognition was not given to Manilal as author of the book, nor were arrangements in place to felicitate the author at the function. . The former Vice-Chancellor of University of Kerala who initiated the project, B. Ekbal, was also not invited to this function.
K. R. Naik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
K R Naik
Born 19 November 1947

Karwar, Karnataka, India
Education Jhunjhunwala College, Mumbai
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Mumbai
Occupation Executive chairman, Smartlink Network Systems Ltd.
Spouse(s) Sudha Naik
Children Arati Naik, Lakshana Sharma

Kamlaksha Rama Naik, better known as K R Naik (Hindi: क़ रा नायक़) is an Indian industrial engineer. He founded D-Link Ltd. (India) in 1993. He has been in the IT Industry for 42 years and has played a key role in creating the IT networking market and the surrounding channel ecosystem in India. He pioneered several new businesses and distribution models as early as 1990, when IT was a nascent industry and the concept of an IT distribution channel was just conceived.

Early life

Naik was born in Karwar, Karnataka on 19 November 1947. He completed his schooling in Karwar and later shifted to Mumbai. Naik is a mechanical engineer with a P.G. Diploma in Industrial Engineering and Licenciate in Plastic Engineering. He earned a Business Management degree from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute in Mumbai.

Career

His first job at Mumbai was with Bradma, but soon after that he joined IBM India in 1970 starting as a Mainframe Peripheral Assembly Engineer. In 1977 he contributed significantly to the development of an indigenous line printer at the 'Big Blue' center. He worked to develop indigenous computer peripheral parts of plastic and metal until IBM closed its Indian operation in 1978. After IBM closed down, he joined ORG System Ltd. wherein he was one of the 6 team members who developed the first indigenous line printers with a speed of 1000+ line per minute.

In 1984, Naik founded Virtual Computer Pvt. Ltd., and was among the first to import a wave-soldering machine to manufacture printed circuit boards of PCs.

From 1990–91, Naik entered into networking products as a distributor of D-Link brand products. Within 3 years, he decided to start manufacturing of networking products in India as a joint venture with D-Link. Taking financial and tax advantages offered by the government of Goa, he shifted manufacturing operations from the Ansa Industrial Estate in Mumbai to Verna Electronic City, Goa. In 1994–95 he also started a passive networking-products company together with UK-based passive components company Sapphire UK Ltd. In 1994, he entered into a joint venture with D-Link Corporation Taiwan and helped constructing new buildings and importing SMT lines from Japan.

In 1995, Naik set out to create a completely new channel for D-Link products. Rather than going after large distributors he decided to put a regional distribution model in place—arguably the first in India among the IT channel.

Honours and awards

2012 Outstanding Channel Contribution CRN, UBM India
2011 TOP SME ENTREPRENEUR 2010–11 SME Channels
2003-4 President of MAIT MAIT

Personal life

Naik's wife Sudha Naik is a homemaker; they have 2 daughters: Arati Naik and Dr. Lakshana Sharma (who is married to Dr. Amit Sharma).
Kuppuswamy Nagarajan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kuppuswamy Nagarajan
Born 15 August 1930

Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

Presidency College, Chennai
Wayne State University
University of Zurich
Known for Development of drugs
Sintamil
Varsyl
Satranidazole
Awards

1974 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Organic chemistry
Institutions

Ciba-Geigy Research Center
Bangalore Pharmaceutical & Research Laboratory
Recon Limited
Rallis India Limited
Alkem Laboratories
Doctoral advisor

T. R. Govindachari
C. L. Stevens
J.D. Roberts
H. Schmid

Kuppuswamy Nagarajan (born 15 September 1930 Sirupalai Village, Tamil Nadu) is an Indian organic chemist.

He earned a Ph.D. with Prof. T. R. Govindachari, Presidency College, Madras.

He won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Chemical Sciences, 1974;

Selected papers

Kuppuswamy Nagarajan, Vunnam R. Rao, Rashmi K. Shah, Sharada J. Shenoy, Hans Fritz, Wilhelm J. Richter, Dieter Muller, "Condensed Heterotricycles. Synthesis and Reactions of b-Fused 1(2H)-Isoquinolinones with unusual enaminic properties", Helvetica Chimica Acta, Volume 71, Issue 1, pages 77–92, 3 February 1988

Kuppuswamy Nagarajan, Patrick J. Rodriguesa and Munirathinam Nethajib, "Vilsmeier-Haack reaction of 1-methyl-34-dihydroisoquino lines-unexpected formation of 2,3-bisdimethylamino-5,6-dihydropyrrolo (2,1- ) isoquinolines", Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 33, Issue 47, 17 November 1992, Pages 7229-7232

Kuppuswamy Nagarajan, Joy David, Agasaladinni N. Goud, 10-Alkyl- and 10-aminoalkyl-2,2'-bis(trifluoromethyl)-3,10'-biphenothiazines, J. Med. Chem., 1974, 17 (6), pp 652–653, June 1974
Kansari Halder
*From Wikipedia, the free encyclope**dia*

Kansari Halder

Member of Parliament
In office
1957-1962
Constituency Diamond Harbour
Member of Parliament
In office
1967-1972
Constituency Mathurapur
Member of Legislative Assembly
In office
1972-1977
Constituency Sonarpur
Personal details
Born 28 September 1910
Vill. Andaria, South 24 Parganas (then 24 Parganas)
Died 29 August 1997 (aged 86)
Nationality Indian
Political party Communist Party of India
Residence P.O. Serakole, South 24-Paraganas

Kansari Halder was an Indian politician, belonging to the Communist Party of India. He earned fame as a leader of and for his active participation in the Tebhaga movement.

Early life

The son of Narendra Krishna Halder Jashodarani Haldar, he was born at village Andaria on 26 September 1910. He was educated at Ripon College and Bangabasi College in Kolkata. While still a student he was arrested in 1930 for his participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement. He remained with the Congress till 1941, when he joined the Communist Party of India.

Tebhaga movement

Kansari Halder provided leadership to the peasant movement that developed in the 1940s in Kakdwip-Sundarbans area of 24 Parganas and later became well known as the Tebhaga movement. Many people were killed in police-public face-off. Although he was convicted to death sentence in the Chandanpiri case in the Kakdwip area the police could not get him as he had gone underground. In 1957, he was elected to the Lok Sabha while he was still convicted. He was later acquitted.

Electoral performance

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1957 from Diamond Harbour, was reelected to the Lok Sabha in 1967 from Mathurapur, and was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1972 from Sonarpur.

Death

Kansari Halder spent the later years of his life in poverty. He died on 29 August 1997

K. Ananda Rau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ananda Rau
Born 21 September 1893

Madras, British India
Died 22 January 1966 (aged 72)

Bombay, India
Alma mater Presidency College, Madras
Known for summability of series, theory of functions of a complex variable and sums of an even number of squares
Scientific career
Fields Mathematics
Institutions Presidency College, Madras
Doctoral advisor Godfrey Harold Hardy

K. Ananda Rau (21 September 1893 – 22 January 1966) was an eminent Indian mathematician and a contemporary of Ramanujan. Though Rau was six years junior to Ramanujan, his mathematical trajectory, unlike Ramanujan's, was very much a conventional one and he had decided to pursue a career in mathematics well before Ramanujan's prowess became known.

Biography
Ananda Rau is seated on the high stool at the far left along with Ramanujan in the front chair

Ananda Rau was born in Madras on 21 September 1893. He attended the Hindu School in Triplicane, Madras and then Presidency College of the University of Madras. After a brilliant academic record, he sailed to England in 1914 only a few months after Ramanujan. After finishing his Mathematical Tripos from King's College, Cambridge, in 1916, he, like Ramanujan, came under the influence of G. H. Hardy, who guided and initiated him into active research. At Cambridge, Rau and Ramanujan became good friends. Moreover, Ramanujan's "most devoted friend" R. Ramachandra Rao, who was a District Collector, was Ananda Rau's relative. Ramachandra Rao, was responsible for mentoring Ramanujan on seeing his prowess in research, and provided financial aid, took care of his daily needs and got him a clerk's job at the Madras Port Trust. Though Ananda Rau met Ramanujan for the first time in England, he would have come to know of Ramanjuan through his relationship with Rao.

Ananda Rau returned to India in 1919 and was appointed as a professor of mathematics at Presidency College at the age of 26. Later, he served also as the Principal of the college and retired in 1948. His life was not without tragedy, as his wife died at a young age in 1928 and a daughter in 1940. He himself suffered various disabilities, including blindness in one eye, in his later years. He died on 22 January 1966, at the age of 72.

Academic work

As a student, Rau wrote an essay under Hardy's guidance that fetched him the coveted Smith Prize in 1917, following which he was also elected a fellow of King's College. Along with Hardy, Rau did a considerable amount of work on "Summability" and convergence properties of infinite series. In fact, a theorem named after Rau figures in Hardy's book. Rau published several papers, primarily in three fields: summability of series, theory of functions of a complex variable and sums of an even number of squares. Among the first papers he wrote after his return was on the subject of the Riemann zeta function, and the technique devised by Rau was found to have wide applicability in other problems of number theory.

Teaching influence

Ananda Rau taught several well-known mathematicians, including Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, K. S. Chandrasekharan, S Minakshisundaram, C T Rajagopal, C S Venkitaraman and M V Subbarao. His students regarded him as an inspiring teacher who emphasized that mathematics is an activity requiring immersion and dedication and is not for spectators. The story of Indian mathematics beyond Ramanujan begins with Rau and it is essentially Rau's students and descendants who constituted the Indian school of number theory.
Kumarendra Mallick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kumarendra Mallick
Born 21 December 1941

Odisha, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

IIT Kharagpur
Known for Studies on the analysis of geoelectromagnetic data
Awards

1986 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Geophysics
Institutions

National Geophysical Research Institute
University of Naples
University of Karlsruhe
IIT Mumbai

Kumarendra Mallick (born 1941) is an Indian geophysicist, poet and a former emeritus scientist at the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, A former assistant professor of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, he served as a director-grade scientist at NGRI. He is the author of three books on geophysics, a poem anthology, Letter to an Imaginary Pen-Friend and several articles.

Biography and career

Mallick, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, has served as a visiting professor at University of Naples and as a visiting scientist at University of Karlsruhe. He is reported to have done extensive research on the analysis of geoelectromagnetic data and contributed to the development of interpretational aids. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 1986.[8][note 1]
Notes[edit]

^ Long link - please select award year to see details

India portal
Geology portal

References

^ "Dr. Kumarendra Mallick on Boloji". Boloji. 2016.
^ "Brief Profile of the Awardee". Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
^ "Mallick on Asian Signature". Asian Signature. 2016.
^ Kumarendra Mallick (2009). Letter to an Imaginary Pen Friend and Other Poems. India: Sampark. ISBN 978-81-7768-031-7.
^ Viney Kirpal (2004). You Moved My Life: Tributes to Teachers. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 104–. ISBN 978-1-932705-41-6.
^ "Letter to an Imaginary Pen Friend - Book Review". Boloji. 2016.
^ "Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" (PDF). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "View Bhatnagar Awardees". Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
K. R. Sreenivasan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katepalli R. Sreenivasan
Born 30 September 1947
Citizenship Indian and American
Alma mater

Bangalore University
Indian Institute of Science
Scientific career
Fields

Physics
Engineering
Applied Mathematics
Institutions

Yale University
University of Maryland, College Park
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy
New York University
Thesis Mechanism Of Reversion In Highly Accelerated Turbulent Boundary Layers (1975)
Doctoral advisor Roddam Narasimha

Katepalli Raju Sreenivasan is an aerospace scientist, fluid dynamicist and applied physicist whose research includes physics and applied mathematics. He studies turbulence, nonlinear and statistical physics, astrophysical fluid mechanics, and cryogenic helium. He was the dean of engineering and executive vice provost for science and technology of New York University. Sreenivasan is also the Eugene Kleiner Professor for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and a professor of physics and mathematics professor at the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Education

Sreenivasan earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore University in 1968. He attended the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he was awarded a master's degree in 1970 and doctorate in aerospace engineering in 1975. His post-doctoral research was at the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, and Johns Hopkins University. Sreenivasan was awarded a Honoris Causa master's degree from Yale University in 1985. In 2006, he was awarded a Honoris Causa doctorate from University of Lucknow. He received a Honoris Causa doctorate from the University of Hyderabad in 2007, and from the Romanian Academy in 2008.

Career

In 1979, he joined the faculty at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut as assistant professor. In 1985, he became a full professor. Sreenivasan became chairman of Mechanical Engineering in 1987. He was appointed the Harold W. Cheel professor of mechanical engineering in 1988. In 1989, Sreenivasan was named acting chairman of the council of engineering. He became the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in 1991. He also served as professor of physics, applied physics and mathematics. In 1991, Sreenivasan was appointed to the Society of Scholars for Johns Hopkins University.[9] At the American Physical Society (APS), he served as the chair of the Division of Fluid Dynamics, and the founding chairman of the Topical Group in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. In 1995, he was awarded the APS Otto Laporte Memorial Award. In 1997, Sreenivasan became an American citizen.

In 2002, he joined the University of Maryland, College Park and became director of the Institute for Physical Sciences and Technology, which is a part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. That same year, Sreenivasan was named director of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy where he held the Abdus Salam Honorary Professorship. He started the position in March 2003. While working at ICTP he continued to hold his appointment at the University of Maryland as Glenn L. Martin Professor of Engineering and professor of physics.

Also in 2002, he received the Medal in Engineering Sciences from the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World. In 2008, the American Physical Society awarded him the Dwight Nicholson Medal for human outreach. In 2009, he was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science International Scientific Cooperation Award. He received the 2011 Multicultural Leadership Award of the National Diversity Council. He was also awarded the UNESCO Medal for promoting international scientific cooperation and world peace from the World Heritage Centre in Italy.

From 2009 until 2011, Sreenivasan served as senior vice provost for New York University’s Global Network University in science and technology. In 2007, Sreenivasan was elected to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He also served on the Physical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2009. In November 2012, he was appointed acting president of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. He became president and dean of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and dean of engineering at New York University (NYU), and oversaw the Institute's merger with NYU to become the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering. He is also the executive vice provost in charge of science and technology at NYU. Sreenivasan is the Eugene Kleiner Professor for Innovation in Mechanical Engineering at New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, and a professor of physics and mathematics professor at the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.

Sreenivasan has been a visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology, Rockefeller Institute, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and the Texas A&M University Institute of Advanced Study. Sreenivasan is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences He is a member of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Accademia die Lincei in Italy.

Other activities

He has served on scientific journal editorial boards including American Scientist, Physics of Fluids, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Physical Review E, Physical Review Letters, Journal of Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics, and the Springer book series on Applied Mathematics. Sreenivasan is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Nonlinear Science.
Kaushal Kishore
(scientist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaushal Kishore
Born 31 December 1940

Uttar Pradesh, India
Died 2 March 1999 (aged 56)

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

Lucknow University
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University
Known for Studies on thermochemistry and combustion of polymers
Awards

1988 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Polymer chemistry
Institutions

Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University
Indian Institute of Science
Doctoral advisor

R. P. Rastogi

Kaushal Kishore (1942–1999) was an Indian polymer chemist and head of the department of inorganic and physical Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He was known for his researches on thermochemistry and combustion of polymers. and was an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Indian National Science Academy, and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1988, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography
IISc - Main Building

Kaushal Kishore, born on the last day of 1942 in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, did his graduate studies in chemistry at Lucknow University and obtained his master's degree from the same institution before enrolling for doctoral studies at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University where he studied under the guidance of R. P. Rastogi to secure a PhD for his thesis on mechanism of combustion of non-hypergolic propellants. His career started at Gorakhpur University as a teaching faculty but he moved to the Indian Institute of Science in 1974 where he rose in ranks to head the department of inorganic and physical chemistry from 1994. His early researches were on thermochemistry and combustion of polymers with focus on the kinetics and thermodynamics of combustion, particularly with solid propellants. These researches assisted him in discovering autopyrolysis, a term he coined for a phenomenon related to accelerated combustion caused by polyperoxides, details of which he published in one of his articles. He was credited with developing Flammability Index, a dimensionless quantity to assess the flammability of combustible materials. He also worked on plasticization and his studies have assisted in widening the understanding of plasticizers and flame-retardants containing phosphorus. He published several articles in peer-reviewed journals and the online repository of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 165 of them. He was associated with the Journal of Applied Polymer Science as a member of their editorial board and sat on a number of councils and committees.

Kishore lived in Bengaluru and it was here he died on 2 March 1999, the day of the Indian festival Holi, succumbing to a cardiac arrest at the age of 56.

Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Kishore the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1988. He received the Indian Thermal Analysis Award of NICAR in 1991. The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as their fellow in 1991 and the Indian National Science Academy followed suit in 1999. He was also a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India. He was also associated with Indian Thermal Analysis Society, Indian High Energy Materials Society, Indian Polymer Society and Materials Research Society of India as their Life Member.
Kailash Sankhala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kailash Sankhala
Born 30 January 1925

Jodhpur, Jodhpur State, British India
Died 15 August 1994
Known for Environmental activism; Role as first Director of Project Tiger
Awards Padma Shri

Indira Gandhi presenting award to Kailash Sankhala

Kailash Sankhala (30 January 1925 – 15 August 1994) was an Indian biologist and conservationist. He was the Director of Delhi Zoological Park and Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan. He is best known for his work in preserving tigers. Sankhala was the first Director of Project Tiger, a conservation programme set up in India in 1973. He was well known as "The Tiger Man of India". He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 and Rajasthan Ratan in 2013.

Wildlife manager

Sankhala started at the Forest Service in 1953 From 1953 to 1964, he managed wildlife sanctuaries in Sariska, Bharatpur, Banvihar and Ranthambhor, as well as forests in Rajasthan. In 1965, he was appointed Director of the Delhi Zoological Park. In 1973 he was appointed head of Project Tiger, an attempt to save the Indian tiger from extinction

Tiger conservation

In 1971, Sankhala conducted a survey of the tiger population in India. His research later lead him to become the first Director of Project Tiger in 1973. Sankhala created the Tiger Trust in 1989. Sankhala's son, Pradeep Sankhala, took over the charge of the Tiger Trust after his father's death. Upon his death in 2003, his son Amit Sankhala stepped in.

Personal life

Kailash Sankhala was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 30 January 1925. Sankhala died on 15 August 1994 in Jaipur.

Awards and honours

The Ministry of Environment and Forests established the Kailash Sankhala Fellowship award for conservation efforts in his honour.

Bibliography

Kailash Sankhala (1973). Wild Beauty: A Study of Indian Wildlife. National Book Trust, India; [sole distributors: Thomson Press (India).
Kailash Sankhala (1974). Tigre. World Wildlife Fund. ISBN 3859880101.
Kailash Sankhala (1975). Tigerland. Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 978-0-672-52037-2.
Kailash Sankhala (1978). Tiger! The Story of the Indian Tiger. William Collins Sons & Co Ltd. ISBN 0-00-216124-9.
Kailash Sankhala (1990). Gardens of God: The Waterbird Sanctuary at Bharatpur. Vikas Publishing House.
Kailash Sankhala (1993). Return of the Tiger. Lustre Press.
Kailash Sankhala; Swaraj Chauhan (1997). The Story of Indian Tiger. Grange Books. ISBN 978-1-85627-888-1
Dr Kumar Bahuleyan
Home is where the heart is Kumar Bahuleyan’s two younger brothers and a sister were screaming with pain. He felt helpless as he looked at them. His father and mother did not know what to do. In the 1920s, in the village of Chemmanakary, 20 km from Kochi, there was no drinking water, electricity, schools, or sanitary facilities. “My siblings got sick by drinking polluted water,” says Bahuleyan. “And there was no doctor to cure them. They died of roundworm infestation. Even now, 80 years later, I can hear their screams in my head.”

Bahuleyan’s father, Kumaran, a subsistence farmer, belonged to the low-caste Ezhavas. As a child, Bahuleyan was pot-bellied, with a runny nose, and suffered from amoebiasis, chicken and small pox, scabies and typhoid. When Bahuleyan wanted to study in an English-medium school, his father was unable to pay the fees. So he joined the Malayalam government school.

One day, after Bahuleyan had completed his Class 7 final exams, he was walking with his father, in front of an English-medium school run by a Brahmin, Harihara Subramaniam Iyer.

“Kumaran, where are you going?” said Iyer. Kumaran said that he was trying to get admission for Bahuleyan in another school. Astonishingly, Iyer offered Bahuleyan a seat, even though the monthly fees were `3.50. Bahuleyan says, “It was the biggest break of my life.”

After his schooling, Bahuleyan went to UC College in Aluva and completed his science degree in 1949. By this time Bahuleyan’s aim had crystallised: he wanted to become a doctor. “My siblings had died of preventable diseases,” he says. “I wanted to use my expertise to cure the world.”

Thereafter, he secured admission to the Madras Medical College. Unfortunately, the capitation fees of `1,200 had to be paid. His maternal uncle, Padmanabhan, who was well off, sold off a piece of land and gave Bahuleyan the money. “With that sum I was able to attend the first-year classes,” says Bahuleyan. For the second year, Bahuleyean went to Subramaniam Iyer for help. And Iyer did an extraordinary thing. He pawned his wife’s jewellery and gave Bahuleyan `3,000. For the third year, Bahuleyan also did something extraordinary. He got himself engaged, with the help of his father, to the daughter of an affluent liquor dealer.

Consequently, Bahuleyan used the dowry money to pay the fees. But once he graduated, he broke off the engagement. “The girl’s father set too many conditions,” says Bahuleyan. His father was deeply offended, and never again spoke to his son.

Meanwhile, the state government sent Bahuleyan to do neuro-surgical training at the University of Edinburgh. He spent six years there and returned in 1964. The very next year, he was drafted into the army, during the India-Pakistan war, because the Armed Forces did not have a qualified neuro-surgeon. Following that, in 1968, he immigrated to the US, and finally settled in Buffalo, New York, in 1973.

Known for his extraordinary talent as a neurosurgeon, his career took off, and he made millions. “I was the right person at the right time at the right place with the right skills,” he says. Soon, he bought a large house, owned six Mercedes cars, a Cherokee 4 airplane, and a Honda 500 cc motorcycle. “It was my hedonistic days,” he says. “I threw wild parties and lived on the fast lane. I got everything money could buy, but it did not make me happy.”

Every now and then he would return to Chemmanakary and would observe that nothing had changed. In 1989, he set up the Bahuleyan Foundation and set aside $20 million for it. His first project was to set up a clinic catering to women and children. Later, Bahuleyan built new roads, improved sanitation facilities, and set up a potable water supply system. In 1996, Bahuleyan established the Indo-American Brain and Spine Hospital in the village. Today, it is a 220-bed super-speciality hospital and one of the premier institutes in south India. In 2004, he set up the Kalathil Lake Resort; the profits are used for charitable works. Apart from that, he also started a nursing as well as a physical therapy college.

On the personal front, he had an arranged marriage in 1958, but got divorced in 1968. One child, son Saju, lives in Chicago. His second marriage to a widow, Dr Indira Kartha, took place in 1985. And, today, at the age of 86, Bahuleyan continues to do surgeries. “By the grace of God, my hands are steady and my brain is fine,” he says. Bahuleyan divides his time between the USA, where his wife lives, and the hospital where he works 24/7.

And thus continues the ongoing saga of a most extraordinary Malayali.

BAHULEYAN: DOCTOR WITH A MISSION

Haunted by dying screams NRI doctor donates US$ 20 million to Kerala village Chemmanakary in Kottayam

By THE VERDICT TEAM

CHEMMANAKARY, ONE of the typical Kerala villages in Kottayam district has had the fortune to have a Kumar Bahuleyan born there. Dr Bahuleyan, look up to the village as his own home and started transforming the village into a heaven by investing his hard earned American dollars into make a shape to the life of his counterparts in Kerala.

Bahuleyan, who belongs to the ‘untouchable community’ (read as Dalit), lived in the village seeing the poverty even though his father was a physician in the village. He saw his three siblings dying because of starvation. The family brought up the two remaining in the poor family and Bahuleyan who was good in education, fought to survive and go to the school. He fought, disease and hunger every step of the way and his brilliancy helped him to get through the Kerala government’s scholarship while studying. He stood first in while education and it helped him to acquire a medical degree. Dr Bahuleyan was an eternal optimist, in his own words.

After graduating in medical science, the Kerala government taking into account his ability to circumvent sent him to the United Kingdom for for neurosurgical training as the state did not have a neurosurgeon at that time. When the doctor returned home the military picked him up for the forces, which did not have a qualified neurosurgeon, during the time of Chinese aggression.

However, the Keralites does not have the fortune to get served by the eminent doctor or it may be the doctors ‘fortune’ that the Kerala government did not have a place for him. A fresh man had filled his place, when he returned. The bureaucratic red tape followed doctor and the qualified surgeon had to sit at home ideally. Waiting made doctor to flee his mother country to Onatario, Canada in the United Kingdom seeking an opportunity their. He found a right place in Buffalo, where for the first time in his life he achieved economic and professional security.

However, doctor never forgot his native place, Chemmanakary. He kept visiting the village regularly whenever he got a short vacation. Whenever he visited his native village he found the sad state of his village is as it is even after fifty years of much celebrated Independence. The doctor found that his native still did not have potable drinking water, sanitation, electricity, roads and health centers. The condition of sanitation in the village was very poor and he noticed that even well settled community in his village never bothered about the contamination, which was lacking people’s awareness.

The doctor started acting accordingly. He never tried to blame the authorities or the people living around him. Instead, the energetic doctor took an oath to set up a beautiful and clean village. In 1989, doctor established a not-for-profit private organization to bring basic health care to Kerala villages. The doctor put in around Rs 10 crore during two three years, and his attempt was to come back to his village and do some community work.

The Bahuleyan Charitable Foundation, founded by Dr Kumar Bahuleyna, began with a health survey to pick a target area. It chose an area comprising 17 sq. miles with a population of 66,356.The foundation plunged into a latrine construction programme in this area where 5009 of the 18,362 houses did not have latrines.So far 619 latrinees meeting WHO standards and costing Rs.4,000 each have been built. "The people initially had no clue what to do with a latrine and started using it as a store room,” says Bahuleyan.

In 1993 the foundation built a small clinic in the village to treat pregnant women and children. Demand was so high in spite of poor accessibility ( there were no roads leading to the clinic),that the centre was soon upgraded and moved to Vaikom town. The foundation also spent Rs.50 lakh to construct a 6km road to the main highway and subsidiary roads to link the clinic.

The Vaikom wing of The Indo- American Hospital opened in 1995 with 30 beds."It was named to highlight the fact that it is built with the money I earned in the U.S and to acknowledge the American taxpayer’s contribution,” explained the doctor.

But with most of the patients being poor the hospital was making little by way of revenue and its very existence was threatened . "I started this whole project out of my sentiments, with no planning,” said Bahuleyan.” " However I realized I had to do something revenue generating to make it viable.”

Today the Indo American Speciality Hospital for Neuro Surgery is a supreme blend of American Technology occupied with Indian tradition of selfless service to humanity. This super speciality hospital provides all facilities as available in any of the finest humanity. This super speciality hospital provides all facilities as available in any of the finest hospitals in Europe or the US. The hospital comes along with a posh backwater resort, Kalathil Health Resort that caters to the aspirations of the national and international patients and tourists. The revenue surplus and the proceeds from the resort would help to augment and expand the reach of charity of Indo-American Hospital.

The Latest Take from the Press…

EIGHTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD KUMAR Bahuleyan, a neurosurgeon, who once led a lavish lifestyle that included moving around in a Rolls Royce and five Mercedes, besides an aeroplane, has used the money to build a hospital specialising in neurosurgery, a health clinic and a spa in Chemmanakary in Kerala's Kottayam District. A Dalit based in Buffalo, New York, for the last 34 years, has given 20 million dollars to his village in Kerala.

Bahuleyan said that the desire to do something for his native place germinated between 1982 and 1987, when he visited the area, and found that nothing had changed. He said that he felt like returning something to the village, which had taught him and made him something in life.

Bahuleyan says he lost two younger brothers and a sister to water-borne disease in 1930s, and even today he says he is haunted by their dying screams. As a 'untouchable', Bahuleyan had to take a circuitous route to school because he wasn't allowed to pass a Hindu temple. A brilliant student, he succeeded in joining a medical college in Madras. From their, he proceeded to Edinburgh for six years of neurosurgical training before eturning home.

Unfortunately, there was no vacancy for a neurosurgeon in those days, and Bahuleyan left for Kingston and then Albany Medical College, before coming to Buffalo in 1973 to work with noted American neurosurgeon Dr John Zoll.

During his 26-year career, Bahuleyan served as a clinical associate professor in neurosurgery at the University at Buffalo before retiring in 1999 as a multi-millionaire.

In 1989, he set up the Bahuleyan Charitable Foundation, which built a small clinic in India for young children and pregnant women in 1993 in south India. Bahuleyan's foundation also built the Indo-American Hospital Brain and Spine Centre in 1996, starting with 80 beds.

The foundation opened the Kalathil Health Resorts, offering luxury rooms, health spas and exercise rooms in 2004.

Bahuleyan's latest venture -- East India Seven Seas Sailing Company, plans to invite applications from Americans willing to spend a few weeks in India, to volunteer in Bahuleyan's hospital and to teach sailing.

Bahuleyan lives with his wife, pathologist Indira Kartha. He spends six months of the year in America, and rest in India, looking after the work of his foundation.

INDO-AMERICAN HOSPITALBRAIN & SPINE CENTREChemmanakary, Akkarappadam (P.O),Vaikom 686 143, Kerala, IndiaTel / Fax: (91-4829) 273281, 273282, 273283, 274163

Dr. Kumar Bahuleyan – Born Extremely Poor, Became Rich and is Donating All to Help Others in NeedI discarded Mercedes Benz for a Bicycle like a small kid discarding old toy for new one”— Dr. Kumar Bahuleyan

“Who dies rich dies disgraced.” said Andrew Carnegie and Lord Buddha said— “To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.” Here is an inspiring story from Kalam Fan Club about a philanthropist and an Indian-American Neurosurgeon whose life has been a classic example of being a true practitioner of the above two quotes. The story of Dr. Kumar Bahuleyan is two folded; He was born in rags of a remote village in Kerala, India and succeeded to be an iconic neuro surgeon to practice in Buffalo, the USA with all materialistic comforts under the sun in his possession, thus providing a rags-to-rich success story. But his inner drive to help the poor masses in his motherland with a charitable super specialty hospital by donating all his earnings gives silver-lining to his success story. The fact that he has ensured that his name doesn’t get portrayed anywhere in his charitable work manifold his philanthropic mission. A doctor who was born in a poor village background without proper sanitation and drinking water and grew up to own Mercedes Benz, Royal Royce, and Airplane and donated 20 million $ for the upliftment of his native village is a remarkable achievement on any scale.

PC: indoamericanhospital.in

Dire Childhood Days & Education

Dr. Kumar was born in a remote village called Chemmanakary in Kottayam district of Kerala. His child hood days (the 1930s) were so awful that all his siblings suffered from epidemics and as the eldest of four children he had to witness the death of his three siblings who were not even eight years old. As he belonged to untouchable caste schooling was also not easy in those days. He had to take a roundabout route to school as he was not allowed to commute on the road with the temple. Fortunately, this boy’s learning ability was identified by a headmaster of a school belonging to lower caste school. This headmaster readily agreed to teach this boy for free and thus the trauma of going to a far away school ended for Kumar. Most interestingly in those days of intense practice of untouchability, Mr. Harihara Subramaniam Iyer an upper-class Brahmin offered a seat for this lower caste boy in his English medium high school. This happened to be a turning point in his education. Further, he got the opportunity to study para medical in a Christian missionary school. Later he joined medical college of Madras (Chennai). Dr. Kumar always acknowledges the scholarships provided by the Govt. for his education and accepts it would have been impossible for him to complete his education. His life was completely poverty-ridden, and he didn’t have a pair of shoes to go to medical college. He often claims that he is an eternal optimist.

Higher education in Scotland

The Kerala Govt. having recognized his abilities funded him to pursue neurosurgery in Scotland as no neurosurgery department was available back home. On his return back home, in 1965 he was posted in Indian Army during India-Pakistan war to support army personnel as a specialist neurosurgeon. But, after the warfare Govt. failed to accommodate him in any neuro surgeon post he was left jobless unable to break the bureaucratic red-tape-ism prevailing in the country.

Career Abroad
Due to the pathetic condition back home, he started applying for prospects overseas and immigrated to Ontario, Canada, seeking employment. Finally, he settled at Buffalo, USA and for the first time in his life sensed economic security. His marathon 26 years of private practice had a great beginning with offices at Linwood and Kenmore avenues cum main streets. He even served as a clinical associate professor at the University of Buffalo before retiring in the year 1999. Dr. Kumar Bhauleyan had made up for what he had lost in his childhood by getting into buying spree and enriched himself with all material comforts his mind prompted him to possess. Unfortunately, Dr. Bahuleyan’s first marriage didn’t click and he got married to Dr. Indira a widow in the year 1985. He was happily leading a life with his wife Dr. Indira kartha, who is pathologist by profession. But an inner feeling of emptiness started popping up in Dr. Kumar’s mind and he started probing life beyond material comforts of a multi-millionaire.

PC: asianlite.com

Turning Point for Charity Spree

Dr. Kumar Bhuleyan was back in the home for vacation and could witness the country have not changed drastically. He witnessed a scene of a lonely young mother standing on the roadside with a 3-year-old pot-bellied child with running nose and scabies all over the body. This poverty ridden parent and child recalled the nightmares Dr. Kumar himself had underwent after the tragic death of his siblings in childhood days. He realized the extremity of life that he is a successful icon in America living in material comforts and an innocent child without having any prejudice of caste, creed, and status suffering in his motherland. The enlightenment Dr. Kumar was badly looking for had struck, and he decided to spend six months in a year in India serving the poor in need of medical attention and spend another six months in the USA. He took the initiative to build septic tanks for enabling people to use toilets; around 3000 toilets were in place. He initiated construction of new roads, and even 25 to 30 housing units were built and to ice the cake he built the most needed charitable hospital.

Here is the path trod by Dr. Kumar in serving the society:

In 1989, he established non-profit-organization Bahuleyan Charitable Foundation to bring basic health care to Kerala villages by pouring ten crores of rupees from his savings to the Foundation

The foundation plunged into toilet construction program where a one-third of houses did not have sanitation, approximately 619 latrines meeting WHO standards were constructed

In 1993 the foundation built a small clinic in the village to treat pregnant women and children. The demand for treatment was so high in spite of bad road conditions, Dr. Kumar took a new initiative to build a 6 Km road to establish connectivity to the clinic by spending 50 lakh rupees.
In 1995 the vaikom wing of the Indo-American Hospital was started with 30 beds. The hospital was named so to acknowledge the American tax payer’s contribution in the fund used

To ensure sustainability of this charitable foundation, Kumar took help of consultants and came up with idea of a super-speciality hospital to fetch revenue from affordable people, thus in 1996 a super-speciality neurosurgery hospital got incepted

Kumar is also serving village communities by providing them with innovative sustainable agricultural practices

To enhance the availability of trained medical practitioners he has plans to set up nursing training and medical technicians training institutesToday at the age of 86, Dr. Kumar Bahuleyan is healthy to conduct surgeries, and he humorously says—“By the grace of God, my hands are steady and my brain is fine,” and while in India he stays at hospital premises. Interesting fact about Dr. Bahuleyan’s saga of service is as soon as he shifted his area of operation to Kerala villages; He discarded his Mercedes Benz and bought a bicycle in exchange. He is quoted to have said that “This behaviour was similar to that of a school going kid that discards old toys for the new one!”

