ACADEMY NEWS

Proc Indian Natn Sci Acad 82 No. 4 September 2016 pp. 1325-1338 Printed in India.

INSA MEETINGS

Several meetings were held during July 25-29, 2016in the Academy premises. These included meetingsof the different Sectional Committees forrecommending names of new Fellows and YoungScientist Awardees to be elected by the Council ofthe Academy. The Advisory Boards for the variousINSA Awards also met. These were followed bymeetings of the Council and General Body on July29, 2016.

INSA Medal for Young Scientists 2016

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

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

1. Dr Nazia Abbas (b 18.08.1982), PhD, PlantBiotechnology Division, Indian Institute ofIntegrative Medicine, Srinagar.

For his research on interaction of CAM7 andHY5 transcription factors in light-dependentcontrol of plant seedling development.

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

For his discovery of the mechanism by whichD-amino acids are uncoupled from tRNA and aprimordial mode of function of RNA- proteinhybrid 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 batteryand storage application.

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

For his contributions in low temperatureastrochemistry and planetary science and tounderstand the occurrence of IC objects onplanetary surfaces.

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

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

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

For probing and developing newthermoelectrics for energy harvesting.

7. Dr Abhishek Bohra (b 15.06.1983), PhD, CropImprovement Division, Indian Institute ofPulses Research, Kanpur.

For his significant contribution in the area ofdevelopment and application of molecular toolsfor facilitating hybrid pigeon pea improvement,and for having developed molecular markers inlarge number and construction of first geneticas well as consensus map in pigeon pea that are

Published Online on 28 September 2016

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being used in practical breeding and citedwidely.

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

For providing the critical insights into theregulation of genome organization inmycobacteria by nucleoid-associated proteins(NAPs) and for demonstrating that DNAarchitectural protein HU is a novel target foranti-bacterial drug development.

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

For his contributions to Innovative OptofluidicTechnologies: In-vitro Diagnostics, Green NanoSynthesis, 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 sustainearly development and seedling fitness underdifferent 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 ofspectral 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, JamiaMillia Islamia, New Delhi.

For demonstrating the key determinant role ofmutation in the Pyruvate Kinase M2 (PKM2)isoform in promotion of cancer-specificmetabolism and tumour growth and foridentification of factors/pathways that mimicPKM2 mutant condition in absence of mutationin this gene which promote cancer metabolism.

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

Department of Electrical Engineering, IndianInstitute of Technology, Kharagpur.

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

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

For discovering electric-field induced changesin mechanical behavior of CNT cellularmaterials and developed instrumentation tostudy the behavior in detail.

15. Dr Nirbhay Kumar Kushwaha (b04.02.1981), PhD, Molecular VirologyLaboratory, School of Life Sciences, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi.

For his significant contribution in elucidatinginteractions among chilli leaf curl virus(ChiLCV) and for developing highly efficientinfectious constructs of ChiLCV for screeningchilli germplasm that identifies resistantsources.

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

For her outstanding work on the apelin pathwayunder conditions of hypoxia and the correlatedaberrations of the same to maladaptation to highaltitude and the pathophysiology of high altitudepulmonary edema and for providing a molecularunderstanding of disease susceptibility whichact as a basis of genetic predisposition to thesame.

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

For his important work uncovering the way ofalternate splicing by specific factors and forelaborating the role of tumor suppressorSMAR1 in performing such function in cancers.

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18. Dr Anshu Pandey (b 22.08.1982), PhD, SolidState and Structural Chemistry Unit, IndianInstitute of Science, Bengaluru.

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

19. Dr Swathi Srinivasamurthy Rotti (b17.07.1982), PhD, School of Chemistry, IndianInstitute of Science Education and Research,Thiruvananthapuram.

For her contributions on theoreticalunderstanding of carbon-based and metal-basednanostructures.

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

For his work on arithmetic circuit lower bounds,polynomial identity testing and reconstructionof arithmetic circuits that has led to thediscovery of new mathematical techniques andsubstantial progress on these problems.

