Academy News

ACADEMY NEWS

INSA MEETINGS

Several meetings were held during July 25-29, 2016 in the Academy premises. These included meetings of the different Sectional Committees for recommending names of new Fellows and Young Scientist Awardees to be elected by the Council of the Academy. The Advisory Boards for the various INSA Awards also met. These were followed by meetings of the Council and General Body on July 29, 2016.

INSA Medal for Young Scientists 2016

The Council at its meeting during July 28-29, 2016 approved the award of INSA Medal for Young Scientist 2016 to 22 young researchers below the age of 35. The award carries a medal, a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 25,000.

The following 22 young scientists were selected for the INSA Medal for Young Scientists.

1. Dr Nazia Abbas (b 18.08.1982), PhD, Plant Biotechnology Division, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Srinagar.

For his research on interaction of CAM7 and HY5 transcription factors in light-dependent control of plant seedling development.

2. Dr Sadeem Ahmad (b 22.09.1985), PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, Centre for Life Science Building, Boston, USA.

For his discovery of the mechanism by which D-amino acids are uncoupled from tRNA and a primordial mode of function of RNA- protein hybrid enzymes.

3. Dr Prabeer Barpanda (b 24.06.1981), PhD, Materials Research Centre, Indian Institute of

Science, Bengaluru.

For developing new classes of Li- and Na-cathode materials for next generation battery and storage application.

4. Dr Sivaraman Bhalamurugan (b 29.03.1981), PhD, Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.

For his contributions in low temperature astrochemistry and planetary science and to understand the occurrence of IC objects on planetary surfaces.

5. Dr Ashima Bhaskar (b 23.07.1982), PhD, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.

For developing a genetic biosensor to measure cellular and sub-cellular redox changes in HIV/ Mtb/HIV-TB infected macrophages that provides meaningful numerical indicators of redox potential changes required to induce HIV-1 reactivation from persistence.

6. Dr Kanishka Biswas (b 25.10.1982), PhD, New Chemistry Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru.

For probing and developing new thermoelectrics for energy harvesting.

7. Dr Abhishek Bohra (b 15.06.1983), PhD, Crop Improvement Division, Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Kanpur.

being used in practical breeding and cited widely.

8. Dr Soumitra Ghosh (b 23.06.1983), PhD, Department of Biochemistry, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

For providing the critical insights into the regulation of genome organization in mycobacteria by nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) and for demonstrating that DNA architectural protein HU is a novel target for anti-bacterial drug development.

9. Dr Sai Siva Gorthi (b 05.08.1981), PhD, Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

For his contributions to Innovative Optofluidic Technologies: In-vitro Diagnostics, Green Nano Synthesis, Analyte Detection.

10. Dr Aditi Gupta (b 25.02.1986), PhD, Interdisciplinary Center for Plant Genomics, University of Delhi, South Campus, New Delhi.

For her studies in sugar signalling to sustain early development and seedling fitness under different environmental conditions.

11. Dr Rajat Subhra Hazra (b 12.03.1982), PhD, Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

For his significant contributions to the study of spectral limits of patterned Gaussian free fields, random matrix theory and free probability.

12. Dr Mohd Askandar Iqbal (b 06.04.1983), PhD, Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.

For demonstrating the key determinant role of mutation in the Pyruvate Kinase M2 (PKM2) isoform in promotion of cancer-specific metabolism and tumour growth and for identification of factors/pathways that mimic PKM2 mutant condition in absence of mutation in this gene which promote cancer metabolism.

13. Dr Santanu Kapat (b 08.11.1981), PhD,

Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

For his contributions to High-Performance, Energy-Efficient, EMI-Aware Mixed-Signal Dynamic Power Management.

14. Dr Praveen Kumar (b 14.09.1982), PhD, Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

For discovering electric-field induced changes in mechanical behavior of CNT cellular materials and developed instrumentation to study the behavior in detail.

15. Dr Nirbhay Kumar Kushwaha (b

04.02.1981), PhD, Molecular Virology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

For his significant contribution in elucidating interactions among chilli leaf curl virus (ChiLCV) and for developing highly efficient infectious constructs of ChiLCV for screening chilli germplasm that identifies resistant sources.