Kalam Fan Club is proud of this 86 year old young boy who is serving the community relentlessly.

Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822 in a labor family in a place called Dole, France. His leather businessmen were ordinary. His father's wish was that his son become a great man by studying.

Pradeep soni

Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822 in a labor family in a place called Dole, France. His leather businessmen were ordinary. His father's wish was that his son become a great man by studying.

They also wanted to bear the burden of debt for his studies. While working with his father, Louis took admission in a school in Arboi to fulfill his father's wish, but the learning taught by the teachers was beyond his grasp.

He was teased as Mandabuddhi and Buddha. Unhappy at the neglect of the teachers, Louis gave up schooling, but he thought of doing something so that the whole world would respect him as an intelligent, not a Buddha.

After being forced by his father, he went to Paris for higher education and started studying at a college in Vaisako. His special interest was in chemistry. He was particularly influenced by Dr. Duma, a scholar of chemistry.

At the age of 26, Pasteur started teaching physics instead of chemistry, receiving a degree from Econnarmel College. Overcoming obstacles, he became the chairman of the science department. After accepting this post, he started research work.

After finishing college, he started working in a chemical school to achieve his goal. Here you studied crystals and also did some important research. You started getting good fame in the form of chemicals from them.

In the year 1896. In France, the Minister of Education appointed you to teach physics in the school of Dijon. A year later, he was made a substitute professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg. The secret of this advancement was that the university president had a girl whose name was mine. I was a beautiful teenager with beautiful hair. You met him Mary's untouched lavana has gone home in your heart. Only a week after the meeting, you proposed marriage to Mary. Mary turned down your offer. But Louis Pasteur was a good scientist. Endurance was in you. You continued to try despite Mary's refusal. After one year, you got success in your wish fulfillment. Mary accepted to be your wife.

After marriage, your interest started moving from chemistry to biology. This is the science of organisms. The university is in the middle of the grape growing region of France. One day a group of wine makers came to meet Louis Pasteur one day. He asked you that our liquor turns sour every year. What is the reason for this?

Louis Pasteur received chemistry education in Paris. From 1873, Pasteur began to revise on chemistry. From 1857, that is, at the age of 32, he became the Dean of the University Ong Lily. They began to focus on the study of compositions of joint or original values. He laid the basic principles in revision of biochemistry. It was an old belief that micro-organisms are self-generated, they are created by themselves. Pasteur's amendment uprooted this thinking. Pasteur overthrew this thinking by constructing animals or micro-organisms into rotting flora or fauna.

After some time Pasteur turned his attention to another area. In France, the wine and beer industry was disturbed by an objection in the year 17.

In this country, the main business of alcohol production, liquor used to get spoiled after filling in bottles. Because of this, this business was a big fraud. Louis Pasteur found a solution for this. Heating the bottles filled with alcohol to a temperature of 55 degrees Celsius, proved that the pollutants are removed from the wine and the wine started to last for a long time.

Pasteur suspected that air also contained bacteria. He conducted an experiment to investigate his suspicions. He took a little cotton and put it in water and boiled it well, So that all the bacteria hidden in it die. Then, remove the cotton and put it in the air and after a while put it back in the same water. Bacteria started appearing again in water. Remember that all this work was being done with the help of microcosm. From this experiment, it appeared that there are bacteria in the air. Pasteur conducted another experiment. He thought of a way in which cold air in a soup filled with a vessel would go on continuously but the bacteria of the air did not reach. He realized that bacteria stick to dust particles in the air. He made a special kind of flask. Pasteur filled this flask with half of the soup and then boiled the soup. Let the steam out of the twisted tube for a long time. In this way all the bacteria in the soup and tube died. Then he allowed the soup to cool down. The folded hose of the flask was also kept open so that air could enter. The wind could reach the soup,

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is the method in which microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc. are destroyed by heating liquids. It is named after the Persian scientist Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur first used pasteurization on 20 April 1862.
M. Vijayan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mamannamana Vijayan
Born 16 Oct 1941
Cherpu, Kerala
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Indian Institute of Science
Known for Protein crystallography
Awards Padma Shri (2004), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology(1985)
Scientific career
Fields Biological sciences
Institutions Indian Institute of Science
Doctoral advisor Mysore A. Viswamitra

Mamannamana Vijayan (born 16 October 1941, Cherpu, Kerala[1]) is an Indian structural biologist. His main area of research is protein structures. His contributions have been towards the structure and carbohydrate specificity of lectins and protein hydration. He has also contributed towards the area of structure and interactions of mycobacterial proteins and supramolecular association with reference to chemical evolution and origin of life. Vijayan did biological macromolecular crystallography in India.

He was awarded Padma Shri by the President of India in 2004. He was the President of the Indian National Science Academy from 2007–2010. Currently, he is DAE Homi Bhabha Professor at the Indian Institute of Science.

Education

Vijayan obtained his Masters of Science degree in 1963 from Allahabad University. Thereafter, he received his Doctorate degree in X-ray crystallography from the Indian Institute of Science in 1967. During 1968–71, he was a post-doctoral fellow in Professor Dorothy Hodgkin’s research group at University of Oxford. During that period, he studied x-ray diffraction data for insulin crystals.

Contribution in structural biology

Vijayan's students and postdocs have dealt with four of the five structural classes of plant lectins. They have studied in detail lectins from peanut, winged bean (basic and acidic), jackfruit (jacalin and artocarpin), garlic, banana and snake gourd. The work on lectins demonstrated the need for considering open quaternary structures when dealing with multimeric proteins[5] and the variability in the quaternary association of legume lectins. and lectins with the β-prism I fold. His group established β-prism I fold as a lectin fold. They explained the roles of water-bridges, post-translational modification, oligomerisation and variation in loop length as strategies for generating ligand specificity. Their studies provided insights into the structural basis of carbohydrate specificity and the biological implications of this specificity. Using an approach involving water-mediated transformations, Vijayan's research determined the nature of the flexibility in lysozyme and ribonuclease A and identified the invariant features in their hydration shells. His research also demonstrated the presence of ensembles of relaxed and tense states of haemoglobin. and water-mediated loop movement in β-lactoglobulin. His studies have provided insights into the relationship among hydration, molecular mobility and protein action.

Vijayan organised a national programme on the structural biology of microbial pathogens. His research in the area has been concerned with mycobacterial, particularly tuberculosis, related proteins. The specific systems studied by him include RecA, RuvA, uracil DNA glycosylase, single stranded DNA binding protein, ribosome recycling factor, peptidyl tRNA hydrolase, pantothenate kinase and DNA binding protein in stationary phase cells. He has elucidated the specific structural features of these proteins in mycobacteria, which, among other things, have opened up avenues for structure-based inhibitor design, with the eventual objective of drug development.

Vijayan's research have determined the molecular recognition and aggregation patterns involving amino acids and peptides using an approach based on molecular complexes. This has implications to chemical evolution and origins of life. His other contributions pertain to the structure and interactions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics, ionophores and related compounds, side chain conformation in proteins and additional binding sites in lysozyme.

Vijayan has published more than 260 peer reviewed research articles and has guided 38 research students and 20 postdoctoral fellows.

Professional life

After completing his postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford, he returned to India in 1971 and joined the Molecular Biophyiscs Unit at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He has served in various capacities such as Professor, Chairman of Molecular Biophysics Unit, Chairman of Division of Biological Sciences among others. During 2000–2004 he was Associate Director of IISc.[1] He has continued to work at the Institute as a DBT Distinguished Biotechnologist and subsequently as a DAE Homi Bhabha Professor.

Prof. Vijayan's course on fundamentals in crystallography was extremely popular with students at the Indian Institute of Science. His unique approach of interlacing historical developments in the field with conceptual aspects made the course vibrant and energetic.

Role in international and national organisations

Vijayan is a member of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the International Union of Pure & Applied Biophysics (IUPAB), the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Inter Academy Panel (IAP) and the InterAcademy Council (IAC). He is a former president of the Asian Crystallographic Association. He has been involved in the activities of the science departments and agencies of the Government of India and different scientific institutions in the country. He is the Founder President of the Indian Crystallographic Association and has served as the President of the Indian Biophysical Society and the President of the Indian National Science Academy (2007–2010).

Awards and recognitions

Vijayan is a Fellow of the three science academies of India[1] and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). He has won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, GN Ramachandran Medal by INSA, Alumni Award Excell. Res. by IISc, FICCI Award Life Sci., Ranbaxy Res. Award by Basic Medical Sciences, JL Nehru Centen. vis. fellow by INSA, Om Prakash Bhasin Award, KS Krishnan Memorial Lecture by INSA, JL Nehru Birth Centen. Award by Indian Science Congress Assoc., Padma Shri, Distinguished Biotechnologist Award by DBT; Goyal Prize, first CSIR/Science Congress GN Ramachandran Award for Excellence in Biological Science and Technology, Distinguished Alumni Award and Lakshmipat Singhania-IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award for Science and Technology-Leader, 2009.
Mushi Santappa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mushi Santappa
Born 2 October 1923

Jonnagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India
Died 26 February 2017 (aged 93)
Nationality Indian

Alma mater

University of Madras
Banaras Hindu University
University of London
Manchester University
Known for Studies on kinetics of oxidation, Complexometry, Synthetic high polymers, Leather technology

Awards

1967 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1982 ICS Sir J. C. Ghosh Memorial Medal
1985 FICCI Award for Science and Technology
Sevaratna Award
Voice Award for Science and Technology
Scientific career
Fields

Photochemistry
Polymer chemistry
Institutions

University of Madras
Madurai Kamaraj University
Central Leather Research Institute
Sri Venkateswara University
Doctoral advisor

R. W. West
Meredith Gwynne Evans

Mushi Santappa FRS FRIC (2 October 1923 – 26 February 2017) was an Indian polymer chemist, leather technologist and a vice chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University and the University of Madras. He was one of the founder directors of Avanti Leathers Limited and was known for his researches on the synthesis of graft copolymers, the properties of macromolecules, and osmotic techniques. He was an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, Royal Institute of Chemistry and New York Academy of Sciences and a founder fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Chennai. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1967, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography
University of Madras Entrance Arch at Chepauk Campus

Mushi Santappa was born on 2 October 1923 in Jonnagiri village in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to Arikeri Basappa-Rajoli couple and graduated in chemistry from the University of Madras in 1943. His master's degree was from Banaras Hindu University in 1946 after which he secured a PhD from the University of London on a Government of India scholarship in 1949, mentored by R. W. West. Staying back in the UK, he obtained another PhD in 1951 from Manchester University, working under the guidance of Meredith Gwynne Evans, a Fellow of the Royal Society; his thesis was based on the physical chemistry of high polymers. Returning to India, he joined the University of Madras as a reader of physical chemistry in 1952 and in 1958, he was transferred to the Madurai Extension Centre (present-day Madurai Kamaraj University) as a professor. He returned to Chennai in 1963 as the head of the department of physical chemistry. Serving as a UGC Senior Professor at the university from 1966 onward, he also worked as a director at Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) from 1972. In 1979, he was appointed as the vice chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati and on expiry of his tenure in 1980, he returned to Chennai and took up the assignment as the vice chancellor of the University of Madras in 1981 where he stayed till 1984.[2] While working as the UGC professor, he co-founded Avanti Leather Limited, a public limited company involved in the manufacture and export of leather products, in 1976.

Santappa was married to Lakshmi Devi and the couple has three daughters and two sons. He died on 26 February 2017, in Chennai, at the age of 93.

Legacy

Santappa's early researches during his doctoral studies were related to vinyl monomers.4 and its free radical polymerization using light but later, he shifted his focus to the study of kinetics of vinyl polymerization during his stint at the laboratory of Meredith Gwynne Evans. Through these studies, he propounded that vinyl monomers could be polymerized using photo polymerization. He also demonstrated the synthesis of graft copolymers by simple chain transfer process and also studied oxidation of a number of organic substrates.

His researches have been published in over 350 articles and he guided 59 research scholars on the doctoral studies. Moreover, he published a comprehensive text on the State of the Art in Polymer Science and Engineering in India. Together with Santi K. Palit, a known chemist, he promoted research in polymer science at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science and was one of the organizers of the International Symposium on Polymers, under the aegis of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), held in Chennai in 1983.He served as the chair of the Science and Society project of the Department of Science and Technology and has been an adviser to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. It was during his tenure as the vice chancellor, the University of Madras established department of Energy and department of Polymer Science and Technology. He was also a national professor and member of the University Grants Commission and sat in the council of the Indian National Science Academy.
Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Santappa the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1967.[15] He received the Sir J. C. Ghosh Memorial Medal of the Indian Chemical Society in 1982 and the FICCI Award for Science and Technology of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry in 1985. He was also a recipient of the Sri Kanchi Mahaswami Trust and the Voice Award for Science and Technology of Leather. He received an honorary DLitt from Gulbarga University and the degree of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from Andhra University, Madras University, Sri Krishna Devaraya University and Madurai Kamaraj University. He was an elected fellow of all the three major Indian sciences academies, Indian Academy of Sciences (1961), Indian National Science Academy (1971) and National Academy of Sciences, India (1983). He was also a fellow of Royal Institute of Chemistry (1970) and the New York Academy of Sciences (1985) and a founder fellow of the Academy of Sciences Chennai. The Society for Polymer Science, India have instituted an annual award, Professor M. Santappa Award, in his honor, which recognizes excellence in research in polymer chemistry.
Michael Lobo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Lobo
Born 12 September 1953 (age 68)
Mangalore, India
Occupation Writer, historian
Nationality Indian
Genre Genealogy

Michael Lobo (born 12 September 1953) is an Indian scientist, writer, and genealogist. He is the author of three self-published books on the Catholic community in Mangalore, India.

Early life and education

Michael Lobo was born in Mangalore, India to Maisie Lobo (née Fernandes) and Camillo Lobo, both of Mangalorean Catholic descent. He belongs to the Bejai branch of the Lobo-Prabhu clan, that has its roots in the Makhale suburb of Kulshekar, Mangalore. Lobo's father was a British army soldier who served during World War II. He studied at Montfort High School in Yercaud, Tamil Nadu, and graduated from St. Aloysius College. In 1975, he was one of the "National-A" level chess players in the country, which put him among India's top 20 chess players. In 1982, he obtained a PhD from IISc Bangalore, with a degree in Applied Mathematics. His doctoral thesis on Transonic Aerodynamics earned him the "Young Scientist Award" from the Indian National Science Academy (INSA). In 1982, he earned a PhD in aerodynamics mathematics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, receiving the 1983 Young Scientist Award from Indian National Science Academy.

Career
Academics (1984–1993)

In 1984, Lobo moved to England where he entered the Cranfield Institute of Technology on a Commonwealth Scholarship, eventually becoming a faculty member. While employed there, Lobo authored papers on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), including Time Marching – A Step-by-step Guide to a Flow Solver (Ashgate Press, 1997). In his spare time he compiled a 1000-page dictionary of English words derived from Classical Greek and wrote a book on the origins of popular Rock'n'roll songs, but neither was published. He returned to Mangalore in 1993, because of "personal crises".

Genealogy (from 1994 onwards)

Lobo's interest in genealogy began in 1992, upon his discovery of an antique baptismal register belonging to the period 1810–80 at Milagres Church. While browsing through this register, he discovered the birth record of his great-grandfather, Anthony Peter Lobo. The record traced his parentage to Lawrence Lobo (a Munsiff and eminent member of the 19th century Mangalorean Catholic community) and Ignatia Tellis. He then subsequently scoured the register to locate the birth records of the other children of Lawrence and Ignatia.

This register became the nucleus of his first genealogical project—a biographical compilation of all the descendants of Lawrence Lobo (through both male and female lines of descent). From late 1992 to late 1993, Lobo began working during his spare time on this project, and by the end of 1993, had completed the first draft of his genealogical work on the Lobo-Prabhus of Makhale and their related families. After the end of his contract at the Cranfield Institute of Technology, rather than renew his contract or pursue a contract elsewhere, Lobo decided to give up his mathematical career and pursue a personal project to write the history and genealogy of the Mangalorean Catholic families.

He moved to Mangalore in 1994, and settled down in his family manor "Camelot Residency" on Bijai church road. During 1994–95, Lobo was involved, on a full-time basis, on a research project on the history and genealogy of the Catholic community of Mangalore. He copied almost every 19th century baptismal, marriage and death record he could locate at Rosario Cathedral and Milagres Church, cataloguing them according to surnames. Lobo initially experienced difficulties in the project since only the baptismal registers were maintained in reasonably good condition, while large sections of the marriage and death registers were missing, and it was not feasible to build the genealogy of any family on the basis of baptismal records alone.

However, he had access to other sources of information on the major families, such as the Vas-Naiks of Falnir (the first published work on the genealogy of a Mangalorean Catholic family), Mascarenhas-Prabhus of Falnir, and the Fernandes-Prabhus of Tonse. There were also unpublished genealogies of various other families, most of them written by Mangalorean genealogists Rao Saheb Francis Xavier Lobo and Marian Saldanha. The project took shape as A Genealogical Encyclopaedia of Mangalorean Catholic Families. Lobo also conducted and still conducts personal interviews with many Mangalorean Catholics, who have settled in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and various other parts of India and abroad. This work is expected to be about 8 to 10 volumes and as of March 2011, had already crossed 7000 pages.

Although his work is unfinished, Lobo has self-published three offshoots on the subject: Mangaloreans Worldwide – An International Directory (1999), Distinguished Mangalorean Catholics 1800–2000 – A Historico-Biographical Survey of the Mangalorean Catholic Community (2000), and The Mangalorean Catholic Community – A Professional History / Directory (2002). His encyclopaedia covers more than a thousand families and is being continually updated with names and records of new families.[3] He claims that the Mangalorean Catholic community has the distinction of being the only community in the world to possess its own genealogical encyclopaedia.

Lobo has also authored two books on music entitled A Hundred Pages of Classics, Opera and Popular Instrumental Pieces – A Thousand Pages of Songs with Historical Notes and its companion edition Popular Music – A Historical and Thematic Analysis, both of which were released in 2011.
Works[edit]
Time Marching – A Step-by-step Guide to a Flow Solver. Ashgate Press. 1997. ISBN 978-0-291-39826-0.
Mangaloreans world-wide: an international directory of the Mangalorean Catholic community. Camelot Publishers. 1999. ISBN 978-81-87609-00-1.
Distinguished Mangalorean Catholics 1800–2000 – A Historico-Biographical Survey of the Mangalorean Catholic Community. Camelot Publishers. 2000. ISBN 978-81-87609-01-8.
Lobo, Michael (2002). The Mangalorean Catholic Community – A Professional History / Directory. ISBN 978-81-87609-02-5.
A Hundred Pages of Classics, Opera and Popular Instrumental Pieces – A Thousand Pages of Songs with Historical Notes. 2011.
Popular Music – A Historical and Thematic Analysis. 2011. ISBN 978-81-87609-08-7.
Maurice Hilleman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maurice Hilleman
Hilleman c. 1958, as chief of the Dept. of Virus Diseases, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Born
Maurice Ralph Hilleman
August 30, 1919

Miles City, Montana, U.S.
Died April 11, 2005 (aged 85)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Montana State University
University of Chicago
Occupation Microbiologist, vaccinologist
Known for Developing several important vaccines

Spouse(s)
Thelma Mason
(m. 1943; d. 1963)

Lorraine Witmer
(m. 1964)
Children 2

Awards

National Medal of Science (1988)
Robert Koch Prize (Gold, 1989)
Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal (1997)
Prince Mahidol Award (2002)

Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was a leading American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity. According to one estimate, his vaccines save nearly 8 million lives each year. Many have described him as one of the most influential vaccinologists of all time.

Of the 14 vaccines routinely recommended in current American vaccine schedules, Hilleman and his team developed eight: those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria. During the "1957-1958 Asian flu pandemic", his vaccine is believed to have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. He also played a role in the discovery of antigenic shift and drift, the cold-producing adenoviruses, the hepatitis viruses, and the potentially cancer-causing virus SV40.

Biography

Early life and education

Hilleman was born on a farm near the high plains town of Miles City, Montana. His parents were Anna (Uelsmann) and Gustav Hillemann, and he was their eighth child. His twin sister died when he was born, and his mother died two days later. He was raised in the nearby household of his uncle, Robert Hilleman, and worked in his youth on the family farm. He credited much of his success to his work with chickens as a boy; since the 1930s, fertile chicken eggs had often been used to grow viruses for vaccines.

His family belonged to the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. When he was in the eighth grade, he discovered Charles Darwin, and was caught reading On the Origin of Species in church. Later in life, he rejected religion. Due to lack of money, he almost failed to attend college. His eldest brother interceded, and Hilleman graduated first in his class in 1941 from Montana State University with family help and scholarships. He won a fellowship to the University of Chicago and received his doctoral degree in microbiology in 1944. His doctoral thesis was on chlamydia infections, which were then thought to be caused by a virus. Hilleman showed that these infections were, in fact, caused by a species of bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, that grows only inside of cells.

Career

After joining E.R. Squibb & Sons (now Bristol-Myers Squibb), Hilleman developed a vaccine against Japanese B encephalitis, a disease that threatened American troops in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. As chief of the Department of Respiratory Diseases at Army Medical Center (now the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research) from 1948 to 1957, Hilleman discovered the genetic changes that occur when the influenza virus mutates, known as antigenic shift and antigenic drift, which he theorized would mean that a yearly influenza vaccination would be required.

In 1957, Hilleman joined Merck & Co. (Kenilworth, New Jersey), as head of its new virus and cell biology research department in West Point, Pennsylvania. It was while with Merck that Hilleman developed most of the forty experimental and licensed animal and human vaccines with which he is credited, working both at the laboratory bench as well as providing scientific leadership.

Hilleman served on numerous national and international advisory boards and committees, academic, governmental and private, including the National Institutes of Health's Office of AIDS Research Program Evaluation and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the National Immunization Program.

Asian flu pandemic

Hilleman was among the first to recognize that a 1957 outbreak of influenza in Hong Kong could become a huge pandemic. Working on a hunch, after nine 14-hour days he and a colleague found that it was a new strain of flu that could kill millions. Forty million doses of vaccines were prepared and distributed. Although 69,000 Americans died, the pandemic could have resulted in many more deaths in the United States. Hilleman was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal from the American military for his work. His vaccine is believed to have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

In 1968, during the Hong Kong flu pandemic, Hilleman and his team also played a key role in developing a vaccine, and nine million doses became available in 4 months.

SV40

Hilleman was one of the early vaccine pioneers to warn about the possibility that simian viruses might contaminate vaccines. The best-known of these viruses became SV40, a viral contaminant of the polio vaccine, whose discovery led to the recall of Salk's vaccine in 1961 and its replacement with Albert Sabin's oral vaccine. The contamination actually occurred in both vaccines at very low levels, but because the oral vaccine was ingested rather than injected, it did not result in infections or any harm.

Mumps vaccine

In 1963, his daughter Jeryl Lynn came down with the mumps. He cultivated material from her, and used it as the basis of a mumps vaccine. The Jeryl Lynn strain of the mumps vaccine is still used today. The strain is currently used in the trivalent (measles, mumps and rubella) MMR vaccine that he also developed, the first vaccine ever approved incorporating multiple live virus strains. Like many other vaccines and medications of that time period, the vaccine was initially tested in children with intellectual disabilities who lived in group homes—this was because, given the poor hygiene and cramped quarters of their accommodations, they were at much higher risk of infectious disease.

Hepatitis B vaccine

He and his group invented a vaccine for hepatitis B by treating blood serum with pepsin, urea and formaldehyde. This was licensed in 1981, but withdrawn in 1986 in the United States when it was replaced by a vaccine that was produced in yeast. This vaccine is still in use today. By 2003, 150 countries were using it and the incidence of the disease in the United States in young people had decreased by 95%. Hilleman considered his work on this vaccine to be his single greatest achievement. Liver transplant pioneer Thomas Starzl said "...controlling the hepatitis B virus scourge ranks as one of the most outstanding contributions to human health of the twentieth century...Maurice removed one of the most important obstacles to the field of organ transplantation".

Later work and life

In his later life, Hilleman was an adviser to the World Health Organization. He retired as senior vice president of the Merck Research Labs in 1984 at the mandatory retirement age of 65. He then directed the newly created Merck Institute for Vaccinology where he worked for the next twenty years.

At the time of his death in Philadelphia on April 11, 2005, at the age of 85, Hilleman was Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Method and personality

Hilleman was a forceful man yet at the same time, modest in his claims. None of his vaccines or discoveries are named after him. He ran his laboratory like a military unit, and he was the one in command. For a time, he kept a row of "shrunken heads" (actually fakes made by one of his children) in his office as trophies that represented each of his fired employees. He used profanity and tirades freely to drive his arguments home, and once, famously, refused to attend a mandatory "charm school" course intended to make Merck middle managers more civil. His subordinates were fiercely loyal to him.: 128–131

Awards and honors

Hilleman was an elected member of the National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor. He received the Prince Mahidol Award from the King of Thailand for the advancement of public health, as well as a special lifetime achievement award from the World Health Organization, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service and the Sabin Gold Medal and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In 1975, Hilleman received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Legacy

In March 2005, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in collaboration with The Merck Company Foundation, announced the creation of The Maurice R. Hilleman Chair in Vaccinology.

Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), said in 2005: "If I had to name a person who has done more for the benefit of human health, with less recognition than anyone else, it would be Maurice Hilleman. Maurice should be recognized as the most successful vaccinologist in history."

In 2005, after Hilleman's death Ralph Nader wrote, "Yet almost no one knew about him, saw him on television, or read about him in newspapers or magazines. His anonymity, in comparison with Madonna, Michael Jackson, Jose Canseco, or an assortment of grade B actors, tells something about our society's and media's concepts of celebrity; much less of the heroic."

In 2005, Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that Hilleman's contributions were “the best kept secret among the lay public. If you look at the whole field of vaccinology, nobody was more influential. In addition, Fauci said that "Hilleman is one of the true giants of science, medicine and public health in the 20th century. One can say without hyperbole that Maurice has changed the world."

In 2007, Paul Offit published a biography of Hilleman, entitled Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases.

In 2007, Anthony S. Fauci wrote in a biographical memoir of Hilleman:

Maurice was perhaps the single most influential public health figure of the twentieth century, if one considers the millions of lives saved and the countless people who were spared suffering because of his work. Over the course of his career, Maurice and his colleagues developed more than forty vaccines. Of the fourteen vaccines currently recommended in the United States, Maurice developed eight.

In 2008, Merck named its Maurice R. Hilleman Center for Vaccine Manufacturing, in Durham, North Carolina, in memory of Hilleman.

In 2016, a documentary film titled Hilleman: A Perilous Quest to Save the World's Children, chronicling Hilleman's life and career, was released by Medical History Pictures, Inc.

In 2016, Montana State University dedicated a series of scholarships in memory of its alumnus Hilleman, called the Hilleman Scholars Program, for incoming students who "commit to work at their education beyond ordinary expectations and help future scholars that come after them."
Mariappan Periasamy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mariappan Periasamy
Born 6 October 1952

Srivilliputtur, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

American College, Madurai
Indian Institute of Science
Purdue University
Known for Development of organic synthetic methods using boron and transition metal reagents
Awards

1979 IISc Professor B. H. Iyer Medal
1992 Dr. Husain Zaheer Science Foundation Young Scientist Award
1996 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
2007 CRSI Silver Medal
Scientific career
Fields

Organometallic chemistry
Enantioselective synthesis
Institutions

University of Hyderabad
National Center for Scientific Research
University of Amsterdam
University of Marburg
Doctoral advisor

M. V. Bhatt
Herbert C. Brown

Mariappan Periasamy (born 1952) is an Indian organometallic chemist and a professor at the School of Chemistry of the University of Hyderabad. He is known for his experiments using carbon metal bonds for constructing diverse types of molecular structures, and is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1996, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography
The American College, Madurai

M. Periasamy, born to Duraisamy Mariappanadar and Krishnammal couple on 6 October 1952, at Srivilliputtur, a historical town in Virudhunagar district of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, did his early schooling at Kammapatty Primary School and C. M. S. High School, Srivilliputtur and joined St. John's College, Palayamkottai from where he completed his pre-university course in 1970. His graduate (1970–73) and master's courses (1973–75) were done at American College, Madurai and he secured a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science in 1979 studying Mechanism of Oxidation of Aromatic Rings under the guidance of M. V. Bhatt. He moved to the US the same year where he did his post-doctoral studies at the laboratory of Herbert C. Brown, a Nobel laureate at Purdue University, researching on Nonclassical Ion Problem, one of the favorite topics of Brown. On his return to India in 1982, he joined the School of Chemistry of the University of Hyderabad where he serves as a professor since 1993. In between, he served as a visiting scientist at National Center for Scientific Research in 1995 and as a visiting professor at University of Amsterdam, (1996) and University of Marburg (1997).

Periasamy is married to Hemavathy Paramasivam and the couple has two children. The family lives in Hyderabad.

Legacy

Periasamy is noted for his development of new synthetic protocols such as the construction of diverse types of molecular structures using carbon metal bonds. He leads a team which have developed new procedures for preparing organometallics and chiral reagents and many of them are in use with laboratories and industries, NaBH4/I2 reagent system designed by his team is one such process which has become industry standard. He has also developed cost effective process for generating electricity from biomass and solar energy. His researches have been documented in a number of articles; ResearchGate, an online article repository, has listed 276 of them. He serves as a member of the International Scientific Committee on Boron Chemistry since 2007 and has been associated with several science journals as a member of their editorial boards.

Awards and honors

Periasamy received the Professor B. H. Iyer Medal of the Indian Institute of Science in 1979 and the Dr. Husain Zaheer Science Foundation Young Scientist Award of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in 1992. The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as their fellow in 1994 and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1996. A J. C. Bose National Fellow of the Department of Science and Technology during 2006–11, he became a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 2005 and received the Silver Medal by the Chemical Research Society of India in 2007. He has delivered several award orations including Professor N. S. Narasimhan Endowment Award of Pune University (1995), Professor A. B. Kulkarni Endowment Lecture of University of Mumbai (1999), and Professor D. P. Chakraborty 60th Birth Anniversary Award of Indian Chemical Society (2004).
Meghnad Saha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meghnad Saha
FRS
Born 6 October 1893

Shaoratoli, Dhaka, Bengal Presidency, British India (modern-day Bangladesh)
Died 16 February 1956 (aged 62)

New Delhi, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater University of Calcutta
Presidency University
Rajabazar Science College
Known for Thermal ionisation
Saha ionization equation
Spouse(s) Radha Rani Saha
Scientific career
Fields Physics, Astrophysics
Institutions Allahabad University
Rajabazar Science College
University of Calcutta
Imperial College London
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Academic advisors Jagdish Chandra Bose
Prafulla Chandra Ray
Doctoral students Samarendra Kumar Mitra
Daulat Singh Kothari

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
3 April 1952 – 16 February 1957
Preceded by Formed
Succeeded by Ashoke Kumar Sen
Constituency Calcutta North West
Signature

Meghnad Saha FRS (6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) was an Indian astrophysicist who developed the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars. His work allowed astronomers to accurately relate the spectral classes of stars to their actual temperatures. He was elected to the Parliament of India in 1952.

Biography

Meghnad Saha was born in 1893 in Shaoratoli, a village near Dhaka, in the former Bengal Presidency of British India (in present-day Bangladesh). Son of Jagannath Saha (a grocer) and Smt. Bhubneshwari Devi, Meghnad struggled to rise in life. During his early schooling he was forced to leave Dhaka Collegiate School because he participated in the Swadeshi movement. He earned his Indian School Certificate from Dhaka College. He was also a student at the Presidency College, Kolkata and Rajabazar Science College CU; a professor at Allahabad University from 1923 to 1938, and thereafter a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Calcutta until his death in 1956. He became Fellow of the Royal Society in 1927. He was president of the 21st session of the Indian Science Congress in 1934.

Amongst Saha's classmates were Satyendra Nath Bose, Jnan Ghosh and Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee. In his later life he was close to Amiya Charan Banerjee. Saha was an atheist.

Saha died on 16 February 1956 of a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. He was on his way to the office of the Planning Commission in Rashtrapati Bhavan, when he collapsed a few yards away from there. He died on the way to hospital, at 10:15 a.m. (IST). It was reported, that he had been suffering from hypertension for ten months prior to his death. His remains were cremated at the Keoratola crematorium in Kolkata the following day.
Saha with other scientists at Calcutta University

Career

Saha's study of the thermal ionisation of elements led him to formulate what is known as the Saha equation. This equation is one of the basic tools for interpretation of the spectra of stars in astrophysics. By studying the spectra of various stars, one can find their temperature and from that, using Saha's equation, determine the ionisation state of the various elements making up the star. This work was soon extended by Ralph H. Fowler and Edward Arthur Milne. Saha had previously reached the following conclusion on the subject.

It will be admitted from what has gone before that the temperature plays the leading role in determining the nature of the stellar spectrum. Too much importance must not be attached to the figures given, for the theory is only a first attempt for quantitatively estimating the physical processes taking place at high temperature. We have practically no laboratory data to guide us, but the stellar spectra may be regarded as unfolding to us, in an unbroken sequence, the physical processes succeeding each other as the temperature is continually varied from 3000 K to 40,000 K.

Saha also invented an instrument to measure the weight and pressure of solar rays and helped to build several scientific institutions, such as the Physics Department in Allahabad University and the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Calcutta. He founded the journal Science and Culture and was the editor until his death. He was the leading spirit in organizing several scientific societies, such as the National Academy of Science (1930), the Indian Physical Society (1934), Indian Institute of Science (1935). He was the Director at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science during 1953–1956. The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, founded in 1943 in Kolkata, is named after him.

To actively participate in the planning of education, industrialization, health, and river valley development ,Saha stood as a candidate in the constituency of North-West Calcutta in the 1951 Loksabha election. He ran on the ticket of Union of Socialists and Progressives but Saha always maintained his independence. He was pitted against a powerful and well-funded candidate from Congress, Mr. Prabhu Dayal Himatsingka. Saha was not well funded for his campaign and wrote to his publisher in November 1951 to ask for a Rs 5,000 advance against the sale of his textbook, Treatise on Heat, "because I am standing for election in the house of the people from NW Calcutta". Saha won the contest by a margin of 16%.

Saha actively participated in the parliament in the areas of Education, Refugee and Rehabilitation, Atomic Energy, Multipurpose River Projects and Flood Control and long term planning. In the book "Meghnad Saha in Parliament" Saha is described as "Never unduly critical, Saha was so forthright, so incisive, so thorough in pointing out lapses that the treasury bench was constantly on the defensive. This is brought out by the way he was accused of leaving his laboratory and straying into a territory not his own. But the reason why he was slowly drifting towards this public role (he was never a politician in the correct sense of the term) was the gradually widening gulf between his dream and the reality—between his vision of an industrialised India and the Government implementation of the plan."