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

For elucidating the mechanism of phagocytosisin E. histolytica and discovering the recruitmentof a calcium binding protein by the C2 domaincontaining kinase to the site of phagocytosis andsubsequently initiation of action dynamics atthe site.

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

For his work dealing with the complexity of“algebraic circuits’’ and studies in the problemof computing the determinant (over noncommuting domains), and iterated matrixmultiplication. He has also made substantialprogress 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 DrAnil Bhardwaj, FNA, Director, Space PhysicsLaboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

2. JC Bose Memorial Lecture to ProfessorKalyanmoy Deb, FNA, Department ofElectrical and Computer Engineering, MichiganState University, USA.

Subjectwise Medals/Lectures/Awards

(A) Medals Instituted by the Academy

3. The Srinivasa Ramanujan Medal toProfessor TN Venkataramana, FNA, Schoolof Mathematics, Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Mumbai.

4. The Jagadis Chandra Bose Medal toProfessor P Chakrabarti, FNA, Departmentof Biochemistry and Bioinformatics Centre,Bose Institute, Kolkata.

5. The Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medalto Professor Himanshu Pathak, FNA,Director, ICAR-National Rice ResearchInstitute, Cuttack, Odisha.

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

(B) Endowed Medals

7. Professor K Naha Memorial Medal toProfessor VP Dimri, FNA, DistinguishedScientist, CSIR-National Geophysical ResearchInstitute, Hyderabad.

8. The Chandrakala Hora Memorial Medal toDr SK Gupta, FNA, Emeritus Scientist,Reproductive Cell Biology Laboratory, NationalInstitute of Immunology, New Delhi.

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(C) Endowment Lectures

9. Professor Darshan Ranganathan MemorialLecture to Professor Mannepalli LakshmiKantam, FNA, Dr. B. P. Godrej DistinguishedProfessor of Green Chemistry and SustainabilityEngineering, Department of ChemicalEngineering, Institute of Chemical Technology,Mumbai.

10. Dr Biren Roy Memorial Lecture to ProfessorAvinash Khare, FNA, Department of Physicsand Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi.

Award Lectures Delivered

The Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal(Animal Sciences) (2015): Professor MD Gadgil,DD Kosambi Visiting Research Professor, GoaUniversity, Goa delivered The Golden JubileeCommemoration Medal (Animal Sciences) lectureon Human Knowledge: An Evolutionary Perspectiveat Centre for Contemporary Studies, IISc, Bengaluruon August 11, 2016.

INTERNA TIONAL ACTIVITIES

Nominations/Election of Indian scientists forvarious positions at International Council forScience (ICSU) and its different Unions

l Professor RB Singh, Head, Department ofGeography, Delhi School of Economics,University of Delhi, Delhi has been elected asa Member of ICSU Scientific Committee for‘Health and Wellbeing in the Changing UrbanEnvironment: a Systems Analysis Approach’ forthe 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 forExecutive Committee (President, Vice-President and Ordinary Members) and variousCommissions of International Union ofCrystallography (IUCr)

l Professor Rajendra Bhatia, FNA,Distinguished Scientist, Statistics andMathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute,New Delhi has been nominated for themembership of the Nominating Committee ofInternational Mathematical Union (IMU).

l Professor V Rajamani, FNA, School ofEnvironmental Sciences, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, New Delhi has been nominated for

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

The Kariamanikkam Srinivasa KrishnanMemorial Lectur e (2016): Professor SudhaBhattacharya, School of Environmental Sciences,Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi deliveredThe Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan MemorialLecture on From Information Transfer to Control,Editing, Surveillance and Epigenetic Memory: theMany Lives of RNA at IISER, Mohali on August 31,2016.

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

Chapter

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the scoping meeting for the Inter-GovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Reporton Climate Change and Oceans and theCryosphere.

l Professor YK Gupta, Professor & Head,Department of Pharmacology, All India Instituteof Medical Sciences, New Delhi has beennominated as Councilor, International Union ofPharmacology (IUPHAR) ExecutiveCommittee for the term 2018-2022.

l Professor Harsh K Gupta, FNA, KoteswaramProfessor, National Geophysical ResearchInstitute, Hyderabad has been nominated for themembership of ICSU Regional Committee forAsia and the Pacific (ICSU RCAP) for the term2017-2019.

l Dr Anita A Rampal, Department of Education,University of Delhi, Delhi has been elected asMember of the Executive Committee of theInternational Commission on MathematicalInstruction (ICMI) for the term 2017-2020.

