Discover Issue 1
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Transcript of Discover Issue 1
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Sastra Prathibha Awards 2014-15
Science International Forum (SIF) announced the
results of its first Sastra Prathibha Contest in Kuwait.
Top scoring 14 students who appeared the exam in
two categories were declared Sastra Prathibha. The
winners from each class will be honored with Sastra
Prathibha title. The prestigious Acharya J.C.Bose
Sastra Puraskar for the best school is secured by
Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan (IES), Kuwait. 67 students
from various Indian schools in Kuwait who wrote
the exam in two categories were declared outstand-
ing performers. The awards will be distributed at the
Science Gala Event, which is scheduled on 28th
March, 2015 at American International School. The
chief guest for the event is Padmabhooshan Dr. Vijay Bhatkar and Prof.Sivdas. The 14 Sastra Prathibhas
will have a personal interaction session with Dr. Vijay Bhatkar. Other eminent academic and scientific per-
sonalities from India and Kuwait are also expected to attend the function.
SASTRA PRATHIBHA
Gauri Prasanth(DPS)
Kartikey Arora(DPS)
KarthikSudheer (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)
Chrissa Oommen (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)
Diana Vinod Thomas (Carmel)
Neha Elizabeth Thomas (Carmel)
Athulya Jeeva (Indian Central Scool)
Swaraj Challa (DPS)
Sonal Bera (United Indian School)
Karthikeyan Suresh (ICSK Senior)
Anirudha Ramesh(Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)
Aashi Ashuthosh (DPS)
Josephine Crystal Mathew (United Indian School)
Akshaya Srinivasan (Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan)
April, 2015
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What is SIF-Kuwait?
Science International Fo-
rum-Kuwait is a voluntary
organization formed and
supported by professionals
in the fields of Science and
Technology, Education,
and a few Philanthropists
and prominent members of
business community in Ku-
wait. SIF-Kuwait is the of-
ficial representative of Na-
tional Science Movement/
Vijnana Bharati in Kuwait.
Objectives:
Introduce Indias rich sci-
entific heritage to the youth
in order to kindle scientific
temperament within them.
Identify and appreciate
students with a flair for sci-
ence and technology.
Motivate the young gen-
eration to take up science
as a career and encourage
them to contribute towards
INDIA VISION 2020.
Nayudamma Award 2014 given jointly to
Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan
Nayudamma Award: Established in 1986 in memory of distinguished chemical scientist, leather technolo-
gist and former Director-General of CSIR Yelavarthy Nayudamma. Presented annually to persons who
have created vital contributions to the development of science and technology in the country.
Women scientists Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan on February 15th
2015 were jointly named for Dr.
Y Nayudamma Memorial Award
2014. They have been chosen for
the award for their outstanding
performance within the field of
science and technology. Ramon
Magsaysay award recipient prof.
Shanta Sinha presented the award
to Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta
Varadan at a special function orga-
nized at Tenali in Guntur district of
Andhra Pradesh. This is the 1st time
in the history of the trust that 2 emi-
nent women scientists are being con-
currently honoured. The recipients
delivered the 23rd Dr. Y Nayudam-
ma memorial lectures on the themes
Make in IndiaDefence Needs &
Initiatives and Remote Sensing Technology for National Needs respec-
tively. Dr. Tessy Thomas is the Director, of Advanced Systems Laboratory
of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Hydera-
bad and Geeta Varadan is the Project Director (Mission) of Agni V, and Di-
rector of advanced data processing research institute at ISRO. World noted
astrophysics scientist and astronomer Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was presented
with the Nayudamma Award 2013.
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Dr BG Sidharth: Man of Science, Born Ahead
of His Time, Know the man who proposed
that black holes do not exist !
Hyderabad-based renowned astrophysicist Dr
BG Sidharth has questioned the existence of
Black Holes for over a decade and his theory has
been confirmed recently by globally renowned
scientists, including famed physicist Stephen
Hawking himself.
Founder, Director General of the BM Birla Science
Centre in Hyderabad, Sidharth is also the convener
and co-chairman (with Nobel laureates professor DD
Osheroff and professor C Cohen-Tannoudji) of the
prestigious Frontier of Fundamental Physics Interna-
tional Symposium series that has been held in Asia,
Europe North America and Australia.
Black Holes do not exist and I have been writing on
this for several years, says the 66-year-old scientist.
Now, whats interesting is that Stephen Hawking
himself is saying that Black Holes do not exist. If
they exist at all, that would have to be of the super-
massive type, millions of times as massive as the
Sun. Such supermassive Black Holes are believed to
be at the center of galaxies, he explains.