16. Dr Aastha Mishra (b 06.02.1986), PhD, Prof. Randall Johnson’s Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Development and Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.

For her outstanding work on the apelin pathway under conditions of hypoxia and the correlated aberrations of the same to maladaptation to high altitude and the pathophysiology of high altitude pulmonary edema and for providing a molecular understanding of disease susceptibility which act as a basis of genetic predisposition to the same.

17. Dr Kiran Kumar Nakka (b 15.08.1982), PhD, Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ontario.

18. Dr Anshu Pandey (b 22.08.1982), PhD, Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

For his outstanding contributions in the area of low threshold quantum dot lasers.

19. Dr Swathi Srinivasamurthy Rotti (b 17.07.1982), PhD, School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram.

For her contributions on theoretical understanding of carbon-based and metal-based nanostructures.

20. Dr Chandan Saha (b 11.01.1982), PhD, Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

For his work on arithmetic circuit lower bounds, polynomial identity testing and reconstruction of arithmetic circuits that has led to the discovery of new mathematical techniques and substantial progress on these problems.

21. Dr Somlata (b 31.01.1983), PhD, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

For elucidating the mechanism of phagocytosis in E. histolytica and discovering the recruitment of a calcium binding protein by the C2 domain containing kinase to the site of phagocytosis and subsequently initiation of action dynamics at the site.

22. Dr Srikanth Srinivasan (b 13.06.1984), PhD, Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai.

For his work dealing with the complexity of “algebraic circuits’’ and studies in the problem of computing the determinant (over non commuting domains), and iterated matrix multiplication. He has also made substantial progress in producing lower bounds for “threshold circuits”.

INSA Medal/Lecture Awards 2016

The Academy announced the following 10 medal/ lecture Awards for 2016.

International Awards

1. INSA-Vainu Bappu Memorial Award to Dr Anil Bhardwaj, FNA, Director, Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

2. JC Bose Memorial Lecture to Professor Kalyanmoy Deb, FNA, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, USA.

Subjectwise Medals/Lectures/Awards

(A) Medals Instituted by the Academy

3. The Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal to Professor TN Venkataramana, FNA, School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

4. The Jagadis Chandra Bose Medal to Professor P Chakrabarti, FNA, Department of Biochemistry and Bioinformatics Centre, Bose Institute, Kolkata.

5. The Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medal to Professor Himanshu Pathak, FNA, Director, ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha.

6. The Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal (Chemical Sciences) to Professor Ashwini Nangia, FNA, Director, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

(B) Endowed Medals

7. Professor K Naha Memorial Medal to Professor VP Dimri, FNA, Distinguished Scientist, CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad.

(C) Endowment Lectures

9. Professor Darshan Ranganathan Memorial Lecture to Professor Mannepalli Lakshmi Kantam, FNA, Dr. B. P. Godrej Distinguished Professor of Green Chemistry and Sustainability Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.

10. Dr Biren Roy Memorial Lecture to Professor Avinash Khare, FNA, Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi.

Award Lectures Delivered

The Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal (Animal Sciences) (2015): Professor MD Gadgil, DD Kosambi Visiting Research Professor, Goa University, Goa delivered The Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal (Animal Sciences) lecture on Human Knowledge: An Evolutionary Perspective at Centre for Contemporary Studies, IISc, Bengaluru on August 11, 2016.

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Nominations/Election of Indian scientists for various positions at International Council for Science (ICSU) and its different Unions

l Professor RB Singh, Head, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi has been elected as a Member of ICSU Scientific Committee for ‘Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: a Systems Analysis Approach’ for the term 2016-2019 and re-elected as Vice-President of International Geographical Union (IGU) for the term 2016-2020.

l 13 Indian scientists have been nominated for Executive Committee (President, Vice-President and Ordinary Members) and various Commissions of International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)

l Professor Rajendra Bhatia, FNA,

Distinguished Scientist, Statistics and Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi has been nominated for the membership of the Nominating Committee of International Mathematical Union (IMU).

l Professor V Rajamani, FNA, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi has been nominated for

Professor MD Gadgil, FNA receiving a medal and the citation of the award from Professor R Gadagkar, President INSA

The Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan Memorial Lecture (2016): Professor Sudha Bhattacharya, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi delivered The Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan Memorial Lecture on From Information Transfer to Control, Editing, Surveillance and Epigenetic Memory: the Many Lives of RNA at IISER, Mohali on August 31, 2016.