Support for Visiting Scientists during June -August 2016

l 26 Indian scientists were supported by theAcademy for attending various ICSU sponsoredinternational conferences abroad.

l 33 Indian scientists were supported by theAcademy for attending various Non-ICSUsponsored international conferences abroad.

l 13 Indian scientists visited different countriesin connection with their scientific studies andresearch under INSA Bilateral ExchangeProgramme.

SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS DURING JUNE -AUGUST 2016

l An interactive session of Science Academies’Summer Research Fellows and their mentorswas organized at the INSA premises on June 9,2016. The meeting was chaired by Professor R.Gadagkar, President INSA along withProfessors SC Lakhotia, LS Shashidhara, Vice-Presidents INSA, KL Sebastian & AkhileshTyagi as panel. A large number of summerresearch fellows, working in Delhi/New Delhi,and their mentors interacted with the panel. Thefellows and mentors, while applauding theprogramme initiated by the three Academiesviz., INSA, IASc and NASI, also discussedsome problems faced by them during the periodof research. Some local fellows of INSA alsoattended the session.

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

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

Interactive session of Summer Research Fellows and panel members

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

l A meeting of the subject editors of Proceedingsof the Indian National Science Academy washeld on July 27, 2016 in the Academy premises.

AWARDS AND HONOURS TO INSA FELLOWS

Professor NK Gupta, FNA, Department of AppliedMechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi hasbeen nominated as honorary member of InternationalSociety of Impact Engineering.

Professor Sulochana Gadgil, FNA, Centre forAtmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute ofScience, Bengaluru has been awarded with theLifetime excellence award for 2016 of the Ministryof Earth Sciences.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS OF THE ACADEMY

Proceedings of the Indian National ScienceAcademy

Volume 82, No. 2 (June 2016) issue of Proceedingshas been published as a thematic issue onComputational Mechanics with Professor TarunKant, FNA being the Guest editor. The issue contains21 research papers.

Volume 82, No. 3 (July 2016) issue of Proceedingsis a special issue on Glimpses of GeosciencesResearch in India: The Indian Report to IUGS 2012-2016 containing 39 review articles and 14 institutionalreports. Professor AK Singhvi, FNA and ProfessorDM 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 beenpublished. This issue includes main papers onAgricultural Practices of the Sangam age;

Combinatorics from GommatasÈra of Nemicandra;Records of VyatÏpÈta in Stone Inscriptions;Pathophysiology and Treatment of Urolithiasis inUnani Medicine; Techno-Engineering Education andthe Railways in Colonial India; Sahib SinghSokhey (1887-1971): An Medico-PharmaceuticalProfessional. The papers under Historical Notesinclude Revisiting the Calendar Tradition of AncientIndia; Genesis and Progress in Concepts of PreventiveCardiology; Girish Chandra Bose and AgriculturalJournalism; Radhanath Sikdar and MeasurementPeak XV. The issue also includes a book review andproject reports on Study of the Indus Valley Scriptsthrough Linguistic and Markov Chain Methods andEnglish Translation of Second part of SiddhÈntaáekhara of ƒripati.

Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics(IJPAM)

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

OBITUAR Y

Uppugunduri Aswathanarayana

Uppugunduri Aswathanarayana(b 01 July 1928; d 07 March2016) obtained his DSc fromAndhra University, nowVisakhapatnam University. Apioneer of nuclear geology inIndia, he did his post doctoralresearch at Caltech, Pasadenaand Oxford. He joined AndhraUniversity as Lecturer and later worked as Readertill 1966. Thereafter, he moved as Professor andDirector of the Centre of Advanced Study in Geology/Dean, Faculty of Technology, at University of Saugarin 1967. He was also Visiting Professor/Professor atseveral international universities during his career.