He was conferred with the Einstein-Galilei Laureate
and Gold Medal of Institute for Theoretical Physics
and Advanced Mathematics and Galileo Telesio of
Italy 2013, which he shared with Nobel laureate pro-
fessor DDOsheroff. He also received Italys highest
honour to non-Italians, Knight-Commander of the
Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2006.
In 1997, when the standard Big Bang model was the
accepted theory with the universe, which is believed
to be slowing down due to dark matter, Sidharth put
forward his theory that the universe was actually
accelerating and was dominated by something called
dark energy. Today dark energy is the new paradigm
and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics went to three
astronomers for this discovery. And yet, Sidharths
contributions were left unnoticed. The scientist,
however, laments the present state of the scientific
scenario in India and feels that the West is miles
ahead. Unfortunately, Indians do not excel at what
they do. We are very lax and have a Chalta Hai
attitude. This is the case across the country. As Ber-
nard Shaw says If it is worth doing a thing at all,
then it is worth doing it well, he says.
Asked if he fears his lifes work would be rejected,
Sidharth smiles and says, Whatever Ive done,
whether it is accepted or not, I enjoyed doing it and I
derived immense satisfaction from it. In the end,
thats all that matters.
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Aryabhatta knew about gravity before Isaac
Newton: ex-ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair
One of the country's leading scientists and former
ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair propounded
the theory that some shlokas in Vedas mentioned
about presence of water on the moon and astrono-
my experts like Aryabhatta knew about gravita-
tional force much before Isaac Newton.
The 71-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee said
that the Indian Vedas and ancient scriptures also
had information on metallurgy, algebra, astrono-
my, mathematics, architecture and astrology, way
before the western world knew about them. Speak-
ing at an international conference on Vedas, he how-
ever, added that the information in Vedas was in a
"condensed format" which made it difficult for the
modern science to accept it.
"Some sholkas in one of the Veda says that there is
water on the moon. But no one believed it. Through
our Chandrayaan mission, we could establish that
and we were the first one to find that out," Nair said,
adding that everything in Vedas could not be under-
stood as they were in chaste Sanskrit.
He also talked very highly about fifth century astron-
omer and mathematician saying, "We are really
proud that Aryabhatta and Bhaskara have done
extensive work on planetary work and exploration of
outer planets. It was one of the challenging fields.
Even for Chandrayaan, the equation of Aryabhatta
was used.
Even the knowledge of gravitational field, Newton
found it some 1500 years later. The knowledge exist-
ed in our scriptures," he added.
Nair, who was ISRO chairman from 2003-09, also
claimed geometry was used to make calculations for
building cities during the Harappan civilization and
the Pythagorean theorem also existed since the Ve-
dic period. Ancient Indian scriptures posess the sci-
entific information including that on plastic surgery
as well as aero-dynamics.
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Indian scientists clone near ex-
tinct wild buffalo
Scientists at the National Dairy Research
Institute (NDRI) here successfully cloned a
critically endangered wild buffalo found in
Chhattisgarh. Only one female Asiatic wild
water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) survives in
Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi tiger re-
serve and forest officials have confined it
in semi-captivity.
NDRI scientists conducted a biopsy on its
ear tissue and took it to a laboratory at
Karnal for cell proliferation. The cells were
used for the cloning process using an in-
digenously developed hand-guided tech-
nique. "The calf, named Deepasha by the
scientists, had a normal birth weight of 32
kilograms, is healthy and active," NDRI
Director A.K. Srivastava told the Indian
Science Journal, adding: "We have the
necessary expertise and infrastructure to
multiply this endangered species."
The Asiatic wild water buffalo is restricted
to South and Southeast Asia. The species is
critically endangered due to high anthro-
pogenic pressure ranging from habitat
deterioration to hybridization with domes-
tic buffaloes. The cloning was carried out
at the request of the Chhattisgarh govern-
ment.
Srivastava said the calf will be handed over
to the Chhattisgarh wildlife authorities for
releasing into wild after a particular age.
NDRI had recently cloned the famous high
-yielding Murrah bull variety - the world's
first such.
Srivastava said that over the years, NDRI
has developed reasonably good facilities in
buffalo reproduction with a dedicated
team of scientists who specialize in pro-
duction of stem cells, in vitro embryo pro-
duction and trans-genesis.
Ayurveda's healing powers: Top US research institutions conduct-
ing mega study on traditional Indian medicine
A major study on Ayurveda's heal-
ing powers is being conducted at the
Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Cal-
ifornia by looking at the genetic and
cellular response to a whole systems
approach on health and well-being.
