Tag National Science Day

Dr Priya Abraham, Sr. Prof from CMC Vellore and Former Director of the National Institute of Virology, Pune delivered the Annual Oration Lecture.

Only 27% of the population has taken booster doses. We are pushing the government to bring the booster doses back so that more should take them for their safety: Dr Priya Abraham.

KVRSS enters its 25th year. It plans to develop a state-of-the-art science center complex.

Hyderabad, July 15th, 2024…….Dr. K. V. Rao Scientific Society’s 24th Annual Science Awards Function was held Saturday night at B. M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad.

KVRSS has been involved in promoting science by spotting and recognizing talent at the school and university levels for the past 24 years.

Prof. (Dr.) Priya Abraham, Senior Professor, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, and Former Director, National Institute of Virology, Pune delivered the KV Rao Memorial Oration. She was part of the ICMR team that developed the COVAXIN vaccine

She presented the 24th Annual Memorial Oration “The Making of an Indigenous COVID Vaccine and More” where she dwelled on the arduous task of developing the first Indigenous antibody detection assay (Kavach ELISA) which was used in the four national serosurveys for COVID-19 and the collaboration with industry in making a candidate vaccine. Dr Priya and her team worked throughout the pandemic, and it was their relentless effort which helped India come out of the pandemic with minimal casualties.

Speaking on the occasion she said a vaccine takes 10 long years to be developed. But during a crisis like a pandemic, it was developed in just ten and half months. Scientists are not the soldiers at the borders like our fauzi but they are civilian fauzi, she said.

Speaking further she said only 27% of the population has taken a booster dose which is not good. Everyone must take the booster dose. I am in my capacity pushing to the government to bring the vaccines back into the market and encourage more to take booster doses, she said.

The Covid vaccines must be commonly available in the market for people to take booster doses she said

Many countries have realized the need for pandemic preparedness to counter any pandemics that may hit in the future.

Mr. Partho Pratim Kar, Joint Managing Director, Jaykay Enterprises Limited, New Delhi was the Chief Guest. He is an industry leader and pioneer in Indian Retail and works extensively in diverse areas of the social sector including schools. Good teachers make up the good school and not National Education Policy. We need to focus on how to develop good teachers. Teaching has to be by choice and not by default.

Both the guest gave away the 24th Annual Research Awards, 19th School Talent Awards, 13th SPARK Innovation Awards, and 4th SMART (Science Meets ART) Awards.

During the function, the 24th Annual Research Awards were presented to encourage research in basic sciences. It recognized exceptional research in fundamental scientific disciplines by students under the age of 30 across India.

19th School Talent Awards are initiated in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Science & Technology (APCOST). These awards acknowledge exemplary science projects presented by students from various districts, particularly government schools, based on a designated theme provided by the Department of Science and Technology. Scholarship opportunities were awarded to select students.

The 13th SPARK Innovation Awards were given to stimulate the young minds of India, Students present Science Models with Concepts. 40 Projects were selected for final presentations

4th SMART (Science Meets ART) Awards were initiated to celebrate National Science Day and to let school students visualize science. This program fosters a visual understanding of science among school students, the SMART program encourages the creation of models that translate mathematical concepts into engaging stories.

Recently the Society established a Science Innovation Centre and a Mobile Science Lab to offer interactive and accessible science experiences for school children. These initiatives have demonstrably impacted over 10,000 students in the past two years.

As KVRSS enters its 25th year, ambitious plans are underway to develop a state-of-the-art science centre complex. This innovative facility will be designed to provide a vibrant space for learning, exploration, and enjoyment of science for all.

Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida campus celebrated National Science Day, on the theme “Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat”. 28th February is celebrated as National Science Day to mark the discovery of phenomenon of scattering of photons by Indian Scientist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, which was later known as ‘Raman Effect’, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1930, and that was the first Nobel Prize to any person of Indian origin in the field of Science.

Addressing the students, Chief Guest, Dr. Anand Swaroop, Senior Principal Investigator and Chief N-NRL, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, averred, “Today there is a huge participation of women in STEM area, which is very encouraging and shows the growing interest of women in science and technology. India has come a long way, and all the facilities, technologies and infrastructure are available in India which were not there earlier. Sharing his mantras for success, he said that the youth must never be afraid of taking risks and the joy lies in the journey. Also, it is not about how many times you fall down, but how many times you get up and move forward”, added Dr. Swaroop.

Guest of Honour, Mr. Pradnyil Usgaonkar, Director – Operations & CEO at Elcom Innovations, said, “Amity University is doing a great work in technology and a lot of start-ups launched by Amity students are doing very well. Youth have a major role to play in the development of the country since youth power is both the carrier of change and also the beneficiary of change. Today’s youth are witnessing the era of highly advanced technology, drones, green energy, digital payments, OTT platforms, Quantum Computing, and a developing manufacturing infrastructure and therefore, they must make optimum use of the resources and opportunities available to them.”

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, stated, “National Science Day is a day of great significance which motivates us to work for the benefit of the society and country by fostering research and innovation through science and technology. India is known for innovation and scientific temperament but due to the various foreign invasions, it lost its glorious scientific past. However, India is again reviving its lost glory in the field of science and technology and under the NEP 2020, innovative mindsets of the young budding scientists are working on path-breaking research and contributing immensely to the changing landscape of S&T in the country.”

Highlighting the significance of National Science Day, Dr. W. Selvamurthy, President, Amity Science Technology and Innovation Foundation, asserted, “Amity is a research and innovation driven University and it is our constant endeavour to encourage the students to work for the nation and a nation can only develop through science & technology. Therefore, new innovations and research should be constantly pursued so that India can become a developed country.”

On this occasion, Technical Sessions on topics such as “Neuroscience & Neurotechnology: A Future Perspective”, “Indigenous Technologies”, “Semiconductors recent division in road ahead”, “Role of Science & Technology in Homeland Security” and “Atom in service for mankind: Prospects of Industry, Academia, Health care and Research” were also conducted wherein experts Dr. Sandeep Kumar Tiwari, Former Scientist G, Technology Management Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, Dr. Shalini Sehgal, Professor, Department of Food Technology, Bhaskaracharya, College of Applied Sciences , (University of Delhi), Dr, Arvind Kumar, Deputy Director, KTH Life Science Platform & Associate Professor, Div. of Computational Science and Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden and Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra Kumar Sarin, Professor, National Forensic Science University, New Delhi, shared their views. In addition, a Poster Presentation and Science Quiz Competition were also held.

Also present were Dr. B.C. Das, Chairman, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR), Dr. Sunita Rattan, Director Amity Institute of Applied Sciences, Prof. (Dr.) Subhrajit Biswas, Director, AIMMSCR, and the distinguished scientists and students of Amity.