Annual Report 2004-2005

Professional Socities

Indian Academy Of Sciences, Bangalore

This is the seventieth year of the Academy’s existence. With election of one honorary fellow and six Associates, the number on rolls is currently - Fellows 862, Honorary Fellows 48, Associates 30. Publications continue to be the major activity with the eleven journals in various disciplines regularly published. 85 issues aggregating to nearly 10,000 printed pages were published. Several special issues were brought out. The journals of the Academy including back issues are now freely available on the Internet. The mid-year scientific meeting in July 2004 was held at Bangalore and the regular meeting in November 2004 at Varanasi. There were several lecture presentations on semi-popular topics, three special lectures and a public lecture. Discussion meetings were held on “Monte Carlo and related algorithms” at Coorg; and on “Fluid Geological Processes” at Bangalore.

To improve the quality of science education and its teaching, several programmes were continued to be undertaken by the Academy including Two-month summer fellowships to bright students and motivated teachers (204 nos.); Participation of Teachers in Academy Meetings (94 nos.); Refresher Courses for Teachers (5 nos.); and Lecture Series for Students/Teachers (95 nos.).

Indian National Academy Of Engineering, New Delhi

Four Fellows of the Academy were conferred with Padma Shri, the Republic Day Honour by the Government of India on January 26, 2004

Promoting Excellence in the Field of Engineering

Dr. K Kasturirangan, FNAE, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore and Prof. D Dutta Majumder, FNAE, Professor Emeritus, Electronic & Communication Science Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata have been selected for Life Time Contribution Awards in Engineering 2004. Prof. AK Ghose, FNAE, Formerly Director, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad has been selected for Prof. Jai Krishna Memorial Award 2004.

The Academy in 1996 instituted INAE Young Engineer Awards for excellence in design and technology transfer, innovative development and engineering research. The scheme has attracted nominations of bright young talent in the country and has become a prestigious national award since then. So far, 75 young engineers have been conferred this Award and their early recognition has encouraged the best upcoming talent to make innovative engineering and technological contributions for our national development.

The nominations for this award for the year 2004 were sought from INAE Fellows, Engineering institutions, R&D Laboratories. Out of ninety four candidates including forty carried over from the previous years, twenty seven were shortlisted by the Sectional Committees in their meeting on August 20, 2004. Shortlisted candidates were called for presentation of their work before the Selection Committee on September 18, 2004 at India International Centre, New Delhi. 12 young engineers were selected for the award.

The Academy has instituted ‘Innovative Potential of Student Project Awards’ since 1998 to identify innovative and creative research projects undertaken by the students at three levels, BE/ B.Tech, ME/ M.Tech and Ph.D in Engineering Colleges. The Scheme envisages joint projects among Industry, Research Laboratories and Academic Institutions. Seventy two nominations received, for Doctoral level (20), Master’s level (11) and Bachelor level (41) were examined by the Steering Committee, which met on August 6, 2004. Out of these, thirty three nominations, for Doctoral level (10), Master’s level (7) and Bachelor level (16), were shortlisted. The shortlisted candidates were called for presentation of their work before the Steering Committee on September 17, 2004 at India International Centre, New Delhi. 6 Doctoral Level, 4 Master’s Level and 5 Bachelor’s Level Students have been selected.

Seminars/ Conferences

National Seminar on “New Product Development - Advantage India” was organized in December 2004 at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Workshop on “Accreditation and Evaluation of Engineering Programmes” was held in August 2004 at New Delhi. National Seminar on “Road Map to Hydrogen Economy” was organized at Hyderabad during March 2005.

Research Projects

Indian Engineering Heritage

In Civil Engineering, Heritage Buildings in Thiruvananthapuram and Structural and Architectural studies of Domes and Vaults in South India were the subjects of research study. In the area of Railways, The First Report on IEH (Railways) has been prepared by the Study Group. It broadly covers History, Railway Gauge, Permanent Way, Railway Bridges, Railway Construction Projects, The Railway Locomotives and Other Railway Stocks, Mechanical Workshops, Production Units, DC Electrification, AC Railway Electrification and Signalling and Telecommunication. The report is being finalized to be printed as a monograph. In Metallurgy, Study Group on Indian Engineering Heritage (Metallurgy) will be organizing one day Discussion Meeting on “Delhi Iron Pillar” early next year to arrive at a consensus opinion on the corrosion resistance of the Delhi Iron Pillar and suggest specific methodologies and directions for researchers and Department of Culture.

Academia-Industry Interaction

The Academy decided to hold detailed discussion meetings on the subject on regional basis all over India. The first such Discussion Meeting was held at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore on March 25, 2004. This Discussion Meeting proved extremely useful.

The Second Discussion Meeting on Academia-Industry Interaction was held on June 27, 2004 at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Forty two participants comprising members of Faculty of IIT, Kharagpur and other Educational institutions in Eastern Region. Invitees from Industries in the Eastern Region, Fellows of INAE in the Eastern Region, members of INAE Council, members of INAE Industry Executive Forum, Programme Committee and Forum on Engineering Education attended it as a Brain Storming Session to evolve some concrete proposals to strengthen this important interface. Some important suggestions emerged in this meeting.

AICTE-INAE Distinguished Visiting Professorship Scheme

The 7th Steering Committee Meeting of the AICTE- INAE Distinguished Visiting Professorship Scheme was held on July 9, 2004 at India International Centre, New Delhi. Twenty two nominations received for the year 2004-2005 were discussed by the Steering Committee. After deliberations, the Committee selected ten experts.