Saha was the chief architect of river planning in India and prepared the original plan for the Damodar Valley Project. His own observation with respect to his transition into government projects and political affairs is as follows:

Scientists are often accused of living in the "Ivory Tower" and not troubling their mind with realities and apart from my association with political movements in my juvenile years, I had lived in ivory tower up to 1930. But science and technology are as important for administration now-a-days as law and order. I have gradually glided into politics because I wanted to be of some use to the country in my own humble way.
Meghnad Saha
Tributes to Saha[edit]
Bust of Saha at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
Statue of Saha, University College of Science, Technology & Agriculture.
Bust of Saha in Birla Industrial & Technological Museum.
"Meghnad Saha's ionization equation (c. 1920), which opened the door to stellar astrophysics was one of the top ten achievements of 20th century Indian science [and] could be considered in the Nobel Prize class." — Jayant Narlika

"The impetus given to astrophysics by Saha's work can scarcely be overestimated, as nearly all later progress in this field has been influenced by it and much of the subsequent work has the character of refinements of Saha’s ideas." — Svein Rosseland

"He (Saha) was extremely simple, almost austere, in his habits and personal needs. Outwardly, he sometimes gave an impression of being remote, matter of fact, and even harsh, but once the outer shell was broken, one invariably found in him a person of extreme warmth, deep humanity, sympathy and understanding; and though almost altogether unmindful of his own personal comforts, he was extremely solicitous in the case of others. It was not in his nature to placate others. He was a man of undaunted spirit, resolute determination, untiring energy and dedication." — Daulat Singh Kothari
Manju Ray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manju Ray
Born 1 January 1947

Chhaysuti, Bangladesh
Died 30 June 2021

kolkata
Education Rajabazar Science College, Calcutta University
Occupation Biochemist
Known for Molecular Enzymology Methylglyoxal Biochemistry
Spouse(s) Late Subhankar Ray
Children Ishika Ray, Ekarshi Ray
Awards Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1989)

Manju Ray was an Indian scientist specializing in Molecular Enzymology and Cancer Biochemistry. Her research has contributed significantly to the development of anticancer drugs and understanding the differentiation process of cells. Her interests include tumor biochemistry and molecular enzymology. She was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the year 1989, being only the second woman to receive this award in the category 'Biological Sciences'.

Education

Ray graduated from the prestigious Science college campus of Calcutta University with degrees in M.Sc. in Physiology in 1969 and PhD in Biochemistry in 1975.

Research

Ray started her career in the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Association of Cultivation of Science. Since December 2010, she was an Emeritus Scientist at Bose Institute, Kolkata. Ray's research has focused on understanding the biological role of methylglyoxal, a side-product of several metabolic pathways. Over the course of her career, she and her team have isolated, purified and characterized a series of enzymes involved in methylglyoxal anabolism and catabolism. Her work has also focused on studying anticancer properties of methylglyoxal, with positive results observed in the first phase of clinical trials.

Awards

1975: Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Scientist Medal in Biological Science
1989: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Biological Science
2003: Dr. I.C. Chopra Memorial Award
Dr. Jnan Chandra Ghosh Memorial Award

Publications

Ray has published a large number of scientific papers as lead author in association with others and some of which are:
Inhibition of respiration of tumor cells by methyl glyoxal and protection of inhibition by lactaldehyde (1991) in International Journal of Cancer
Inhibition of electron flow through complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain on Earlich Ascites Carsinoma cells by methyl Glyoxal (1994) in Biochemical Journal
Glyoxalase III from Escherichia coli a single novel enzyme for the conversion of methylglyoxal into D-lactate without reduced glutathione (1995) in Biochemical Journal
Methylglyoxal : From a putative intermediate of glucose breakdown to its role in understanding that excessive ATP formation in cells may lead to malignancy (1998) in Current Science
Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Earlich Ascites Carcinoma cells: its possible role in the high glycolysis of malignant cells (1999) in European Journal of Biochemistry
Mae Jemison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mae Jemison

Jemison in July 1992
Born
Mae Carol Jemison
October 17, 1956

Decatur, Alabama, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation

Physician
engineer
professor
Space career
NASA astronaut

Time in space 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds
Selection 1987 NASA Group
Missions STS-47
Mission insignia
Retirement March 1993

Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel in space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.

Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, Jemison graduated from Stanford University with degrees in chemical engineering as well as African and African-American studies. She then earned her medical degree from Cornell University. Jemison was a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983 until 1985 and worked as a general practitioner. In pursuit of becoming an astronaut, she applied to NASA.

Jemison left NASA in 1993 and founded a technology research company. She later formed a non-profit educational foundation and through the foundation is the principal of the 100 Year Starship project funded by DARPA. Jemison also wrote several books for children and appeared on television several times, including in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She holds several honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

Education

Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956, the youngest of three children of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Jemison (née Green). Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. The family first lived in Woodlawn and later the Morgan Park neighborhoods. Jemison knew from a young age that she wanted to study science and someday go into space. The television show Star Trek, and in particular African-American actress Nichelle Nichols' portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura further stoked her interest in space.

Jemison enjoyed studying nature and human physiology, using her observations to learn more about science. Her mother encouraged her curiosity and both her parents were supportive of her interest in science, she did not always see the same support from her teachers. When Jemison told a kindergarten teacher she wanted to be a scientist when she grew up, the teacher assumed she meant she wanted to be a nurse. Seeing a lack of female astronauts during the Apollo missions also frustrated Jemison. She later recalled, "everybody was thrilled about space, but I remember being really really irritated that there were no women astronauts."

Jemison began studying ballet at the age of 8 or 9 and entered high school at 12 years old, where she joined the cheerleading team and the Modern Dance Club. he learned several styles of dance, including African and Japanese, as well as ballet, jazz, and modern dance. As a child, Jemison had aspirations of becoming a professional dancer. At the age of 14, she auditioned for the leading role of Maria in West Side Story. She did not get the leading role but was selected as a background dancer.

After graduating from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973, Jemison entered Stanford University at the age of 16. Although she was young to be leaving home for college, Jemison later said it did not faze her because she was "naive and stubborn enough" There were very few other African-American students in Jemison's classes and she continued to experience discrimination from her teachers. In an interview with The Des Moines Register in 2008, Jemison said that it was difficult to go to Stanford at 16 but that her youthful arrogance may have helped her; she asserted that some arrogance is necessary for women and minorities to be successful in a white male dominated society.

At Stanford, Jemison served as head of the Black Students Union. She also choreographed a musical and dance production called Out of the Shadows. During her senior year in college, she struggled with the choice between going to medical school or pursuing a career as a professional dancer after graduation; she graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving a B.S. degree in chemical engineering. and B.A. degree in African and African-American studies. While at Stanford, she also pursued studies related to her childhood interest in space and first considered applying to NASA.

Medical career

Jemison attended Cornell Medical School and during her training traveled to Cuba, to conduct a study funded by American Medical Student Association and to Thailand, where she worked at a Cambodian refugee camp. She also worked for Flying Doctors stationed in East Africa. During her years at Cornell, Jemison continued to study dance by enrolling in classes at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. After graduating with a Doctorate in Medicine in 1981, she interned at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in 1982, and worked as a general practitioner for Ross–Loos Medical Group.

Jemison joined the staff of the Peace Corps in 1983 and served as a medical officer until 1985. She was responsible for the health of Peace Corps volunteers serving in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Jemison supervised the Peace Corps' pharmacy, laboratory, medical staff as well as providing medical care, writing self-care manuals, and developing and implementing guidelines for health and safety issues. She also worked with the Centers for Disease Control helping with research for various vaccines.

NASA career

Jemison at the Kennedy Space Center in 1992.

Upon returning to the United States after serving in the Peace Corps, Jemison settled in Los Angeles, California. In Los Angeles, she entered into private practice and took graduate level engineering courses. The flights of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford in 1983 inspired Jemison to apply to the astronaut program. Jemison first applied to NASA's astronaut training program in October 1985, but NASA postponed selection of new candidates after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Jemison reapplied in 1987 and was chosen out of roughly 2,000 applicants to be one of the fifteen people in the NASA Astronaut Group 12, the first group selected following the destruction of Challenger. The Associated Press covered her as the "first black woman astronaut" in 1987. CBS featured Jemison as one of the country's "most eligible singles" on Best Catches, a television special hosted by Phylicia Rashad and Robb Weller in 1989.

Jemison's work with NASA before her shuttle launch included launch support activities at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and verification of Shuttle computer software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). On September 28, 1989, She was selected to join the STS-47 crew as Mission Specialist 4 and was also designated Science Mission Specialist, a new astronaut role being tested by NASA to focus on scientific experiments.

STS-47

Jemison during Space Shuttle mission STS-47

Jemison flew her only space mission from September 12 to 20, 1992, on STS-47, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan, as well as the 50th shuttle mission.Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space and orbited the earth 127 times. The crew was split into two shifts with Jemison assigned to the Blue Shift. Throughout the eight day mission, she began communications on her shift with the salute "Hailing frequencies open", a quote from Star Trek. Jemison took a poster from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with her on the flight. She also took a West African statuette and a photo of pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African American with an international pilot license.

STS-47 carried the Spacelab Japan module, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan that included 43 Japanese and United States life science and materials processing experiments.Jemison and Japanese astronaut Mamoru Mohri were trained to use the Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), a technique developed by Patricia S. Cowings that uses biofeedback and autogenic training to help patients monitor and control their physiology as a possible treatment for motion sickness, anxiety and stress-related disorders.
Jemison aboard the Spacelab Japan module on Endeavour

Aboard the Spacelab Japan module, Jemison tested NASA's Fluid Therapy System, a set of procedures and equipment to produce water for injection, developed by Sterimatics Corporation. She then used IV bags and a mixing method, developed by Baxter Healthcare, to use the water from the previous step to produce saline solution in space. Jemison was also a co-investigator of two bone cell research experiments. Another experiment she participated in was to induce female frogs to ovulate, fertilize the eggs and then see how tadpoles developed in zero gravity.

Resignation from NASA

After her return to Earth, Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993 with the intention of starting her own company. NASA training manager and author Homer Hickam, who had trained Jemison for her flight, later expressed some regret that she had departed.

Post-NASA career

Jemison served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation from 1990 to 1992. In 1993, she founded The Jemison Group Inc., a consulting firm which considers the sociocultural impact of technological advancements and design. Jemison also founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence and named the foundation in honor of her mother. One of the projects of the foundation is The Earth We Share, a science camp for students aged 12 to 16. Founded in 1994, camps have been held at Dartmouth College, Colorado School of Mines, Choate Rosemary Hall and other sites in the United States, as well as internationally in South Africa, Tunisia, and Switzerland.

Jemison was a professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College from 1995 to 2002 where she directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. In 1999, she also became an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Jemison continues to advocate strongly in favor of science education and getting minority students interested in science. She is a member of various scientific organizations, such as the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, the Association of Space Explorers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1999, Jemison founded BioSentient Corp and obtained the license to commercialize AFTE, the technique she and Mohri tested on themselves during STS-47.

In 2012, Jemison made the winning bid for the DARPA 100 Year Starship project through the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence was awarded a $500,000 grant for further work. The new organization maintained the organizational name 100 Year Starship. Jemison is the current principal of the 100 Year Starship.

In 2018, she collaborated with Bayer Crop Science and National 4-H Council for the initiative named Science Matters which was aimed at encouraging young children to understand and pursue agricultural sciences.

Books

Jemison's first book, Find Where the Wind Goes (2001), is a memoir of her life written for children. She describes her childhood, her time at Stanford, in the Peace Corps and as an astronaut. School Library Journal found the stories about her earlier life to be the most appealing. Book Report found that the autobiography gave a realistic view into her interactions with her professors, whose treatment of was not based on her intelligence but on stereotypes of woman of color.

Her A True Book series of four children's books published in 2013 is co-authored with Dana Meachen Rau. Each book in the series has a "Find the Truth" challenge, true or false questions answers to which are revealed at the end of the story. School Library Journal found the series to be "properly tantalizing surveys" of the Solar System but criticized the inclusion of a few outdated theories in physics and astronomy.

Public profile

Mae Jemison at a symposium in 2009
LeVar Burton learned that Jemison was an avid Star Trek fan and asked her if she would be interested in being on the show. In 1993, Jemison appeared as Lieutenant Palmer in "Second Chances", an episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, becoming the first real-life astronaut to appear on Star Trek.

From 1999 to 2005, Jemison was appointed an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.

Jemison is an active public speaker who appears before private and public groups promoting science and technology. "Having been an astronaut gives me a platform," says Jemison,"but I'd blow it if I just talked about the Shuttle." Jemison uses her platform to speak out on the gap in the quality of health-care between the United States and the Third World. "Martin Luther King [Jr.] … didn't just have a dream, he got things done." Jemison has also appeared as host and technical consultant of the Discovery Channel science series World of Wonder.

In 2006, Jemison participated in African American Lives, a PBS television miniseries hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., that traces the family history of eight famous African Americans using historical research and genetic techniques. Jemison found to her surprise that she is 13% East Asian in her genetic makeup. She also learned that some of her paternal ancestors were slaves at a plantation in Talladega County, Alabama.

Jemison participated in the Red Dress Heart Truth fashion show, wearing Lyn Devon, during the 2007 New York Fashion Week to help raise money to fight heart disease. In May of the same year, she was the graduation commencement speaker and only the 11th person in the 52-year history of Harvey Mudd College to be awarded an honorary D.Eng. degree.

On February 17, 2008, Jemison was the featured speaker for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority established by African-American college women. Jemison paid tribute to Alpha Kappa Alpha by carrying the sorority's banner with her on her shuttle flight. Her space suit is a part of the sorority's national traveling Centennial Exhibit. Jemison is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Jemison participated with First Lady Michelle Obama in a forum for promising girls in the Washington, D.C. public schools in March 2009.

In 2014, Jemison also appeared at Wayne State University for their annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Luncheon. In 2016, she partnered with Bayer Corporation to promote and advance science literacy in schools, emphasizing hands-on experimentation.

She took part in the Michigan State University's lecture series, "Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey," in February 2017. In May 2017, Jemison gave the commencement speech at Rice University. She discussed the 100 Year Plan, science and education and other topics at Western Michigan University also in May 2017.

In 2017, LEGO released the "Women of NASA" set, with minifigures of Jemison, Margaret Hamilton, Sally Ride, and Nancy Grace Roman. The Google Doodle on March 8, 2019 (International Women's Day) featured a quote from Jemison: "Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations."

Personal life

Jemison built a dance studio in her home and has choreographed and produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance.

In the spring of 1996, Jemison filed a complaint against a Texas police officer, accusing him of police brutality during a traffic stop that ended in her arrest. She was pulled over by Nassau Bay officer Henry Hughes for allegedly making an illegal U-turn and arrested after Hughes learned of an outstanding warrant on Jemison for a speeding ticket. In the process of arresting her, the officer twisted her wrist and forced her to the ground, as well as having her walk barefooted from the patrol car into the police station. In her complaint, Jemison said the officer physically and emotionally mistreated her.Jemison's attorney said she believed she'd already paid the speeding ticket years ago. She spent several hours in jail and was treated at an area hospital after release for deep bruises and a head injury. The Nassau Bay officer was suspended with pay pending an investigation, but the police investigation cleared him of wrongdoing. She filed a lawsuit against the city of Nassau Bay and the officer.
Honors and awards

Jemison on 1996 Azeri postage stamp
1988 Essence Science and Technology Award
1990 Gamma Sigma Sigma Woman of the Year
1991 McCall's 10 Outstanding Women for the 90s
1992 Johnson Publications Black Achievement Trailblazers Award
1992 Ebony Black Achievement Award
1993 National Women's Hall of Fame
1993 Ebony magazine 50 Most Influential women
1993 Kilby Science Award
1993 Montgomery Fellow, Dartmouth College
1993 People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World"
1993 Turner Trumpet Award
2002 listed among the 100 Greatest African Americans according to Molefi Kete Asant
2002 Texas Women's Hall of Fame inductee
2003 Intrepid Award by the National Organization for Girls
2004 International Space Hall of Fame
2005 The National Audubon Society, Rachel Carson Award
2017 Buzz Aldrin Space Pioneer Award
2019 Florida Southern College Honorary Chancellor
Mahadeva Subramania Mani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early life and career

Mahadeva Subramania Mani (Tamil: மகாதேவா சுப்ரமணிய கரங்கள்; 2 March 1908 in Tanjore, Tamil Nadu - 8 January 2003 in Bangalore) was an Indian entomologist especially famous for his studies on high altitude entomology.

Early school records and University of Madras, MA Degree certificate show his name as M. Subramanya. Later on, sometime early during his service career, he recorded his name as Mahadev Subra Mani a.k.a. Mahadeva Subra Mani a.k.a. M. S. Mani.

He had his early education at K. S. High School, Tanjore and passed his SSLC Examination in 1926. He then attended the Government College, Coimbatore and passed the Intermediate Examination, 1928. Later he went to medical studies just for one year 1929, at Madras Medical College and had to suspend further medical education due to financial constraints. He obtained in 1937, an M.A. degree, awarded by the University of Madras, on the basis of the Research Papers in Entomology, and finally, on the strength of his extensive scientific research, he was awarded by Agra University, D.Sc. in 1947, a degree of a Doctor of Science. The Chancellor was the late Ms. Sarojini Naidu, the then Governor of United Provinces, (Uttar Pradesh).

On 15 January 1933 he migrated to Calcutta to seek employment and build his career. He then joined Bangabasi College, Sealdah, Calcutta as a part-time demonstrator and tutor for Physics and earned a salary of Rs. 10/- per month. During this period he collaborated with Sir C. V. Raman on insect coloration. He worked at the Indian Museum and also as an honorary Research student at the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. He later on (1937) joined as a Research Assistant to Imperial Entomologist, Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, Delhi, and a position from which he resigned in 1944. He worked with Dr. Hem Singh Pruthi at Pusa, and Dr. Birbal Sahni, then at Lucknow, who recognising the pioneering work in scientific research, strongly proposed M. S. Mani's Membership to the Royal Society, England. He was denied promotion while his ‘junior’ was promoted and hence he chose to seek his future elsewhere and resigned. He remained unemployed for sometime; he earned a living by working as an interpreter and German Language translator, during World War II, in the Censor Section of the Army H.Q., New Delhi, translating for the British Indian Army, 'official ' documents captured from the Germans. He would monitor radio broadcasts from Berlin and provide English transcripts. He also translated German language technical journals and scientific reports. As a matter of fact, he provided the English version of the German technology, for manufacturing hydrogenated oil ['Vanaspati'] in India to the founder of the manufacturing plant at Modinagar.

He left Delhi and joined as a lecturer in 1945, the teaching faculty of the Department of Zoology, St. John's College, Agra; during his long stint at St. John's College, he pioneered and established the School of Entomology in 1950, established a benchmark scientific excellence, where he became the Professor of Zoology and Entomology and appointed as the Head of the Department for Zoology, succeeding Prof. Lalit Prasad Mathur, who took over as the Registrar, Agra University. In recognition of his scientific output, both in quality and quantity, he was honoured by the University of Agra and awarded a D.Sc. degree, Doctor of Science. He pioneered fundamental research in entomology and received support from the highest levels and the University Grants Commission, eminent persons like Dr. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussein, etc., and established the School of Entomology in 1950, in the Campus of St. John's College, Agra.

From here he made many scientific expeditions to the Himalayas resulting in pioneering contributions to High Altitude Entomology. He later made studies in the Pamir and Caucasus ranges leading to his work on Biogeography in India. The University of Agra awarded him a DSc degree in 1947 for his thesis submitted in 12 volumes.

In 1956, he joined the ZSI as Deputy Director and retired as officiating director in 1968. In 1968 he returned to his first love, Scientific Research and became Emeritus Professor, at the School of Entomology, St. John's College, Agra and continued with his research work till 1984. He then finally left St. John's College and shifted to Madras, briefly worked with ZSI and since 1990 he was the Emeritus Professor, Botany Department at Presidency College, Madras and continued as a guide for PhD. research students, till 15 May 2002 when he moved to live temporarily, in Hyderabad, with his late sister Janaki's grandson, Jyotirmay Sharma, Editor, Times of India, Hyderabad. He then moved to Bangalore on 14 September 2002 to live with his only daughter, Mrs. Prema Subramanian and her husband V. S. Subramanian.

Scientific works

His published work includes over 250 original research papers, over 34 text books including his pioneering magnum opus, Ecology of Plant Galls.

His outstanding Research work has been on Taxonomy of parasitic Hymenoptera (Chalcidoidea and Proctotrupoidea), gall midges (Itonididae: Diptera) and ecology and histogenesis of plant galls. He is remembered most for his pioneering work in high altitude entomology. He led the first three Entomological Expeditions to the North West Himalaya in 1954, 1955 and 1956 and brought back a large collection of insects.

He published several books like High Altitude Entomology, Ecology and Biogeography of India etc. He led a team of Indian scientists to the Soviet Union for conducting jointly a research project in 1963 and represented India in the UNESCO programme on Man and Biosphere (MAB) at Oslo, Norway. He was fluent in written and spoken German, well read in Sanskrit, he also had a keen interest in Dutch, French and Russian languages.

Entomological Survey of the Himalaya, Alai-Pamir, Tien Shan, Kun Lun, Caucasus etc. His love of the mountains had begun as far back as 1950, when he went to the Nilgiris, Marudamalai Mountains with his son Visvanath; this was followed by similar visits to the mountains in north India, Dehra Dun 1950, Mussoorie/Chakrata 1952, Nainital, Garhwal Himalaya, (Hartola, 1952), Punjab / Himachal Himalaya, (Dhaula Dhar Range, 1953) and to Kullu, Manali region leading to the three pioneering expeditions, in 1954, 1955 and 1956, beyond the Pir Panjal Range, to the inner or Great Himalayan Range, in Lahaul & Spiti regions. He also extensively trekked and went on insect collection work in the mountain regions, Alai-Pamir, Tien Shan, Kun Lun, Caucasus, the Urals etc., of the former USSR, during his official tour in 1963, as the leader of the Indian team; he travelled extensively to various scientific institutes, at Moscow, Tbilisi, Leningrad, Kiev, Baku, Alma Ata, Samarkand, Tashkent etc.,. He also visited Oslo, in Norway on a similar invitation. He was a visiting professor at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He went on an insect collection trip, to the Pacific islands, Fiji and conducted a field trip off Vanua Levu, in the area of Taveuni island, across the International dateline. He trained Visvanath to work with his students, and who accompanied him on most field collection expeditions and taught him methods of preparing slides, mounting insect specimens and proof reading of Research papers. His first son, Visvanath was his constant companion on his mountain trails, starting with the first time at Mardamalai in 1950. Visvanath went on to trek in Sikkim, Bhutan in 1965 and climb on his own in the Kulti Nala glacier and Inner Himalayan Range of Spiti, in 1967.

Positions held

1933-37 Honorary Research Worker, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.
1937 - 1945 Research Assistant, Entomological Section, Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, (IARI), Pusa, New Delhi.
1945 - 1956 Professor of Zoology & Entomology, School of Entomology, St. Johns College, Agra.
1956 - 1968 Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. (Retired as Director)
1968 - 1982 Emeritus Professor, School of Entomology, St. Johns College, Agra.
1984 - 1990 ZSI, Madras
1991 - 8 January 2003 Professor Emeritus, Presidency College, Madras.
CSIR. 1968 - 70. Scheme on torrential stream Insects of the glacial zone of the Northwest Himalaya.
PL 480. 1970 - 71. Project on Taxonomy of Chalcidoidea from India.
PL -480. Project on Taxonomy of Proctotrupoidea.
MAB - Project on the pre-impact Survey of Aquatic Insect Communities of the River Beas before the completion of the Beas-Sutlej Link Project.
DST - 1981 - 86. Project on Ecology and Taxonomy of Chalcidoid and other parasites of the Teak / Sal forest ecosystem.
Eastern Ghats 1985 - 88 Insect Survey Project.
DOEN - Project on Butterfly Pollination.

Publications

Introduction to High Altitude Entomology, London, Methuen & Co. 1962
Ecology of Plant Galls, The Hague, Dr. W. Junk Publishers. 1964
Ecology and Biogeography of High Altitude Insects, The Hague, Dr. W. Junk Publishers.1968
Beetles of the Himalaya, Calcutta, Thacker Spink. 1967
Ecology and Biogeography in India, The Hague, Dr. W. Junk Publishers, 1974
Plant Galls of India, Madras, McMillan & Co. 1974
Ecology and Phytogeography of High Altitude Plants of the Northwest Himalaya, London: Chapman & Hall. New York: John Wiley; New Delhi: Oxford & IBH 1978.
Ecology of Highlands, The Hague, Dr. W. Junk Publishers 1980. In collaboration with Dr. L.E.Giddings, Mexico.
L'Himalaya - Un Misterioso e inaccessibile Montagne, Milan. Libri Fabri, 1980.
General Entomology, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH. 3rd & enlarged edition 1982.
Butterflies of the Himalaya, The Hague, Dr. W. Junk Publishers, 1985
Fundamentals of High Altitude Biology, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH, 2nd, edition, 1990
Pollination Ecology in Compositae. Ind. Rev. Life Sci. 13: 174-190
Himalayan Flowers, Bangkok Craftsman Press, 1993
Insects, New Delhi, National Book Trust of India, Revised edition 1994.
Pollination Ecology and Evolution in Compositae, Science Publishers Inc. USA and New Delhi, Oxford & IBH. 1999.
Plant Galls of India, Science Publishers Inc. USA. 2nd revised & enlarged edition, August, 2000.
Introduction to Zoology, New Delhi, Malhotra Bros. 1950. (Five Editions)
Introduction to Entomology, Agra, Agra University Press, 1955.
Heredity & Evolution, Bangalore, The PTI Book Depot, 1963.
Insects, New Delhi, National Book Trust. 1971.
Your Face from Fish to Man, Bangalore, The PTI Book depot, 1960.
General Entomology, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH, 1968, 1973, 3rd. edition 1982.
D'ABREU'S The Beetles of the Himalaya, Calcutta, Thacker Spink, 1967.
Himalayan Flowers, produced by Prof. T.C.Majupuria, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Modern Classification of Insects, Agra, Satish Book Enterprise, 1974.
Insects, New Delhi, National Book Trust, 1971, 1977
Biogeography in India, Dehra Dun, Surya Publications, 1995.
Butterflies of the Himalaya, New Delhi, Oxford & IBH, 1986.
Ecology & Evolution, Agra, Satish Book Enterprise, 1983.
The Fauna of India & the adjacent countries, Part I & II, Calcutta, Zoological Survey of India, 1989.
Indian Insects, Agra, Satish Book Enterprises. 1989.
Citations to reliable sources-Named References

Gordon Alexander, Dept of Biology, Univ of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80302-Entomological News, Vol 82,279-280, 1971.
Ipe M Ipe & Agnes S Ipe, The Story of St John's College, Agra, India "The Truth shall make you free"-Chapter 7-The School of Entomology (established by Prof Dr M.S. Mani in 1950) Publisher Partridge Publishing, 2015 ISBN 1482858444, 9781482858440
Cherian, P. T. 2003. Obituary. Current Science Vol 84 No 8 25 April 2003 Pages 1146-1147 PDF
Dr Virendra K Gupta-Obituary notice-Dr MS Mani-Oriental Insects-Vol 37, 2003 (Associated Publishers, PO Box 140103, Gainesville Florida 3214-0103) http://www.mapress.com/AP/
Dr Anantanarayanan Raman & Dr Virendra K Gupta-Oriental Insects-Vol 41, Preface, 2007 (Associated Publishers, PO Box 140103, Gainesville Florida 3214-0103) http://www.mapress.com/AP/
Dr Anantanarayanan Raman & Dr Virendra K Gupta-Dedication-Oriental Insects-Vol 41, 1-4, 2007 (Associated Publishers, PO Box 140103, Gainesville Florida 3214-0103) http://www.mapress.com/AP/
Dr TN Ananthakrishnan-Prof M.S.Mani-The Man, scientist, and philosopher-Oriental Insects-Vol 41, 5-7, 2007 (Associated Publishers, PO Box 140103, Gainesville Florida 3214-0103) http://www.mapress.com/AP/
Other sources

Viswanath Mani-son-eldest of Dr Mani's children
Nalini Mani, Daughter of Visvanath Mani and second granddaughter of Dr. M.S. Mani Indian oceanographer

Matthew Alexander Henson

American explorer

WRITTEN BY

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Last Updated: Mar 5, 2021 See Article History

Matthew Alexander Henson, (born August 8, 1866, Charles county, Maryland, U.S.—died March 9, 1955, New York, N.Y.), African American explorer who accompanied Robert E. Peary on most of his expeditions, including that to the North Pole in 1909.

Orphaned as a youth, Henson went to sea at the age of 12 as a cabin boy on the sailing ship Katie Hines. Later, while working in a store in Washington, D.C., he met Peary, who hired him in 1887 as a valet for his next expedition to Nicaragua (1888). Peary, impressed with Henson’s ability and resourcefulness, employed him as an attendant on his seven subsequent expeditions to the Arctic (1891–92; 1893–95; 1896; 1897; 1898–1902; 1905–06; 1908–09). In 1909 Peary and Henson, accompanied by four Inuit, became the first men to reach the North Pole, the rest of the crew having turned back earlier. Henson’s account of the journey, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, appeared in 1912. The following year, by order of Pres. William Howard Taft, Henson was appointed a clerk in the U.S. Customs House in New York City, a post he held until his retirement in 1936. Henson received the Congressional medal awarded all members of the Peary expedition (1944).

North Pole: expedition

(From left) Donald Baxter MacMillan, George Borup, Thomas Gushue, and Matthew Alexander Henson sit on the sledge that went to the North Pole, c. 1906–09.Libary of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-68223)

This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty, Editor.
Nambi Narayanan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
S. Nambi Narayanan
Narayanan in 2017
Born 12 December 1941

Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India
Education

Princeton University (MSE)
Thiagarajar College of Engineering
Occupation Aerospace engineer
Awards Padma Bhushan

S. Nambi Narayanan (born 12 December 1945) is an Indian aerospace engineer who worked for the Indian Space Research Organisation. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award by the Government of India, in 2019. The scientist was instrumental in developing the Vikas engine that would be used for the first PSLV that India launched.As a senior official at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), he was in-charge of the cryogenics division.In 1994, he was falsely charged with espionage and arrested. The charges against him were dismissed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1996, and the Supreme Court of India declared him not guilty in 1998.

In 2018, the Supreme Court, through the bench of Dipak Misra, awarded Narayanan a compensation of ₹ 5,000,000 (roughly US$70,000), to be recovered from the Government of Kerala within eight weeks. However the Government of Kerala decided to give him ₹ 1.3 crore (₹ 13,000,000; roughly US$183,000). The apex court also constituted a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge D. K. Jain to inquire into the role of officials of the Kerala police in the arrest of Narayanan.

Early life

S. Nambi Narayanan was born into a Tamil family family on 12 December 1941 in Trivandrum where he also completed his schooling at DVD Higher Secondary School. Dr.Nambi Naryanan wrote his autobiography in Malayalam named "Ormakalude Bhramanapadham". Dr. Nambi's Malayalam autobiography was inaugrated by Kerala Trivandrum Parliament Member Dr.Shashi Tharoor.

Career

Narayanan first met Vikram Sarabhai, the then Chairman of ISRO, in 1966 at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, while he worked as a payload integrator with another eminent scientist Y. S. Rajan there. Also chairman of the Space Science and technology Centre (SSTC) at the time, Sarabhai only recruited highly qualified professionals. In pursuit, Narayanan enrolled at the College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram for his MTech degree. Upon learning this, Sarabhai offered him leave for higher education if he made it to any of the Ivy League universities. Subsequently, Narayanan earned a NASA fellowship and was accepted into Princeton University in 1969. He completed his master's program there in chemical rocket propulsion under professor Luigi Crocco in a record ten months. Despite being offered a job in the US, Narayanan returned to India with expertise in liquid propulsion at a time when Indian rocketry was still solely dependent on solid propellants.

Narayanan introduced the liquid fuel rocket technology in India in the early 1970s, when A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's team was working on solid motors. He foresaw the need for liquid fuelled engines for ISRO's future civilian space programmes, and received encouragement from the then ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan, and his successor U. R. Rao. Narayanan developed liquid propellant motors, first building a successful 600 kilograms (1,300 lb) thrust engine in the mid-1970s and thereafter moving on to bigger engines.

In 1992, India signed an agreement with Russia for transfer of technology to develop cryogenic fuel-based engines and procurement of two such engines for ₹ 235 crore. However, it did not materialize after the US president George H. W. Bush wrote to Russia, raising objections against the transfer of technology and even threatening to blacklist the country from the select-five club. Russia, under Boris Yeltsin, succumbed to the pressure and denied the technology to India. To bypass this monopoly, India signed a new agreement with Russia to fabricate four cryogenic engines, alongside two mockups for a total of US$9 million, after floating a global tender without a formal transfer of technology. ISRO had already reached a consensus with Kerala Hitech Industries Limited which would have provided the cheapest tender for fabricating engines. But this failed to materialize due to the spy scandal of 1994.

After working for nearly two decades, with French assistance, Narayanan's team developed the Vikas engine used by several ISRO rockets including the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that took Chandrayaan-1 to the moon in 2008. The Vikas engine is used in the second stage of PSLV and as the second and the four strap-on stages of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Espionage charges

In 1994, Narayanan was charged with leaking vital defence secrets to two alleged Maldivian intelligence officers, Mariam Rasheeda and Fauzia Hassan. Defense officials said the secrets pertained to highly confidential "flight test data" from experiments with rocket and satellite launches. Narayanan was among two scientists (the other being D. Sasikumaran) that were accused of selling the secrets for millions. However, his house seemed nothing out of the ordinary and did not show signs of the corrupt gains he was accused of.

Narayanan was arrested and spent 50 days in jail. He claims that officials from the Intelligence Bureau, who were the ones to interrogate him, wanted him to make false accusations against the top brass of ISRO. He alleges that two IB officials had asked him to implicate A. E. Muthunayagam, his boss and then Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC). When he refused to comply, he was tortured until he collapsed and was hospitalised. He says his main complaint against ISRO is that it did not support him. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, who was ISRO chairman at the time stated that ISRO could not interfere in a legal matter.

In May 1996, the charges were dismissed as phony by the CBI. They were also dismissed by the Supreme Court in April 1998. In September 1999, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) passed strictures against the government of Kerala for having damaged Narayanan's distinguished career in space research along with the physical and mental torture to which he and his family were subjected. After the dismissal of charges against them, the two scientists, Sasikumar and Narayanan were transferred out of Thiruvananthapuram and were given desk jobs.

In 2001, the NHRC ordered the government of Kerala to pay him a compensation of ₹ 1 crore. He retired in 2001. The Kerala High Court ordered a compensation amount of Rs 10 lakhs to be paid to Nambi Narayanan based on an appeal from NHRC India in September 2012.

On 3 October 2012, The Hindu reported that the government of Kerala had dropped charges against the police officials who were alleged to have falsely implicated Narayanan in the espionage case on the grounds that over 15 years had passed since the case was initiated. The top officer involved in the case, Siby Mathews, was later appointed Chief Information Commissioner in Kerala (2011 - 2016). Kerala government settled the case filed against it by Narayanan by agreeing to a payment of ₹1.3 crore (US$170,000). As a result of this settlement Mr Narayanan agreed to withdraw his case in the Kerala High Court against the Kerala government.

On 14 Apr 2021 the Supreme Court of India ordered a CBI probe into the involvement of police officers in the conspiracy.

