Annual Report for General Secretary
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ANNUAL GENERAL BODY MEETING
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education,
Mankhurd, Mumbai - 400088.
March 20, 2009.
Distinguished IPA members and colleagues, it gives me great pleasure to present the report on IPA activities for 2007-2008.The present Executive Committee has taken charge on March 18, 2008. I am thus, presenting the report for the period starting June, 2007 to till date.
Membership :
Since May, 2007, IPA has enrolled 165 new life members, 15 new annual members, 13 new student members.
Physics News :
Vol. 37 Nos. 1-4 (Jan-Dec 2007) was published in January 2008, with the grant of Rs. 1.5 lakhs received from DST. The present EC has reconstituted the Editorial Board of Physics News, with Prof. Dipan Ghosh as the Chief Editor.
The EC has put on record, its appreciation for the outgoing Editor, Dr. R. R. Puri, who brought out Physics News for several years under severe financial constraints, and had expressed his desire to be relieved. The new editorial committee took over charge in August, 2008 and two issues of Physics News, Vol. 38 (Nos. 1-4, Jan-Dec 2008) and Volume 39 (No.1, January 2009) have been published in October, 2008 and January, 2009, respectively, with the financial support of CARE, SINP, Kolkatta.
The January 2009, special issue of Physics News, on Dr. Homi J Bhabha, published in collaboration with TIFR, was highly appreciated. The next issue of Physics News is due in April, 2009.
Lectures and Seminars :
Prof. P. A. Pandya Endowment Lectures :
Prof. P A Pandya Endowment Lecture - 2007 was delivered by Prof. S K Joshi on 7th November, 2007 at the Department of Physics, University of Delhi, Delhi. The title of the lecture was 'A journey with a quest for understanding materials'. Prof. Pandya Endowment Lecture - 2008 was delivered by Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt of India on 25 th February, 2009 at M S University, Baroda on the topic of 'Research and Innovation'.
New striking Notes in Physics :
This seminar series was initiated in 2007, under which IPA organised a One Day Seminar on 'PHYSICS BEHIND NEW MATERIALS' on November 26, 2007 at D. G. Ruparel College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Mumbai, with financial support received from TIFR.
DAE - C. V. Raman Lecture Series :
IPA - EC has proposed to BRNS, a new format for the DAE-CV Raman Lectures, under which eminent local speakers will deliver four lectures during the year 2009 at Mumbai, Bangalore/Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi/Chandigarh. The financial sanction for the same is presently being awaited.
Awards :
R D Birla Award for Excellence in Physics :
Dr. S. S. Kapoor, who could not receive the R D Burlap Award -2006, as he was out of India during the last AGBM, was presented the award on November 2, 2007 at the V G Konkani Auditorium, HBCSE, and Mumbai. Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Dr. Kapoor delivered the R D. Birla Lecture on 'Journey Through Five Decades of Nuclear Research'.
The selection committee for R D Birla Award - 2008 has recommended to confer this award on Prof. M G K Menon. The award will be presented to Prof. Memon soon, on a mutually convenient date.
Shri M M Chugani Memorial Award for Excellence in Applied Physics :
The M M Chugani Memorial award - 2006 was conferred on Shri G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space, Govt. of India, on March 18, 2008 at the P. C. Saxena Auditorium, I I T Bombay, Mumbai. Prof. Ashok Misra Director, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, was the chief guest on the occasion. Shri Nair delivered the M M Chugani Memorial Lecture entitled, 'Space Technology - Current and Future'.
The selection committee for Shri M M Chugani Memorial Award - 2008 has recommended to confer this award on Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. The award will be presented to Dr. Kakodkar, on a mutually convenient date.
Buti Foundation award for excellence in Theoretical physics, Astrophysics and Biophysics (for scientists below 40 years) :
On the recommendation of the selection committee, the Buti foundation Award - 2008 was conferred on Dr. Anirban Sain, Department of Physics, IIT Bombay on the 20th March, 2009 at V G kulkarni Auditorium, HBCSE, Mumbai.