The Fellowship

The Sectional Committees of the Council met on August 20, 2004 at INAE Office and gave recommendations of nominees for various engineering sections. The Governing Council met on September 25, 2004 in which the Conveners gave a brief on each of the nominees recommended by the Sectional Committees. After detailed discussions, the Council elected 36 Fellows to the Academy effective from January 1, 2005.

International Affairs

The Annual Meeting of International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) was held at Stavanger, Norway during May 24-28, 2004. The INAE delegation attended the meeting.

During May 24-25, a joint Norway-Australia Workshop on “Offshore Petroleum” was organized. Dr. CR Prasad was nominated by INAE and actively participated in the Workshop.

An International Seminar on “Global Energy Foresight” was held during May 26-27, 2004. A paper entitled “Developments in Technology and Future Energy Supply in India” by Anil Kakodkar, Placid Rodriguez and Sriram Jayasimha was presented by Dr. Placid Rodriguez.

Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi

The Council assumed office after the 69th Anniversary General Meeting on December 28, 2003 at NCL, Pune.

• Elected 29 Indian scientists as Fellows and 4 Foreign scientists as Foreign Fellows. Fifteen
  Young Scientists (below 32 years of age) were selected for INSA Young Scientist Medal Award.
  
• Seventeen awards were announced (5 General Medals/ Lectures, 12 Subject-wise awards)
• Study Groups, set up last year, for the preparation of well considered document on Responsibility and Ethics in Science, Science in Doctor’s Training, Instrumentation in India and Science Career for Indian Women had several meetings & seminars towards finalization of their document.
• Signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in Sciences and Humanities.
• Reorganized the National Committees of various ICSU Unions by clubbing together committees of overlapping subject areas for greater interaction of scientists belonging to similar disciplines. Linkages with the professional societies, wherever possible, have been established.
• Instituted Etienne Wolf-Ramanujan Lecture Series with French Academy of Sciences.
• Supported 5 INSA Professors, 42 Senior Scientists and 32 Honorary Scientists and helped them to pursue scientific excellence.
• Supported eight new projects under the programmes of Indian National Commission for History of Science.
  
• Brought out monthly journal Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, bimonthly journals Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy (Part A & B) and quarterly journal Indian Journal of History of Science.

Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific institution established in 1914 primarily for the purpose of providing a common platform to Indian scientists, engineers and technologists of all categories and belonging to different disciplines for sharing expertise and experience. Ever since 1914, an annual Congress of the Association has been held every year with a very distinguished scientist as the General President. During the annual session of ISCA, representatives from similar associations throughout the world participate.

There are at present 18 ISCA Chapters in different parts of India viz. Bangalore, Baroda, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Bodh-Gaya, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Karnal, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patiala and Shillong.

The year under report witnessed a significant number of publications brought out by the Association including General Information – 92nd Indian Science Congress, ISCA Directory : 2004-2005, List of Office-Bearers & Sectional Committees for 2004-2005, Honorary Members, Donor & Life Members for 2004-2005, Members (With Voting Right) for 2004-2005, Annual Report : 2003-2004, and Four issues of the bi-monthly journal Everyman’s Science (Volume XXXIX).

92nd Indian Science Congress

The 92nd Indian Science Congress was held at Ahmedabad under the joint auspices of the
Nirma University of Science and Technology and National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) from January 3-7, 2005. The focal theme of the Congress was “Health Technology as Fulcrum of Development for the Nation”. Fourteen Plenary Sessions devoted to different facets of the focal theme were organized.

Besides the above, there were platinum jubilee lectures, endowment lectures, contributory papers, poster presentations and young scientist award competitions in 14 different sections viz. Agriculture and Forestry Sciences; Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences; Anthropological and Behavioural Sciences (including Archaeology and Psychology & Educational Sciences); Chemical Sciences; Earth System Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Information and Communication Science & Technology (including Computer Science); Materials Sciences; Mathematical Sciences (including Statistics); Medical Sciences (including Physiology); New Biology (including Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology and Biotechnology); Physical Sciences and Plant Sciences.

Twenty four awardees were selected for 2004-2005 in various fields and conferred with awards during 92nd Indian Science Congress.

National Academy Of Sciences, Allahabad

The objectives of the Academy, established in 1930, are cultivation and promotion of Science & Technology in all its branches, providing a national forum for publication of research work, holding symposia/seminars and discussion on scientific topics of national relevance, organizing a Science Library including section for students of plus two level, organizing meetings and discussions on scientific and technological problems, promoting scientific and technological research concerned with the problems of national welfare.

The research journal, Proceedings of the Academy, being published regularly in two sections covering Physical and Biological Sciences, are now running into their 74th Volume. The Academy also publishes a research journal, National Academy Science Letters, now running into its 27th Volume. The other special publication of the Academy is Year Book 2004.

The Academy during the year has organized one symposium “Astronomy in the New Millennium” besides the 73rd Annual Session at Ahmedabad. During the Annual Session, Swarna Jayanti Puruskars were given to scientists presenting best research paper in the Sections of Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences.

For promotion of excellence, the Academy conferred Prof. U.S. Srivastava Memorial Lecture Award; Prof. R.C. Gupta Endowment History of Science Lecture Award; and The National Academy of Sciences, India – Science Teacher Award.

Under human resource development programme, an intensive Science Communication Programme comprising Summer School for +2 level students of Allahabad, series of popular lectures and extension lectures in schools and colleges in Allahabad; State and Local level Science Contests (exhibition, debate, oration, quiz and essay); and a U.P. State level Teachers Workshop for teachers drawn from different schools and colleges of U.P. for preparing low cost science teaching aids, was organized at Allahabad.

The Academy elected 2 distinguished scientists as Foreign Fellows, 50 distinguished scientists as Fellows and 38 scientists as Members.