During 1990-2001, he was appointed asCommonwealth Visiting Professor/Adviser onEnvironment and Technology, Government ofMozambique/World Bank Consultant, Maputo,Mozambique. He was also the founder and honoraryDirector of Mahadevan International Centre for Water

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Resources Management, Hyderabad which is nowrecognised as a part of the UNESCO-TWNSONetwork. He also established the modernGeosciences Institute at University of Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania.

Professor Aswathanarayana did pioneeringresearch in the area of nuclear geology. He delineatedthe geochronology of peninsular India on the basisof the radiogenic isotopes of Pb, Sr and Ar. He usedthe radioactivity of rocks as a guide to ore to decipherthe petrogenesis of rocks. His long stint in sub-saharan Africa from 1980-2001 convinced him of theurgent need to refocus the applications of geosciencesto human welfare. He developed comprehensivemodels for the endemicity and mitigation of geo-environment related diseases, such as fluorosis, goitreand stomach cancer on the basis of geochemical andisotopic studies. He has major publications in variousinternational journals. He also published eightinternationally acclaimed books.

Professor Aswathanarayana received theExcellence in Geophysical Education award and theInternational Award of the American GeophysicalUnion. He was also awarded the LifetimeAchievement Award of the International Associationof Geo-Chemistry (IAGC), Cologne. He was electedFellow of the Indian Academy of Science, Bangaloreand the Geological Society of India.

Professor U Aswathanarayana was elected tothe Fellowship of the Indian National ScienceAcademy in the year 1976.

Vinod Venilal Modi

Vinod Venilal Modi (b 10 May1929; d 18 June 2016) obtainedhis PhD from University ofLiverpool while working on‘Mechanism of CaroteneBiosynthesis’. He subseque-ntly, joined the HannahResearch Institute at Ayr,Scotland as a Scientific Officerand worked on the problems of metabolism duringlactation. On his return to India, he joinedBiochemistry Department of MS University, Baroda

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

Professor Modi’s research was focused onrhizobial genetics, hydrocarbon metabolism,regulation of fruit ripening and fermentativeproduction of beta-carotene. He conducted coursesin microbial genetics and molecular biology at BarodaUniversity with active support from the Universityof Edinburgh and Dr Heniz Saedler of Germany toattract students from different places for postgraduateteaching.

Professor Modi was elected as NationalPresident of the Association of Microbiologists. Hewas elected Fellow of the National Academy ofAgricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

Professor VV Modi was elected to theFellowship of the Indian National Science Academyin the year 1984.

Janardan Nanda

Janardan Nanda (b 15August 1937; d 16 August2016) obtained his PhDfrom the Moscow PowerInstitute and worked thereas Postdoctoral Fellow. Onreturning to India, he joinedas Reader at Banaras HinduUniversity and then movedto IIT Delhi and becameProfessor in 1973. Later, he served as Head,Department of Electrical Engineering, Dean, andMember, BOG at IIT Delhi. Upon his superannuation,he continued to work as NTPC Chair Professor/Emeritus Professor and as INSA Senior Scientist andHonorary Scientist. He also served as a VisitingProfessor/ Visiting Fellow at several otheruniversities.

Professor Nanda made significant contributionsrelated to analysis, stability, control, optimization andcomputational intelligence application to large-scale

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power systems. He was a pioneer in the use ofcomputer applications to power systems. He wasactively involved in initiating postgraduate programsin Power System, Energy Studies and PowerElectronics at IIT Delhi.

Professor Nanda received several award,including the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya GoldMedal of IE (IND); System Society of India Prize;PC Mahalanobis Medal of INSA; Syed HussainZaheer Medal of INSA; Life Time AchievementAward in Power System Engineering and ProfessorSN Mitra Memorial Award of INAE. He was electedFellow of the Indian National Academy ofEngineering, Academy of Sciences for theDeveloping World (TWAS) and Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA.

Professor J Nanda was elected to the Fellowshipof the Indian National Science Academy in the year1937 and served as its Treasurer (1999-2000) andVice President (2000-02).