S N Seshadri Memorial Instrumentation Award (for scientists below 40 years) :
On the recommendation of the section committee, the S N Seshadri memorial award was conferred on Shri Shivanand Chourasia, Laser and Neutron Physics Section, BARC, Mumbai, on 20th March, 2009, at V G kulkarni Auditorium, HBCSE, Mumbai.
N S Sathya Murthy Memorial Award for Excellence in Physics (for scientists below 35 years) :
The award for the year 2007 could not be given, since the selection panel formed under the convener-ship of Prof. Anand Pathak, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad did not find a suitable candidate from amongst the nominees, who were asked to make presentations. On the recommendation of the selection committee, the N S Satya Murthy Award - 2008 as been jointly conferred on Dr. Dibyendu Das , Department of Physics, IIT Bombay and Dr. Tapas Ganguli, R R CAT, Indore, on 20th March 2009, at V G kulkarni Auditorium, HBCSE, Mumbai.
IPA- Prof. C V K Baba Best Thesis Award (Nuclear Physics):
The first best thesis award (2007), was given to Dr. P. D. Shidling, Karnatak University, during the Nuclear Physics Symposium held at Sambalpur University (Dec 11-15, 2007). For the year 2008, this award was given to Dr. Pushpendra P Singh of Aligarh Muslim University during Nuclear Physics Symposium, held at IIT Roorkee (Dec 22-26, 2008).
IPA Best Thesis Awards in Solid State Physics :
For the year 2008, these award were given to Dr. S. Chodankar, Solid State Physics Division, BARC, Dr. Rajeev Kapri, Department of Theoretical Physics, TIFR, Mumbai and Dr. Soumik Mukhopadhyay, ECMP Division, SINP, Kolkata.
C. L. Bhat Memorial Award (Astronomy Olympiad Orientation - cum - Selection Camp) :
For the year 2007, the awards were given to Mr. Kedar Tatwawadi (senior category) and to Mr. Aniruddha Bapat (junior category). For the year 2008, Mr. Shantanu Agarwal (junior category) and Mr. Tushar Shrotriya (senior category) received the awards.
Indian National Physics Olympiad :
The award for "Best Solution to a Challenging Problem" award was given to Mr Pranay Bhatia for 2007 and to Mr. Ish Dhand for 2008. The award for the "Best Performance in Experimental Programme" was given to Mr. Sohum U. Mehta for 2007 and to Mr. Garvit Juniwal for 2008. IPA congratulates and wishes the best to all the awardees, for their future endeavours.
Interaction with Overseas Physics Associations / Societies :
IPA - IOP Annual Exchange of Lecturers :
Under this exchange programme, The IOP cancelled the proposed visit of Prof. R. Pilkington to India in Nov-December 2007. The return visit to UK by an Indian scientist, was conducted in December 2008, under which, Prof. Bikash Sinha, Director, VECC and SINP, Kolkata and President, IPA visited UK during 7th to 17th December, 2008 and delivered a series of Homi J Bhabha lectures on the topics of, 'environmental issues: climate change and sustainable energy' and 'mini bang and the big bang' at several institutions, including, Cambridge University and University of Surrey.
Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies :
IPA continues to be a member of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies.
Physics Education related Promotional Activities :
Indian National Physics Talent Quiz : Since the International Year of Physics 2005, IPA, in collaboration with IAPT has been conducting a nationwide Physics Talent Search Programme for school students, UG/PG students and physics teachers. INPTQ - 2007 was initiated in April 2007, with the help of Bombay Association for Science Education (BASE) and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI). Under this activity, students and teachers collect a certain number of points by carrying out certain tasks locally. A selection committee appointed by IPA-EC assesses these inputs and selects the students and teachers for the final stage presentations, which were held in HBCSE, Mumbai on January 23, 2008. The judges, selected the following for the awards.
Teachers Category : Prof. R. M. Jadhav, Bahauddin Science College, Junagadh and Prof. S. Selvapriya, The S. F. R. College for Women, Sivakasi UNDERGRADUATE / POSTGRADUATE .
