1 INTRODUCTION

The Academy was founded in 1934 by C.V. Raman with the main objective of

promoting the progress and upholding the cause of science (both pure and applied).

It was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act on 24 April 1934.

It commenced functioning with 65 fellows. Its formal inauguration took place on 31

July 1934 at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. On the afternoon of that day

its first general meeting of Fellows was held at which C.V. Raman was elected its

President and the draft constitution of the Academy was approved and adopted. The

first issue of its proceedings was published in July 1934.

The present report covering the period April 2000 to March 2001 represents the

sixty-seventh year of the Academy since its founding.

2 THE FELLOWSHIP

2.1 2000 elections

A total of 373 nominations received for fellowship in different disciplines were

considered first by the eight sectional committees and later by the council. Following

postal balloting, twenty three new Fellows were elected, the fellowship effective

from 1 January 2001. A list of their names follows while Annexure 1 gives their

particulars. Also elected were three new Honorary Fellows.

1. Acharya, S K 13. Nitsure, Nitin

2. Anil Kumar 14. Ramesh, R

3. Bhattacharya, Sudha 15. Ram Sagar

4. Chattaraj, P K 16. Rao, R Raghavendra

5. Das, Bhudev C 17. Ravindranath, Vijayalakshmi

6. Jayakrishnan, A 18. Sahni, Girish

7. Joshi, Amitabh 19. Salunke, Dinakar M

8. Lal, Shyam 20. Sanyal, M K

9. Maiya, Bhaskar G 21. Sen, Diptiman

10. Marimuthu, G 22. Singh, Anil Kumar

11. Mukerjee, Rahul 23. Varadarajan, Raghavan

12. Nagarajan, R

5

Honorary Fellows

1. Cheetham, A K

2. Fisher, Michael E

3. van den Heuvel, E P J

2.2 In memoriam

The following six fellows and two honorary fellows passed away during the period up

to March 2001. Annexure 2 gives additional information about them.

Fellows

1. V.C. Anguli 4. K. S. Mani

2. Bijan Bihari Lal 5. R.S. Mishra

3. C.K. Majumdar 6. Biswajit Nag

Honorary Fellows

1. Olivier Kahn 2. Minoru Oda

2.3 Strength of the fellowship

Fellows Honorary Fellows

1 April 2000 813 43

Elected (Dec. 2000) 23 3

Deceased (Apr. 2000- Mar.2001) 5 2

1 April 2001 831 44

6

2.4 Fellowship analysis

The Academy has always taken care to elect fellows at a relatively younger stages of

their career to act as an inspiration to them in their scientific pursuits. Annexure 3 is

a table showing the average age of fellows elected subject-wise since the last 30

years. Annexure 4 is a list of fellows who were elected when they were 40 years of

age or below.

3 COUNCIL

The council with N. Kumar as the president was in office until December 2000. In

January 2001, a new council under the presidentship of K. Kasturirangan assumed

office for the triennium 2001–2003. Two statutory meetings of the council were held

in Bangalore on 15 July and 9/10 December 2000 and an additional meeting of the

new council at Shriharikota on 17 February 2001.

4 ASSOCIATES

Of 23 nominations received, the following six were selected as Associates in 2000

(Annexure 5). The selections are restricted to those below the age of 32 and the

tenure ceases after five years or after the Associates attain the age of 35 whichever

is earlier.

So far 173 Associates have been selected since 1983, of whom 49 have since

been elected as Fellows.

1. Vinod Kumar Aswal 4. Vijay Vinayak Patel

2. Ramesh Hariharan 5. Vidita A.Vaidya

3. Arvind N. Nair 6. Umesh V. Waghmare

5 PUBLICATIONS

5.1 Journals

Publications continue to be the major activity of the Academy. The eleven journals

are run by independent editorial boards consisting of active scientists who work on a

purely honorary capacity. The chief editor and the members of the editorial board

7

periodically make way for a newer set of members to assume the responsibility of

their respective journals. During the year, new editorial boards were constituted in

the case of three of the journals: Proceedings: Chemical Sciences (with S.S.

Krishnamurthy replacing V. Krishnan as the chief editor), Proceedings: Earth and

Planetary Sciences (with S.R. Shetye replacing V.K. Gaur as the chief editor) and

Resonance (with V. Rajaraman taking over as chief editor from N. Mukunda). N.

Mukunda continues to be the overall editor of all Academy publications.

To maintain high standards and attract both authors and readers, many improvements

have been made over the years in all aspects of publication, including journal

production process, journal design, correspondence with authors, editors, reviewers

and press. All these are now driven by comptuer-based methods, and e-mail is

extensively used including for receiving manuscripts. Academy journals are among

the very few published from the country which are covered in the science citation

index of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Philadelphia, USA. Respective

journals are also covered by services such as Chemical Abstracts, Biological

Abstracts, INSPEC, GeoBase, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Medline, etc.

Tables 1 and 2 give some relevant particulars of the eleven journals now published

by the Academy. Table 3 gives the impact factors as published by ISI for the last few

years. Table 4 gives the journal circulation figures for the year 2000.