Joseph Devassy Padayatty

Joseph Devassy Padayatty (b10 July 1928; d 26 August2014) obtained his PhD fromSt Louis Universityspecializing in Biochemistry.After completing hisPostdoctoral research at StLouis University, he joined theDepartment of Biochemistry atIndian Institute of Science, Bangalore as Pool officerand subsequently became Professor. He was also aVisiting Professor at University of California andUniversity of Edinburgh. After his superannuationin 1988, he served as Visiting Professor for two yearsin the Department of Cochin University of Scienceand Technology, Cochin.

Professor Padayatty’s doctoral studies focusedon lysine peptides and the enzyme E-peptidase. Hispost postdoctoral work was on the molecular biologyof T4 bacteriophage. He continued researches on T4phage and carried out studies on the molecularbiology of colitis phage and germination of rice seeds.His significant findings, using recombinant DNA

technology, relate to: the discovery of thebidirectional transcription of H1 histone gene, thebinding site of RNA polymerase I, the transcriptionof glycyl transfer RNA gene of rice, cloning andpartial sequences of many genes, complete sequenceof the lysozyme gene of colitis phage and theproduction of structural protein A of foot and mouthdisease as a vaccine.

Professor Padayatty was conferred AstraProfessorship by IISc. He was a Member of theRecombinant DNA Advisory Committee of theDepartment of Biotechnology, Government of India;Advisory Committee and Governing Council of theAmala Research Centre, Trichur and the AdvisoryCommittee, Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. Hewas also an Editorial Board Member of IndianJournal of Biochemistry and Biophysics. He was aleader of the delegation to the first World Conferenceon Biotechnology, 1983, London.

Professor JP Padayatty was elected to theFellowship of the Indian National Science Academyin the year 1987.

Neelamraju Gangaprasada Rao

Neelamraju Gangaprasada Rao(b 05 September 1927; d 27July 2016) obtained his PhDfrom Bihar University and wasawarded DSc (hc) by theChandrasekhar AzadUniversity of Agriculture andTechnology. He held variousranks and positions such asSorghum Breeder at IARI; All India SorghumImprovement Project Coordinator and Head, IARIRegional station at Hyderabad; Professor ofEminence; ICRISAT’s Sorghum Breeder in WestAfrica; Vice-Chancellor, Marathwada AgriculturalUniversity; and Chairman, Agricultural ScientistsRecruitment Board, New Delhi.

Professor Rao was well-known for basic andapplied research in breeding and agronomy of severaldry land crops. He is referred to as Father of HybridSorghum for his contributions to sorghumimprovement in India. Subsequently, the sorghum

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hybrids CSH1m CSH5 and CSH9 became verypopular and were cultivated over 8-10 millionhectares. The growth rates of sorghum during the 70sand 80s were comparable to irrigated wheat and rice.Kharif sorghum represented a revolutionary changein the dry land agriculture of India. The advent ofhybrid sorghum gave rise to the sorghum seedindustry on a large scale. He also made significantcontributions to the improvement of dry land crops,particularly long staple desi cotton, red gram, castor,and development of novel cropping systems. Hepublished around 200 research papers in reputednational and international journals.

Professor Rao received several awards andhonours including the C Subramaniam Gold Medalfor the development of the first Sorghum Hybrid; SSBhatnagar Prize for Biological Sciences; Rafi AhmedKidwai Award for Plant Breeding; and the VASWIKAward for Agricultural Sciences. He was conferredupon The Atma Gaurav Award (2003) and theDistinguished Agricultural Scientist Award (2008) bythe Government of Andhra Pradesh. He was electedFellow of the National Academy of Sciences,Allahabad; National Academy of AgriculturalSciences, New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh Academyof Science.

Professor NG Rao was elected to the Fellowshipof the Indian National Science Academy in the year1979.