Professor Sudha Bhattacharya, FNA receiving the citation of the award lecture from Professor N Sathyamurthy, FNA and Professor RC Mahajan, FNA as convener of Chandigarh Local

the scoping meeting for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Oceans and the Cryosphere.

l Professor YK Gupta, Professor & Head, Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has been nominated as Councilor, International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Executive Committee for the term 2018-2022.

l Professor Harsh K Gupta, FNA, Koteswaram Professor, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad has been nominated for the membership of ICSU Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific (ICSU RCAP) for the term 2017-2019.

l Dr Anita A Rampal, Department of Education, University of Delhi, Delhi has been elected as Member of the Executive Committee of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) for the term 2017-2020.

Support for Visiting Scientists during June -August 2016

l 26 Indian scientists were supported by the Academy for attending various ICSU sponsored international conferences abroad.

l 33 Indian scientists were supported by the Academy for attending various Non-ICSU sponsored international conferences abroad.

l 13 Indian scientists visited different countries in connection with their scientific studies and research under INSA Bilateral Exchange Programme.

SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS DURING JUNE -AUGUST 2016

l An interactive session of Science Academies’ Summer Research Fellows and their mentors was organized at the INSA premises on June 9, 2016. The meeting was chaired by Professor R. Gadagkar, President INSA along with Professors SC Lakhotia, LS Shashidhara, Vice-Presidents INSA, KL Sebastian & Akhilesh Tyagi as panel. A large number of summer research fellows, working in Delhi/New Delhi, and their mentors interacted with the panel. The fellows and mentors, while applauding the programme initiated by the three Academies viz., INSA, IASc and NASI, also discussed some problems faced by them during the period of research. Some local fellows of INSA also attended the session.

l A meeting of the National Organizing Committee (NOC) for International Union of Food Science & Technology (IUFoST) 2018 was held on July 24, 2016 at INSA premises.

l Annual meetings of 20 National committees and the ICSU National Committee were held on ICSU Day on July 25, 2016 at INSA premises.

l A brain-storming session on ‘the impact of science on Indian society’ was organised in INSA premises on July 26, 2016 by Professor LS Shashidhara, Vice-President, INSA to discuss appropriate ways to quantitatively project impact of S&T activities in the country which can be used by public/ Govt. officials/policy makers.

l A meeting of the subject editors of Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy was held on July 27, 2016 in the Academy premises.

AWARDS AND HONOURS TO INSA FELLOWS

Professor NK Gupta, FNA, Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has been nominated as honorary member of International Society of Impact Engineering.

Professor Sulochana Gadgil, FNA, Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has been awarded with the Lifetime excellence award for 2016 of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE ACADEMY

Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy

Volume 82, No. 2 (June 2016) issue of Proceedings has been published as a thematic issue on Computational Mechanics with Professor Tarun Kant, FNA being the Guest editor. The issue contains 21 research papers.

Volume 82, No. 3 (July 2016) issue of Proceedings is a special issue on Glimpses of Geosciences Research in India: The Indian Report to IUGS 2012-2016 containing 39 review articles and 14 institutional reports. Professor AK Singhvi, FNA and Professor DM Banerjee, FNA were Guest Editors for this issue.