Demand for Justice
President Kovind presents Padma Bhushan to Shri S. Nambi Narayanan

On 7 November 2013, Narayanan pushed for justice in his case, seeking to expose those behind the conspiracy. He says that this case will 'discourage' the youth.

On 14 September 2018, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member panel headed by its former judge to probe the "harrowing" arrest and alleged torture of former space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 'ISRO spy scandal' that turned out to be fake.

A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also awarded Mr. Narayanan Rs. 50 lakh in compensation for the "mental cruelty" he suffered all these years. The reprieve comes almost a quarter of century after Mr. Narayanan began his legal battles in various forums for his honour and justice. In addition to this, the government of Kerala has decided to give him Rs 1.3 crore as compensation

On 26 January 2019, he was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India.

Books and popular culture
Books
Ormakalude Bhramanapadham: An Autobiography by Nambi Narayanan, Prajesh Sen; Thrissur Current Books, 2017.
Ready To Fire: How India and I Survived the ISRO Spy Case by Nambi Narayanan, Arun Ram; Bloomsbury India, 2018.

In popular culture

In October 2018, a biographical film titled Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, written and co-directed by R. Madhavan, was announced. The teaser of the film was released on 1 April 2021 and the film is scheduled to be released in summer-2021.
Nitya Anand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search
For other uses, see Nityananda (disambiguation).

Nitya Anand (born 1 January 1925 in Layallpur, British India) is a scientist who was the director of Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow for several years. In 2005, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) appointed him chairman of its scientific committee. In 2012, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government.

Anand is currently the chairman of Ranbaxy Science Foundation (RSF).
Nibir Mandal
Geologist
Description

Nibir Mandal is an Indian structural geologist and a professor of Geological Sciences at Jadavpur University. He is known for his studies on the evolution of geological structures and is an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, and the Indian National Science Academy. Wikipedia

Born: 6 November 1963, Jangipur
Awards: 1992 INSA Young Scientist Medal; 2005 S. S. Bhatnagar Prize; 2013 G. D. Birla Award
Education: Jadavpur University, Hokkaido University, ETH Zürich
Narinder Kumar Mehra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Narinder Kumar Mehra
Born 4 November 1949
Amritsar, East Punjab, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater
Government Medical College, Amritsar
AIIMS, Delhi
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Known for Studies on Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics
Awards

1977 H. J. Mehta Gold Medal
1983 ICMR Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize
1992 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1995 Sher-I-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Award
1996 Ranbaxy Science Foundation Award
1999 ICMR JALMA Trust Foundation Award
2000 Om Prakash Bhasin Award
2003 Chevalier of the National Order of Merit
2003 Chief of the Army Staff Award
2004 ICMR Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize
2004 Khwarizmi International Award
2011 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Centenary Award
Scientific career
Fields
Immunogenetics
Institutions
SRL ltd, Gurgaon
Doctoral advisor

Jon van Rood
John A. Hansen

Narinder Kumar Mehra (born 4 November 1949) is an Indian immunologist, head of the department of transplant immunology and immunogenetics of the SRL Limited, Gurgaon. He is a former dean of research and holds the ICMR Dr. C.G. Pandit National Chair at AIIMS. An elected fellow of the International Medical Sciences Academy, The World Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India, Mehra is known for his research on histocompatibility and immunogenetics. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1992. He received the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit from François Mitterrand in 2003.

Biography
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi

Born on 4 November 1949 in Amritsar, in the Indian state of Punjab, Mehra did his schooling at Bishop Cotton School, Simla and earned his graduate degree (BSc) with human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry as optional subjects from Government Medical College, Amritsar in 1969 before moving to Delhi to complete his master's degree (MSc) in human anatomy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS). He continued at AIIMS for his doctoral studies and after securing a PhD in 1975 on the immunology of leprosy, did post-doctoral work on histocompatibility and immunogenetics at the laboratory of Jon van Rood in the Netherlands and later with John A. Hansen at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle. On his return to India, he joined his alma mater, AIIMS, as a pool officer in 1977 In 1979, he was elevated to lecturer with the additional responsibility of the clinical and research activities of the Histocompatibility Laboratory established under the Department of Anatomy in 1977, the year he joined AIIMS In 1993, the laboratory, which served as the core laboratory in India for workshops on histocompatibility as well as a base for researches on human leukocyte antigen (HLA), was upgraded to a full-fledged department under the name "Department of Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics", which he headed as its founding chair, in the capacity of a professor and served out his career at AIIMS in that position. He also served as the member secretary of the Research Advisory Council and chaired the Dean's Research Committee (DRC) at AIIMS At the time of his official retirement from service in 2004, he was serving as the Dean of Research and post-retirement, he holds the Dr. C. G. Pandit National Chair of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) at AIIMS, continuing his research at the institution

Mehra resides in AIIMS Campus, in Ansari Nagar, New Delhi.

Legacy
A hand affected by rheumatoid arthritis

Mehra, whose research has covered various aspects of histocompatibility and immunogenetics, started his work on the subjects during his post-doctoral days in Europe, and at John Hansen's laboratory in Seattle, where he used DNA-based technologies of HLA analysis to study the immunogenetic aspects of rheumatoid arthritis Later, in India, he studied HLA-linked genes and identified that a subtype of HLA-DR2 carried a unique class II haplotype which made humans susceptible to diseases such as leprosy and tuberculosis. He also differentiated the Indian rheumatoid arthritis and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients from the Western Caucasian patients by demonstrating that the former showed a pattern of HLA-DR and HLA-DQ association and these studies helped in characterizing the Indian population with regard to its genomic diversity. His group demonstrated that HLA genes with specific pockets in the peptide binding region controlled the severity of mycobacterial diseases, which was a first-time discovery. Together with Ajay Kumar Baranwal of AIIMS Delhi and Brian D. Tait of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, he carried out a research project, Antibody Repertoire and graft outcome following solid organ transplantation, which assisted in the prediction of graft rejection and had significance in organ and bone marrow transplantation He also guided a team of scientists in a project based on polymorphic immunomodulatory genes for developing molecular medicine to combat infectious, autoimmune and rheumatological diseases. His research has been published by way of over 450 articles; of which 287 are listed by ResearchGate. Besides, he has published a book, The HLA Complex in Biology and Medicine: A Resource Book, and has contributed chapters to books published by other researchers, including Textbook of Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Allied and Molecular Medicine. His researches have been cited by many authors, too.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi established a Histocompatibility Laboratory under its Department of Anatomy in 1977, the year Mehra joined as a pool officer at the institution. Subsequently, he took over the activities of the laboratory and by the time he was promoted to professor in 1993, the laboratory had developed into a referral centre as well as a core laboratory for histocompatibility workshops and AIIMS elevated its status to an independent department, the Department of Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics, with Mehra as its founding chair. Under the aegis of the new department and in association with Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti, he established the first Asian Indian Donor Marrow Registry (AIDMR), a database of the donors of bone marrow in India in 1994. He would later explain the details of the registry through an article, Asian Indian donor marrow registry: All India Institute of Medical Sciences experience, published in Transplantation Proceedings in 2007. He has delivered a number of keynote addresses or invited lectures including MedIndia 2003 2013 seminar of human genomics at the Guru Nanak Dev University, 2016 India-Japan Regulatory Symposium, and a Guest lecture series organized by Manipur University in 2016. He has also mentored around 60 masters and doctoral research scholars in their studies.

Professional associations

Mehra is the founding president of the Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia Oceania (FIMSA) and has served as its vice president thereafter. He was also the organizer of the Advanced Course on Basic and Translational Immunology, conducted by FIMSA in collaboration with the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and Indian Immunology Society (IIS) in March 2012; he has also served as a member of the council of IUIS. He presides over the Indian Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics and was a member of the faculty of the 2016 edition of ISHICON held in December 2016 at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. He sits on the National Board of Advisors of the Center for Stem Cell Science, and the Advisory Board of Indus Foundation and is a trustee of the Board of Immunology Foundation as well as a member of the Publication Advisory Board of the Indian National Science Academy.

Mehra sits on the editorial board of HLA (journal) (formerly known as Tissue Antigens) and is a member of the International Advisory Board of Wiley's journal Modern Rheumatology. He has been associated with journals such as Microbes and Infection of Pasteur Institute, Paris, International journal of Human Genetics and Journal of Clinical Immunology of Springer, as a member of their editorial boards. He is a former member of the ELSI Committee of the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics consortium (T1DGC) of the National Institutes of Health and a former vice president of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation (ISOT). The invited speeches delivered by him include the first scientific meeting of Allergy and Immunology Society of Sri Lanka (ALSSL) and the Braunschweig Streptococcal colloquium. He has also been a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Jalma Institute of Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases, Task Force on Human Genetics and Human Genome Analysis of Department of Biotechnology and the Task Force on Human Genetics of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Awards and honors

Mehra received the H. J. Mehta Gold Medal in 1977 and the Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize of the Indian Council of Medical Research in 1983. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1992. In 1995, he received the Sher-I-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Award and Ranbaxy Science Foundation Award the next year. Om Prash Bhasin Foundation awarded him the annual Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 2000 and he received the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit of the Government of France from François Mitterrand in 2003; the same year as he received the Chief of the Army Staff Award. A year later, the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST) of the Government of Iran awarded him the 2004 Khwarizmi International Award. and he received the Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize of the Indian Council of Medical Research in 2004. The Indian Council of Medical Research honored him again with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Centenary Award for excellence in biomedical research in 2011

The National Academy of Sciences, India elected Mehra as a fellow in 1998 and he became a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 2008. In between, he received the Tata Innovation Fellowship of the Department of Biotechnology in 2007 The year 2013 brought him the elected fellowship of The World Academy of Sciences as well as the honoris causa membership of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is also a fellow of the International Medical Sciences Academy, Delhi. The award orations delivered by him include the IRA-Boots Oration of 1983, Guru Nanak Dev University Prof G.S. Randhawa Oration of 1996, and the ICMR JALMA Trust Foundation Award Oration of 1999.

Naba Kishore Ray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naba Kishore Ray
Born 5 December 1940
Odisha, India
Died 8 May 2013 (aged 72)
Nationality Indian
Known for Studies on structure of molecules

Awards
1983 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields
Theoretical chemistry
Computational chemistry

Naba Kishore Ray (1940- 2013) was an Indian theoretical and computational chemist, known for his studies on structure of molecules. Born on 5 December 1940 in the Indian state of Odisha,

he studied molecules using molecular orbital and floating spherical gaussian orbital methods and his work on the nature of electron density and momentum distribution in atoms and molecules as well as molecular reactivitity on surfaces are reported to have widened the understanding of the subjects. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1983, for his contributions to chemical sciences.
Namdeo Nimgade

Namdeo Nimgade

Namdeo Nimgade (1920-2011) was an agricultural scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. He was born into an ‘untouchable’ family of landless bonded labourers in Sathgaon, in western India. He is the author of In the Tiger’s Shadow, an inspiring autobiography.

In The Tiger’s Shadow

‘This book must be read not only by all those who want to understand the dalit universe but also by those who enjoy a good Indian book in English’DNA, Mumbai

Born into a family of landless bonded labourers in the dustbowl of Sathgaon in western India, Namdeo Nimgade is 14 when he finally manages to attend his village school where, being an ‘untouchable’, he has to stand on the ‘hot verandah and listen to lessons through a window’. Inspired by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, he steadfastly pursues his education. Graduating from Nagpur, Nimgade goes on to complete his PhD in soil science from the University of Wisconsin in 1962—perhaps the first dalit after Ambedkar to earn a doctorate from an American university. In the 1950s, as an associate at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi, Nimgade gets to spend time with Dr Ambedkar. Throughout his life, Nimgade remains singularly committed to the ambedkarite movement. Nimgade narrates incidents in his life with candour and delightful humour—whether recounting his great-grandfather Ganba’s combat with a tiger in a forest, or his ‘forbidden’ love for a non-dalit woman. Moving away from the framework of victimhood narratives, Nimgade’s life is an inspiring story of triumph against odds.

‘Our family name Nimgade probably derives from the neem tree, which is known for its healing properties and health benefits. Many people from our untouchable community bear names referring to trees or plants, such as my brother-in-law, Khobragade—which refers to a coconut. There’s similarly Ambagade, referring to mango, Jamgade to guava and Borkar to berry. Quite likely, these arboreal names derive from the peaceful Buddhist period in Indian history, and are cited as further evidence that many of India’s untouchables were previously Buddhist.’
Pinaki Majumdar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prof.
Pinaki Majumdar

পিনাকী মজুমদার
Born 26 January 1964

Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Nationality Indian
Citizenship India
Alma mater

Jadavpur University
IIT Madras
Indian Institute of Science
Bell Laboratories
Known for Studies on metal-insulator transition, High Tc Superconductors, Superfluidity, Ultracold Quantum Gases, Optical Lattices and nanoscale texture formation
Spouse(s) Gargee Majumdar
Children Parananda Majumdar

Awards

1990 IITM Merit Prize
2007 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
2008 Global Indus Technovator Award
2008 DAE-SRC Outstanding Research Investigator Award

Scientific career
Fields

Condensed matter physics
Institutions

Harish-Chandra Research Institute
Doctoral advisor

H. R. Krishnamurthy
Other academic advisors

Peter Littlewood
Website http://www.hri.res.in/~pinaki/

Pinaki Majumdar (born 26 January 1964) is an Indian condensed matter physicist and the director of the Harish-Chandra Research Institute. Known for his research on correlated quantum systems, Majumdar is a recipient of the Global Indus Technovator Award of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to physical sciences in 2007.

Biography
Indian Institute of Science

Born on 26 January 1964 in West Bengal, Pinaki Majumdar graduated in engineering from Jadavpur University in 1986 and continued his studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras from where he earned a master's degree (MTech) in 1990. His doctoral studies were at the Indian Institute of Science and after earning a PhD in 1996, he did his post-doctoral work at Bell Laboratories, New Jersey for a couple of years. Returning to India, he joined Harish-Chandra Research Institute as a fellow in 1998. He has since held various positions at HRI such as those of a reader (2001–03) and an associate professor (2003–07) before becoming a full-time professor in 2007. He continues his association with the institute, holding the positions of the director and grade-1 professor. He also serves as a professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute.

Legacy and honors

Majumdar's research was mainly focused on disordered and strongly correlated quantum systems and his studies have assisted in a wider understanding of the metal-insulator transition. He is also reported to have contributed to the studies of nanoscale texture formation and colossal response driven by external fields. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and Google Scholar, an online article repository of scientific articles, has listed 93 of them.

Majumdar won the Institute Merit Prize and Silver Medal of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1990 when he passed out of the institute. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Pinaki the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2007.[10] He received two awards in 2008; the Outstanding Research Investigator Award of the Safety Review Committee of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE-SRC and the Global Indus Technovator Award of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pramod Karan Sethi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pramod Karan Sethi
Born 28 November 1927

Varanasi, India
Died 6 January 2008 (aged 80)

Jaipur
Nationality Indian
Other names P. K. Sethi
Occupation orthopaedic surgeon, inventor
Known for Jaipur foot

Pramod Karan Sethi (28 November 1927 – 6 January 2008) was an Indian orthopaedic surgeon. With Ram Chandra Sharma, he co-invented the "Jaipur foot", an inexpensive and flexible artificial limb, in 1969.

He was awarded the Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1981 and the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1981.

Personal life and career

Sethi was born at Varanasi (then Banaras), where his father Nihal Karan Sethi, himself a renowned scientist, was a physics professor at Banaras Hindu University. Sethi trained as a general surgeon at Agra under G. N. Vyas. In 1958, he specialised in orthopaedics, when the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur where he worked needed an orthopaedics department because of a Medical Council of India inspection. He later cited his lack of qualifications in orthopaedics as an advantage in developing the Jaipur foot. Much of his practice was in physiotherapy, including the rehabilitation of amputees. He retired in 1981. He was the founder of MVSS.

He was married to Sulochana, and the couple had a son and three daughters. Sethi died of cardiac arrest in Jaipur, India.

Jaipur foot

The Jaipur foot is made of rubber and wood and is probably the lowest cost prosthetic limb available in the world. The International Red Cross Committee has used it extensively in Afghanistan and other places to help amputees. Several injured soldiers in the Kargil war were benefited due to the Jaipur foot. Sethi was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for helping a large number of amputees in obtaining mobility again. The Indian dancer and actor Sudha Chandran was one of his patients.

Ram Chandra Sharma, an illiterate craftsman, is the co-inventor of the foot. The original idea of the Jaipur foot is supposed to have come to him serendipitously while he was riding a bicycle and had a flat tire.

Awards

Sethi was awarded the Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1981, the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1981 and he also won a major Rotary International award. He was elected a fellow of the British Royal College of Surgeons.

Prafulla Kumar Jena

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prafulla Kumar Jena
Born 27 December 1931

Odisha, India
Occupation Metallurgist

Awards Padma Shri

Prafulla Kumar Jena (born 27 December 1931) is an Indian metallurgist and a former director of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (formerly Regional Research Laboratory) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhubaneshwar. He previously held the TATA Chair for the Distinguished Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. The Government of India honoured him with a Padma Shri in 1977.

Biography

Born on 27 December 1931 in the Indian state of Odisha, P. K. Jena completed his graduate degree in chemistry with honours and a master's degree in physical chemistry from Utkal University He stayed back at the university for his doctoral research to secure a PhD and shifted his studies to University of British Columbia from where he completed MS in metallurgical engineering. He started his career as a senior scientist at the metallurgy division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay but moved, later, to Banares Hindu University as a professor of metallurgical engineering. Before holding the Tata Chair of the Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur at their department of metallurgical engineering, Jena served as the director of the Regional Research Laboratory (RRL) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1972) and as the director general of CSIR (1986). He has also been a senior visiting professor at two overseas universities, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. A former president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation, Jena holds the chair of the Institute of Advanced Technology and Environmental Studies, an organization engaged technical consultancy and training in the fields of mining and mineral processing, management of waste and water resources and material development.

Legacy

The research of P. K. Jena focused on the upgradation of ores and minerals, and the recovery of metal values from industrial wastes and is known to have developed methods for recovery of coal fines from slime, iron values from tailings and the beneficiation of low grade iron and manganese ores. He is reported to have developed metallothermic reduction processes for Niobium, Tantalum, Vanadium, Tungsten and Molybdenum. He has also contributed in the areas of chloride metallurgy of non ferrous ores and extraction of nickel, cobalt, copper, lead, zinc, vanadium and manganese. His researches have assisted in developing new waste management processes as well as value recovery processes from industrial and mining wastes. His researches are documented in 240 published research papers and he holds 55 patents.

Jena's contributions are noted in the establishment of the Institute of Physics, Planetarium and Science Centre, Bhubaneswar and was its founder chairman. He has also been the founder president of the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), Bhubaneswar and is the founder chairman of the Institute of Advance Technology & Environmental Studies (IATES), Bhubaneswar. He has been the founder editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal, Journal of Sustainable Planet of the IATES, started in 2010.

Awards and honours

Jena is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Institution of Engineers, India and a fellow of the Indian Institute of Metals. He is a life member and former president of the Indian Science Congress Association, a former member of the Planning Board of Orissa and a former President of Orissa Bigyan Academy.

Jena received the National Metallurgist Award in 1969 from the Indian Institute of Metals and the civilian honour of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1977. He is a recipient of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries Award (1982) Institution of Engineers (India) Award (1998), Odisha Bigyan Academy Senior Scientist Award (1999) BHU Distinguished Services Award (2008), Times of India Think Odisha Leadership Award (2010), and Rajiv Gandhi Professional Award (2012) and Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur Distinguished Scientist Award (2012). He has also received lifetime achievement awards from Ravenshaw Chemistry Alumni Association, Ravenshaw University (2008) and Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology.
Paramasivam Natarajan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paramasivam Natarajan
Born 17 September 1940

Tamil Nadu, India
Died 18 March 2016 (aged 75)

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

University of Madras
Banaras Hindu University
University of Southern California
Wayne State University
Known for Studies in photochemistry
Awards

1984 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1984 GoT Best Teacher Award
1999 ICS Acharya P. C. Ray Memorial Award
Scientific career
Fields

Photochemistry
Laser chemistry
Institutions

University of Madras
NGM College, Pollachi
Banaras Hindu University
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research
University of Southern California
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute
National Centre for Ultrafast Process
Doctoral advisor

John F. Endicott

Paramasivam Natarajan (1940–2016) was an Indian photochemist, the INSA Senior Scientist at the National Centre for Ultrafast Process of the University of Madras and the Director of Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He was known for his researches on photochemistry of co-ordination compounds and macromolecular dye coatings for stabilization of electrodes and was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1984, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography
University of Madras - Main Entrance

Born on 17 September 1940 in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Paramasivam Natarajan graduated in chemistry from the University of Madras in 1959 and started his career as a lecturer at Government Arts College of the Madras University in 1959 but moved to NGM College, Pollachi in 1963. The next year, he joined Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as a CSIR Junior Research fellow and during the tenure of the fellowship, he obtained his master's degree in 1963.[After continuing at BHU for a year more, he became a lecturer at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) where he stayed till 1970 when he went to the US as a teaching assistant University of Southern California, simultaneously pursuing his doctoral studies under the guidance of John F. Endicott. He secured a PhD in 1971 and did his post doctoral studies under his PhD guide, Endicott, at Wayne State University as the latter had moved to the Michigan-based university by that time.

Natarajan returned to India in 1974 and joined his alma mater, Madras University, as a reader of the department of physical chemistry and in 1977, he became a professor in charge of the Post Graduate Centre of the university in Tiruchirappalli. In 1982, he returned to the University headquarters in Chennai as the head of the department of inorganic chemistry and in 1991, he was deputed by the university as the director of Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), a post he held till 1996. After the completion of the assignment at CSMCRI, he resumed his duties at the university and became a senior professor in 1998. At time of his superannuation in 2001, he held the post of an INSA Senior Scientist at the National Centre for Ultrafast Process of the university and served as a member of the university syndicate.

Natarajan was married to Sivabagyam and the couple had two daughters, Shiva Sukanthi and Shakthi. He died on 18 March 20, at the age of 75, survived by his wife, children and their families.

Legacy

Focusing his researches on photochemistry, Natarajan studied various araas of the discipline such as polymer dynamics using fluorescence, flash photolysis studies using picosecond and femtosecond lasers and solar energy conversion. He demonstrated that micromolecular dye coatings of electrodes used in photoelectrochemical cells returned high current density. This led to his subsequent studies of solar energy conversion using chemically modified electrodes. He published his researches in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Communications by way of 107 articles and he was granted patents for four of his findings. He mentored over 30 doctoral scholars and was associated with a number of journals as their editorial board member. He also sat in a number of government committees including those of the Department of Science and Technology and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and delivered several featured talks and orations.

Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Subba Rao the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1984 and he received the Best Teacher Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu the same year. In 1999, he was awarded the Acharya P.C.Ray Memorial Award by the Indian Chemical Society and he held the National Lectureship and the National Fellowship of the University Grants Commission of India during 1986–87 and 1989–91 respectively. Sir M.Visweshwaraiah Chair of the University of Mysore (1999), Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Chair of the University of Hyderabad (2004), Raja Ramanna Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology (2006–09) and the Senior Scientist professorship of the Indian National Science Academy (at the time of his death) were some of the other notable positions he held. He was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Academy of Sciences, Society of Bio-Sciences and Gujarat Academy of Sciences and a member of Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society.

Selected bibliography

Raja, Chinnappan; Ananthanarayanan, Krishnamoorthy; Natarajan, Paramasivam (2006). "Studies on the photophysical characteristics of poly(carboxylic acid)s bound protoporphyrin IX and metal complexes of protoporphyrin IX". European Polymer Journal. 42 (3): 495–506. doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2005.09.009.

Ananthanarayanan, K.; Selvaraju, C.; Natarajan, P. (2007). "Novel excited state proton transfer reaction observed for proflavine encapsulated in the channels of modified MCM-41". Microporous and Mesoporous Material. 99 (3): 319–327. doi:10.1016/j.micromeso.2006.09.042.

Easwaramoorthi, S.; Natarajan, P. (2008). "Redox properties of phenosafranine at zeolite-modified electrodes-effect of surface modification and solution pH". Materials Chemistry and Physics. 107 (1): 101–109. doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2007.06.057.

Ananthanarayanan, K.; Natarajan, P. (2009). "Fabrication and photophysical studies of phenosafranine and proflavine dyes encapsulated in mesoporous MCM-41 along with titanium dioxide nanoparticles". Microporous and Mesoporous Materials. 124 (1–3): 179–189. doi:10.1016/j.micromeso.2009.05.028.

Senthilkumar, Karuppannan; Paul, Parimal; Selvaraju, Chellappan; Natarajan, Paramasivam (2010). "Preparation, characterization, and photophysical study of thiazine dyes within the nanotubes and nanocavities of silicate host: influence of titanium dioxide nanoparticle on the protonation and aggregation of dyes". Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 114 (15): 7085–7094. doi:10.1021/jp912267q
Pramod Kale

Brief Biodata of Mr. Pramod Kale

Full Name - Pramod Purushottam Kale
Date of Birth � 4th March 1941.
Place of Birth � Pune, India

EDUCATION

S.S.C. 1956, M.C. HIGH SCHOOL, Vadodara
Int. Sc, 1958, Fergusson College, Pune University
B. Sc. (Physics) 1960, M. S. University, Vadodara
M. Sc. (Physics -Electronics) 1962, Gujarat University,Ahmedabad

INITIAL EXPERIENCE

While studying for M. Sc. he worked at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad for getting practical experience of Electronics and Space Research. During that time started work on Satellite tracking. After M. Sc. in 1962 he worked for three years as a research student of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. In 1963 he was selected as a team member for the establishment of TERLS, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, near Thiruvananthapuram and for that work was deputed to work at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, USA. He joined the Indian Space Efforts in 1962 right from the launch of first rockets in Thumba.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Head-Electronics Division, (Satellite systems), Space Science and Technology Center, now Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. 1967-1969
Resident Representative of ISRO at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA 1969-1972
Project Manager- Electronics and TV Hardware, Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), 1974-1976, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad
Project Director, INSAT 1 Space Segment Project, Department of Space, Bangalore, 1977 -1987
Director, Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad, 1987-1994
Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organization, Thiruvananthapuram, 1994
Executive Director and Head, Microwave Antenna Division, Global Wireless Technology Limited, Pune 1996 till Mar 2002
Director, Global Information Technology Academy, Pune June 2000 till Jul 2002

HONOURS RECEIVED -

Shri Hari Om Ashram Prerit Vikram Sarabhai Award for System Analysis and Management Problems, 1975
Padmashri, Government of India, 1984
Shri R L Wadhawa Gold Medal of Institution of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers 1991
Bharat Jyoti Award presented by Front for National Progress 1999

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS -

Fellow and Past President, Indian Society of remote Sensing
Fellow and Past President, Indian Society of Geomatics
Fellow, Gujarat Science Academy
Life member & Fellow, Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers
Life Member, Computer Society of India
Founder Life Member and Director, Indian Society for Advancement of Material Processing and Engineering
Fellow and Life Member, Astronautical Society of India
President, 1996, Marathi Vignan Parishad
Trustee, Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Trust, Ahmedabad Management Association
Former Member, Governing Council, Information and Library Network, UGC,
Member, Governing Board, Taleem Research Foundation
Member, Governing Board, Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalay
President and Trustee, Vasundhara Trust, Pune
Former Member, Council for Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (CMAS),IMD, Govt. of India.
Life Member, Indian Association of Physics Teachers
Life Member and Vice Chairman of Board of Trustees, Indian Institute of Education
Life Member and Fellow, Maharashtra Academy of Sciences
Life Member and Trustee, Community Aid and Sponsorship Program (CASP)
Executive Chairman, Muktangan Science Exploratory Center.
Trustee, Prerana Pratishthan

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS -

Have published over twenty-five papers on various subjects since 1964 till 1994

CURRENT POSITION SINCE AUGUST 2002

Director,
Integrated Circuit and Information Technology Pvt. Ltd.
VLSI Design and Research Center,
Department of Electronic Science,
University of Pune, Ganeshkhind Road, Aundh
Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA, 411007
vlsi@unipune.ernet.in
http://ieee.daiict.ac.in/satcom/pkale.html
Rabi Narayan Bastia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rabi Narayan Bastia
Born 2 October 1958

Odisha, India
Occupation Geoscientist
Known for KG-D6 Gas field in Krishna Godavari Basin
Spouse(s) Rashmi
Children Two sons
Awards Padma Shri
Odisha Living Legend Award
National Mineral Award
ONGC Young Executive Award
AEG Gold Medal
Infraline Service to Nation Award
Ruchi Bharat Gaurav Samman
INSA Young Scientist Award
IBC International Educator of the Year
Oceantex Leadership and Excellence Award

Rabi Narayan Bastia is an Indian geoscientist and the Global Head of Exploration at Lime Petroleum, Norway, known for his contributions in the hydrocarbon explorations at Krishna Godavari Basin (2002), at Mahanadi Basin (2003) and at Cauvery (2007).A non-executive director of Asian Oilfield Services Limited and the President at OilMax Energy, Bastia is a recipient of the Odisha Living Legend Award. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to Science and Technology.

Biography

Rabi Narayan Bastia was born on 2 October 1958 in the Indian state of Odisha and graduated in Science from Utkal University.[ is master's degree came in Applied Geology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur which was followed by a doctoral degree (PhD) in Structural Geology from the same institution. Later, he completed an advanced master's course (MS) in petroleum exploration at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, with a first rank.[His career started at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in 1980 and he worked there for 16 years till he joined Reliance Industries (RIL) in 1996 where he founded and headed the exploration and production (E&P) Division. He led the RIL exploration team at Krishna Godavari Basin and discovered the KG-D6 field in 2002, reportedly the biggest oil find worldwide in the year 2002.He worked with RIL till 2012 during which time the team led by him was successful in discovering gas at Mahanadi basin of the Northeast coast in 2003 and at Cauvery basin in 2007.

In 2012, he resigned from RIL, under controversial circumstances, reportedly due to the decline in the output from the KG-D6. By that time, he had already been associated with Lime Petroleum, Norway for two years, as a director, where he is the Global Head of Exploration. He is the President of E&P business at OilMax Energy, a Pune-based project management consultants in the energy sector, concurrently serving Asian Oilfield Services as a non-executive independent director and Hibiscus Petroleum Bernhad, Malaysia as a director, resigning from the latter board in 2014. He also sits in the director boards of Oil Field Instrumentation India Limited and Synergy Oil and Gas Consultancy Pvt Ltd. In 2005, he was elected as the chairman of the International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC), the first Indian to hold the post. He is a member of American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and Petroleum Engineers. He is also a member of the Society of Geoscientists and Allied Technologists, Indian Geological Congress and the Association of Petroleum Geologists of India.

Bastia is the author of Geologic Settings and Petroleum Systems of India's East Coast Offshore Basins : Concepts and Applications, a text on exploration of hydrocarbons in Indian coast. Besides, he has published over fifty articles in peer reviewed national and international journals and serves as a visiting professor at many universities. He has also mentored four students in their doctoral research and has delivered keynote addresses at several international conferences including the Petromin Deepwater Conference at Malaysia and the SEAPEX Conference at Singapore.

Bastia is married to Rashmi and the couple has two sons.

Awards and honours

Bastia was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, his thesis validated by Alberta University and the University of Oklahoma. This was the first instance a scientist in India receiving the honour for petroleum research. In 1990, the Indian National Science Academy awarded him their Young Scientist Award. While working at the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, he received three institutional awards between 1993 and 1995, including the Young Executive Award. The Geological Society of India awarded him the National Mineral Award in 2003 and the Government of India followed it up, three years later, with civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2007; a year earlier, he had received the Gold Medal of the Association of Exploration Geophysicists. The year 2007 brought him two more awards viz. Infraline Service to Nation Award and Ruchi Bharat Gaurav Samman of the Government of Odisha.[He was featured in the Who's Who in the World of the American Continental Research in its 2008 edition and the International Biographical Centre listed him among the top 100 educators of the world in 2009. He is also a recipient of the Oceantex Leadership and Excellence Award (2010) nd the Odisha Living Legend Award (2011).
Rohidas Singh Nag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rohidas Singh Nag
Born 5 February 1934
Chandua, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India
Died 30 December 2012
Salbani, Mayurbhanj, Odisha
Occupation Writer
Nationality Indian
Subject Linguistic

Rohidas Singh Nag (5 February 1934 – 30 December 2012) was the inventor of the Mundari Bani script, which is used to write the Mundari language.

History

Rohidas Singh Nag of Chandua Village in Mayurbhanj district is the inventor of Munda script Mundari bani. Rohidas Singh Nag was born on 5 February 1934 in Chandua village, Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. It was in the year 1949 Rohidas Singh Nag studying at class –III invented Mundari script and wrote the alphabets on the wall of school with the help of clay. In the year 1953, Nag was a student of class –VIII invented 35 alphabets of Mundari script. Further, Nag simplified Mundari script and in the year 1980 total 27 alphabets were selected for use. In 1980 Rohidas Singh Nag brought to the knowledge of the then Chief Minister of Odisha Shri J.B. Pattnaik on the development of Mundari script and submitted a memorandum to recognize Munda language constitutionally. In 1999 Rohidas Singh Nag with others submitted a memorandum to the then president of India and appealed for constitutional recognition of Munda language.
Ramakrishnan Nagaraj
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramakrishnan Nagaraj
Born 10 February 1953

Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater
University of Mumbai
Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai
Indian Institute of Science
Known for Design of antibiotic peptides
Awards 1981 INSA Young Scientist Medal
1988 IAS Young Associate Medal
1988 CSIR Young Scientist Award
1994 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1995 SBCI P. B. Rama Rao Award

Scientific career
Fields

Biophysics
Biochemistry
Institutions

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Doctoral advisor Padmanabhan Balaram

Ramakrishnan Nagaraj (born 1953) is an Indian biochemist, molecular biologist and the leader of a team of scientists working in the field of peptide biochemistry at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). He is known for his studies on hemolytic and antibacterial properties in synthetic analogs of bacterial toxins. He is a J. C. Bose National fellow of the Department of Science and Technology at CCMB and an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded Nagaraj the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1994, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Born on 10 February 1953, Ramakrishnan Nagaraj graduated in science from the University of Mumbai and completed his master's degree at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai before doing his doctoral research at the Indian Institute of Science under the guidance of Padmanabhan Balaram, a noted biochemist and Padma Bhushan laureate. Nagaraj joined the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in 1980 as a scientist where he heads a team of scientists and pursues his researches on structure-function correlations in peptide antibiotics. He has done considerable work on signal peptides and peptide antibiotics and their structure-function relationships. Nagaraj is known to have suggested a protocol by which hemolytic and antibacterial properties of the synthetic analogs of bacterial toxins could be separated, an invention which is reported to be of assistance in designing antibiotic peptides. His researches have been documented in several articles; PubMed, an online repository of medical articles, has listed 273 of them.