Students Category : Ms. Shourie Ranjana J., Lady Doak College, Madurai, Mr. Vaibhav Savant, Fergusson College, Pune and Mr. Gaurav Jayaswal, Ajay Binay Institute of Technology, Cuttack IX - XI Class Students Category: Mr. Rahul S. Pawar, AECS no. 3, Tarapur and Ms. Nkhita Nandakumar, AECS No. 2, Mumbai The awardees were felicitated on January 24, 2008 at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education at a function in which the certificates and books ( as awards) were given. IPA is happy to note that the programme for the year 2007 was a success and thanks all the Area Coordinators, Sub-Coordinators, Centre in-charges, the Organising Committee, and specially to Prof. P. H. Umadikar, who was instrumental in the smooth and successful running of this programme.
IPA-IAPT Quiz Competition : On the occasion of 25 years of cooperation between Indian Physics Association (IPA) and Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and the birth centenary year of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, an Essay Competition for Mumbai college students is being jointly organized by IPA and IAPT. Students are invited to write an essay on "Multi faceted personality of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha and his contributions in shaping Modern India". The last date for submissions is May 15, 2009.
Activities of IPA Chapters :
Presently, IPA has 45 chapters, some of which have been quite active. I present below the reports received for some IPA Chapters :
Hyderabad Chapter : The Hyderabad Chapter, University of Hyderabad has conducted several activities, including, a) Quiz Competition on April 2, 2008, b) Screening of documentary films, SICKO ( 21st August 2008) and E= MC2 (17th September 2008) and c) several seminars, including those, on 'Newton and his gravity' (Prof. K. P. N. Murthy, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad on 28 August 2008), 'Philosophy of ultimate success in science' (Prof. Prof. D. Basavaiah, Dean, School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad on 30 September 2008) and 'Gravitational Sling-Shot Effect' (Prof. H S Mani, on 28 February 2009). To mark the 200th birth anniversary of Charles Darwin and also the 150th anniversary of his book, 'The Origin of Species', a documentary entitled 'The genius of Charles Darwin' was screened on 12th February 2009.
Kurnool Chapter : IPA Kurnool Chapter conducted a National Seminar on 'Nuclear Technology in the Development of the Nation' on February 21, 2009 at Kurnool.
Varanasi Chapter : Several lectures organised by the chapter, are as follows:
Prof. G. Rajasekaran (IMSc, Chennai) on 'Nobel Prizes in Physics: 2008'.
Prof. A. M. Srivastava (IoP, Bhubaneswar) on 'Universe, CMBR and Heavy Ion Collisions'.
Dr. S. K. Pal (Intel, USA), on 'Growth of Carbon Nanotubes : Electrical and Thermal Studies'.
Prof. Yashwant Gupta (NCRA, PUNE) on 'Exploring the Universe with the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope'.
The chapter also celebrated the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri J. C. Bose, by organising a movie, 'The Story of Messenger Radio Waves', produced by Vigyan Prasar, N. Delhi. and a talk by Dr. Subodh Mahanti, (Scientist "F", Vigyan Prasar) on the 'Life and Work of J. C. Bose: Inspiration to Young Generation'.
Before concluding, I take this opportunity to thank the President IPA, Prof. Bikash Sinha, Vice - President, Prof. S. Kailas, treasurer, Mr. A. N. Nakra, Chief Editor, Physics News, Prof. Dipan Ghosh, all other members of the Executive Committee, and some local IPA colleagues, Prof. P. H. Umadikar and, Shri Suhas Naik-Satam for their excellent co-operation, guidance and support. I am sure that I have unwittingly left out some names and I apologise for the same.
I wish to express my deeply felt appreciation of the hard work done by Mrs. Swarna Latha and Mr. Ashok Dhule of IPA office. Without their dedication to the cause, it would not have been possible to make whatever small progress that we have made during the period of this report. I thank them profusely for their un-stinted support in conducting the IPA activities.
I now request the IPA members present here, to accept this brief report. Thank you all!
S S Major