Indian Journal of History of Science (IJHS)

Volume 51, No. 2 (June 2016) issue of IJHS has been published. This issue includes main papers on Agricultural Practices of the Sangam age;

Combinatorics from GommatasÈra of Nemicandra; Records of VyatÏpÈta in Stone Inscriptions; Pathophysiology and Treatment of Urolithiasis in Unani Medicine; Techno-Engineering Education and the Railways in Colonial India; Sahib Singh Sokhey (1887-1971): An Medico-Pharmaceutical Professional. The papers under Historical Notes include Revisiting the Calendar Tradition of Ancient India; Genesis and Progress in Concepts of Preventive Cardiology; Girish Chandra Bose and Agricultural Journalism; Radhanath Sikdar and Measurement Peak XV. The issue also includes a book review and project reports on Study of the Indus Valley Scripts through Linguistic and Markov Chain Methods and English Translation of Second part of SiddhÈnta á_{ekhara of} ƒ_ripati.

Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IJPAM)

Volume 47, No. 2 (June 2016) issue of IJPAM has been published.

OBITUARY

Uppugunduri Aswathanarayana

Uppugunduri Aswathanarayana (b 01 July 1928; d 07 March 2016) obtained his DSc from Andhra University, now Visakhapatnam University. A pioneer of nuclear geology in India, he did his post doctoral research at Caltech, Pasadena and Oxford. He joined Andhra

University as Lecturer and later worked as Reader till 1966. Thereafter, he moved as Professor and Director of the Centre of Advanced Study in Geology/ Dean, Faculty of Technology, at University of Saugar in 1967. He was also Visiting Professor/Professor at several international universities during his career.

Resources Management, Hyderabad which is now recognised as a part of the UNESCO-TWNSO Network. He also established the modern Geosciences Institute at University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

Professor Aswathanarayana did pioneering research in the area of nuclear geology. He delineated the geochronology of peninsular India on the basis of the radiogenic isotopes of Pb, Sr and Ar. He used the radioactivity of rocks as a guide to ore to decipher the petrogenesis of rocks. His long stint in sub-saharan Africa from 1980-2001 convinced him of the urgent need to refocus the applications of geosciences to human welfare. He developed comprehensive models for the endemicity and mitigation of geo-environment related diseases, such as fluorosis, goitre and stomach cancer on the basis of geochemical and isotopic studies. He has major publications in various international journals. He also published eight internationally acclaimed books.

Professor Aswathanarayana received the Excellence in Geophysical Education award and the International Award of the American Geophysical Union. He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Association of Geo-Chemistry (IAGC), Cologne. He was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science, Bangalore and the Geological Society of India.

Professor U Aswathanarayana was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1976.

Vinod Venilal Modi

Vinod Venilal Modi (b 10 May 1929; d 18 June 2016) obtained his PhD from University of Liverpool while working on ‘Mechanism of Carotene Biosynthesis’. He subseque-ntly, joined the Hannah Research Institute at Ayr, Scotland as a Scientific Officer

and worked on the problems of metabolism during lactation. On his return to India, he joined Biochemistry Department of MS University, Baroda

and organized the fermentation chemistry. He later established the Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology Centre at the University of Baroda. He was also a Visiting Scientist at Nagoya University, Japan. After his superannuation, he served as INSA Senior Scientist from 1989-92.

Professor Modi’s research was focused on rhizobial genetics, hydrocarbon metabolism, regulation of fruit ripening and fermentative production of beta-carotene. He conducted courses in microbial genetics and molecular biology at Baroda University with active support from the University of Edinburgh and Dr Heniz Saedler of Germany to attract students from different places for postgraduate teaching.

Professor Modi was elected as National President of the Association of Microbiologists. He was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

Professor VV Modi was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1984.

Janardan Nanda

Janardan Nanda (b 15 August 1937; d 16 August 2016) obtained his PhD from the Moscow Power Institute and worked there as Postdoctoral Fellow. On returning to India, he joined as Reader at Banaras Hindu University and then moved to IIT Delhi and became

Professor in 1973. Later, he served as Head, Department of Electrical Engineering, Dean, and Member, BOG at IIT Delhi. Upon his superannuation, he continued to work as NTPC Chair Professor/ Emeritus Professor and as INSA Senior Scientist and Honorary Scientist. He also served as a Visiting Professor/ Visiting Fellow at several other universities.

power systems. He was a pioneer in the use of computer applications to power systems. He was actively involved in initiating postgraduate programs in Power System, Energy Studies and Power Electronics at IIT Delhi.