Awards and honors

The Indian National Science Academy awarded Nagaraj the Young Scientists Medal in 1981 and he held the Young Associateship of the Indian Academy of Sciences from 1985 to 1988. He received the Young Scientist Award of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1988; CSIR would honor him again in 1994 with the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1994.[4] A Homi Bhabha Fellow of 1991, Nagaraj is also a recipient of the 1995 P. B. Rama Rao Award of the Society for Biological Chemists, India and an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (1998), Indian Academy of Sciences (1992) and the National Academy of Sciences, India.
Raman Viswanathan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raman Viswanathan
Born 8 September 1899
Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu, India
Died 14 July 1982 (aged 82)

India
Occupation Pulmonologist
Physician
Medical mycologist
Known for Chest diseases
Spouse(s) Sharda
Children A son and a daughter
Awards Padma Bhushan
NAS Eugeno Morelli Prize
Forlanini Medal
INSA Dhanwantari Prize

Raman Viswanathan (1899–1982) was an Indian chest physician, medical mycologist and pulmonologist, considered by many as the father of Chest Medicine in India. He was the founder director of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, a postgraduate medical institute based in Delhi. An elected fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, Royal College of Physicians of London, Indian National Science Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom, he was a recipient of several honors including the Forlanini Medal by Italian Tuberculosis Association and the Eugeno Morelli Prize of the National Academy of Sciences, Italy. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1974, for his contributions to medicine.

Biography

R. Viswanathan was born on 8 September 1899 in Nagarcoil, in the southern tip of India in the state of Tamil Nadu to a government official in the erstwhile Travancore state as the youngest of his two children. After losing his mother at the age of nine, he stayed with his elder sister's family and did his schooling in Nagarcoil. Later, he secured his graduate degree with honours in Science and English literature from the Maharaja's College (present-day University College Thiruvananthapuram) of the University of Madras in 1921 after which he graduated in medicine from Madras Medical College in 1926. Continuing at the same institution, he passed MD in 1931 and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the next year. During this period, he also worked as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Madras Medical College but moved to Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam in 1934 as the Professor of Clinical Medicine, where he worked till 1941. In between, he took a hiatus from work and obtained Diploma in Tuberculosis Diseases (TDD) from Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales, UK, in 1938. When World War II broke out, he joined Indian Armed Forces in 1942 as an Officer-Commanding of the Medical Division and served as a Medical Specialist and adviser. After the war, he retired from the Army and joined the Union Government and worked in various capacities such as an adviser on Tuberculosis (1946–48) and as the Deputy Director General of Health Services (1948–57). He was also associated with the University of Delhi during this period, as the head of the Department of Medicine and as the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

During his tenure with the Government of India, Viswanathan was appointed as the director of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI) when the institution was established in 1953. He served as the honorary director till 1957 and continued as a full-time director till his superannuation in 1964. Post his regular career, he was made the Honorary Professor of VPCI and the Emeritus Scientist of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and held both the posts till his death, involving himself in research, in post graduate medical education, in organizing medical conferences or delivering keynote addresses at various conferences in India and abroad. He also served as the Honorary Research Director cum Consultant at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna and as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois (1958) and the University of Chicago, (1964).

Viswanathan was married to Sharda, a gynecologist at the Government Hospital, Delhi, and the couple had two children; his son, V. Raman, was a public health engineering scientist and the daughter, V. Kamla, a homemaker. He died on 14 July 1982, at the age of 82.

Legacy

Viswanathan was involved in the establishment of several medical organizations. He was among the group of medical professionals who founded the National Academy of Medical Sciences in 1961. He was the founder president of the Association of Chest Physicians of India and stayed at the post till its reorganization in 1981. He was one of the founders of the Asthma and Bronchitis Foundation of India and was its president since its inception. He also served as the president of many national and international conferences including the 8th National Congress of Diseases of the Chest (1963), the Conference of the Association of Physicians of India (1968), the National Tuberculosis Conference (1968) and the World Congress on Asthma, Bronchitis and Allied Conditions (1974). He was also involved with the activities of the Tuberculosis Association of India as a member of its various committees, and was the leader of the USAID Exchange Program of 1953 as well as the Indian Regent of American College of Chest Physicians during 1957–58 when he was entrusted with the investigation of infectious hepatitis in Delhi.

Viswanathan was credited with pioneering research in bronchopulmonary diseases and was reported to be the first researcher to propose tropical eosinophilia as a distinct clinical entity in 1936. His studies of autopsy reports of the patients died of tropical eosinophilia helped to define the pathology of the disease for the first time and established positive leucocyte adhesion phenomenon with M. bancrofit. He developed a novel bronchography technique and made innovations in tomography procedures. His researches also covered several other diseases such as cerebral malaria, basal tuberculosis, lung atelectasis, bronchiectasis, emphysema, bagassosis, byssinosis, and high altitude pulmonary oedema, among others. He published seven books which included Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Diseases of the Chest, Medical Problems of Old Age and more than 230 medical articles in peer reviewed journals, Epidemiology, Infectious hepatitis in Delhi (1955-56): a critical study-epidemiology[ and A review of the literature on the epidemiology of infectious hepatitis being some of the notable ones; his articles and books have been cited in several medical journals and text books, too. He also founded a medical journal, the Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences (IJCDAS) in 1959 as the publishing arm of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute.

Awards and honors

Viswanathan, a founder fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (1964) and an honorary physician to the President of India,[4] was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (1968), National College of Chest Physicians (India), Royal College of Physicians of London (1980), American College of Chest Physicians (1947) and Academy of Medical Sciences. He was a member of such medical societies as American Thoracic Society, the British Thoracic Society, Indian Association of Pathologists, Associations of Physicians of India and Indian Medical Association. The National Academy of Sciences, Italy awarded him the Eugeno Morelli Prize in 1969 and the Italian Tuberculosis Association followed suit with its Forlanini Medal. He received the Dhanwanthari Prize of the Indian National Science Academy in 1971. Three years later, the Government of India included him the 1974 Republic Day Honours list for the third highest civilian award of the Padma Bhushan.

After his death in 1982, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute renamed the main hospital complex as Viswanathan Chest Hospital in honor of its founder director. National Conference on Pulmonary Diseases (NAPCON) has instituted an annual oration, Prof. Raman Viswanathan Memorial Chest Oration, in his honor; the 2015 lecture was delivered by noted pulmonologist, S. K. Katiyar. Candida viswanathii, a yeast species and a common pathogen causing fungal infections, is named after him. His life has been documented in his autobiography, While the Light Lives - Reminiscences of a Medical Scientist, as well as in an article, Dr. R. Viswanathan : a profile, published in the Indian Journal of Chest Disease and Allied Science, the official journal of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute and the National College of Chest Physicians.
Raman Parimala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Raman Parimala
Born : 21 November 1948
Alma mater University of Mumbai, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Awards Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1987)
Scientific career
Fields Algebra
Institutions Emory University
Doctoral advisor R. Sridharan
Doctoral students Sujatha Ramdorai
Suresh Venapally

Raman Parimala (born 21 November 1948) is an Indian mathematician known for her contributions to algebra. She is the Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of mathematics at Emory University. For many years, she was a professor at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. She has been on the Mathematical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2019 and is on the Abel prize selection Committee 2021/2022.

Background

Parimala was born and raised in Tamil Nadu, India.[She studied in Saradha Vidyalaya Girls' High School and Stella Maris College at Chennai. She received her M.Sc. from Madras University (1970) and Ph.D. from the University of Mumbai (1976); her advisor was R. Sridharan from TIFR.
Honors

On National Science Day in 2020, Smriti Irani, Minister, Women and Child Development, Government of India announced establishment of chair in name of Raman Parimala along with ten great Indian Women Scientists at Institutes across India. Parimala was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich in 1994 and gave a talk Study of quadratic forms — some connections with geometry. She gave a plenary address Arithmetic of linear algebraic groups over two dimensional fields at the Congress in Hyderabad in 2010.

Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences
Fellow of Indian National Science Academy
Bhatnagar Award in 1987
Honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1999
Srinivasa Ramanujan Birth Centenary Award in 2003.
TWAS Prize for Mathematics (2005).
Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (2012)
Ram Prakash Bambah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ram Prakash Bambah (born 17 September 1925) is an Indian mathematician working in number theory and discrete geometry.

Education and career

Bambah earned a bachelor's degree from Government College University, Lahore, and a master's degree from the University of the Punjab, Lahore. He then went to England for his doctoral studies, earning his Ph.D. in 1950 from St John's College, Cambridge under the supervision of Louis J. Mordell. Returning to India, he became a reader at Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1952, and was promoted to professor there in 1957. Maintaining his position at Panjab University, he also held a position as professor at Ohio State University in the US from 1964 to 1969. He retired from Panjab University in 1993.

Bambah was president of the Indian Mathematical Society in 1969, and vice chancellor of Panjab University from 1985 to 1991.

Awards and honours

He was elected to the Indian National Science Academy in 1955.[2] In 1979 he was awarded the Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal, and in 1974 was elected to the Indian Academy of Sciences. In 1988 he received the Aryabhata Medal of the Indian National Science Academy and the Padma Bhushan award.
Rajani A. Bhisey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajani A. Bhisey
Born 20 January 1941
Nationality Indian
Alma mater University of Bombay
Known for Environmental Carcinogenesis and Molecular Epidemiology of Cancer, Occupational Hazards
Scientific career
Institutions University of Pune

Rajani A. Bhisey (born 20 January 1941) is an Indian scientist. She specializes in the field of environmental carcinogenesis and molecular epidemiology of cancer, occupational hazards.

Education

Bhisey completed her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Bombay and joined the Indian Cancer Research Centre (ICRC), Mumbai, as a research fellow to work for her Master of Science by research degree.[ worked on skin carcinogenesis using electron microscope as the main tool, which led to her PhD degree from the University of Bombay in 1974.

Career

Bhisey worked at the University of Pennsylvania as a research assistant and later with Jerome J Freed at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research on ultra-structural aspects of cell surface of drug resistant haploid frog cells. She established a genetic toxicology laboratory at Cancer Research Institute (CRI) to test mutagenic potential of putative mutagens, conduct toxicology investigations and monitor genetic hazards of environmental agents. Her laboratory monitored genetic damage in bidi rollers and tobacco processors who are chronically exposed to high levels of tobacco dust. She introduced courses in cancer biology and genetic toxicology for Master of Science students and helped train several students and scientists in carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. She is a member of the Monograph Program Panel, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.

Awards and honors

Bhisey has made significant contributions in her field and has been recognized for all her work. Some of her accomplishments are:

UICC Young Scientist Fellowship
Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Zoologists of India 2007
Fellow of Maharashtra Academy of Sciences and Indian Academy of Sciences
Ramesh C. Deka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ramesh C.Deka
Born 1 October 1948

Assam
Alma mater Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH); All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Known for First Bilateral Cochlear Surgery in India
Awards Kamal Kumari National Award 2010
Lifetime Achievement Award on the Health Summit 2010
Rashtriya Ratan Award
Bharat Gaurav Award
One of the Top 100 Most Trusted People in India' (Reader's Digest Survey of 2010 : Who do you trust, India ?)
Scientific career
Fields Otorhinolaryngology
Institutions All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

Ramesh C. Deka (Assamese: ৰমেশ চন্দ্ৰ ডেকা; born 1 October 1948 in Assam) is an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist and the former Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, which is globally recognised as the premier medical institute of India. He is one of the pioneers of cochlear implant surgery in India and performed the country's first bilateral cochlear implantation surgery.

Education

Deka obtained his MBBS degree from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in 1969[7] and his MS (ENT) from AIIMS in 1973.

Awards, honours and guest lectures

For medical services and research

In 2010, Deka was awarded the Kamal Kumari National Award for Science and Technology.

Other awards

Deka was nominated as one of the "Top 100 Most Trusted People in India". His other awards include:
Rashtriya Ratan Award (January 1999) from Vishwa Jagriti Mission, a sociocultural organization, for his scientific contribution, especially for his pioneering work in Cochlear implant surgery in India and services to deaf people
Bharat Gaurav Award for outstanding medical services
Best Citizen of India (2007) from International Publishing House

Guest lectures

Deka delivered guest lectures as an invited faculty and distinguished visiting professor at leading centres and institutions in around 20 countries. He has also given guest lectures and orations at a large number of national and international conferences, seminars, and symposia. He delivered the valedictory address in a workshop of the Zonal Task Force on the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme at SRM University in Kattankulathur on 3 September 2010. Deka delivered an inaugural address at the National Seminar on "Education for Cultural Sustainability" organised by Amity Institute of Education (AIE), New Delhi, sponsored by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUPEA) at Amity University Campus on 30 March 2011. Deka addressed the convocation ceremony at Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Thiruvalla on 28 November 2011.

Contribution to cochlear implant surgery facility and teaching at AIIMS

Deka worked in the Cochlear Implant Facility at the ENT department AIIMS, developing rehabilitation activities for patient care and conducting research in this field. The facility promotes clinical research and rehabilitation for patients with bilateral profound deafness, both in children and adults. So far, over 300 cochlear implant surgeries have been done under this facility successfully, the largest number among government facilities in India.

Nucleus 5, a fifth-generation cochlear implant, was implanted in the ear of a three-year-old hearing-impaired child at AIIMS.This was regarded as a breakthrough in cochlear implant design and technology. Deka provided leadership, along with his highly qualified team of audiologists and speech therapists, to address cochlear implantee support in Sri Lanka. He has helped many other centres in India develop the facilities for cochlear implant surgery and rehabilitation of deaf people, such as in the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh; Railway Hospital, New Delhi; and Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi.

Controversies

Deka was appointed Dean of AIIMS as a reward for his loyalty to then-Health Minister Ambumani Ramdoss who was in conflict with then-Director Dr. P. Venugopal on the issue of reservation and autonomy of the AIIMS. Deka favored the Minister for implementation of the Moily Committee. Deka was 24th on the seniority list, however, per the rules, the senior-most Professor should have been appointed Dean.

Major publications

Thakar A, Gupta G, Bhalla AS, Jain V, Sharma SC, Sharma R, Bahadur S & Deka RC. (2011). Adjuvant therapy with flutamide for presurgical volume reduction in juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. Head Neck. 33:1747–53.
Ramavat A, Kumar R, Venkatakarthikeyan C, Jain A & Deka RC. (2010). Modified lateral rhinotomy for fronto-ethmoid schwannoma in a child: a case report. Cases J. 3:64.
Bhat R, Sharma VK & Deka RC. (2007). Otorhinolaryngologic manifestations of leprosy. Int J Dermatol. 46:600-6.
Anjaneyulu C & Deka RC. (2004).Heterotopic neuroglial tissue in hard palate. Indian J Pediatr. 71:451-2
Ohtani I, Baba Y, Suzuki T, Suzuki C, Kano M & Deka RC. (2003) Why is otosclerosis of low prevalence in Japanese ? Otol Neurotol. 24:377-81.
Baruah P & Deka RC. (2003). Endoscopic management of inverted papillomas of the nose and paranasal sinuses. Ear Nose Throat J. 82:317-20.
Kumar A, Deka RC & Jha D. (2002). Endoscopic removal of localised angiofibroma. J Otolaryngol. 31:41-4.
Jha D, Deka RC & Sharma MC. (2001). Tuberculosis of the maxillary sinus manifesting as a facial abscess. Ear Nose Throat J. 81:102-4.
Thakar A, Anjaneyulu C & Deka RC. (2001). Vertigo syndromes and mechanisms in migraine. J Laryngol Otol. 115:782-7.
Saksena R, Jayaswal A & Deka RC. (2001). Low cost invasive blood pressure monitoring—a new technique. Trop Gastroenterol. 22:31-2.
Jha D & Deka RC. (2000). Congenital supraglottic cyst: a rare cause of stridor. Indian J Pediatr. 67:311-2.
Ramesh A & Deka RC, Vijayaraghavan M, Ray R, Kabra SK, Rakesh K & Manoj K. (2000). Entomophthoromycosis of the nose and paranasal sinus. Indian J Pediatr. 67:307-10.
Ahluwalia KB, Maheshwari N & Deka RC. (1997). Rhinosporidiosis: a study that resolves etiologic controversies. Am J Rhinol. 11:479-83.
Deka RC. (1996). Acute otitis media. Indian Pediatr. 33:832-6.
Deka RC. (1994). Middle ear effusion: its management. Indian Pediatr. 31:631-3.
Deka RC. (1993). Management of hearing impaired children. Indian Pediatr. 30:977-80.
Deka RC. (1992). Auditory brainstem evoked responses in infants and children. Indian J Pediatr. 59:361-6.
Tandon DA, Bahadur S, Misra NK, Deka RC & Kapila K. (1992). Parapharyngeal neurofibromas. J Laryngol Otol. 106:243-6.
Kochhar LK, Deka RC, Kacker SK & Raman EV. (1990). Hearing loss after head injury. Ear Nose Throat J. 69:537-42.
Misra A, Dash SC, Deka RC & Malhotra KK. (1989). Vestibular functions in conservatively treated chronic renal failure. J Assoc Physicians India. 37:189-91.
Deka RC. (1988). Facial palsy and mastoid surgery. Ear Nose Throat J. 67:531-6.
Tandon DA, Deka RC, Chaudhary C & Misra NK. (1988). Giant cell tumour of the temporosphenoidal region. J Laryngol Otol. 102:449-51.
Dev A, Ghosh P & Deka RC. (1988). Acquired tracheo-oesophageal fistula (a case report). J Laryngol Otol. 102:378-9.
Deka RC, Kacker SK & Tandon PN. (1987). Auditory brain-stem evoked responses in cerebellopontile angle tumors. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 113:647-50.
Sooknundun M, Kacker SK, Bhatia R & Deka RC. (1986). Nasal septal deviation: effective intervention and long term follow-up. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 12:65–72.
Sooknundun M, Deka RC, Kacker SK & Kapila K. (1986) Congenital mid-line sinus of the dorsum of the nose. Two case reports with a literature survey. J Laryngol Otol. 100:1319–22.
Deka RC, Deka D, Kacker SK & Tandon DA. (1986). Auditory brainstem evoked response in at risk children. Indian J Pediatr. 53:651-6.
Sooknundun M, Deka RC, Kacker SK & Verma IC. (1986). Nasal septal deviation at birth and its diagnosis. Indian J Pediatr. 53:105-8.
Tandon DA, Deka RC & Chowdhury C. (1985). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the larynx. Ear Nose Throat J. 64:555-7.
Bhatia R, Bhatia P, Pathak AP & Deka RC. (1985). Nasal deformity in children. Indian J. Pediatr. 52:413-6.
Bhatia R & Deka RC. (1984). Treacher-Collins syndrome with deviated nasal septum.Indian J Pediatr. 51:739-41.
Bhatia R, Kaker SK, Sood VP, Verma IC & Deka RC. (1984). Correlation of birth weightand head circumference with deviated nasal septum in newborns—a preliminary report. Indian J Pediatr. 51:649-51.
Bhatia R & Deka RC. (1984). Choanal atresia: a report of 3 cases. Indian J Pediatr.51:493-5.
Deka RC. (1983). Facial nerve surgery in children. Indian J Pediatr. 50:643-6.
Choudhury P, Deka RC & Puri RK. (1981). An unusual foreign body in the subglotticregion. Indian Pediatr. 18:269.
Deka RC. (1980). Middle-ear carcinoma in a girl of eighteen. J Laryngol Otol. 94:429-31.
Witter HL, Deka RC, Lipscomb DM & Shambaugh GE. (1980). Effects of prestimulatory carbogen inhalation on noise-induced temporary threshold shifts in humans and chinchilla. Am J Otol. 1:227-32.
Deka RC, Kacker SK, Ghosh PP & Roy S. (1979). Whole-organ sections of the larynx and hypopharynx. Ear Nose Throat J. 58:173-80.
Deka RC, Kacker SK & Shambaugh GE Jr. (1978). Intestinal absorption of fluoride preparations. Laryngoscope. 88:1918–21.
Deka RC, Ghosh P & Kacker SK. (1977). Streptomycin ototoxicity: an audiologic and vestibular study. Ear Nose Throat J. 56:218-24.
Deka RC & Kacker SK. (1975). Chronic otitis media—a clinical and bacteriological study. Eye Ear Nose Throat Mon. 54:198–201.
Rukhmabai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rukhmabai
Born 22 November 1864
Died 25 September 1955 (aged 90)
Occupation Doctor, women's emancipation

Rukhmabai (22 November 1864 – 25 September 1955) was an Indian physician and feminist. She is best known for being one of the first practicing women doctors in colonial India as well as being involved in a landmark legal case involving her marriage as a child bride between 1884 and 1888. The case raised significant public debate across several topics, which most prominently included law vs tradition, social reform vs conservatism and feminism in both British-ruled India and England. This ultimately contributed to the Age of Consent Act in 1891.

Early life

Rukhmabai was born to Janardhan Pandurang and Jayantibai in a Marathi family. Her father passed away when she was aged two and her mother seventeen. Six years after her husband's demise, Jayantibai married the widower Dr Sakharam Arjun who was an eminent physician and social activist in Bombay. Remarriage of widows was permitted among the Suthar (carpenter) community - the caste to which the couple belonged.

Two and a half years later, 11-year-old Rukhmabai was married to the 19 year old Dadaji Bhikaji, a cousin of her step-father. It was agreed that deviating from the contemporary social norms, Dadaji would stay with Rukhmabai's family as a gharjawai and be fully provided for by them. The expectation was for him to acquire education in due course and "become a good man". Six months into the marriage, Rukhmabai having reached puberty, the traditional event of Garbhadhan was held signalling the time for ritual consummation of marriage. But Dr Sakharam Arjun, being an eminent physician of reformist tendencies, did not permit early consummation.

This displeased Bhikaji, now aged 20, who also resented the attempts of Rukhmabai's family to make him "a good man". In addition to his aversion for education, the compulsion to go to sixth standard of school at an age when he should have been at the university was particularly distressing. In the meanwhile, Bhikaji lost his mother and against the advise of Sakharam Arjun, took to living with his maternal uncle Narayan Dhurmaji. The environment of Dhurmaji's home pushed Bhikaji further into a life of indolence and waywardness. He eventually accumulated debts which he hoped to clear using the property that accompanied Rukhmabai into the house. Rukhmabai refused to move in to the household of Dhurmaji to live with Bhikaji, a decision supported by her step-father.

In contrast, in the same years Rukhmabai studied at home using books from a Free Church Mission library. Because of her father's association with religious and social reformers she also came into contact with prominent names like Vishnu Shastri Pandit, a strong proponent of women's causes in Western India at the time, along with European men and women exposing her to liberal reformism. With her mother, she also regularly attended the weekly meetings of the Prarthanä Samäj and Arya Mahilä Samäj.

"Restitution of conjugal rights" case by Bhikaji

In March 1884, Bhikaji sent a legal notice to Sakharam Arjun via his lawyers Chalk and Walker, asking him to desist preventing Rukhmabai from joining him. Eventually Sakharam Arjun sought legal help and via lawyers Payne-Gilbert, and Sayani provided grounds for Rukhmabai's refusal to join Bhikaji.

In 1885, the case of Bhikaji seeking "restitution of conjugal rights" titled "Bhikaji vs. Rukhmabai, 1885" came up for hearing and the judgement was passed by Justice Robert Hill Pinhey. Pinhey stated that English precedents on restitution did not apply to the case as the English law applied to consenting adults. He also found fault with the English law cases and found no precedent in Hindu law. He declared that Rukhmabai had been wed in her "helpless infancy" and that he could not compel a young lady. Justice Pinhey retired soon after. In 1886, the case was brought up for retrial. Rukhmabai's counsels included J.D. Inverarity Jr. and Kashinath Trimbak Telang. The case drew criticisms from various sections of the society, in some cases claims that the law did not respect the sanctity of Hindu customs. Specifically, criticism of Justice Pinhey's decision came from the Native Opinion, an Anglo-Marathi weekly run by Vishwanath Narayan Mandlik (1833–89) who supported Bhikaji. A Pune weekly run by Balgangadhar Tilak, the Mahratta, wrote that Justice Pinhey did not understand the spirit of Hindu laws and that he sought reforms by "violent means". In the meantime, a series of articles appearing before and during the trial, in the Times of India penned under the pseudonym a Hindu Lady also caused public reactions. Later on it was revealed that the author was none other than Rukhmabai. The public debate revolved around multiple points of contention - Hindu versus English Law, reform from the inside versus outside and whether ancient customs deserved respect or not. The first appeal against the case was made on 18 March 1886 and was upheld by Chief Justice Sir Charles Sargent and Justice L.H. Bayley. On 4 March 1887, Justice Farran, using interpretations of Hindu laws, ordered Rukhmabai to "go live with her husband or face six months of imprisonment". Rukhmabai responded that she would rather face imprisonment than obey the verdict. This resulted in further upheaval and social debate.[6] Balgangadhar Tilak wrote in the Kesari that Rukhmabai's defiance was the result of an English education and declared that Hinduism was in danger. On the other hand, Max Müller responded writing that the legal route was not the solution to the problem of Rukhmabai's case and that it was Rukhmabai's education that had made her the best judge of her own choices.

Dissolution of Marriage

After the series of court cases which resulted in the affirmation of the marriage, she appealed to Queen Victoria.

Everywhere it is considered one of the greatest blessings of God that we are under the protection of our beloved Queen Victoria's Government, which has its world wide fame for best administration. If such a Government cannot help unyoke us Hindu woman, what Government on earth has the power to relieve the daughters of Ind from their present miseries? This 50th year of our Queen's accession to the most renowned throne is the jubilee year in which every town and every village in her dominions is to show their loyalty in the best way it can, and wish the mother Queen a long happy life, to rule over us for many years with peace and prosperity. At such an unusual occasion will the mother listen to an earnest appeal from her millions of Indian daughters and grant them a few simple words of change into the book on Hindu law- that 'marriages performed before the respective ages of 20 in boys and 15 in girls shall not be considered legal in the eyes of the law if brought before the Court.' This mere sentence will be sufficient for the present to have enough check on child marriages, without creating a great vexation among the ignorant masses. This jubilee year must leave some expression on us Hindu women, and nothing will be more gratefully received than the introduction of this mere sentence into our law books. It is the work of a day if God wished it, but without His aid every effort seems to be in vain. So far, dear lady, I have dwelt on your patience, for which an apology is necessary. With best compliments -I remain yours very sincerely, Rukhmabai.

Rukhmabai's Testimony to the Government of India. Daily Telegraph, 15 July 1887. page 2.

It has been claimed that Queen Victoria overruled the court and dissolved the marriage. However no primary documentary evidence has been provided to support Queen Victoria's direct intervention in the case.

In July 1888, a settlement was reached with Bhikaji and he relinquished his claim on Rukhmabai for a payment of two thousand rupees. Bhikaji remarried in 1889 and Rukhmabai went on to become a widely revered feminist and medical practitioner.

Influence on Age of Consent Act, 1891

The case generated a great deal of debate both within India and England. It drew written commentaries from reformers like Behramji Malabari (1853-1912), Balgangadhar Tilak, journalistic opinion pieces from prominent names like Rudyard Kipling and broader feminist discussions in British women's magazines.

Ultimately, the publicity and debate generated by this case helped influence the enactment of the "Age of Consent Act" in 1891, which changed the age of consent from 10 to 12 years across British India.

Career

Rukhmabai received support from the likes of Dr. Edith Pechey (then working at the Cama Hospital) who not only encouraged her but helped raise funds for her further education. Other supporters included Shivajirao Holkar who donated 500 Rupees for "demonstrating courage to intervene against traditions", suffrage activists like Eva McLaren and Walter McLaren, the Countess of Dufferin's Fund for Supplying Medical Aid to the Women of India, Adelaide Manning and others who helped establish "The Rukhmabai Defence Committee" to help gather fund towards supporting her cause of continuing education. In 1889, Rukhmabai set sail to study medicine in England.

In 1894, she received her Doctor of Medicine from the London School of Medicine for Women having also studied at the Royal Free Hospital. Doctors Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi were the first Indian women to have received medical degrees in 1886. But only Dr. Ganguly went on to practice medicine, making Rukhmabai the second woman to both receive a medical degree and practice medicine.

In 1895, she returned to India and worked as the Chief Medical Officer at the Women's Hospital in Surat. In 1918, she turned down the offer of a role in the Woman's Medical Service, opting instead to work at the Zenana (Woman's) State Hospital in Rajkot until her retirement in 1929. She established the Red Cross Society at Rajkot. Rukhmabai chose to settle in Bombay after her retirement

Later life

In 1904 after the death of Bhikaji, Rukhmabai chose to start dressing in a white sari as per Hindu traditions of widowhood.

In 1929 after her retirement, she publishing a pamphlet titled "Purdah - the need for its abolition" arguing that young widows were being denied the chance to actively contribute to Indian society.

Death

Rukhmabai died, aged 90, from lung cancer on 25 September 1955.
Rajpal Singh Sirohi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rajpal Singh Sirohi
Born 7 April 1943
Alma mater
Meerut College (M.Sc.)
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (Ph.D.)
Known for Optical metrology
Awards
Galileo Galilei Award (1995)
Alexander von Humboldt Award (1995)
Padma Shri (2004)
Gabor Award (2009)
Scientific career
Fields Applied optics, optical metrology
Institutions
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Tezpur University

Rajpal Singh Sirohi (born 7 April 1943) is an Indian optics physicist, academic administrator, educator, and researcher in optical metrology. He is the former Director of IIT Delhi and Vice Chancellor of several universities. He is the Fellow of INAE, NASI, OSA, SPIE, OSI and ISoI. He has received numerous awards including Gabor Award of SPIE, Galileo Award of ICO. He is also the recipient of Padma Shri by Govt. of India. He is the author of about 430 papers and several books.

Education

Rajpal Singh Sirohi was born in 1943 in village Sehra, District Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh, India in a farmer's family. He studied in village school until 3rd standard. He did his 4th and 5th standard education in a school at Bhawan Bahadur Nagar. Thereafter he joined the SB Inter College at Bhawan Bahadur Nagar and studied there until 12th standard. He completed B.Sc. from N.A.S. College, Meerut and M.Sc. (Physics) from Meerut College. He obtained two degrees (Post M.Sc. Diploma and Ph.D.) from IIT Delhi.

Profession

He worked as Scientific Officer at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India; Assistant Professor and Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. He was visiting Professor at National University Singapore; Alexander von Humboldt Awardee at Oldenburg University Germany; Distinguished Scholar at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana USA; Chair Professor, Tezpur University, Assam, India. He held several administrative positions such as Director, IIT Delhi; Vice Chancellor, Barkatullah University, Bhopal; Vice-Chancellor, Shobhit University, Meerut; Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Jaipur; Vice-Chancellor, Invertis University, Bareilly. He was Chairman, BoG, NSIT, New Delhi and Chairman, GB, NCSM, Kolkata.

Awards and honours

He is the recipient of the following awards:

National Awards

Amita De Memorial Award of the Optical Society of India (1998)
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Award in Engineering & Technology (awarded in 2002) by MP Council of Science and Technology (2000)
Dr. YT Thathachari Prestigious Award for Science by Thathachari Foundation, Mysore (2001)
Giant's Gaurav Samman by Giant's International (2001)
NAFEN's Annual Corporate Excellence Award (2001)
Sir C. V. Raman Award: Physical Sciences by University Grants Commission (UGC) (2002)
NRDC Technology Invention Award by National Research Development Corporation, New Delhi on 11 May, (2003)
Centenarian Seva Ratna Award (awarded in February 2006) by The Centenarian Trust, Chennai (2004)
Padma Shri, a National Civilian Award by Government of India (2004)
Sir C. V. Raman Birth Centenary Award by Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata (2005)
UGC National Hari OM Ashram Trust Award - Homi J. Bhabha Award for Applied Sciences (awarded on 22 February 2010) by University Grants Commission (2005)
Instrument Society of India Award 2007 on 24 October, (2007)
Life-Time Achievement Award by Optical Society of India on 18 December 2007
Distinguished Alumni Award by Indian Institute of Technology Delhi on 9 November, (2013)

International Awards

Humboldt Research Award by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (1995)
Galileo Galilei Award of International Commission for Optics (1995)
13th Khwarizmi International Award by Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (2000)
Albert Einstein Silver Medal, UNESCO (2000)
Holo-Knight, inducted into Order of Holo-Knights during the International Conference-Fringe05-at Stuttgart, Germany on 12 September, (2005)
Gabor Award 2009 by SPIE (The International Society for Optical Engineering) USA on 7 April (2009)
Vikram Award 2014 by SPIE (International Society for Optical Engineering) USA on 10 February, (2014)
Ramesh Chandra Parida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Parida
Born 4 January 1947
Jamapara, Kendrapara, Odisha
Language Odia
Education MSc(Chemistry), Phd
Genre Popular Science
Notable awards Sahitya Academy Award, Odisha Bigyan Academy Award and others
Spouse Dr. Kanakalata Parida

Ramesh Chndra Parida is a retired Professor of Chemistry, College of Basic Science and Humanities, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. He is an acclaimed popular science writer in Odia literature.

Early life and education

Ramesh Chandra Parida was born on 4 January 1947. in a rural village named Jamapara, in Patakura P.S of Kendrapara District (Odisha state). His father Bhramarbar Parida was a Basic School teacher and his mother Satyabhama Parida was a home-maker. First among his three brothers and two sisters, Parida was greatly influenced by his father's Gandhian ideals from his childhood, which generated in him the spirit and confidence to begin a career in writing. As a result, as a school student he wrote and published short stories and poems in various children's magazines and Children's page of newspapers. After completing his high school education at a neighbouring village, Karilopatana, in 1962, Parida obtained B.Sc. (Hons) degree (1966) and M.Sc. in Chemistry degree (1968) from the then Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (now a unitary University).

Profession

Parida worked as a lecturer in Chemistry at Godavarish College, Banapur (1968–70), Govt. Arts and Science College, Daman Union Territory. (1970–1976) and College of Basic Science and Humanities, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology Bhubaneswar (1976–1996), from which he retired as the Professor of Chemistry in 2007 (Associate Professor -1996-1999 and Professor and Head, 1999–2007). He also worked as a Scientist, Regional Research Laboratory Jorhat (1983-1983) and as the Principal of Aeronautics College, Sunabeda, Odisha (1988–1990).

Research

Parida's main field of research was the study of Rice Protein, for which he was awarded a Ph. D. degree by the Utkal University in 1990. He has published about 20 research papers on the subject.

Writing career

Parida is a prolific popular science writer in Oriya as well as in English. He has written a large number of articles and books to popularize science in both the languages (in Oriya about 3000 articles and 80 books in English about 300 articles 11 books).

Books

Parida has written over eighty numbers of popular science books in Odia literature and edited a number of science magazines and news bulletin. Some of Parida's books are
Bigyanika
Bigyan Re Nutan Diganta
Lipira Computer Sikshya,
Laser Super conductivity,
DNA and After,
Cloning.

He has edited a number of science magazines that include the Bigyan O’ Paribesh Barta, the Science & Environment bulletin, the Bigyan Prbha and the Bigyan Digant (Published by Orissa Bigyan Academy). He has been writing regular Science articles for Children and general reader in a number of Oriya and English magazines and newspapers. He was also a member of the Orissa Sahity Academy.
Rajendran Raja
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajendran Raja
Portrait of Rajendran Raja (Fermilab, 2009)
Born
Rajendran Raja
14 July 1948

Guruvayur, Kerala, India
Died 15 February 2014 (aged 65)

Naperville, Illinois, USA
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Known for Important contributions to discovery of the top quark
Scientific career
Fields Physics
Institutions Fermilab
Doctoral advisor John Gordon Rushbrooke

Rajendran Raja (14 July 1948 – 15 February 2014) was an Indian-American physicist who played a key role in the discovery of the top quark at Fermilab.