Kamal Nath Sharma

Kamal Nath Sharma (b 17November 1929; d 21 June2015) obtained his MBBS andMD from King GeorgeMedical College (KGMC),Lucknow, following which hejoined KGMC as faculty andlater moved to All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), Delhi. In his long career spanning over 5decades, he worked in different capacities rangingfrom faculty to manager and director of institutes ofnational importance. He joined the University ofIllinois, USA as Professor of Physiology and

Psychology in 1962. After returning back, he joinedDepartment of Physiology, St John’s MedicalCollege, Bangalore as Professor and Chairman(1964–1976). In 1976 he joined the UniversityCollege of Medical Sciences, Delhi as Professor ofPhysiology and thereafter became its Principal. Healso served as Director of Centre for Brain Researchand Human Development, University of Delhi. Hewas Consultant to Defence Institute of Physiologyand Allied Science, DRDO and Visiting Consultantto the US Army Food Science Laboratory andBehavioural Research Division, US Army Labs. Healso worked as Consultant to Government of Indiaand Nepal for Health Sciences wherein he aidedestablishing of B.P. Koirala Institute of HealthSciences in Dharan, Nepal. He was an ExecutiveDirector and Advisor at MS Ramaiah Group ofMedical Institutions and Hospitals, Bangalore.

Dr Sharma made stupendous contributionsparticularly in the field of neurophysiology, behaviourand nutrition, which helped delineate fundamentalconcepts and their clinical significance in the areas:feeding behavior and neural control systems, ecologyof hunger and malnutrition, systems organization inhomeostatic motivations and spatio-temporaldelineation of neuro humoral events linked tonociceptors, pain mechanisms and management. Healso authored over 200 original scientific papers, eightmonographs and chapter contributions in importanttext books.

Dr Sharma received several awards, includingICMR Award; Amrut Mody National Award by CSIR;Gen SL Bhatia APPI Oration; Anokhin Medal byUSSR Academy of Medical Sciences; SechenoyMedal in Neurophysiology by USSR Academy ofScience; Bicentenary Award by 1st Moscow MedicalInstitute, USSR; Indian Science Congress PlatinumJubilee Oration; MM Basu and PC MahalanobisOrations; American Biographical Institute LeadershipAward for outstanding contributions inNeurophysiology and Behavior; Kamala BK AnandInternational Award in Neurosciences; Life TimeAchievement Award APPICON; Academician ofInternational Academy of Sciences, InternationalCouncil for Scientific Development; Best Citizens

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India Award and Bharat Jyoti Award. He was electedFellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangaloreand National Academy of Medical Sciences.

Dr KN Sharma was elected to the Fellowshipof the Indian National Science Academy in the year1978.

Churya Sivaraman

Churya Sivaraman (b 02December 1923; d 24 June2014) obtained his PhD ondietary fats in relation to liver-fat deposition from theUniversity of Madras. Hejoined National ChemicalLaboratory, Pune as Scientist in1950. While on deputationfrom NCL he was accorded staff privileges at theUniversity of Leeds, UK. He superannuated asDeputy Director and Head, Division of Biochemistryat NCL in 1983. After his retirement, he continued towork as Consultant in NCL and later in theDepartment of Biotechnology (DBT), Governmentof India to review the DBT-sponsored teaching andtraining programmes.

Dr Sivaraman pioneering contributions includedpurification of bacterial citrate lyase, a multienzymecomplex of a molecular weight of more than half amillion. The complex built up of 6 copies each ofthree distinct subunits: acyltransferase, acyl-lyase andacyl carried protein (ACP), catalyses the cleavage ofcitrate to oxaloacetate and acetate in the presence ofMg2+. His other notable studies relate to: divalentmetal binding behaviour of the complex, usingequilibrium dialysis and radioactive Mn2+ as a probe;p-Azido (14C) benzoylcoenzyme A as a photoaffinityreagent for specifically labelling the active site ofthe acyl-lyase subunit of the complex; the presenceof a single large fused ACP subunit in a strain ofEscherichia coli. Dr Sivaraman’s group developed anovel immobilized penicillin acylase system in whichthe enzyme was covalently attached to activatedcellulose powder. It was used for the production of100 tonnes 6-APA during 1986-97.

Dr Sivaraman was bestowed with the VASVIKaward in Biology for his work on immobilizedpenicillin acylase for production of 6-APA in 1986.

Dr Churya Sivaraman was elected to theFellowship of the Indian National Science Academyin the year 1986.