The research is titled Self-Directed
Biological Transformation Initiative (SBTI) Research Study. It will
measure the total effects of an intensive immersion into a systemic pro-
gram to check for a person's connection to the healing process. It will
study genes, hormones, bacteria response, inflammation markers,
weight, stress makers etc. in participants who will be split into groups
that receive medicine and control groups who do not.
The study involves top research and medical institutions in the US-
Harvard University, Scripps Clinic, University of California San Diego,
Mt Sinai University, University of California San Francisco and Duke
University, reports the Times of India. Most traditional medicine and
therapies are not done in isolation, where the focus is on symptoms
alone.
"The body's healing system is still little understood because of the com-
plex inputs - thoughts, emotions, diet, stress, exercise, immune response
- that affect healing. The picture is further clouded when isolated find-
ings overlap or contradict one another. In the context of Ayurveda, ther-
apies and practices aren't done in isolation. Instead of focusing on local
symptoms, the diagnosis is systemic. Only now is Western medicine
beginning to understand that a blanket condition like 'stress' or
'inflammation' connects many diverse disorders, including heart disease,
cancer, and diabetes," says Deepak Chopra.
The study is also an attempt to scientifically establish the efficacy of
Ayurveda which is largely seen as pseudoscience. Commenting on the
beneficial gene activity of ashwagandha, one of Ayurveda's primary
medicine, on Alzheimer, Dr Rudolf Tanzi, a professor at the Harvard
University and a co-researcher at the SBTI study says, "Any scientist of
worth will admit that most of time we are wrong. Just look back at sci-
ence 100 years ago and ask how much is still correct today. Why would
this not continue to be the case 100 years from now? Thus, it makes
sense to look back to ancient remedies and wisdom, for example, as
prescribed in Ayurveda medicine."
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Dr Vijay Bhatkar , one of the
most acclaimed scientist and IT
leader in India, awarded
Padmabhushan
He is best known as the architect of India's
first supercomputer and as the founder
Executive Director of C-DAC, India's na-
tional initiative in supercomputing. He is
credited with the creation of several na-
tional institutions, notably amongst them
being C-DAC, ER&DC, IIITM-K, I2IT, ETH
Research Lab, MKCL and India Interna-
tional Multiversity.
He has been a Member of Scientific Advi-
sory Committee to Cabinet of Govt of In-
dia, Governing Council Member of CSIR,
India and eGovernace Committee Chair-
man of Governments of Maharashtra and
Goa.
A Fellow of IEEE, ACM, CSI,INAE and
leading scientific, engineering and profes-
sional societies of India, he has been hon-
ored with Padmashri and Maharashtra
Bhushan awards. Other recognitions in-
clude Saint Dnyaneshwar World Peace
Prize, Lokmanya Tilak Award , HK Firodia
and Dataquest Lifetime Achievement
Awards, and many others. He was a nomi-
nee for Petersburg Prize and is a Distin-
guished Alumni of IIT,Delhi.
Dr Bhatkar has authored and edited 12
books and 80 research & technical papers.
His current research interests include Ex-
ascale Supercomputing, AI, Brain-Mind-
Consciousness, and Synthesis of Science &
Spirituality.
He is presently the Chancellor of India
International Multiversity, Chairman of
ETH Research Lab, Chief Mentor of I2IT,
and National President of Vijnan Bharati.
India successfully test-fires nuclear capable Agni 5 missile canister
version
India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed, intercontinental
surface-to-surface nuclear
capable ballistic missile
'Agni-5',which has a strike
range of over 5000 kms
and can carry a nuclear
warhead of over one
tonne, from Wheeler's Is-
land off Odisha coast.
The three stage, solid pro-
pellant "missile was test-
fired from a mobile
launcher from the launch
complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at about 8.06 hours," ITR
Director M V K V Prasad said. Prasad told that the canister version of
Agni-5 missile was successfully test launched. "The missile, witnessed a
flawless 'auto launch' and detailed results will be known after all data
retrieved from different radars and network systems." An eye-witness
said, "The sleek missile, just within a few seconds of its blast-off from
the Island Launchpad roared majestically into a clear sunny sky leaving
behind in its trajectory a trail of thin orange and white column of smoke
and within seconds it pierced the sky".
This launch was the third developmental trial of the long range missile.
The first test was conducted on 19 April, 2012 and the second test on 15
September, 2013 from the same base. The indigenously developed sur-
face-to-surface missile Agni-5 is capable of striking a range more than
5000 km. It is about 17 meters long, 2 metres wide and has a launch
weight of around 50 tonnes. The missile can carry a nuclear warhead of
more than one tonne. Unlike other missiles of Agni series, the latest one
'AGNI-5', is most advanced having some new technologies incorporated
with it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine, Prasad
said.