Early life and education

Rajendran Raja was born on 14 July 1948 in Guruvayur, India. His mother was a chemist and his father was a geophysicist. After his mother died when he was nine years old, his father remarried and moved the family to Kenya, where Raja's father taught at the University of Nairobi. Raja attended a Kenyan boarding school and Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. He traveled to England in 1967 to attend the University of Cambridge, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1970. He remained at this institution to pursue his PhD under the direction of John Gordon Rushbrooke and was inducted as a fellow of the University of Cambridge's Trinity College in 1973. He received his PhD in 1975 with a thesis titled Single Pion Production.

Career

In 1974, Rajendran Raja immigrated to the United States and became a physicist at Fermilab, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory near Batavia, Illinois specializing in high-energy particle physics. During his forty years at Fermilab, Raja's important contributions to the lab's scientific work included playing a key role in the design of the hermetic DZero detector. He served as head of the top quark analysis group, and the multivariate algorithm he developed was a crucial tool in the discovery of this particle at Fermilab in 1995. During his last years at Fermilab, he served as spokesperson for the Main Injector Particle Production experiment. He also became an advocate of accelerator-driven thorium reactors, which he believed could help solve the world's energy crisis. He contributed more than 300 publications to scientific journals.

Raja also fostered cooperation between the U.S. and India in particle physics, starting a program at DZero in the early 1990s that has helped more than ten Indian students earn their PhDs.
Sudhira Das
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sudhira Das

ସୁଧୀରା ଦାସ
Born 8 March 1932

Cuttack, Odisha, India)
Died 30 October 2015 (aged 83)

Bhubaneswar
Nationality Indian
Citizenship Indian
Education Ravenshaw College
University of Science and Technology, Calcutta
Engineering career
Institutions Berhampur Engineering School (currently Uma Charan Pattnaik Engineering School),
Women’s Polytechnic, Rourkela
Women’s Polytechnic, Bhubaneswar
Projects Establishment of Women’s Polytechnic, Bhubaneswar

Sudhira Das (/dɑːs/; 8 March 1932 – 30 October 2015) was an Indian engineer. She was the first female engineer from the state of Odisha. She became an engineer at a time when education was a taboo for women in India.

Early life

She was born in an aristocratic family in Cuttack, Odisha on 8 March 1932. She had a passion for Mathematics from her childhood.

Education

She graduated with Bachelor of Science from the Ravenshaw College in 1951, after which she joined University of Science and Technology, Calcutta in 1956 for her masters in Radio Physics and Electronics.

Work

After graduating with her MSc. (Tech), Das started teaching at the Berhampur Engineering School (currently Uma Charan Pattnaik Engineering School) as a lecturer in the department of Mathematics in 1957. Later she became the principal of Women’s Polytechnic, Rourkela. During 1957-1990, she served the Government of Odisha in various different capacities. During that period she founded Women’s Polytechnic, Bhubaneswar, an institutions providing diploma programs to female students which has been one of her major contributions.

Death

She died on 30 October 2015 at the age of 83.
Sumit Ranjan Das
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sumit Ranjan Das
Born 11 December 1955

Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

South Point School
Presidency College
Rajabazar Science College
(University of Calcutta)
University of Chicago
Fermilab
California Institute of Technology
Kavli Institute
Known for Studies on string theory
Awards

1998 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career
Fields

High energy physics
Institutions

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences

Sumit Ranjan Das (born 11 December 1955) is a US-based Indian high energy physicist and a Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Known for his research on string theory, Das is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to physical sciences in 1998.

Biography
Calcutta University- a Francis Frith photo

Born on 11 December 1955 at Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal, Sumit Ranjan Das did his early schooling at South Point School and earned his graduate degree from Presidency College and master's degree from the Science College, University of Calcutta. Moving to the US, he enrolled at the University of Chicago for his doctoral studies and after securing a PhD in 1983, he did his post-doctoral studies at Fermilab (1983–85) and California Institute of Technology (1985–87). On his return to India in 1987, he joined Tata Institute of Fundamental Research where he served as a member of faculty till 2001. Subsequently, he went back to the US and joined the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences where he holds the position of Jack and Linda Gill Eminent Professor. He was a senior associate at Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe during 2009–10 and a Visiting Professor at Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University during 2014 and has held visiting positions at several universities in the US.

Legacy

The principal focus of Das' research is string theory and quantum field theory.[5] His work on two dimensional strings is the earliest example of holographic principle. His work on black holes in string theory assisted in resolving the information paradox with regard to black holes.

Awards and honors

Das was a gold medalist in both his graduate and master's examinations.[2] The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1998 The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow the same year.

Selected bibliography

Sumit R. Das, Antal Jevicki (1990). "String Field Theory and Physical Interpretation of D=1 String". Modern Physics Letters A. 5 (28): 1639–1650. Bibcode:2005MPLA...20.2101D. doi:10.1142/S0217732390001888.
Sumit R.Das, Samir D. Mathur (1996). "Comparing decay rates for black holes and D-branes". Nuclear Physics B. B478 (3): 561–576. arXiv:hep-th/9606185. Bibcode:1996NuPhB.478..561D. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(96)00453-1. S2CID 17202127.
Sumit Das (2007). "Holography and cosmological singularities". International Journal of Modern Physics A. 22 (31): 5638–5655. arXiv:0706.4188. Bibcode:2007IJMPA..22.5638D. doi:10.1142/S0217751X0703889X. S2CID 11274511.
Adel Awad, Sumit Das, K. Narayan, Sandip Trivedi (2008). "Gauge theory duals of cosmological backgrounds and their energy momentum tensors". Physical Review D. 77 (4): 046008. arXiv:0711.2994. Bibcode:2008PhRvD..77d6008A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.77.046008. S2CID 2458385.
Sumit Das, Gautam Mandal (2009). "Microstate dependence of scattering from the D1-D5 system". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2009 (4): 036. arXiv:0812.1358. Bibcode:2009JHEP...04..036D. doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2009/04/036. S2CID 15928271.
Sanjeev Das
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sanjeev Das
Born 27 August 1976
Nationality Indian
Alma mater
Science College
University of Calcutta
Indian Institute of Science
Cutaneous Biology Research Center
Harvard Medical School
Known for Studies on p53 and sirtuins

Awards
2014 NASI-SCOPUS Young Scientist Award
2015 N-BIOS Prize
2016 ICMR Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize
2017 ISCA Prof. Umakant Sinha Memorial Award
2017 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
Scientific career

Fields
Cancer biology
Institutions

National Institute of Immunology, India

Sanjeev Das (born 27 August 1976) is an Indian cancer biologist and a scientist at National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. He is well regarded for his studies on tumor suppressor proteins. He is a recipient of the National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the Department of Biotechnology. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biological sciences in 2017.

Biography

Sanjeev Das was born on 27 August 1976 to Wg Cdr P K Das (retd) and Gopa Das at Ajmer (Nasirabad Cantt), Rajasthan, India. He earned his master's degree (MSc) from the University College of Science & Technology, University of Calcutta and continued his studies at the Indian Institute of Science from where he secured a PhD. His post -doctoral studies were in the US, at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Returning to India, he joined the National Institute of Immunology, India as a faculty where he is a set up the Molecular Oncology Laboratory.

Sanjeev is married to Rajashree and has a daughter Mrinalini. The family lives in NII campus in New Delhi.

Legacy

The research of Sanjeev Das has been focusing on the various aspects of cancer biology which is reported to have assisted in widening the understanding of the functioning of P53 and sirtuins. He is also involved in research on tumor suppressor proteins, tumor cell metabolism and tumorigenesis, especially the impact of regulatory networks and metabolic processes. His studies have been documented by way of a number of research articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Awards and honors

Das received the NASI-SCOPUS Young Scientist Award jointly awarded by the National Academy of Sciences, India and Elsevier in 2014 and the National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the Department of Biotechnology in 2015. The Indian Council of Medical Research awarded him the Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize in 2016 and he received the Prof. Umakant Sinha Memorial Award of the Indian Science Congress Association in 2017. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards the same year. The award orations delivered by him include the 2016 edition of the Prof. B. K. Bachhawat Memorial Young Scientist Lecture of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Selected bibliography

1. Sen N, Satija YK and Das S. PGC-1alpha, a key modulator of p53, promotes cell survival upon metabolic stress (2011). Molecular Cell, 44, 621-634. 2. Sen N, Kumari R, Singh MI and Das S*. HDAC5, a key component in temporal regulation of p53-mediated transactivation in response to genotoxic stress (2013). Molecular Cell, 52, 406-420. 3. Bhardwaj A and Das S. SIRT6 deacetylates PKM2 to suppress its nuclear localization and oncogenic functions (2016). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 113, E538-E547. 4. Satija YK and Das S. Tyr99 phosphorylation determines the regulatory milieu of tumor suppressor p73 (2016). Oncogene, 35, 513–527.
Dr. Shankar Doraiswamy
Shankar Doraiswamy is an Indian oceanographer. Senior Principal Scientist position at the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa. He was awarded in 2011 the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, the highest science award in India, in the Earth sciences category. Wikipedia

Born: 9 August 1967 , Bengaluru
Awards: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (2011) CSIR Young Scientist Award (2002)
Education: Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Goa University

Dr. Shankar Doraiswamy

https://www.nio.org/profile/1055/dr-shankar-doraiswamy
Dr. Shankar Doraiswamy Ph.D.

Chief Scientist ( Headquarters, Goa )

DepartmentPhysical Oceanography (POD)

Research Interests/SpecializationLarge-Scale Ocean Processes, Circulation, Air-Sea Interaction

Date of Joining CSIR : 1994-08-31
Date of Joining Present Post : 2015-08-31
Date of Retirement : 2027-08-31
Emailshankar@nio.org
Office+91 8322450312

Work DomainScientific

Area of WorkPhysical Oceanography

Guided 27 student(s) in Internship/Project Work/Dissertation
Publications

Education

DegreeSpecializationUniversityGraduation YearBE/B.Tech Aerospace Engineering IIT, Chennai 1989
MS Atmospheric Sciences IISc, Bengaluru 1991
Ph.D Marine Science Goa University 2000

Experiences

PositionOrganizationFromToQuick Hire Fellow CSIR-CMMACS, Bengaluru 1991 1994
Junior Scientist CSIR-CMMACS, Bengaluru 1994 1995
Junior Scientist CSIR-NIO, Goa 1995 1999
Scientist CSIR-NIO.Goa 1999 2003
Senior Scientist CSIR-NIO, Goa 2003 2006
Principal Scientist CSIR-NIO, Goa 2006 2010
Senior Principal Scientist CSIR-NIO, Goa 2010 2015
Chief Scientist CSIR-NIO, Goa 2015 2019

Scholarship / Awards

Scholarship/AwardAward Granting AgencyYearShanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award CSIR 2011
Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India National Academy of Sciences, India 2011
Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences Indian Academy of Sciences 2011
SCOPUS Young Scientist Award Elsevier India 2006
Young Scientist Award CSIR 2002

Associate Editor, Journal of Earth System Science (April 2004 to June 2012, July 2016 to December 2017)
Editor, Journal of Earth System Science (July 2012 to June 2016)

Shailesh Nayak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shailesh Nayak

Shailesh Nayak in 2012

Born 21 August 1953

Billimora, Navsari, Gujarat

Nationality Indian

Scientific career

Fields Oceanography, Geology and Remote sensing

Institutions Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India

Shailesh Nayak

Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation

In office

1 January 2015 – 12 January 2015

Preceded by K. Radhakrishnan

Succeeded by A. S. Kiran Kumar

Shailesh Nayak (born 21 August 1953) is an Indian scientist and is currently Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies and Distinguished Scientist in the Ministry of Earth Sciences. He was the Chair of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) and Secretary to the Government of India for Ministry of Earth Sciences(MoES) Indian government, between August 2008 – 2015. He was also the Chairman of Earth Commission in India. He served as the interim chairman of ISRO between 31 December 2014 and 11 January 2015.

He has also served as director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, INCOIS, Hyderabad, India, an autonomous institution under ESSO (May 2006 to July 2008). At ESSO-INCOIS, he set up a state-of-the-art Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean. He was responsible for the conceptualization and development of Marine GIS. He made outstanding contributions in improving advisory services related to potential fishing zones, ocean state forecast, and Indian Argo project.

He has been providing leadership for the programs related to science of climate change, weather services, polar science, ocean science and modeling, ocean survey, resources, and technology. He chaired an expert group and helped to establish a national GIS in the country.

Personal life

Nayak was born on August 21, 1953, at Billimora, Navsari in Gujarat. He did his Ph.D. in geology in 1980 from M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara and specialized in Oceanography, Remote sensing. He has also served in ISRO, his area of research includes Coastal and Ocean processes and ocean-atmosphere interaction, coastal geomorphology, hazards. He was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Science by Andhra University in 2011 and Assam University in 2013. He is recognized as a Ph.D. Guide by six Universities, and six students have obtained Ph.D. under his supervision. He has published more than 100 papers in journals, conferences and reports. On August 31, 2015, he relinquished his post of Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indian Government.

Positions held

He has served ISRO and MoES in several capacities namely:

2014 - Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

2008 - Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Chairman, Earth Commission, India

2006 - Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, INCOIS, Hyderabad

2001 - Group director, Marine & Water Resources, Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad

1978 - Joined Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad

He has held several key positions namely:

Chair, Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) and the Indian Ocean Observing System Resource Forum (IRF)

President, Indian Meteorological Society (IMS)

President, Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG)

Vice-Chair, Inter-Governmental Coordinating Group on Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (ICG-IOTWS) (2007–2011)

President, ISRS, Dehradun

Chairman, Indian Ocean–Global Ocean Observing System (IO-GOOS) (2006–10)

President, ISPRS Technical Commission (TC) IV on ‘Geo-databases and Digital Mapping’ for the term 2004-08

Government offices

Preceded by

K. Radhakrishnan ISRO Chairman

1 January 2015 to 12 January 2015 Succeeded by

A. S. Kiran Kumar

Academic and research activities

Following are the highlights of his career as a renowned scientist:

Disaster management: Provided leadership to set up a state-of-the-art Tsunami Warning Centre within two years within stipulated time and cost. Interacted with fourteen institutes from four different ministries to develop entire tsunami warning system.

Fishery service for social benefit: Developed methodology for potential fishing zones for saving fuel and time while at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) and continued to improve further while at INCOIS, both methodology and dissemination. Initiated tuna forecast on an experimental basis.

Marine weather for safe navigation: Operationalized service related to ocean state (height and direction of wave and swell) for the entire Indian Ocean.

Database organization: Conceptualised and developing Marine GIS for the country. A marine data centre has been established at INCOIS and data is being provided to web.

Generation of database for coastal zone management: Created satellite-derived benchmark database in a systematic manner on coastal landforms, mangroves, coral reef and shoreline change, high and low tide lines for the entire Indian coast for the first time.

Development of technique and algorithms: Developed techniques for identifying various coastal landforms, mangrove plant communities as well as high tide line and low tide line. Directed research in development of algorithms for retrieving the information on chlorophyll and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and other bio-geo-chemical parameters from the space-based satellite data. The software has been installed in about twenty agencies in the country to utilise Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) data.

He has contributed immensely towards the advancement of research in Science and Technology in leading institutes of India in various capacities:

Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa

Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram

Chairman of the Research Advisory Committee of the Defence Terrain Research Laboratory, Delhi

Chair, Governing Board, Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany, Lucknow

Member of many national committees related to earth science, coastal protection, mangrove, coral reef, and coastal zone management

Fellow and member of professional bodies[edit]

Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore

Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India, Allah Abad.

Fellow, International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), 2012

Member, International Academy of Astronautics, Paris.

Fellow, Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), 2011

Fellow, Geological Society of India, Bangalore

Fellow, Meteorological Society of India

Life Member, Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Dehradun

Life Member, Indian Society of Geomatics, Ahmedabad

Life Member, Institution of Geoscientists (India), Hyderabad

Life Member, Mangrove Society of India, Goa

Life Member, Astronautical Society of India, Bangalore

Life Member, Meteorological Society of India, New Delhi

Honours and awards

Honorary Doctor of Science by Assam University, 2013

Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2012

Honorary Doctor of Science by Andhra University, 2011

Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award -2008, E.S.R.I., San Diego, USA (for Tsunami Warning Centre)

Skotch Challenger Award for Security and Disaster Management, Jan. 2009 (for setting up Tsunami Warning Centre) by Skotch, New Delhi

Bhaskara Award for 2009

Gold Medal of Indian Geophysical Union 2009

National Mineral Award-2005, (Applied Geology) Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India

Indian National Remote Sensing Award for the Year 1994, Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Dehradun

Hari-Om Ashram Prerit Inter-University Smarak Trust Prize for the Year 1981-82 for Geology

Dinesh Chokshi Memorial prize for securing highest marks in M. Sc. (Geology) in 1975.

Shiv Narain Kureel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shiv Narain Kureel, is an Indian pediatric surgeon, medical academic and writer, and the professor and Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at King George's Medical University, Lucknow (U.P).

Shiv Narain Kureel

Born 2 November 1956

Uttar Pradesh, India

Occupation Pediatric surgeon

Medical academic

Known for Pediatric surgery

Awards Padma Shri

Early life

Kureel was born on 02 November 1956 in Uttar Pradesh.

He is best known for the neonataogical and pediatric urological reconstructive surgeries.

Achievements

He conducted a research on exotrophy epispadias that was published on the first page of "The American Journal Urology Gold". It was a major achievement in the field of medical world from India.

He is reported to have pioneered the single stage surgical technique for congenital problems in India.

He is credited with the performance of the first pediatric vaginal reconstructive surgery in India which was performed on an 11-year-old girl and a surgery on a two-year-old child to correct bladder exstrophy, a rare congenital abnormality.

He is a life member and the president of the "Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons" and also a reviewer of the Journal of Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons, the official journal of the association.

He has also published several medical papers.

Awards

The Government of India awarded him with the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2016, for his contributions to medicine.

Sisir Kumar Mitra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

S.K. Mitra

MBE, FNI, FASB, FIAS, FRS

শিশির কুমার মিত্র

S.K. Mitra, from the January 1916 issue of The Hindusthanee Student

Born

Sisir Kumar Mitra

24 October 1890

Konnagar, Hooghly district, Bengal Presidency, British India

(now in West Bengal, India)

Died 13 August 1963 (aged 72)

Ballygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Nationality Indian

Alma mater University of Calcutta

Known for Work on the ionosphere

Spouse(s) Lilavati Biswas (1914–1939)

Awards

Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (FNI) (1935)

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) (1938)

Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) (1958)

Padma Bhushan (1962)

Scientific career

Fields Radiophysics

Atmospheric physics

Institutions Bankura Christian College

Rajabazar Science College

University of Paris

University of Nancy

University of Calcutta

Curie Institute (Paris)

Doctoral advisor C.V. Raman

Charles Fabry

Other academic advisors Jagadish Chandra Bose

Marie Curie

Camille Gutton

Sisir Kumar Mitra (or Shishirkumar Mitra) MBE, FNI, FASB, FIAS, FRS (24 October 1890 – 13 August 1963) was an Indian physicist.

Early life and education

Mitra was born in his father's hometown of Konnagar, a suburb of Kolkata (then Calcutta) located in the Hooghly District in the Bengal Presidency (present-day West Bengal). He was the third son of Joykrishna Mitra, who was a schoolteacher at the time of Mitra's birth, and Saratkumari, a medical student whose family came from Midnapore. While Mitra's paternal family were orthodox Hindus, his mother's family were adherents of the progressive Brahmo Samaj, and were noted in Midnapore for their advanced outlook. In 1878, Joykrishna Mitra had joined the Brahmo Samaj and married his wife, against the wishes of his family, who responded by severing ties with him. As a consequence, the newly wed couple moved to Saratkumari's hometown of Midnapore, where Joykrishna and his wife had two sons – Satish Kumar and Santosh Kumar – and a daughter before Joykrishna moved his family to Kolkata in 1889; there, he became a schoolteacher. Mitra was born the following year.

While in Kolkata, Joykrishna became acquainted with several distinguished scholars, notably Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Bipin Chandra Pal. Sharing Saratkumari's progressive outlook, Joykrishna secured his wife's admission as a student at Campbell Medical College. In 1892, Saratkumari qualified as a physician and received an appointment at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in the city of Bhagalpur, then in the Bengal Presidency (now in Bihar). The family thus moved to Bhagalpur, where Saratkumari began her new career, with Joykrishna securing a position as a municipal clerk. A third son, Mitra's younger brother Sarat Kumar, was born at Bhagalpur shortly after.

In Bhagalpur, Mitra began school at the Bhagalpore Zilla School. Around 1897–1898, when aged six or seven, his interest in atmospheric science began after hearing the story of Ramchandra Chatterjee, a Bengali aeronaut who a year before Mitra's birth, on 4 May 1889, had become the first Indian to make a solo balloon flight. The story prompted Mitra to ask his elder brother Satish Kumar about the principles of lighter-than-air flight; his brother explained as best as he could. A few years afterwards, both of Mitra's elder brothers died; following this harsh blow, Joykrishna soon suffered a paralytic attack and became an invalid. Despite the family's increasing financial burdens, Saratkumari managed to educate her two surviving sons. During his childhood and adolescence, Mitra nurtured his interest in science through reading popular scientific articles by leading Bengali scientists, including some by Jagadish Chandra Bose. After passing his examinations from the Bhagalpore Zilla school, Mitra was admitted to the FA (intermediate-level) program at the T.N.J. College; his father Joykrishna died shortly after.

After passing his FA examinations in 1908, Mitra was admitted as a student in Presidency College of the University of Calcutta where he earned a B.Sc.. He continued to develop a passion for physics and scientific research, and was accepted by Jagadish Bose as a research scholar upon completing his master's degree in 1912 with the highest honours. He worked under Professor Bose for a few months before being forced to end his studies due to his family's financial difficulties.

University studies and research in France

To support his family, after leaving the University of Calcutta, Mitra secured an appointment as a lecturer at his former college, T. N. J. College. Following a brief period there, he was appointed a lecturer at Bankura Christian College. Frustrated by the lack of research opportunities at both institutions, Mitra channelled his energy into developing innovative experiments to demonstrate to his students and writing popular scientific articles in Bengali. In 1916, he was invited by Ashutosh Mukherjee to return to Calcutta University as a post-graduate physics scholar in the new University Science College. There he conducted research into the diffraction and interference of light under C. V. Raman, enhancing Raman's previous research on the diffraction of monochromatic light in an oblique single slit and also devising a better method for determining heliometer diffraction patterns.For this work, which Raman greatly appreciated, Mitra gained a D.Sc. degree in 1919. He also published three papers in the Philosophical Magazine, including one on "Asymmetry of the Illumination Curves in Oblique Diffraction", and another on Arnold Sommerfeld's approaches to diffraction.

After receiving his doctorate, Mitra left for France in 1920 to continue his studies at the University of Paris. There he earned a second doctorate under Charles Fabry in 1923, for a thesis on the determination of wavelength standards in the 2,000–2,300 Å region of copper. He subsequently worked briefly under Marie Curie at the Curie Institute. Made aware of continual developments in the new science of radio communications, Mitra went to the University of Nancy and joined the laboratory of Camille Gutton. Under Gutton, Mitra conducted research on radio valve circuitry before returning to India in late 1923.

Research in India

Prior to returning to India, Mitra had corresponded with Ashutosh Mukherjee about the growing importance of wireless science and the need to include it in the post-graduate physics curriculum at the Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta. Upon his return to Kolkata, he was appointed the university's Khaira Professor of Physics. With Mukherjee's support, in 1924 a "Wireless" course was introduced as an elective in the Physics MSc. curriculum and a Wireless Laboratory established for research in electron tubes and radio wave propagation. He also initiated a new department at the University of Calcutta that later became the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics.

Awards and honors

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1938

Fellowship of the Royal Society, 1958

Fellow of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (FASB)

Fellow of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (FIAS; 1943)

Presidency of The Asiatic Society, 1951–53.

Presidency of the Indian National Science Academy, 1959–60.

National Professorship, 1962.

Padma Bhushan, 1962.

S. K. Mitra Center for Research in Space Environment of the University of Calcutta is named for him.

The crater Mitra on the Moon is named after him.

Dr. S. Suresh Babu

Space Physics Lab

(born 14 March 1976

SPIE Conference Proceeding | May 9, 2016

Source apportionment of absorbing aerosols in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain

Aditya Vaishya, Prayagraj Singh, et al.

Proc. SPIE. 9876, Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Clouds, and Precipitation VI

KEYWORDS: Carbon, MODIS, Agriculture, Aerosols, Remote sensing, Combustion, Atmospheric particles, Light, Absorption

Read Abstract +

SPIE Conference Proceeding | May 5, 2016

Aerosol optical properties over the Svalbard region of Arctic: ground-based measurements and satellite remote sensing

Mukunda Gogoi; S. Suresh Babu

Proc. SPIE. 9876, Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Clouds, and Precipitation VI

KEYWORDS: MODIS, Optical properties, Scattering, Aerosols, Satellites, Remote sensing, Ocean optics, Climatology, Atmospheric particles, AbsorptionRead Abstract +

SPIE Conference Proceeding | December 8, 2006

Temporal heterogeneity in aerosol characteristics at a tropical coastal station and the resulting radiative impacts

S. Suresh Babu, K. Krishna Moorthy, et al.

Proc. SPIE. 6408, Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Clouds

KEYWORDS: Carbon, Phase modulation, Aerosols, Composites, Ocean optics, Meteorology, Climatology, Atmospheric particles, Atmospheric modeling, Atmospheric optics

SPIE Conference Proceeding | December 8, 2006

Wintertime characteristics of aerosol black carbon at a North Indian station: role of boundary layer processes

Vijayakumar Nair, Denny Alappattu, et al.

Proc. SPIE. 6408, Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Clouds

KEYWORDS: Carbon, Aerosols, Ocean optics, Meteorology, Neodymium, Climatology, Atmospheric particles, Atmospheric modeling, Temperature metrology, Visibility

SPIE Conference Proceeding | December 8, 2006

Aerosol black carbon over Bay of Bengal, observed from an island location, Port Blair: temporal features and long-range transport

K. Moorthy; S. Babu

Proc. SPIE. 6408, Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Clouds

KEYWORDS: Carbon, Aerosols, Composites, Chemistry, Clouds, Oceanography, Climatology, Atmospheric particles, Atmospheric modeling, Absorption

Shiva Ayyadurai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shiva Ayyadurai

Ayyadurai in 2012

Born

Vellayappa Ayyadurai Shiva

December 2, 1963

Bombay (now Mumbai), India

Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, MEng, PhD)

Political party Republican

Partner(s) Fran Drescher (2014–2016)

Scientific career

Fields Systems biology

Computer science

Scientific visualization

Doctoral advisor Forbes Dewey

Other academic advisors Robert S. Langer

Website vashiva.com

V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai (born Vellayappa Ayyadurai Shiva, December 2, 1963) is an Indian-American engineer, politician, entrepreneur, anti-vaccine activist, and promoter of conspiracy theories, pseudoscience and unfounded medical claims. Ayyadurai holds four degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including a Ph.D. in biological engineering, and is a Fulbright grant recipient.

In a 2011 article published by Time, Ayyadurai claimed he invented email as a teenager in the late 1970s. Historians strongly dispute this account, however, because email was already in use in the early 1970s. Ayyadurai sued Gawker Media and Techdirt for defamation for disputing his account of inventing email. Both lawsuits were settled out of court. Ayyadurai and Techdirt agreed to Techdirt's articles remaining online with a link to Ayyadurai's rebuttal on his own website.

Ayyadurai also attracted attention for two reports: the first questioning the working conditions of India's largest scientific agency; the second questioning the safety of genetically modified soybeans. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayyadurai became known for a social media COVID-19 disinformation campaign; spreading conspiracy theories about the cause of COVID-19; promoting unfounded COVID-19 treatments; and campaigning to fire Anthony Fauci for allegedly being a so-called "deep state" actor.

Ayyadurai garnered 3.39% of the vote as an independent candidate in the 2018 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, and ran as a Republican in the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, but lost to Kevin O'Connor in the primary.[9] After the election, he promoted claims of election fraud that were shown to be false by fact checkers.

Early life and education

Shiva Ayyadurai was born Vellayappa Ayyadurai Shiva in 1963, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. He grew up in the Muhavur village in Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu. At the age of seven, he left with his family to live in the United States.

In 1978, as a 14-year-old high school student, Ayyadurai attended a summer program at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University (NYU) to study computer programming. While a student at Livingston High School in New Jersey, Ayyadurai volunteered at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) where his mother worked. While there, he set up an electronic messaging system for 100 users at the medical school. In 1982, he registered the copyright for the source code of the FORTRAN program he called EMAIL, making it illegal to copy the code without permission, and for the program's user documentation.

Ayyadurai's undergraduate degree from MIT was in electrical engineering and computer science; he took a master's degree in visual studies from the MIT Media Laboratory on scientific visualization; concurrently, he completed another master's degree in mechanical engineering, also from MIT; and in 2007, he obtained a Ph.D. in biological engineering from MIT in systems biology, with his thesis focusing on modeling the whole cell by integrating molecular pathway models. In 2007, he was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to study the integration of Siddha, a system of traditional medicine developed in South India, with modern systems biology.

Career

Millennium Cybernetics

In 1994, Ayyadurai founded a company called Millennium Cybernetics, which produces email management software originally called Xiva and now called EchoMail. The software analyzes incoming email messages to organizations before either replying automatically or forwarding it to the most relevant department. By 2001, customers included Kmart, American Express, and Calvin Klein, as well as more than thirty U.S. senators to help handle constituent email. EchoMail competed with more established customer relationship management software that had an email component.

CSIR India

In 2009, Ayyadurai was hired by India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India's largest science agency, by its director general, Samir K. Brahmachari. CSIR was mandated to create a new company, CSIR Tech, that would establish businesses using the research conducted by the country's many publicly owned laboratories. Ayyadurai reported that he had spent months trying to create a business plan for CSIR Tech, but received no response from Brahmachari. Ayyadurai then distributed a draft plan, which was not authorized by CSIR, to the agency's scientists that requested feedback and criticized management. His job offer was subsequently withdrawn five months after the position was offered.

Brahmachari said that "the offer was withdrawn as [Ayyadurai] did not accept the terms and conditions and demanded unreasonable compensation." In its report, The New York Times said that "going public with such accusations is highly unusual. Mr. Ayyadurai circulated his paper not just to the agency's scientists but to journalists, and wrote about his situation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh." In that letter, Ayyadurai said his report was intended to explore institutional barriers to CSIR's entrepreneurial mandate. He said that CSIR scientists reported that "they work in a medieval, feudal environment" that required a "major overhaul". The letter was co-authored by a colleague, Deepak Sardana. Pushpa Bhargava, founding director of the CSIR's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, endorsed the letter, calling Ayyadurai's sacking the worst of many cases he had seen of "vindictiveness in the CSIR" and accused CSIR administration of being "impervious to healthy and fair criticism". The incident was seen as an example of the difficulty some Indian expatriate professionals may encounter returning home after growing accustomed to the more direct management style of the U.S.

Genetically modified food

In 2015, Ayyadurai published a paper that applied systems biology, which uses mathematical modeling, to predict the chemical composition of genetically modified (GM) soybeans, and whether or not they were substantially equivalent to unmodified soybeans. The paper claimed that GM soybeans have lower levels of the antioxidant glutathione and higher levels of carcinogenic formaldehyde, making the modified soybean substantially different, contrary to previous safety assessments. Shortly after publication, Ayyadurai embarked on a speaking tour of the U.S. At the National Press Club, he said that genetic modification had "fundamentally modified the metabolic system of the soy", disrupting the "beautiful way of detoxifying [formaldehyde]" present in non-GM soy.

The European Food Safety Agency evaluated the paper and determined that "the author's conclusions are not supported" due to the lack of information on the input into the model, the fact that the model was not validated and because no measurements of soybeans were made to establish whether GM soy actually contained elevated levels of formaldehyde. Plant scientist Kevin Folta noted that there was "no evidence ever published ... that shows a difference in formaldehyde between GM and non-GM varieties". Ayyadurai later cited the study as evidence of a lack of safety standards for GM foods and bet Monsanto a $10 million building if they could prove that they were safe. Monsanto did not take up the challenge but stated that GM food did indeed undergo safety assessments that "are more rigorous and thorough than assessments of any other food crop in history". In 2016, Ayyadurai promised to donate $10 million to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign if she could disprove his research.

Politics and election misinformation

On March 17, 2017, Ayyadurai filed as a Republican candidate in the 2018 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, running against incumbent Elizabeth Warren. He ran as an independent and placed third with 3.4% of the votes.

Ayyadurai said that Senator Warren was at the top of a U.S. "neo–caste system" composed of "academics, career politicians and lawyer/lobbyists", a "spineless clan" who never expect to be challenged. He said he would take a science and engineering perspective on problem solving, focusing on immigration, education and innovation. He called for secure borders and an end to sanctuary cities, support for more choices in public education, and for more scrutiny of "pay-to-play" science research. Ayyadurai has accused Warren of voting in favor of the Farmer Assurance Provision and against a GM labeling bill sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. However, the Act was reportedly passed to avoid a government shutdown,[38] and Warren petitioned the Food and Drug Administration for "regulations to ensure that the labeling of GMO products is fair, standardized and transparent."

In August 2017, Ayyadurai spoke at the Boston Free Speech rally, a gathering which drew large counter-protests and whose speaker line-up included right-wing extremists. Ayyadurai later disputed how the event was characterized, tweeting that the "establishment" wanted to block attendance and media coverage and sought a "Race War to divide us". In April 2018, the city of Cambridge threatened Ayyadurai with daily fines for an alleged zoning code violation if he did not remove a banner on his campaign bus. The banner featured his campaign slogan, "Only a real Indian can defeat a fake Indian", together with a digitally altered image depicting Warren in a Native American headdress, a reference to her claim to be of part Cherokee descent. The city reversed its position the following month and Ayyadurai, in turn, dropped a lawsuit alleging that his free speech rights had been violated. During the campaign, Ayyadurai appeared on a livestream with Matthew Colligan, a white supremacist known for his participation in the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Colligan requested that Ayyadurai bless a small statue of Kek, the green frog that came to prominence as a symbol of the alt-right during the 2016 United States presidential election. Ayyadurai obliged and described Colligan as "one of our greatest supporters".

Ayyadurai ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts. By August 2020, Ayyadurai's campaign had spent $1.4 million, including $1.05 million of Ayyadurai's own funds. After Kevin J. O'Conner won 158,590 votes to Ayyadurai's 104,782, Ayyadurai alleged that over one million ballots had been destroyed and that the state had committed election fraud. He alleged that ballot images had to be preserved for 22 months and were now missing. However, MIT political science professor Charles Stewart stated that federal law only requires that physical ballots be stored. Harvard law professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos disputed Ayyadurai's allegation of fraud and a spokesperson for the state accused him of spreading misinformation. Fact checkers at Reuters and the Associated Press labelled the allegations as false. On February 1, 2021, Ayyadurai was suspended from Twitter. On February 3, he filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts politician William Galvin and other Massachusetts election officials, alleging that they were responsible for Twitter's suspending him. On August 10, Ayyadurai dropped the lawsuit along with an October 2020 suit against Galvin.