Chirayathumadom Venkatachalier Subramanian

C h i r a y a t h u m a d o mVenkatachalier Subramanian(b 11 August 1924; d 05February 2016) obtained hisPhD and DSc from theUniversity of Madras. He didhis postdoctoral work inBotany School, Cambridgeand CommonwealthMycological Institute, Kew,UK. He was appointed as Senior Lecturer in theUniversity of Madras in 1951 followed by elevationto Readership. He was then appointed to the newlycreated Chair in Plant Pathology at IARI, New Delhi,the first ever Chair in the country. He later becameProfessor in Plant Pathology at the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute, New Delhi. He organized the newDepartment of Botany in the University of Rajasthanwhere he was the first Professor and Head of theDepartment. He moved to Madras University asProfessor and later became Director of Centre forAdvanced Study in Botany, Madras University.

Professor Subramanian’s research focused onmycology, plant pathology, and evolution. His earlyresearch in soil mycology and soil-borne plantdiseases, focused on taxonomy and ecology ofFusarium. His fungal exploration of the tropics,especially southern India, the Kumaon Himalayas,the far-east, and Australia leading to discovery anddescription of many new genera and species, is amajor contribution. His studies of the perfect statesof Aspergillus, conidiogenesis-based classification ofHyphomycetes and taxonomy and biology of fungiare widely recognized. Exploration of the WesternGhats brought forth an inventory of its remarkablyrich mycodiversity. His researches spanning four

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

Professor Subramanian won many awardsincluding Pulney Andi Medal by Madras University;SS Bhatnagar Prize by CSIR; Rafi Ahmad KidwaiPrize by ICAR; Birbal Sahni Medal by IndianBotanical Society and Lifetime Achievement Award.His lasting contributions to plant taxonomy wererecognized by the Ministry of Environment andForests, Government of India by awarding him the

prestigious Dr E.K. Janaki Ammal Award. He foundedthe Mycological Society of India in 1973 andlaunched the journal Kavaka and worked as its ChiefEditor till 1998. He was also Vice-President andPresident of the International MycologicalAssociation. He was elected Fellow of the IndianAcademy of Sciences, Bangalore and NationalAcademy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

Professor CV Subramanian was elected to theFellowship of the Indian National Science Academyin the year 1960.

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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 inthe 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 Fellowsand Pravasi Fellows for the year 2017. Nomination form can be downloaded from theINSA website www.insaindia.res.in.

INSA Medal for Young Scientists - 2017

Nominations are invited for INSA Medal for Young Scientists – 2017. Those bornon or after January 1, 1982 are eligible for consideration in the year 2017. Theawardee 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 Academyor by earlier recipients of this award. Scientific societies of national standing, universityfaculty, post-graduate departments of research institutions may also nominate eligiblecandidates. The last date for receiving nominations for INSA Medal for YoungScientists is October 31, 2016. Nomination proforma can be downloaded from thewebsite www.insaindia.res.in.

Proposal for Lectures in the Remote/Rural Ar eas

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

Proposals are invited from Fellows, INSA young scientists and INSA teacher awardeeswith details like name and address of the school/college where they wish to deliverlectures, title/s of lecture/s, proposed dates and the quantum of required travel support.Proposals may be sent to Executive Director, INSA at esoffice@insa.nic.in and toscisoc@insa.nic.in at the earliest.

Academy News 1337

Call for Research Proposal in History of Science

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

The last date for submitting research proposals is December 31, 2016. For all otherdetails and application form, visit the website www.insaindia.res.in or mail atijhs@insa.nic.in.

Nomination for INSA Awards

The last date for receiving nominations for the following INSA Awards due for theyear 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

Nomination form can be downloaded from the INSA website www.insaindia.res.in.

1338 Academy News

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 onlineapplication system only. The last date for receiving applications is October 15, 2016.Interested candidates need to login using a Google login and password to applyat: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IhOFkUV_J8bK9Qisej7N7F9dRZ4kzeLuN6fOzIEdIoU/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 ofany of the Science Academies of the country.

More details about INYAS can be found at: http://insaindia.r es.in/INYAS.php and onour Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/INYAS-1662728413946122/