Professor Nanda received several award, including the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Gold Medal of IE (IND); System Society of India Prize; PC Mahalanobis Medal of INSA; Syed Hussain Zaheer Medal of INSA; Life Time Achievement Award in Power System Engineering and Professor SN Mitra Memorial Award of INAE. He was elected Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA.

Professor J Nanda was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1937 and served as its Treasurer (1999-2000) and Vice President (2000-02).

Joseph Devassy Padayatty

Joseph Devassy Padayatty (b 10 July 1928; d 26 August 2014) obtained his PhD from St Louis University specializing in Biochemistry. After completing his Postdoctoral research at St Louis University, he joined the Department of Biochemistry at

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as Pool officer and subsequently became Professor. He was also a Visiting Professor at University of California and University of Edinburgh. After his superannuation in 1988, he served as Visiting Professor for two years in the Department of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin.

Professor Padayatty’s doctoral studies focused on lysine peptides and the enzyme E-peptidase. His post postdoctoral work was on the molecular biology of T4 bacteriophage. He continued researches on T4 phage and carried out studies on the molecular biology of colitis phage and germination of rice seeds. His significant findings, using recombinant DNA

technology, relate to: the discovery of the bidirectional transcription of H1 histone gene, the binding site of RNA polymerase I, the transcription of glycyl transfer RNA gene of rice, cloning and partial sequences of many genes, complete sequence of the lysozyme gene of colitis phage and the production of structural protein A of foot and mouth disease as a vaccine.

Professor Padayatty was conferred Astra Professorship by IISc. He was a Member of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Advisory Committee and Governing Council of the Amala Research Centre, Trichur and the Advisory Committee, Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. He was also an Editorial Board Member of Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He was a leader of the delegation to the first World Conference on Biotechnology, 1983, London.

Professor JP Padayatty was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1987.

Neelamraju Gangaprasada Rao

Neelamraju Gangaprasada Rao (b 05 September 1927; d 27 July 2016) obtained his PhD from Bihar University and was awarded DSc (hc) by the Chandrasekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology. He held various ranks and positions such as

Sorghum Breeder at IARI; All India Sorghum Improvement Project Coordinator and Head, IARI Regional station at Hyderabad; Professor of Eminence; ICRISAT’s Sorghum Breeder in West Africa; Vice-Chancellor, Marathwada Agricultural University; and Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, New Delhi.

hybrids CSH1m CSH5 and CSH9 became very popular and were cultivated over 8-10 million hectares. The growth rates of sorghum during the 70s and 80s were comparable to irrigated wheat and rice. Kharif sorghum represented a revolutionary change in the dry land agriculture of India. The advent of hybrid sorghum gave rise to the sorghum seed industry on a large scale. He also made significant contributions to the improvement of dry land crops, particularly long staple desi cotton, red gram, castor, and development of novel cropping systems. He published around 200 research papers in reputed national and international journals.

Professor Rao received several awards and honours including the C Subramaniam Gold Medal for the development of the first Sorghum Hybrid; SS Bhatnagar Prize for Biological Sciences; Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for Plant Breeding; and the VASWIK Award for Agricultural Sciences. He was conferred upon The Atma Gaurav Award (2003) and the Distinguished Agricultural Scientist Award (2008) by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad; National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh Academy of Science.

Professor NG Rao was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1979.