Ayyadurai has continued to spread misinformation since about the 2020 presidential election. At Mike Lindell's Cyber Symposium in August 2021, he claimed there were "serious issues" in the election process involving voting machines able to "multiply a vote by a factor" and that states were illegally not "saving ballot images." In fact, not all states are legally required to store ballot images.[61] In August 2021, he was hired by the Arizona Senate—as part of the controversial 2021 Maricopa County presidential ballot audit—to "review signatures on the envelopes of 1.9 million early ballots sent to [Maricopa] county" . In late September, he remotely attended the Arizona state senate presentation of the review's findings where he questioned the validity of some signatures on mail ballot envelopes, and criticized and gave a presentation filled with misrepresentations about the county's signature verification process.

COVID-19 misinformation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayyadurai used social media to spread various conspiracy theories and misinformation about the pandemic. In January 2020, he claimed that COVID-19 was patented by the Pirbright Institute, but the patent he referenced relates to avian coronavirus, which infects birds, not SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the pandemic. Ayyadurai defined COVID-19 as "an overactive dysfunctional immune system that overreacts and that's what causes damage to the body", and claimed that vitamin C could be used to treat it.

He alleged that COVID-19 was spread by the "deep state" and accused Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of being a "Deep State Plant". Ayyadurai called for Fauci to be fired and his supporters lobbied for Fauci to be replaced by Ayyadurai.

In March 2020, Ayyadurai published an open letter to then-U.S. President Donald Trump, writing that a national lockdown was unnecessary and advocated that large doses of vitamins could prevent and cure COVID-19. In April 2020, Politico and Vanity Fair reported that QAnon supporter DeAnna Lorraine recommended that Ayyadurai be included in COVID-19 discussions at Donald Trump's White House.

"EMAIL" invention controversy

Ayyadurai is notable for his widely disputed claim of being the "inventor of email". His claim is based on an electronic mail software called "EMAIL", an implementation of interoffice email system, which he wrote as a 14-year-old student at Livingston High School, New Jersey in 1979. Initial reports that repeated Ayyadurai's assertion—from organizations such as The Washington Post and the Smithsonian Institution—were followed by public retractions. These corrections were triggered by objections from historians and ARPANET pioneers who pointed out that email was already actively used in the early 1970s. Ayyadurai had started a campaign in 2011, by rebranding himself as the "Inventor of Email" which Haigh et al. state had provoked "a dramatic succession of exaggerated claims, credulous reporters, retractions, and accusations that a cabal of industry insiders and corrupt Wikipedia editors are colluding to hide the truth.": 151

A November 2011 Time Techland interview by Doug Aamoth, entitled "The Man Who Invented Email", argued that EMAIL represented the birth of email "as we currently know it". In that interview, Ayyadurai recalled that Les Michelson, the former particle scientist at Brookhaven National Labs who assigned Ayyadurai the project, had the idea of creating an electronic mail system that uses the header conventions of a hardcopy memorandum. Ayyadurai recalled Michelson as saying: "Your job is to convert that into an electronic format. Nobody's done that before."

In February 2012, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History announced that Ayyadurai had donated "a trove of documents and code" related to EMAIL. Initially, the museum—inaccurately—cited the program as one of the first to include the now common "subject and body fields, inboxes, outboxes, cc, bcc, attachments, and others. He based these elements directly off of the interoffice mail memos the doctors had been using for years, in hopes of convincing people to actually use the newfangled technology."

Ayyadurai's claims drew editorial clarifications and corrections, as well as criticism from industry observers. In a followup to its acquisition announcement, the Smithsonian stated that it was not claiming that Ayyadurai had invented email, but rather that the materials were historically notable for other reasons related to trends in computer education and the role of computers in medicine. The Smithsonian statement distinguished Ayyadurai's achievement by noting that historians in the field, "have largely focused on the use of large networked computers, especially those linked to the ARPANET in the early 1970s". The statement pointed out that Ayyadurai's approach instead "focused on communications between linked computer terminals in an ordinary office situation". The Washington Post also followed up with a correction of errors in its earlier report on the Smithsonian acquisition, stating that it incorrectly referred to Ayyadurai as the inventor of electronic messaging; the 'bcc', 'cc', 'to' and 'from' fields existed previously; Ayyadurai had not been honored as the "inventor of email".

Writing for Gizmodo, Sam Biddle argued that email was developed a decade before EMAIL, beginning with Ray Tomlinson's sending the first text letter between two ARPANET-connected computers in 1971. Biddle quoted Tomlinson: "[We] had most of the headers needed to deliver the message (to:, cc:, etc.) as well as identifying the sender (from:) and when the message was sent (date:) and what the message was about." Biddle allowed for the possibility that Ayyadurai may have coined the term "EMAIL" and used the header terms without being aware of earlier work, but maintained that the historical record isn't definitive on either point. Biddle wrote that "laying claim to the name of a product that's the generic term for a universal technology gives you acres of weasel room. But creating a type of airplane named AIRPLANE doesn't make you Wilbur Wright."

Thomas Haigh, a historian of information technology at the University of Wisconsin, wrote that "Ayyadurai is, to the best of my knowledge, the only person to have claimed for him or herself the title 'inventor of email'." Haigh argued that while EMAIL was impressive for a teenager's work, it contained no features that were not present on previous electronic mail systems and had no obvious influence on later systems. "The most striking thing about Ayyadurai's claim to have invented electronic mail is how late it comes. Somehow it took him thirty years to alert the world to [his] greatest achievement". Haigh wrote that by 1980, "electronic mail had been in use at MIT for 15 years, Xerox had built a modern, mouse-driven graphical email system for office communication, Compuserve was selling email access to the public, and email had for many years been the most popular application on what was soon to become the Internet.": 27 Haigh further mentions that Ayyadurai had created "infographic" outlines for his view of history and published the assembled documents under various domain names that he had registered to support his claim.: 26–27 Through his infographics, states Haigh, Ayyadurai presented his claims that he "designed and deployed the first version of electronic [mail] system" in 1980, although electronic mail as an executable program was used under the name "Electronic Mail System" before.: 27

David Crocker, a member of the ARPANET research community, writing in the Post, said, "The reports incorrectly credited [EMAIL's] author, a 14-year-old in the late 1970s, as the 'inventor' of email, long after it had become an established service on the ARPANET." Another computer historian, Marc Weber, a curator at the Computer History Museum, said that by 1978, "nearly all the features we're familiar with today had appeared on one system or another over the previous dozen years", including emoticons, mailing lists, flame wars, and spam mail.

After the controversy unfolded, MIT disassociated itself from Ayyadurai's EMAIL Lab and funding was dropped. MIT also revoked Ayyadurai's contract to lecture at the bioengineering department.

Ayyadurai characterized the earlier work of Tomlinson, Tom Van Vleck and others as text messaging, rather than an electronic version of an interoffice mail system. Responding to his critics on his personal website, Ayyadurai described EMAIL as "the first of its kind—a fully integrated, database-driven, electronic translation of the interoffice paper mail system derived from the ordinary office situation." He maintained that EMAIL was the first electronic mail system to integrate an easy-to-use user interface, a word processor, a relational database, and a modular inter-communications protocol "integrated together in one single and holistic platform to ensure high-reliability and user-friendliness network-wide." Ayyadurai presented a press release on his webpage asserting that his undergraduate professor Noam Chomsky, of MIT's Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, also supported his claims.

According to various historians, Ayyadurai honed his claims appeal to those with particular political leanings by arguing that his achievements are overlooked due to "racism, anti-immigrant prejudice, historians in the pay of big business, and a belief that only elite and well-funded institutions can create innovations.": 152 In March 2016, Ayyadurai complained about Raytheon, where Tomlinson worked on ARPANET. After Tomlinson's death, Ayyadurai told The Hindu that he believed that news outlets retracted their stories about him because, "Raytheon advertises in publications like the Huffington Post and CNN" and that if he were "a white guy and had a copyright for email, I would have my photo on every stamp in the world." The day after Tomlinson's death, Ayyadurai tweeted: "I'm the low-caste, dark-skinned, Indian, who DID invent #email. Not Raytheon, who profits for war & death. Their mascot Tomlinson dies a liar".

Gawker

In May 2016, Ayyadurai filed suit against Gawker Media for $35 million, alleging that their website Gawker published "false and defamatory statements", causing "substantial damage to Dr. Ayyadurai's personal and professional reputation and career." The filing also named writer Sam Biddle, executive editor John Cook, and Gawker founder and CEO Nick Denton. Gawker Media responded that, "These claims to have invented email have been repeatedly debunked by the Smithsonian Institute , Gizmodo, the Washington Post and others."

In November 2016, the by-then-bankrupt Gawker Media settled the lawsuit with Ayyadurai for $750,000 as part of a broader settlement with wrestler Hulk Hogan and journalist Ashley Terrill, all of whom were represented by attorney Charles Harder. In a statement, Ayyadurai said that "history will reflect that this settlement is a victory for truth". Biddle denounced the settlement and said he fully stood by his reporting. Denton wrote that "we expected to prevail" in the Ayyadurai and Terrill lawsuits, "but all-out legal war with" billionaire Peter Thiel, who financially backed Harder, was untenable in terms of cost, time and human toll.

Katie Hafner, the author of several books on Internet history—including one on the development of ARPANET email—said, "This situation is both bizarre and appalling in that here we are simply trying to get the record straight, and [Ayyadurai has] managed to make money off claims that appear to be misleading."

Techdirt

In January 2017, Ayyadurai, again represented by Harder, filed a $15 million libel lawsuit on similar grounds against Techdirt founder Mike Masnick and two other parties for a series of articles published beginning in September 2014. In February, Masnick, represented by the firm Prince Lobel, filed two motions to dismiss. One motion argued that the articles were constitutionally protected opinion and written about a public figure without actual malice. The second motion asked for dismissal under California's anti-SLAPP law that compensates defendants for some legal expenses.

In September 2017, United States District Judge F. Dennis Saylor dismissed the defamation claims against Techdirt, but declined to strike the complaint under the anti-SLAPP law. In his ruling, Saylor wrote that definitions of "email" vary widely. Therefore, "whether plaintiff's claim to have invented e-mail is 'fake' depends upon the operative definition of 'e-mail.' Because the definition does not have a single, objectively correct answer, the claim is incapable of being proved true or false."

The two parties filed cross-appeals with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit but settled out of court in May 2019, with each side agreeing to pay their own legal costs and Techdirt's articles to remain online with an added link to a rebuttal on Ayyadurai's website.

Other actions

In January 2017, Harder threatened the Diaspora Foundation with legal action unless it removed three posts by Roy Schestowitz that Harder alleged were "defamatory" towards Ayyadurai. (The Diaspora Foundation is part of the Free Software Support Network, which is in turn run by Eben Moglen and the Software Freedom Law Center.)

Personal life

Beginning in 2014, Ayyadurai was romantically connected with the actress Fran Drescher. On September 7, 2014, Ayyadurai and Drescher participated in a ceremony at Drescher's beach house. Both tweeted that they had gotten married, and the event was widely reported as such. Ayyadurai later said it was not "a formal wedding or marriage", but a celebration of their "friendship in a spiritual ceremony with close friends and her family". The couple split up in September 2016.

Subramaniam Ramadorai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

S Ramadorai

Born 6 October 1945

Nagpur, British India

Alma mater Hansraj College, University of Delhi

Indian Institute of Science

University of California, Los Angeles

Occupation Chairman, Bharathidasan Institute of Management Chairman, National Skill Development Agency NSDA

Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation

Chairman, AirAsia India

Chairman, Tata Technologies

Chairman Tata Advanced Systems

Independent director :-

Hindustan Unilever

Piramal Enterprises

Asian Paints

Spouse(s) Mahalakshmi Ramadorai

Children 1

Awards Padma Bhushan

CBE Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Subramanian Ramadorai, CBE (born 6 October 1945) was the adviser to the Prime Minister of India in the national council on skill development, Government of India. He held the rank equivalent to an Indian Cabinet Minister. He is also the chairperson of the governing board of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Bharathidasan Institute of Management, chairman of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Guwahati and Tata Elxsi. Earlier, he was CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services from 1996 to 2009 & Vice - Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services till 6 October 2014 transforming TCS from a company with $400 million revenues and 6000 employees to one of the world's largest software and services company with more than 200,000 employees working in 42 countries and revenues over US$20.0 billion.

Early life and education

Ramadorai was born in Nagpur, India on 6 October 1945 and his family is from Tamil Nadu. His father was a civil servant who served as the accountant general in Tamil Nadu state government while his mother was a housewife. Ramadorai was the fourth of five sons in the family and his ancestors hailed from Tiruvarur.

Ramadorai received his primary and secondary education at D.T.E.A Sr. Sec School, New Delhi. He holds a bachelor's degree in Physics from Hansraj college , Delhi University, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunications and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1993, Ramadorai attended the senior executive development program at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Career

Beginning his career with TCS as a junior engineer in 1969, he rose through the ranks and eventually was charged with setting up TCS' operations in the United States in 1979 in New York, which has since grown to over 40 offices throughout the country. Since taking on the role of CEO, Ramadorai focused his efforts on building relationships with large corporations and academic institutions, planning and directing technology development and acquisitions and overseeing the company's research and development activities. Ramadorai also spearheaded TCS' quality initiatives, taking sixteen of its Development Centers to SEI's CMM Level 5, the highest and most prestigious performance assessment issued by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). TCS also attained the distinction of being the World's first company to have all Centres assessed as operating at Level 5 of PCMM (People-CMM). He resigned as Vice-Chairman of TCS on 6 October 2014. His term as Chairman, Tata Elxsi has expired following which he no longer serves on the Board of Directors of the company. He no longer serves on the Board of Directors of TATA Communication and any of the subsidiary companies of TCS such as CMC Ltd., Computational Research Laboratories.

Ramadorai was the Chairman of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), TATA Technologies Limited and TATA Elxsi. He is also on the board of directors of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd. He is also the independent director at Hindustan Unilever Limited. On 17 June 2013, AirAsia India announced that he has been appointed as the chairman of the airline.

Awards and recognitions

Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), President of the Indo-American Society, Member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC), and is also on the Advisory and Governing Boards of a number of reputed Indian academic institutions. In 2006, on India's Republic Day, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. In 2004, he won Business India's "Business Man of the Year" award. During 2003, Ramadorai received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indore Management Association, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a Fellowship of the Institute of Management Consultants of India. He has also been honoured with CNBC Asia Pacific's prestigious 'Asia Business Leader of the Year' Award in 2002, as well as the 'Management Man of the Year' award by the Bombay Management Association. He was named in June 2002, by Consulting Magazine (USA) as being among the Top 25 Most Influential Consultants in the world, the only Indian CEO on the list. He has been honoured with the position of 'IT Advisor to Qingdao City', People's Republic of China. On 28 April 2009, Ramadorai was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). On 31 January 2011, TCS vice-chairman, Ramadorai was appointed by the Indian Government as the advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for the National Skill Development Council.

Santasabuj Das

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Santasabuj DasBorn 23 June 1968

West Bengal, India

Nationality IndianAlma mater

University of Calcutta

Indian Institute of Chemical Biology

Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences

Thomas Jefferson University

Tufts Medical Center

Known for Studies on human Salmonella infectionsAwards

2011 N-BIOS PrizeScientific careerFields

Immunology

Bioinformatics

Institutions

National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases

Santasabuj Das is an Indian medical doctor, molecular immunologist, bioinformatician and a scientist at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata. He is known for his studies on the pathogenesis of various types of infections caused by Salmonella in humans and is an elected fellow of the West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. He is a former Fulbright scholar and a life member of the Probiotic Association of India, the Society of Biological Chemists, India and the Indian Science Congress Association. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2011.

Biography

Calcutta University - a Francis Frith image

Born in the Indian state of West Bengal, Santasabuj Das did his medical studies at the University of Calcutta from where he earned an MBBS in 1990 and an MD in 1996. He started his career as a research associate at the division of cellular immunology of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology but moved to complete his residency at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Subsequently, he served as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Center for Biological Sciences from 1998 and in 2000, he moved to the US to work as a post doctoral fellow at the Kimmel Cancer Center of the Thomas Jefferson University. In 2002, he joined the Molecular Oncology Research Institute of the Tufts Medical Center as a post-doctoral research associate where he stayed until 2004. On his return to India, he joined the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata as a grade C scientist in 2005 and holds the positions of a grade E scientist and assistant director. He has also been serving as a senior scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research since 2013.Professional profile

Das' research focus is on the various types of infections caused by Salmonella in humans and he has done studies in the fields of pathogenesis of Salmonella Typhi and vaccine development against the pathogen. He holds two international and one national patent for the processes he has developed. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and through chapters contributed to books published by others. He is the coordinator for the Biomedical Informatics Centre of the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases and is a life member of the Society of Biological Chemists, India, the Indian Science Congress Association and the Probiotic Association of India.Awards and honors

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2011.[8] The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State selected him for the Fulbright scholarship in 2012. The West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology elected him as a fellow in 2016.

Shashikumar Chitre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaShashikumar Madhusudan Chitre

Born 7 May 1936

India

Died 11 January 2021 (aged 84)Alma mater Elphinstone College

Peterhouse College, Cambridge

Occupation Astrophysicist, MathematicianAwards Padma Bhushan

Shashikumar Madhusudan Chitre FNA, FASc, FNASc, FRAS (7 May 1936 – 11 January 2021) was an Indian mathematician and astrophysicist, known for his research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The Government of India honored him, in 2012, with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the sciences.

Biography

Illustration of the dynamo mechanism that creates the Earth's magnetic field: convection currents of magma in the Earth's outer core, driven by heat flow from the inner core, organized into rolls by the Coriolis force, creates circulating electric currents, which generate the magnetic field.

Gravitational Lensing - A Horseshoe Einstein Ring from Hubble

Shashikumar Chitre graduated in Mathematics from the Elphinstone College, Mumbai, in 1956, on completion of which he was awarded the Duke of Edinburgh Scholarship to study abroad. He joined Peterhouse College, University of Cambridge and did another bachelor's degree in 1959. In 1960, he was selected as the Peterhouse Scholar, with which he completed his master's degree. Subsequently, he got selected for Gulbenkian Research studentship, moved to Churchill College and obtained his PhD from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Cambridge, in 1963.

Chitre started his career as a Lecturer at the University of Leeds, in 1963, and worked there till 1966 when he obtained another fellowship to join the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. In 1967, he returned to India and joined the faculty of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which served as the base of his research till his retirement in 2001.[4][5] He lived in Mumbai, attending to his duties as the Academic Chair Person and Professor Emeritus of the Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CBS) and the INSA Honorary Scientist at the University of Mumbai.[5] He was also on the board of Trustees of JN Tata Trust and worked as an Honorary Executive Director of Homi Bhabha Fellowship Council

Chitre died on 11 January 2021, aged 84.

Research highlights

Chitre's scientific research was focused on solar physics, astrophysics and gravitational lensing. He performed extensive research on the Sun's magnetic activity cycle, the solar dynamo theory, and the role of neutrinos in the solar atmosphere.

Positions held

Sashikumar Chitre has been honored by fellowships by many prominent scientific institutions.MaxPlanck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian National Science Academy (1988)

National Academy of Sciences, India (1992)

Third World Academy of Sciences (1999)

Maharashtra Academy of Sciences

Royal Astronomical Society

International Astronomical Union

Chitre also served as a visiting fellow or visiting professor at various prestigious institutions around the world.

UGC National Lecturer in Physics - 1975-76

Visiting Professor - University of CambridgeVisiting Professor - Princeton UniversityVisiting Professor - University of SussexVisiting Professor - University of AmsterdamVisiting Professor - University of ColumbiaVisiting Professor - University of VirginiaVisiting Professor - Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London - 1992-1993, '94-'95 and '97Senior Research Associateship at Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASASenior Research Associateship of the National Academy of Sciences, USAVisiting Astronomer - Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge - 2003-2005 and 2007Perren Visiting Fellow and Visiting Professor - Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad - 1999-2000

Raja Ramanna Fellow - University of Mumbai - 2001-06.

He has also held the posts of:[4][5]President - Astronomical Society of IndiaChairman — Indian National Committee for AstronomyChairman — Bombay Association for Science EducationMember, Management Board - National Centre for Radio AstrophysicsMember, Management Boards - Homi Bhabha Centre for Science EducationCouncil Member, - Indian Academy of Sciences, BangaloreCouncil Member, Indian National Science Academy, New DelhiCouncil Member, National Academy of Sciences, AllahabadAwards and recognitions

Padma Bhushan - 2012

Professor A. C. Banerjee Memorial Lecture Award - 1992INSA Vainu Bappu Memorial Medal - 1995M. P. Birla Award - 1999

Sartaj Sahni
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sartaj Sahni
Prof. Sartaj Sahni in 2015.
Born July 22, 1949
Pune, India
Nationality United States
Alma mater Indian Institute of Technology, Cornell University
Known for Data structures, Algorithms
Awards IEEE Computer Society Taylor L. Booth Education Award, 1997
IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award, 2003
ACM Karl Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, 2003
Scientific career
Fields Computer science
Institutions University of Florida
Doctoral advisor Ellis Horowitz
Doctoral students Teofilo F. Gonzalez

Professor Sartaj Kumar Sahni (born July 22, 1949, in Pune, India) is a computer scientist based in the United States, and is one of the pioneers[citation needed] in the field of data structures. He is a distinguished professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida.

Education

Sahni received his BTech degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Following this, he undertook his graduate studies at Cornell University in the USA, earning a PhD degree in 1973, under the supervision of Ellis Horowitz.

Research and publications

Sahni has published over 280 research papers and written 15 textbooks.[4] His research publications are on the design and analysis of efficient algorithms, data structures, parallel computing, interconnection networks, design automation, and medical algorithms.

With his advisor Ellis Horowitz, Sahni wrote two widely used textbooks, Fundamentals of Computer Algorithms and Fundamentals of Data Structures. He has also written highly cited research papers on the NP-completeness of approximately solving certain optimization problems, on open shop scheduling, on parallel algorithms for matrix multiplication and their application in graph theory,[7] and on improved exponential time exact algorithms for the subset sum problem, among his many other research results.

Awards and honors

In 1997, Sahni was awarded the IEEE Computer Society's Taylor L. Booth Education Award [9] and in 2003 he was awarded the IEEE Computer Society McDowell Award. Sahni was also awarded the 2003 Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award of the Association for Computing Machinery.

Prof. Sahni is a member of the European Academy of Sciences. He was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1988, and of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1996; he is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected in 1995. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

Sahni was given the Honorary Professor Award of Asia University (Taiwan) in 2009.

Volunteer activities

He is serving as editor-in-chief of ACM Computing Surveys.

Welcome

Sartaj Sahni is a Distinguished Professor of Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering at the University of Florida. He is also a member of the European Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of IEEE, ACM, AAAS, and Minnesota Supercomputer Institute, and a Distinguished Alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

In 1997, he was awarded the IEEE Computer Society Taylor L. Booth Education Award ``for contributions to Computer Science and Engineering education in the areas of data structures, algorithms, and parallel algorithms'', and in 2003, he was awarded the IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award ``for contributions to the theory of NP-hard and NP-complete problems''. Dr. Sahni was awarded the 2003 ACM Karl Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for ``outstanding contributions to computing education through inspired teaching, development of courses and curricula for distance education, contributions to professional societies, and authoring significant textbooks in several areas including discrete mathematics, data structures, algorithms, and parallel and distributed computing.'' In 2016, Dr. Sahni was awarded the IEEE Technical Committee on Scalabale Computing (TCSC) Award for Excellence in Scalable Computing for ``fundamental contributions to scalable computing and leadership in service to the scalable computing community.''

Dr. Sahni has published over three hundred and eighty research papers and written 15 texts. He has 14 US patents. His research publications and patents are on the design and analysis of efficient algorithms, parallel computing, interconnection networks, design automation, and medical algorithms. He is presently the Editor-in-Chief of ACM Computing Surveys and is on the editorial board of 17 other journals. He is also a member of the steering committee of several international conferences.My Biography in Czech My Biography in Indonesian
My Biography in Latvian My Biography in Polish
My Biography in Russian My Biography in Slovak
My Biography in Spanish My Biography in Swedish
My Biography in Ukranian

Students looking for information regarding class assignments, exam dates, and general course information regarding COP 3530 and COP 5536 should click on the courses link to obtain this information.
SAUMITRA DAS

Name: SAUMITRA DAS

Email: director [at] nibmg.ac.in

sdas [at] nibmg.ac.in

Present Position: Director

Highest educational Qualification: Ph.D.

Birth : 20 January 1962

Research:

Project 1: Cancer Biology

To understand the role of differential expression of p53 isoforms in Human cancer

TP53 is a tumour suppressor gene, involved in maintaining genomic integrity by controlling cell-cycle progression and cell survival. It is the most frequently altered gene in human cancers. Several studies from our laboratory as well as others, report the importance of translational regulation of p53 in determining cellular fate. It has twelve isoforms; out of which Δ40p53 is the one which is translated from the same p53 mRNA using an IRES element (Ray et al. EMBO reports 2006). The translational regulation of p53 involves interaction of different proteins with 5’ UTR and 3’ UTR of its mRNA. Several proteins can bind specifically to the 3’UTR and can enhance the cap dependent as well as cap independent translation of p53 (Sharathchandra et al. RNA Biology 2012; Khan et al, Oncogene 2013). Moreover, these proteins are also known to have an interplay with certain non-coding RNAs, particularly miRNAs that bind to the 3’UTR of p53 mRNA (Katoch et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2017). In human cancers, miRNAs as well as lncRNAs can regulate the p53 tumor suppressor pathway or vice-versa. We are interested to investigate how the isoforms, specifically Δ40p53 regulates mRNAs and non-coding RNAs to control the cell fate.

We would also like to extend our study at NIBMG (in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Srikanta Goswami), to understand the p53 translational control in cell proliferation, in the context of specific cancer. Given that human cancer (such as Pancreatic cancer and Colorectal carcinoma) is characterized by profound aneuploidy as well as significant intra-tumoral genomic heterogeneity, a clear understanding of how p53 participates in genome stability mechanisms would provide important insights into disease pathogenesis and ultimately treatment. In this respect we aim to investigate the ratio of different p53 isoforms in cancer tissue samples. We would like to look at the overall transcriptome levels in the cancer tissue samples, bearing wild type as well as mutant p53. This would further be correlated to aggressiveness of the disease and traced back to look for RNA levels of different p53 target genes in those samples. This would help us identify different cellular molecules such as mRNA, miRNA or lncRNA playing a role in progression and regulating the severity of cancer. Moreover, since p53 is known to control several methyltransferases, it would be interesting to study whether the p53 isoforms cause differential modification at promoters (such as methylation/demethylation) and if so, then how are the downstream target genes affected in different cancers. In addition to tissue samples, we would also like to look for cellular RNA signatures in serum levels as well, so that they could be used for early prognosis of disease thereby helping in cancer treatment.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Katoch A, George B, Iyyappan A, Khan D, Das S (2017) Interplay between PTB and miR-1285 at the p53 3’UTR modulates the levels of p53 and its isoform Δ40p53α. Nucleic acids research 45:10206-10217.
Khan D, Katoch A, Das A, Sharathchandra A, Lal R, Roy P, Das S, Chattopadhyay S, Das S (2015) Reversible induction of translational isoforms of p53 in glucose deprivation. Cell death and differentiation 22:1203-1218.
Khan D, Sharathchandra A, Ponnuswamy A, Grover R, Das S (2012) Effect of a natural mutation in the 5’untranslated region on the translational control of p53 mRNA Oncogene doi:10.1038/onc.2012.422.
Sharathchandra A, Lal R, Khan D, Das S (2012) Annexin A2 and PSF proteins interact with p53 IRES and regulate translation ofp53 mRNA. RNA Biology 9:12, 1429-1439.
Grover R+, Arandkar S+, Ponnuswamy A, Khan D and Das S* (2011) Effect of mutations on the p53 IRES RNA structure: implications for de-regulation of the synthesis of p53 isoforms. RNA biology. 8(1): 132-142
Ray P, Grover R, Das S (2006) Two internal ribosome entry sites mediate the translation of p53 isoforms EMBO Reports Vol. 7(4) p404-410

Project 2: Infectious Disease Biology

Understanding the host genetic determinants of RNA virus pathogenesis

My laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science has been studying the biology and pathogenesis of several RNA viruses, such as hepatitis C and Coxsackie B3 virus. In continuation of my interests on RNA viral diseases, here at NIBMG I am involved in research on Dengue virus (DENV). Dengue disease in humans manifests itself in different forms varying from a non-symptomatic infection to the one that shows mild disease symptoms and some which manifests as a severe disease that includes symptoms related to haemorrhage (DHF) and shock syndrome. The severe form of the disease is becoming more common in our country and large gaps in knowledge exist in our understanding of the specific molecular reasons behind the phenomenon. In collaboration with my colleague Dr. Sreedhar Chinnaswamy, we are interested to know if human genetic variation at immune-related gene loci can be specific determinant of the severe form of the disease. The leads obtained from our studies on human patients will be tested in DENV-infected cell culture and mice models in order to understand molecular events/pathways that lead to severe forms of the disease, so that better intervention strategies can be deduced to manage the disease.

Selected Publications on HCV and CVB3
Reddy U, Mullick R, Kumar A, Sharma G, Bag P, Laha Roy C, Sudha G, Tandon H, Dave P, Shukla A, Srinivasan P, Nandhitha M, Srinivasan N, Das S (2018) A natural small molecule inhibitor Corilagin blocks HCV replication and modulates oxidative stress to reduce liver damage. Antiviral Research. 150, 1-226
Dave P, George B, Sharma D K and Das S (2017) Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) and PTB-associated splicing factor in Coxsackievirus B3 infection: An ITAF for an ITAF. Nucleic Acids Research. 45(15), 9068–9084
Kumar, A., Das, S., Mullick, R., Lahiri, P., Tatineni, R., Goswami, G., Bhat, P., Torresi J, Gowans E, Karande, A. and Das, S (2016) Immune responses against hepatitis C virus genotype 3a virus-like particles in mice: A novel VLP prime-adenovirus boost strategy. Vaccine 34(8):1115-1125.
Shwetha S, Kumar A, Mullick R, Vasudevan D, Mukherjee N and Das S (2015) HuR displaces PTB to facilitate La binding to the 3’UTR and enhances HCV replication. Journal of Virology. 89, 11356-11371
Bhat P, Shwetha S, Sharma D, Joseph A P, Srinivasan N and Das S (2015) The beta hairpin structure within ribosomal protein S5 mediates interplay between domain II and IV and regulates HCV-IRES function. Nucleic Acids Research. 43(5):2888-2901.
Kumar A, Ray U, and Das S (2013) Human La protein interaction with GCAC near the initiator AUG enhances HCV RNA replication by promoting linkage between 5’-and 3’- Untranslated Regions, Journal of Virology. 87 (12): 6713-26

For details on HCV and CVB3 research please check my laboratory webpage at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Webpage: http://mcbl.iisc.ac.in/Saumitra/

Subhashis Nag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Subhashis Nag

Born 14 August 1955

Died 22 December 1998

Nationality India

Alma mater Cornell University, New York

Don Bosco School, Park Circus, Kolkata

Awards Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology

Scientific career

Fields Complex analytic geometry

Institutions Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

Doctoral advisor Clifford John Earle, Jr.

Subhashis Nag (14 August 1955 – 22 December 1998) was an Indian mathematician who specialised in complex analytic geometry, particularly Teichmüller theory, and its relations to string theory.

He won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 1998, the highest science award in India, in the mathematical sciences category. However, he died on 22 December 1998, before the actual award ceremony was held.

Books authored

The complex analytic theory of Teichmüller spaces. Wiley. 1988. ISBN 9780471627739.

On some geometrical problems in Teichmüller and Torelli Spaces. Cornell University. 1980.

Trilochan Pradhan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trilochan Pradhan
Born 3 January 1929

Ghanasalia, Nayagarh district, Odisha, British India
Died 4 December 2021 (aged 92)

Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Nationality Indian
Education Ph.D. (University of Chicago)
Alma mater Ravenshaw College, Benaras Hindu University, University of Chicago
Known for Scientist
Awards Padma Bhusan, Kalinga Prize

Trilochan Pradhan (3 January 1929 – 4 December 2021) was an Indian scientist

Career

Pradhan obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1956. He headed the Theoretical Nuclear Physics Division at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics from 1964 to 1974, was the first director of the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar from 1974 to 1989 and served as the vice chancellor of Utkal University from 1989 to 1991.

Books

The Photon, (Nova Science Publishers, New York), 2001
Quantum Mechanics (University Press of Hyderabad)
Electron Capture by Protons Passing through Hydrogen

Awards

Kalinga Ratna, 2018
Kalinga Prize, 2014
Padma Bhusan, 1990
Meghnad Saha Award, 1980

Tirukkannapuram Vijayaraghavan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thirukannapuram Vijayaraghavan

Born 30 November 1902

Died 20 April 1955 (aged 52)

Occupation mathematician

Tirukkannapuram Vijayaraghavan (Tamil: திருக்கண்ணபுரம் விஜயராகவன்; 30 November 1902 – 20 April 1955) was an Indian mathematician from the Madras region. He worked with G. H. Hardy when he went to Oxford in mid-1920s on Pisot–Vijayaraghavan numbers. He was a fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences elected in the year 1934.

Vijayaraghavan was well versed in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was a close friend of André Weil. He served with him in Aligarh Muslim University. He later moved to the University of Dhaka in protest at Weil's firing from AMU.

Vijayaraghavan proved a special case of Herschfeld's theorem on nested radicals: For {\displaystyle a_{n}>0}{\displaystyle {\sqrt {a_{1}+{\sqrt {a_{2}+{\sqrt {a_{3}+{\sqrt {a_{4}+\cdots }}}}}}}}}

converges if and only if{\displaystyle {\overline {\lim }}(\log a_{n})/2^{n}<+\infty ,}

where {\displaystyle {\overline {\lim }}} denotes the limit superior.

T. V. Ramakrishnan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

T. V. Ramakrishnan

Born

Tiruppattur Venkatachalamurti Ramakrishnan

14 August 1941

Madras, Tamil Nadu, India

Nationality Indian

Alma mater Banaras Hindu University (B.Sc.) (M.Sc.)

Columbia University (Ph.D.)

Known for Contributions to Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Statistical Mechanics

Awards

Trieste Science Prize (2005)

Padmashri (2001)

FRS (2000)

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1983)

Scientific career

Fields

Theoretical Physics

Condensed Matter Physics

Institutions Banaras Hindu University

Indian Institute of Science

Princeton University

Doctoral advisor Joaquin Mazdak Luttinger

Doctoral students Venkat Pai

Tiruppattur Venkatachalamurti Ramakrishnan FRS (born 14 August 1941) is an Indian theoretical physicist known for his contributions in condensed matter physics. He is at present DAE Homi Bhabha Professor of Physics at Benaras Hindu University and also the chancellor of Tripura University.

Biography

Tiruppattur Venkatachalamurti Ramakrishnan was born on 14 August 1941 in Madras, Tamil Nadu. He completed his B.Sc (Hons.) and M.Sc in Physics from Banaras Hindu University in 1959 and 1961. He then worked as a CSIR research fellow at Banaras Hindu University from 1961 to 1962. He later completed his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1966. He started his professional career as lecturer in the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He shifted to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1986 where he continued till 2003. He also served on the Physical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2010 to 2013.

Ramakrishnan has made seminal contributions to the scaling theory of electron localization. He has made contributions to the theory of liquid to solid transition and of mixed valence systems.