"Lot of new technologies developed indigenously were successfully test-
ed in the first Agni-5 trial. The very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro
based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and ac-
curate Micro Navigation System (MINS) had ensured the Missile reach
the target point within few meters of accuracy.
"The high speed onboard computer and fault tolerant software along
with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly," said an offi-
cial. India has at present in its armory of Agni series, Agni-1 with 700
km range, Agni-2 with 2000 km range, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with 2500
km to more than 3500 range. After a few more trials, Agni-5 will be in-
ducted into the services.
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Indian scientists design morphine replacement
for pain therapy
In a breakthrough that could impact the blurring
realms of pain and pleasure, Indian scientists have
designed a potential morphine replacement, sans the
side effects of addiction, but loaded with pain-killing
power. For nearly four millennia, morphine and its
cousin compounds (opioids) have ruled the roost in
terms of their extraordinary prowess to dull pain
(analgesics). Morphine (sulphate) is a by-product of
opium which is extracted from poppy plants.
"Its pain relieving property is very high because of
its strong binding to the opioid receptor but it also
has a high risk for abuse. It has addiction property
like heroin but not as strong. In addition, it may
cause breathing problems," Surajit Sinha, associate
professor in the organic chemistry department at the
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in
Kolkata, told IANS.
Sinha and his team considered a plant-derived com-
pound called ibogaine, popular in African folk medi-
cine and known for its anti-addictive properties and
pain-killing effects, but notorious for its psychedelic
(hallucinogenic) reaction. It is illegal in countries
like Norway and strictly regulated in the US.
"We synthesized an ibogaine analogue in our labora-
tory from scratch and saw that when mice was treat-
ed with 40 mg/kg dose of the new substance, it could
provide pain relief for more than 50 minutes. "When
treated with morphine at a dose of 10 mg/kg, dura-
tion was 45 minutes, which is lesser than the novel
substance," said Sinha.
The screening was done in collaboration with Su-
mantra Das's lab in the neurobiology department at
the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in
Jadavpur. The researchers have applied for patent
and are now working towards lowering the dose and
studying other properties, including effects in the
nervous system.
The larger picture, according to Sinha, lies in aug-
menting pain therapy and palliative care in India.
M.R. Rajagopal, a leading palliative care expert, said
major barriers to access to opioids are complicated
regulations and problems related to attitude and
knowledge regarding pain relief and opioids among
professionals and the public.
"Any invention like that would be a godsend," said
Rajagopal, chairman of Pallium India in Thiruvanan-
thapuram, told IANS via email and over telephone.
Rajagopal spearheaded the procedure leading to the
Amendment of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (NDPS) Act of India in 2014, which will
help ease access to morphine-based drugs through
uniform regulation across states for giving out li-
censes to manufacture morphine-based drugs.
"A common state rule will be announced by the cen-
tral government. But it has not been done yet. It is a
procedural delay. Once they announce the rules, the
rules will be simpler - only if the states implement it.
"Changing the law alone is not going to make a big
difference unless it is implemented," said Rajagopal,
who is also the director of the WHO's Collaborating
Centre for Training and Policy on Access to Pain
Relief.
Currently, 13 states in India and one union territory
have simplified regulations, but opioid availability
has improved only in a few of these states, he said.
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Events
Annual Science Gala, 2015
Teachers Workshop
28th March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 4.00 PM
Prof: S Shivadas, an eminent educational expert with five decades of
experience and the author of more than 160 science books, will grace the
evening with his thought provoking, motivating speeches and presenta-
tions. He is a National Award holder by the National Council for Science
& Technology Communication, Government of India.
Sastra Prathibha Award Ceremony
28th March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 6.30 PM
The chief guest for the evening :
Padmabhooshan Dr.Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman of the Gov-
erning Council, IIT Delhi, and India's leading IT expert.,
Inventor of PARAM Super computers.
Prof: S Shivadas, an eminent educational expert with five
decades of experience and the author of more than 160
science books. National Award holder by the National
Council for Science & Technology Communication, Gov-
ernment of India.
Presentation
28th March, 2015, American International School, Hawally, @ 7.00 PM
Speaker: Prof: S Shivadas
Subject: Mastering Science & Technology for Mastering the
Human Brain & Unravel the Immense Potential.
To raise new questions, new pos-
sibilities, to regard old problems
from a new angle, requires crea-
tive imagination and marks real
advance in science
Albert Einstein
Discover ISSUE 01 APRIL, 2015
Compiled & Edited by
Prasanth Nair
Reshmy Krishnakumar
Science International Forum, Kuwait
facebook.com/sifkuwait
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