Kamal Nath Sharma

Kamal Nath Sharma (b 17 November 1929; d 21 June 2015) obtained his MBBS and MD from King George Medical College (KGMC), Lucknow, following which he joined KGMC as faculty and later moved to All India Institute of Medical Sciences

(AIIMS), Delhi. In his long career spanning over 5 decades, he worked in different capacities ranging from faculty to manager and director of institutes of national importance. He joined the University of Illinois, USA as Professor of Physiology and

Psychology in 1962. After returning back, he joined Department of Physiology, St John’s Medical College, Bangalore as Professor and Chairman (1964–1976). In 1976 he joined the University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi as Professor of Physiology and thereafter became its Principal. He also served as Director of Centre for Brain Research and Human Development, University of Delhi. He was Consultant to Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Science, DRDO and Visiting Consultant to the US Army Food Science Laboratory and Behavioural Research Division, US Army Labs. He also worked as Consultant to Government of India and Nepal for Health Sciences wherein he aided establishing of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Nepal. He was an Executive Director and Advisor at MS Ramaiah Group of Medical Institutions and Hospitals, Bangalore.

Dr Sharma made stupendous contributions particularly in the field of neurophysiology, behaviour and nutrition, which helped delineate fundamental concepts and their clinical significance in the areas: feeding behavior and neural control systems, ecology of hunger and malnutrition, systems organization in homeostatic motivations and spatio-temporal delineation of neuro humoral events linked to nociceptors, pain mechanisms and management. He also authored over 200 original scientific papers, eight monographs and chapter contributions in important text books.

India Award and Bharat Jyoti Award. He was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and National Academy of Medical Sciences.

Dr KN Sharma was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1978.

Churya Sivaraman

Churya Sivaraman (b 02 December 1923; d 24 June 2014) obtained his PhD on dietary fats in relation to liver-fat deposition from the University of Madras. He joined National Chemical Laboratory, Pune as Scientist in 1950. While on deputation

from NCL he was accorded staff privileges at the University of Leeds, UK. He superannuated as Deputy Director and Head, Division of Biochemistry at NCL in 1983. After his retirement, he continued to work as Consultant in NCL and later in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India to review the DBT-sponsored teaching and training programmes.

Dr Sivaraman pioneering contributions included purification of bacterial citrate lyase, a multienzyme complex of a molecular weight of more than half a million. The complex built up of 6 copies each of three distinct subunits: acyltransferase, acyl-lyase and acyl carried protein (ACP), catalyses the cleavage of citrate to oxaloacetate and acetate in the presence of Mg2+_{. His other notable studies relate to: divalent} metal binding behaviour of the complex, using equilibrium dialysis and radioactive Mn2+ _{as a probe;} p-Azido (14_{C) benzoylcoenzyme A as a photoaffinity} reagent for specifically labelling the active site of the acyl-lyase subunit of the complex; the presence of a single large fused ACP subunit in a strain of Escherichia coli. Dr Sivaraman’s group developed a novel immobilized penicillin acylase system in which the enzyme was covalently attached to activated cellulose powder. It was used for the production of 100 tonnes 6-APA during 1986-97.

Dr Sivaraman was bestowed with the VASVIK award in Biology for his work on immobilized penicillin acylase for production of 6-APA in 1986.

Dr Churya Sivaraman was elected to the Fellowship of the Indian National Science Academy in the year 1986.

Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian

C h i r a y a t h u m a d o m Venkatachalier Subramanian (b 11 August 1924; d 05 February 2016) obtained his PhD and DSc from the University of Madras. He did his postdoctoral work in Botany School, Cambridge and Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew,

UK. He was appointed as Senior Lecturer in the University of Madras in 1951 followed by elevation to Readership. He was then appointed to the newly created Chair in Plant Pathology at IARI, New Delhi, the first ever Chair in the country. He later became Professor in Plant Pathology at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He organized the new Department of Botany in the University of Rajasthan where he was the first Professor and Head of the Department. He moved to Madras University as Professor and later became Director of Centre for Advanced Study in Botany, Madras University.

decades are summarized in the publications: Hyphomycetes (ICAR, 1971) and Hyphomycetes: Taxonomy and Biology (Academic Press, 1983).