Awards and honours

He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1983, TWAS Prize in 1990 and the Padma Shri in 2001. In 1987 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society "for his contributions to the many-body theory of disordered systems, especially the scaling theory of localization and the theory of mixed-valent impurities"

Ramakrishnan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2000. His certificate of election reads:

Professor Ramakrishnan has made crucial contributions to our understanding of condensed many body systems. His pioneering work started two major areas of activity. These are: the liquid-solid transition as well as related phenomena in dense classical systems, and the onset of electron localization in disordered systems. He has also made many significant contributions to their growth. In a third area, namely mixed valence in rare-earth metals, his work on the inverse orbital degeneracy expansion has had a major effect on the field

Undurti Narasimha Das

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Undurti Narasimha Das
Born 28 June 1950)

Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

Andhra University
Osmania University
Known for Studies on Endocrinology and Rheumatology
Awards

1988 ICMR Shakuntala Amirchand Prize
1992 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
1992 Association of Physicians of India Dr. Coelho Memorial Prize
1992 Japanese Society of Clinical Chemistry Regional Research Award
1992 Yagnavalki Sangham Award
1992 PSMA Distinguished Citizen Award
1994 KAPI Bobba Dharma Rao Prize
Scientific career
Fields

Immunology
Endocrinology
Rheumatology
Institutions

Asha Nutrition Sciences, Inc.
Osmania University
Efamol Research Institute
Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences
L. V. Prasad Eye Institute
EFA Sciences
SUNY Upstate Medical University
IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health
Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering
UND Life Sciences

Undurti Narasimha Das (born 1950) shortly Undurti N. Das and U. N. Das is an Indian clinical immunologist, endocrinologist and the founder president and chief executive officer of UND Life Sciences. Additionally, he serves as the Chief Medical Officer and the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Asha Nutrition Sciences, Inc. An elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, Das is known for his researches in the fields of Immunology, Endocrinology and Rheumatology. He holds a number of patents for his work The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1992.

Biography

Osmania Medical College

Born to Kameshwari and Undurti Sitarama Swamy on 28 June 1950 at Kakinada, a large city in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Undurti N. Das graduated in medicine from Andhra Medical College of the Andhra University in 1973. Subsequently, he joined Osmania Medical College as a senior research fellow of the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, simultaneously pursuing his higher studies to secure an MD in 1981. He continued at the institution at the Department of Genetics as an ICMR Research Associate, doing his post-doctoral work for 3 years. In 1984, he moved to Canada to join Efamol Research Institute, Kentville, as a scientist, where he stayed for two years, and on his return to India in 1986, he joined Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences as an associate professor at the department of clinical pharmacology and medical research. He served the institution till 1996, holding the position of a professor from 1990 onward. For the next three years, he was with L. V. Prasad Eye Institute as a professor and the head of the Division of Internal Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Biochemistry. In 1999, he had his second stint abroad, this time in the US, where he chaired EFA Sciences, Norwood as its research director. His service at EFA lasted till 2004, during which period he also served as a research professor of surgery, nutrition, and physiology at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University from 2003 to 2004. That year, he founded UND LIfe Sciences at Shaker Heights, Ohio, a biotechnology company, and became its founder president and chief executive officer. Between 2007 and 2009, he had a brief stay in India as the Research Director of IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health, Chennai.

Das is married to Lakshmi and the couple has two children, Arundhati and Aditya. He holds the positions of the CEO and research director of UND Life Sciences and is a director of Primrose Biosciences, a Hyderabad-based company involved in research and experimental development in the field of natural sciences and engineering.

On January 1, 2013, Dr. Das joined Asha Nutrition Sciences, Inc. as the Chief Medical Officer and the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Legacy

Glioma – MRI

Researches of U. N. Das are focused on various disease processes and his researches have revealed the tumoricidal properties of cis-unsaturated fatty acids as well as the role of gamma-Linolenic acid in controlling the progress of glioma, a type of tumor which affects brain and spinal cord. He has also worked on drug development to combat diseases and conditions such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and schizophrenia. His researches have been documented by way of several articles; ResearchGate an online repository of scientific articles has listed 500 of them. Besides, he has authored three books, viz. Metabolic Syndrome Pathophysiology: The Role of Essential Fatty Acids, Molecular Basis of Health and Disease and A Perinatal Strategy For Preventing Adult Disease: The Role of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids. He holds a number of patents for his work, which include "Method of potentiating the action of 2-methoxyoestradiol, statins and C-peptide of proinsulin, Method(s) of stabilizing and potentiating the actions and administration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Method of stabilizing and potentiating the action of anti-angiogenic substances, Method(s) of preventing, arresting, reversing and treatment of atherosclerosis, and Methods for selectively occluding blood supplies to neoplasias and Butyrylcholinesterase as a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation.

Das is the editor-in-chief of Lipids in Health and Disease, a journal published by BioMed Central and Current Nutrition & Food Science, published by Bentham Science. He is the section editor of Medicine journal, a member of the editorial board of the controversial and non-peer reviewed journal Medical Hypotheses and the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology and sits in the scientific advisory board of Techno Scienze Publisher which publishes a number of journals. He is also a member of the editorial review board of Journal of Applied Research in Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics and has been associated with a number of other journals as a member of their editorial boards or the Panel of Reviewers which include World Journal of Diabetes, European Journal of General Medicine, Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, Frontiers in Biosciences, Diabetes Review Letters, Open Colorectal Cancer Journal, Indian Journal of Medical Research and Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology. He has also been a member of the International Advisory Board of the II International Conference on Functional Foods for the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases, organized by Functional Foods Center, held in November, 2005 at Richardson, Texas;
Awards and honors

Das, a Ramalingaswamy Re-entry Fellow of the Department of Biotechnology, received the Shakuntala Amirchand Prize of the Indian Council of Medical Research in 1988 and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1992. He delivered the Dr. Coelho Memorial Award Oration of Association of Physicians of India in 1992; the same year as he received the Regional Research Award of the Japanese Society of Clinical Chemistry. He also received two minor awards in 1992 viz. Yagnavalki Sangham Award and Distinguished Citizen Award of Pramukh Swamy Maharaj of Aksharadham and the Karnataka Association of Physicians of India awarded him the Bobba Dharma Rao Prize in 1994. In between, the National Academy of Medical Sciences elected him as a fellow in 1992 and the Indian College of Physicians followed suit in 1993 He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a founder member of Telangana Academy of Sciences and a member of science organizations such as New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science and Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, New York.

Vijay P. Bhatkar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born
Vijay Pandurang Bhatkar

Muramba,Tq Murtizapur Akola district, Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater
VNIT Nagpur
M S University, Baroda
IIT Delhi
Known for Architect of PARAM series of Supercomputers
Awards
Padma Bhushan
Padma Shri
Maharashtra Bhushan
Website www.vijaybhatkar.org

Vijay Pandurang Bhatkar is an Indian computer scientist, IT leader and educationalist. He is best known as the architect of India's national initiative in supercomputing where he led the development of Param supercomputers. He is a Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri and Maharashtra Bhushan awardee. Indian computer magazine Dataquest placed him among the pioneers of India's IT industry. He was the founder executive director of C-DAC and is currently working on the developing Exascale supercomputing mission for India.

Bhatkar has been chancellor of Nalanda University, India since January 2017. Prior to that, he served as the Chairman of Board of Governors of IIT Delhi from 2012 to 2017. Currently he is serving as the Chairman of Vijyana Bharti, a non profit organization of Indian scientists.

Career

Vijay Bhatkar was born in Muramba,Tq Murtizapur Akola district, Maharashtra, India. He received BE degree in Electrical Engineering from Nagpur University;Nagpur; ME degree from MS University of Baroda;Vadodara and PhD from IIT Delhi;Delhi

Bhatkar is best known as the architect of India's national initiative in supercomputing where he led the development of Param supercomputers. He developed the first Indian supercomputer, the PARAM 8000, in 1991 and later the PARAM 10000 in 1998. Based on the PARAM series of supercomputers, he built the National Param Supercomputing Facility (NPSF) which is now made available as a grid computing facility through the Garuda grid on the National Knowledge Network (NKN) providing nationwide access to High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure. Currently, Bhatkar is working on exascale supercomputing via the capability, capacity and infrastructure on NKN. He has also been involved with ICT initiatives such as the development of GIST multilingual technology, MKCL's computer literacy programme for computers and Education to Home (ETH) for providing coaching on ICT related examinations.

Bhatkar has played significant role in forming several national institutions and research centers including Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the Electronics Research and Development Centre (ER&DC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala (IIITM-K), the ETH Research Laboratory and International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT) in Pune, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation (MKCL) and the India International Multiversity. He has served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the government of India, CSIR governing body, IT Task Force, and eGovernance committee chairman of the governments of Maharashtra and Goa. He also serves as the president of Vijnana Bharati.

In 2016, Bhatkar was appointed as the Chairperson of the Science & Engineering Research Body (SERB). In January 2017, Bhatkar was appointed as the Chancellor of the Nalanda University. He is also the Founder Chancellor and Chief Mentor of Multiversity. Dr. Vijay Bhatkar has served as the Chairman of Board of the Governors of IIT-Delhi (2012-2017), Chairman of the ETH (Education To Home) Research Lab, Chairman of the Board of Management of Government College of Engineering, Amravati, Chancellor of D. Y. Patil University, and National President of Vijnana Bharati, a People's Science Movement of over 6,000 scientists across India.

Bhatkar has authored and edited over 12 books and 80 technical and research papers and addressed several university convocations, international and national conferences and conventions and public functions.

Recognition

Padma Bhushan (2015)........
Ramanuja Trust Award (2007)
FICCI Award (1983)
Petersburg Prize (2004)
Padma Shri (2000)
Priyadarshni Award (2000)
National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) Award (1984–85)
Gold Medal Award of Indian Geo-technical Society (1976)
Electronics Man of the Year (1992)
Sitaram Jindal Foundation Award-2012 for applying science and technology at the grassroots level.
In 2011, Bhatkar received an honorary doctorate from DY Patil University. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D from Gujarat Technological University and a D.Litt. degree from Nagpur University.

Vivek Borkar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vivek Borkar
Born 19 September 1954

Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater

IIT Bombay
Case Western Reserve University
University of California, Berkeley
Known for Introducing analytical paradigm in stochastic optimal control processes
Awards

1982 IEEE CSS Best Transactions Paper Award
1992 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
2000 IIT Mumbai Distinguished Alumnus Award
2008 INSA P. C. Mahalanobis Medal
2008 Value Tools Best paper award
2009 TWAS Prize
2009 IFIP Wireless Days Best Paper Award

Scientific career
Fields

Stochastic control
Learning control theory
Stochastic process
Institutions

University of Twente
TIFR Centre for Applicable Mathematics
Indian Institute of Science
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
IIT Bombay
Doctoral advisor

Pravin Varaiya

Vivek Shripad Borkar (born 1954) is an Indian electrical engineer, mathematician and an Institute chair professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is known for introducing analytical paradigm in stochastic optimal control processes and is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. the Indian Academy of Sciences,[3]Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India. He also holds elected fellowships of The World Academy of Sciences, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Indian National Academy of Engineering and the American Mathematical Society. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Engineering Sciences in 1992. He received the TWAS Prize of the World Academy of Sciences in 2009.

Biography
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Vivek S. Borkar, born on 19 September 1954 in the Indian state of Maharashtra, graduated in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1976 and moved to the US where he pursued his master's studies in systems and control engineering at Case Western Reserve University to obtain an MS degree in 1977. Subsequently, he enrolled for doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley at the laboratory of Pravin Varaiya and secured a PhD for his thesis, Identification and Adaptive Control of Markov Chains, in 1980.

After his studies at University of California, Borkar moved to the Netherlands and worked as a visiting scientist at the University of Twente for one year. On his return to India in 1981, he joined the TIFR Centre for Applicable Mathematics, Bengaluru as a fellow where he stayed till his move to the Indian Institute of Science in 1989 as an assistant professor. He served IISc till 1999 and held the post of an associate professor at the time of his appointment at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) as a professor (Grade G). He held various ranks of professorship at TIFR such as grades H to I and on his superannuation in 2011 as a Distinguished Professor, he moved to his alma mater, IIT Mumbai, where he holds the position of a chair professor at the School of Technology and Computer Science.

Legacy
Andrei Andreyevich Markov, Russian mathematician known for his work on Stochastic processes

Borkar's researches were mainly in the fields of Stochastic control, Learning control theory and random processes and he is known to have introduced a new convex analytical paradigm based upon occupation measures. His work is reported to have assisted in bettering the understanding of Stochastic control issues and elucidated adaptive control schemes with regard to asymptotic optimality. He has worked on Distributed computation, Multiple timescales, Approximation and learning algorithms, Multiagent problems and Small noise limits and developed a protocol which used conditional version of importance sampling for the estimation of Markov chain averages; the scheme was later confirmed by a team of scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His researches have been documented in several peer-reviewed articles;and Google Scholar, an online article repository of scientific articles has listed 373 of them. Besides, he has published 5 books viz. Optimal control of diffusion processes, Probability Theory: An Advanced Course, Stochastic Approximation: A Dynamical Systems Viewpoint, Hamiltonian Cycle Problem and Markov Chains and Ergodic Control of Diffusion Processes. He has also contributed chapters to several books edited by others and has delivered a number of invited or keynote addresses including the address on Control and Optimization at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Madrid in August 2006 and the Lecture on Probability and Stochastic Processes XI organized by Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi in November 2016.

Borkar has been associated with several science journals as an editor or a member of their editorial boards which included SIAM Journal of Control and Optimization, Systems and Control Letters, Journal of Indian Institute of Science, Sadhana; Proceedings of Indian Academy of Sciences (Engineering Science), Applicationes Mathematicae of Polish Academy of Sciences and Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics He has served as a member of the executive committee of the Mumbai chapter of IEEE and has been an examiner for doctoral studies at University of Nice Sophia Antipolis.

Awards and honors

Three of Borkar's papers have won awards, starting with Best Transactions Paper Award of the IEEE Control Systems Society in 1982, followed by the Best Paper Award of Value Tools in 2008 and Best Paper Award of IFIP Wireless Days in 2009. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1992. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai in 2000 and the Prasant Chandra Mahalanobis Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 2008.[28] The World Academy of Sciences selected him for the TWAS Prize in 2009.

Borkar was elected as a fellow by the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1993 and he received the Homi Bhabha Fellowship in 1995. He became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1996 and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers followed suit in 2002. Two years later, the Indian National Academy of Engineers[8] and the National Academy of Sciences, India elected him as their fellow in 2004 and 2009 respectively; In between, he received the J. C. Bose National Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology. The award orations delivered by Borkar include Abdi Memorial Lecture of Ramanujan Mathematical Society in 2006 and M. S. Huzurbazar Memorial Lecture of Bombay Mathematical Colloquium in 2012.
Vandana Shiva
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva in 2014
Born 5 November 1952
Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh (present-day Uttarakhand), India
Alma mater Panjab University, Chandigarh
University of Guelph
University of Western Ontario
Indian Institute of Science
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Occupation Philosopher, environmentalist, author, professional speaker, social activist
Awards Right Livelihood Award (1993)
Sydney Peace Prize (2010)
Mirodi Prize (2016)
Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize (2012)
from the BBC programme Saving Species, 23 December 2011[1]

Website vandanashiva.com

Video statement (2014)
Part of a series on
Anti-consumerism

show
Theories and ideas

show
Notable works

show
Organizations and groups

Vandana Shiva (born 5 November 1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalisation author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred as "Gandhi of grain" for her activism associated with anti-GMO movement.

Shiva is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization (with Jerry Mander, Ralph Nader, and Jeremy Rifkin), and a figure of the anti-globalisation movement.[5] She has argued in favour of many traditional practices, as in her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime). She is a member of the scientific committee of the Fundacion IDEAS, Spain's Socialist Party's think tank. She is also a member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society. She received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, an award established by Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, and regarded as an "Alternative Nobel Prize".

Early life and education
Vandana Shiva in Cologne, Germany, in 2007

Vandana Shiva was born in Dehradun. Her father was a conservator of forests, and her mother was a farmer with a love for nature. She was educated at St. Mary's Convent High School in Nainital, and at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun.

Shiva studied physics at Panjab University in Chandigarh, graduating as a Bachelor of Science in 1972. After a brief stint at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, she moved to Canada to pursue a master's degree in the philosophy of science at the University of Guelph in 1977 where she wrote a thesis entitled "Changes in the concept of periodicity of light". In 1978, she completed and received her PhD in philosophy at the University of Western Ontario, focusing on philosophy of physics. Her dissertation was titled "Hidden variables and locality in quantum theory" in which she discussed the mathematical and philosophical implications of hidden variable theories that fall outside of the purview of Bell's theorem. She later went on to pursue interdisciplinary research in science, technology, and environmental policy at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.

Career

Vandana Shiva has written and spoken extensively about advances in the fields of agriculture and food. Intellectual property rights, biodiversity, biotechnology, bioethics, and genetic engineering are among the fields where Shiva has fought through activist campaigns. She has assisted grassroots organisations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland, and Austria with opposition to advances in agricultural development via genetic engineering.

In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. This led to the creation of Navdanya in 1991, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade. Navdanya, which translates to "Nine Seeds" or "New Gift", is an initiative of the RFSTE to educate farmers of the benefits of maintaining diverse and individualised crops rather than accepting offers from monoculture food producers. The initiative established over 40 seed banks across India to provide regional opportunity for diverse agriculture. In 2004 Shiva started Bija Vidyapeeth, an international college for sustainable living in Doon Valley, Uttarakhand, in collaboration with Schumacher College, UK.

In the area of intellectual property rights and biodiversity, Shiva and her team at the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology challenged the biopiracy of neem, basmati and wheat. She has served on expert groups of government on Biodiversity and IPR legislation.

Her first book, Staying Alive (1988), helped change perceptions of third world women.[citation needed] In 1990, she wrote a report for the FAO on Women and Agriculture titled "Most Farmers in India are Women". She founded the gender unit at the International Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu and was a founding board member of the Women's Environment & Development Organisation (WEDO).

The Australian publisher Spinifex published Shiva's book Making Peace With the Earth, said to be based on her 2010 Sydney Peace Prize Lecture about Indian social-ecological concerns and insights. This book discusses biodiversity and the relationship between communities and nature. "Accordingly, she aligns the destruction of natural biodiversity with the dismantling of traditional communities—those who 'understand the language of nature'". David Wright wrote in a review of the book that to Shiva, "the Village becomes a symbol, almost a metaphor for 'the local' in all nations".

Shiva has also served as an advisor to governments in India and abroad as well as non-governmental organisations, including the International Forum on Globalization, the Women's Environment & Development Organisation and the Third World Network. She chairs the Commission on the Future of Food set up by the Region of Tuscany in Italy and is a member of the Scientific Committee that advised former prime minister Zapatero of Spain. Shiva is a member of the Steering Committee of the Indian People's Campaign Against WTO. She is a councilor of the World Future Council. Shiva serves on Government of India Committees on Organic Farming. She participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007. She also advised the government of Sri-Lanka on the ban on inorganic fertilizers and pesticides introduced in 2021 which led to severe reduction of farming output in numerous sectors (especially tea industry) and food shortages. According to The Hindu, "President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called in the army to manage the crisis by rationing the supply of various essential goods."

Activism

Shiva has worked to promote biodiversity in agriculture to increase productivity, nutrition, farmer's incomes and it is for this work she was recognised as an 'environmental hero' by Time magazine in 2003. Her work on agriculture started in 1984 after the violence in Punjab and the Bhopal disaster caused by a gas leak from Union Carbide's pesticide manufacturing plant. Her studies for the UN University led to the publication of her book The Violence of the Green Revolution.

In an interview with David Barsamian, Shiva argues that the seed-chemical package promoted by green revolution agriculture has depleted fertile soil and destroyed living ecosystems. In her work Shiva cites data allegedly demonstrating that today there are over 1400 pesticides that may enter the food system across the world.

Shiva is a founding councillor of the World Future Council (WFC). The WFC was formed in 2007 "to speak on behalf of policy solutions that serve the interests of future generations." Their primary focus has been on climate security.

Seed freedo

Shiva supports the idea of seed freedom, or the rejection of corporate patents on seeds. She has campaigned against the implementation of the WTO 1994 Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, which broadens the scope of patents to include life forms. Shiva has criticised the agreement as having close ties with the corporate sector and opening the door to further patents on life. Shiva calls the patenting of life 'biopiracy', and has fought against attempted patents of several indigenous plants, such as basmati. In 2005, Shiva's was one of the three organisations that won a 10-year battle in the European Patent Office against the biopiracy of Neem by the US Department of Agriculture and the corporation WR Grace. In 1998, Shiva's organisation Navdanya began a campaign against the biopiracy of basmati rice by US corporation RiceTec Inc. In 2001, following intensive campaigning, RiceTec lost most of its claims to the patent.

Golden rice

Shiva strongly opposes golden rice, a breed of rice that has been genetically engineered to biosynthesise beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. It has the potential to assist in alleviating the vitamin A deficiency suffered by a third of preschool-aged children worldwide. Shiva claims that Golden Rice is more harmful than beneficial in her explanation of what she calls the "Golden Rice hoax": "Unfortunately, Vitamin A rice is a hoax, and will bring further dispute to plant genetic engineering where public relations exercises seem to have replaced science in promotion of untested, unproven and unnecessary technology... This is a recipe for creating hunger and malnutrition, not solving it." Adrian Dubock says that golden rice is as cheap as other rice and vitamin A deficiency is the greatest reason for blindness and causes 28% of global preschool child mortality. Shiva has claimed that the women of Bengal grow and eat 150 greens which can do the same, though environmental consultant Patrick Moore suggests that most of these 250 million children do not eat much else than a bowl of rice a day. In the 2013 report "The economic power of the Golden Rice opposition", two economists, Wesseler and Zilberman from Munich University and the University of California, Berkeley respectively calculated that the absence of Golden Rice in India had caused the loss of over 1.4 million life man years in the previous ten years

GM, India and suicides

According to Shiva, "Soaring seed prices in India have resulted in many farmers being mired in debt and turning to suicide". The creation of seed monopolies, the destruction of alternatives, the collection of superprofits in the form of royalties, and the increasing vulnerability of monocultures has created a context for debt, suicides, and agrarian distress. According to data from the Indian government, nearly 75 per cent rural debt is due to purchased inputs. Shiva claims that farmers' debt grows as GMO corporation's profits grow. According to Shiva, it is in this systemic sense that GM seeds are those of suicide.

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) twice analysed academic articles and government data and concluded the decrease and that there was no evidence on "resurgence" of farmer suicide.

Ecofeminism

Shiva plays a major role in the global ecofeminist movement. According to her 2004 article Empowering Women, a more sustainable and productive approach to agriculture can be achieved by reinstating the system of farming in India that is more centred on engaging women. She advocates against the prevalent "patriarchal logic of exclusion," claiming that a woman-focused system would be a great improvement. She believes that ecological destruction and industrial catastrophes threaten daily life, and the maintenance of these problems have become women's responsibility.

Cecile Jackson has criticised some of Shiva's views as essentialist.

Shiva co-wrote the book Ecofeminism in 1993 with "German anarchist and radical feminist sociologist" Maria Mies. It combined Western and Southern feminism with "environmental, technological and feminist issues, all incorporated under the term ecofeminism". These theories are combined throughout the book in essays by Shiva and Mies.

Stefanie Lay described the book as a collection of thought-provoking essays but also found in it a lack of new ecofeminist theories and contemporary analysis, as well as "overall failure to acknowledge the work of others".

Indian Intelligence Bureau Investigation

In June 2014, Indian and international media reported that Navdanya and Vandana Shiva were named in a leaked, classified report by India's Intelligence Bureau (IB), which was prepared for the Indian Prime Minister's Office.

The leaked report says that campaigning activities of Indian NGOs such as Navdanya are hampering India's growth and development. In its report, the IB said that Indian NGOs, including Navdanya, receive money from foreign donors under the 'charitable garb' of campaigning for human rights or women's equality, but instead use the money for nefarious purposes. "These foreign donors lead local NGOs to provide field reports which are used to build a record against India and serve as tools for the strategic foreign policy interests of the Western governments," the IB report states.

Criticism

Investigative journalist Michael Specter, in an article in The New Yorker on 25 August 2014 called "Seeds of Doubt", raised concerns over a number of Shiva's claims regarding GMOs and some of her campaigning methods. He wrote: "Shiva's absolutism about G.M.O.s can lead her in strange directions. In 1999, ten thousand people were killed and millions were left homeless when a cyclone hit India's eastern coastal state of Orissa. When the U.S. government dispatched grain and soy to help feed the desperate victims, Shiva held a news conference in New Delhi and said that the donation was proof that 'the United States has been using the Orissa victims as guinea pigs' for genetically-engineered products, although she made no mention that those same products are approved and consumed in the United States. She also wrote to the international relief agency Oxfam to say that she hoped it wasn't planning to send genetically modified foods to feed the starving survivors."

Shiva responded that Specter was "ill informed" and that "for the record, ever since I sued Monsanto in 1999 for its illegal Bt cotton trials in India, I have received death threats", adding that the "concerted PR assault on me for the last two years from Lynas, Specter and an equally vocal Twitter group is a sign that the global outrage against the control over our seed and food, by Monsanto through GMOs, is making the biotech industry panic." David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker, responded by publishing a letter supporting Specter's article.

Cases of plagiarism have been pointed out against Shiva. Birendra Nayak noted that Shiva copied verbatim from a 1996 article in Voice Gopalpur in her 1998 book Stronger than Steel, and that in 2016, she plagiarised several paragraphs of an article by S Faizi on the Plachimada/Coca-Cola issue published in The Statesman.

Journalist Keith Kloor, in an article published in Discover on 23 October 2014 titled "The Rich Allure of a Peasant Champion", revealed that Shiva charges $40,000 per lecture, plus a business-class air ticket from New Delhi. Kloor wrote: "She is often heralded as a tireless 'defender of the poor,' someone who has courageously taken her stand among the peasant farmers of India. Let it be noted, however, that this champion of the downtrodden doesn't exactly live a peasant's lifestyle."

Stewart Brand in Whole Earth Discipline described some of Shiva's statements as pseudo-scientific, calling her warnings about "heritable sterility" (Stolen Harvest, 2000) a "biological impossibility" but also plagiarism from Geri Guidetti, owner of the seed supplier company Ark Institute, and a "distraction" created by inflating the potential of terminator genes based on a single 1998 patent granted to a US company. Brand also criticised the position of anti-GMO activists, including Shiva, who forced Zambia's government to reject internationally donated corn in 2001-02 because it was "poisoned", as well as during the cyclone disaster in India. On the latter Shiva argued, "emergency cannot be used as market opportunity", to which Brand responded, "anyone who encourages other people to starve on principle should do some of the starving themselves". In 1998 Shiva was also protesting against Bt cotton program in India, calling it "seeds of suicide, seeds of slavery, seeds of despair", claiming she was protecting the farmers. Restrictive laws established in India under anti-GMO lobbying, however, led to widespread grassroots "seed piracy" where Indian farmers illegally planted seeds of Bt cotton and Bt brinjal, obtained either from experimental plantations or from Bangladesh (where they are planted legally) due to increased yield and reduced pesticide usage. As of 2005 over 2.5 million hectares were planted with "unofficial" Bt cotton in India, of which Noel Kingsbury said:

Shiva's "Operation Cremate Monsanto" had spectacularly failed, its anti-GM stance borrowed from Western intellectuals had made no headway with Indian farmers, who showed they were not passive recipients of either technology or propaganda, but could take an active role in shaping their lives. What they did is also perhaps more genuinely subversive of multinational capitalism than anything GM's opponents have ever managed.

— Noel Kingsbury, Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding (2009)

In India, farmers planting GM crops illegally eventually formed the Shetkari Sanghatana movement, calling for reform of the restrictive laws created under anti-GMO lobbying and as of 2020 an estimated 25% of cotton farmed is GM.

In 2021 a number of academics signed an open letter criticising University of Missouri-Kansas decision to invite Shiva to a debate. They quoted a number of her statements which they described as "unethical" and "anti-scientific":

"gradual spread of sterility in seeding plants", which they described as "nonsense" as sterile seeds are unable to reproduce and spread any straits;

"GMOs = Poison Producing Plants", where she was speaking about naturally occurring pesticides;

comparison of GMO-planting farmers to "rapists"

"Indian women selectively do weeding by hand, hereby preserving our biodiversity", which was described as sexist and nonsense, as weeding by any method by definition reduces biodiversity;

"Fertilizer should never have been allowed in agriculture", further comparing fertilizers to "weapons of mass destruction".

Shiva was also criticised for use of incendiary language, comparing her opponents to "Nazi perpetrators", calling to execute scientists and journalists, referring to modern farming practices as "genocide", describing farmers who plant Bt brinjal as "criminals" and frequently referring to retracted Greenpeace-funded research of Gilles-Éric Séralini.

Shiva was one of the advocates of Sri Lanka 2021 ban on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which led to a countrywide decrease in harvest, food shortages and economic crisis.

Film

Vandana Shiva has been interviewed for a number of documentary films including Freedom Ahead, Roshni; Deconstructing Supper: Is Your Food Safe?, The Corporation, Thrive, Dirt! The Movie, Normal is Over, and This is What Democracy Looks Like (a documentary about the Seattle WTO protests of 1999). and Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs Planet of the Humans.

Shiva's focus on water has caused her to appear in a number of films on this topic. These films include "Ganga From the Ground Up," a documentary on water issues in the river Ganges; Blue Gold: World Water Wars by Sam Bozzo; Irena Salina's documentary Flow: For Love of Water (in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival), and the PBS NOW documentary On Thin Ice.

On the topic of genetically modified crops, she was featured in the documentary Fed Up! (2002), on genetic engineering, industrial agriculture and sustainable alternatives; and the documentary The World According to Monsanto, a film made by the French independent journalist Marie-Monique Robin.

Shiva appeared in a documentary film about the Dalai Lama, entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance.

In 2010, Shiva was interviewed in a documentary about honeybees and colony collapse disorder, entitled Queen of the Sun.

She appears in the French films Demain and Solutions locales pour un désordre global.

In 2016, she appeared in the vegan documentary film H.O.P.E.: What You Eat Matters, where she was critical of the animal agriculture industry and meat-intensive diets.

Selected listing

Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs, 2012
Another Story of Progress, 2012
The Farmer and His Prince, 2013
Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, 2013
Poverty Inc., 2014
The True Cost, 2015, a documentary about fast fashion and the garment industry
Planet of the humans, 2018

Publications

Library resources about
Vandana Shiva

Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
By Vandana Shiva
V. S. Sunder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vaikalathur Shankar Sunder
Born 6 April 1952
Nationality India
Alma mater IIT Madras, Indiana University
Awards Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
Scientific career
Fields Subfactors, operator algebras, functional analysis
Institutions Indian Statistical Institute, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
Doctoral advisor Paul Halmos

Professor Vaikalathur Shankar Sunder (born 6 April 1952) is an Indian mathematician who specialises in subfactors, operator algebras and functional analysis in general.

In 1996, he was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, the highest science award in India, in the mathematical sciences category.

Sunder is one of the first Indian operator algebraists. In addition to publishing about sixty papers, he has written six books including at least three monographs at the graduate level or higher on von Neumann algebras. One of the books was co-authored with Vaughan Jones, an operator algebraist, who has received the Fields Medal.
Dr. Vishweshwaraiah Prakash

FELLOW, ELECTED 1998

Born in Mysore, India on 23 November 1951. Educated at Yuvaraj's College, Mysore, B.Sc. 1970; CFTRI, Mysore, M.Sc. 1972, and Ph.D, University of Mysore, 1976; Post Doctoral at Brandeis University and Texas Medical Center, USA.

Former Director of CFTRI and Distinguished Scientist of CSIR and Currently Vice-President of International Union of Nutritional Sciences and President of International Society for Nutraceuticals, Nutritionals and Naturals, Chair, Board Member of IUFoST, 2019-2020.

Junior and Senior Research Fellow, (1972-76): Post-Doctoral Fellow, USA (1976-78): Pool Officer (CSIR), (1981-82), Scientist, Protein Technology Department, CFTRI, (1982-88); Scientist-in-charge Biophysical Chemistry Unit, CFTRI, (1988-93); Head, Department of Protein Chemistry and Technology, CFTRI (1993) and Director, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore (1994-2011); Coordinator, United Nations University at CFTRI (1994-2011), President IAFoST (Canada) (2006-08); Distinguished Scientist CSIR, (2011-16); Council Member IUNS (2013-17), Vice President, International Union of Nutritional Sciences (2017-21), Board member of IUFoST (2019 -2020).

Awards/Honours: Golden Jubilee Award (University of Mysore), 1988; Sarma Memorial Award [SBC (1)], 1989; Laljee Godhoo Smarak Nidhi Award AFST (I), 1992; Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, 1996; Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, 1996; 50th Anniversary of India's Independence Golden Jubilee Award, 1997; Prof. V. Subramanyan Industrial Achievement Award, AFST (I) 1999; CFTRI Best Alumnus Award, 1999; Soilendra Krishna Mitra Memorial Award, AIFPA (I) 2000; 38th BC Guha Memorial Lecture Award and Citation, Indian Science Congress, 2001; DuPont Protein Technologies International Award, 2001; FICCI Award in Life Sciences and Agriculture, 2001; Kashalkar Memorial Award, 2003; Padma Shri Award, 2004; CIFT 6th Golden Jubilee Commemorative Talk Award, 2007; NSI Nineteenth Srikantia Memorial Lecture Award, 2007; NFI C. Ramachandran Memorial Lecture Award 2007; Avinashilingam University of Women, Dr. Rajammal P. Devadas's Oration Lecture Award 2009; Life Time Achievement Award of KSTA, Government of Karnataka, 2012; IFT Certified Scientist from 2013; Life Time Achievement Award of IUFoST, Canada, 2014; Council Member of Global Harmonization Initiative, Chairman of India Region of EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering Design Group); Executive Editor, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, UK and Editorial Board of a number of leading Journals in the subject areas of Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, Nutraceuticals and Chemistry of Bioactives; President, Nutrition Society of India, 2008-2012; Former Council Member, Karnataka Science and Technology Academy, India and former Scientific Committee Member and Chairman of Nutra Panel at FSSAI, Government of India, New Delhi, Prof. D. Anjaneya Prasad Lifetime achievement award for Animal Nutritionist of India.

Fellow: Royal Society of Chemistry; Indian Academy of Sciences; Association of Food Scientist and Technologists; National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian National Academy of Engineering; Indian Academy of Social Sciences; Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), USA, 2008; International Academy of Food Science and Technology (Canada)

Research Areas: Food Chemistry, Enzymes and Proteins, Food and Nutrition, Food Biotechnology and Nutraceuticals and Food Policies and Prevention of Food Losses and Waste and Food Regulations and Food, Nutrition, Health and Wellness as an Integrated area overarching for Policy matters.

Address: No. 58, '5A' Main Road, Vontikoppal, Mysore 570002, Karnataka; [Tel: Cell: 9845048854; Email: prakashvish@gmail.com]

Member Executive Council 1 Jan, 2018

http://naasindia.org/detail.php?id=359

CHAMAAR TAB AUR AB

January 22, 2020

Dalit Scientist/Technician

Ashwin Ram

Popular Posts