Professor Subramanian won many awards including Pulney Andi Medal by Madras University; SS Bhatnagar Prize by CSIR; Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Prize by ICAR; Birbal Sahni Medal by Indian Botanical Society and Lifetime Achievement Award. His lasting contributions to plant taxonomy were recognized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India by awarding him the

prestigious Dr E.K. Janaki Ammal Award. He founded the Mycological Society of India in 1973 and launched the journal Kavaka and worked as its Chief Editor till 1998. He was also Vice-President and President of the International Mycological Association. He was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nomination for Election of Fellows

The last date for receiving nominations for election of Fellows is October 17, 2016. Nominations received on or before October 17 will be included for consideration in the year 2017, while those received after October 17, 2016 will go for the year 2018. Nomination form can be downloaded from the INSA website www.insaindia.res.in.

Nomination for Election of Foreign and Pravasi Fellows

Nominations are invited from the Fellows of INSA for election of Foreign Fellows and Pravasi Fellows for the year 2017. Nomination form can be downloaded from the INSA website www.insaindia.res.in.

INSA Medal for Young Scientists - 2017

Nominations are invited for INSA Medal for Young Scientists – 2017. Those born on or after January 1, 1982 are eligible for consideration in the year 2017. The awardee shall receive a certificate, a bronze medal and cash award of Rs. 25000/-. Nominations may be submitted by a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy or by earlier recipients of this award. Scientific societies of national standing, university faculty, post-graduate departments of research institutions may also nominate eligible candidates. The last date for receiving nominations for INSA Medal for Young Scientists is October 31, 2016. Nomination proforma can be downloaded from the website www.insaindia.res.in.

Proposal for Lectures in the Remote/Rural Areas

The Academy has launched a programme under which INSA Fellows, Young Scientists & Teacher Awardees are encouraged to deliver Popular Lectures to young students and teachers of schools and colleges in remote/rural areas in India.

Call for Research Proposal in History of Science

The Indian National Commission for History of Science approves, under the guidance of a Research Council, Research Projects on various subjects pertaining to history of science and technology in India. Through this programme, the Investigator can take up source and theme oriented study and compilations of important sources with commentaries; translation of important technical primary sources on mathematics, astronomy, medicine, alchemy, agriculture, natural products, life sciences, scientific traditions including oral traditions of scientific nature, metals and metallurgy, architecture and irrigation technology, for critical assessment relating to ancient and medieval periods. The Commission gives equal emphasis for historical evaluation of science and technology scenario in India during the 19th _{and 20}th _{centuries. Study of} pioneering institutions, popular perceptions of science development, tools, techniques and how the knowledge in each area of science has grown conceptually on the basis of International perspectives, are some examples of the research areas. Themes may also be selected depending on candidates’ own aptitudes and specializations.

The last date for submitting research proposals is December 31, 2016. For all other details and application form, visit the website www.insaindia.res.in or mail at [email protected].

Nomination for INSA Awards

The last date for receiving nominations for the following INSA Awards due for the year 2017 is October 17, 2016:

1. The Homi Jehangir Bhabha Medal 2. The Sunder Lal Hora Medal

3. The Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Medal

4. The Syed Husain Zaheer Medal

5. The Kalpathi Ramakrishna Ramanathan Medal 6. Professor KP Bhargava Memorial Medal

7. Professor Bhim Shanker Trivedi Memorial Medal 8. Professor Bal Dattatraya Tilak Lecture

9. The Bires Chandra Guha Memorial Lecture

10. Professor Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture 11. Dr Yellapragada SubbaRow Memorial Lecture 12. Professor Har Swarup Memorial Lecture

13. Dr MR Das Memorial Lecture

Call for INYAS Membership (2017-2021)

INYAS is happy to announce the second call for new members for the term 2017-2021. Interested young scientists are welcome to apply for membership through the online application system only. The last date for receiving applications is October 15, 2016. Interested candidates need to login using a Google login and password to apply at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IhOFkUV_J8bK9Qisej7N7F9dRZ4kze LuN6fOzIEdIoU/edit?usp=sharing

The applicants should

(i) not be over 40 years of age on January 1, 2017

(ii) have a PhD

(iii) hold an academic position (regular or temporary) in India

Letters of recommendation can be provided by Heads of Institutes, Deans, Fellows of any of the Science Academies of the country.