8

5.2 Special issues of journals

Several journals brought out special issues on chosen topics as part of their regular

numbers. A description of these follows:

(a) Cyclical evolution of solar magnetic fields: Advances in theory and

observations

Guest Editors: P. Venkatakrishnan, Oddbjorn Engvold and Arnab Rai

Choudhuri

Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, Vol. 21, Nos 3/4,

September/December 2000, pp. 101–476.

The Kodaikanal Observatory was established in 1899. To mark the centenary

of this Observatory, a colloquium on cyclical evolution of solar magnetic fields:

Advances in theory and observations sponsored by the International

Astronomical Union was held at Kodaikanal in December 1999. The

Proceedings of the colloquium was brought out in a special volume of the Journal of

Astrophysics and Astronomy (JAA). The volume begins with a historical account of

the Kodaikanal Observatory written by the late M.K.V. Bappu, the founding director

of the Observatory who also happened to be the first editor of JAA. The remaining 66

articles have been divided into ten sections: synoptic observations, sunspots and

solar cycle, filaments and coronal structures, vector magnetic fields, prominences,

CMEs and flares, flux tubes and irradiance variability, magnetoconvection and stellar

activity, helioseismology, dynamo mechanisms, cycle variation in the quiet corona

and coronal holes, solar wind and interplanetary magnetic fields.

The various papers in this volume vouch for the continuing interest of solar physicists

the world over in the fascinating interplay of magnetic fields and plasma dynamics

leading to the sunspot cycle. These papers also demonstrate that the ramifications

of the solar cycle extend from deep within the Sun out to the far reaches of the solar

system.

9

(b) Proceedings of the XIII DAE symposium on high energy physics

Guest Editors: J.M. Kohli and M. Kaur

Pramana, Vol. 54, No. 4, April 2000, pp. 453–684

The Department of Atomic Energy regularly holds a symposium on high

energy physics. The thirteenth in this series was held at the Panjab

University, Chandigarh in December 1998. About 150 delegates from

various universities and institutions in the country and a few from abroad

participated in the symposium which focussed on recent developments

in high energy physics. There were 22 plenary talks and about 150

contributed papers covering electroweak physics, tests of quantum chromodynamics,

top and heavy quark physics, B-physics and CP violation, astro-particle physics and

cosmology, quantum field theory, SUSY gauge theories, black holes, neutrino physics,

quantum gravity and heavy-ion physics etc. With the approval of new experiments at

LHC, the stage is set for pursuing the ambitious goals of new physics in the 21st

century. New generation of experiments at RHIC will aim to open up new horizons on

the frontiers of quark-gluon plasma and heavy-ion physics. Sixteen of the plenary

talks are included in this special volume.

(c) Proceedings of the sixth workshop on high energy physics phenomenology

Guest Editor: Rahul Basu

Pramana, Vol. 55, Nos 1/2, July/August 2000, pp. 1–360.

The sixth workshop on high energy physics phenomenology (WHEPP-

6) was held at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai for

two weeks during January 2000. It brought together a large number

of active phenomenologists from all over the country and abroad.

Pramana has been publishing the proceedings of these workshops.

Unlike the previous volumes, the present proceedings of the sixth

workshop includes both plenary and scheduled working group talks.

There are 36 presentations including a report on the Indian neutrino observatory.

10

(d) Proceedings of the fourth international conference on gravitation and

cosmology

Guest Editors: S. Bharadwaj, N.K. Dadhich and Sayan Kar

Pramana, Vol. 55, No. 4, October 2000, pp. 479–642.

The fourth international conference on gravitation and cosmology (ICGC 2000) was

held in January 2000 at IIT, Kharagpur. It was attended by about 100 participants

from India and abroad. In contrast to the earlier ICGC meetings, this meeting was

smaller, the idea being largely motivated by the need to focus on a few topics as

opposed to a broader spectrum. ICGC 2000 focused on two topics of contemporary

interest: (i) cosmology, and (ii) black holes and other compact objects. There were

ten plenary lectures during the morning sessions. The afternoon sessions were

devoted to four workshops where new results were presented on the classical and

quantum aspects of black holes and compact objects, theories/observations on

cosmology, and a report on alternative scenarios. Additionally, there were a couple

of special lectures — one on Einstein’s days and works in Prague and another semi-

popular lecture on black holes as well as an enthralling after dinner speech: “The

lighter side of gravity – How Swami Gurutvananda received enlightenment?” This

volume includes the texts of seven of the ten plenary talks, the summary of results

presented at the four afternoon workshops, as well as the text of the after-dinner talk.

(e) Proceedings of the fourteenth national symposium on plasma science and

technology

Guest Editor: T.S. Gill

Pramana, Vol. 55, Nos 5/6, November/December 2000, pp. 643–966.

The fourteenth national symposium on plasma science and technology (Plasma–

99) organized jointly by the Plasma Science Society of India and the Guru Nanak

Dev University was held at Amritsar in December 1999. Since this symposium was

held at the threshold of the new millennium, the theme was, aptly, Plasma physics in

India — review and future trends and contained invited review talks in various

categories covering basic plasma physics, space and astrophysical plasmas, industrial

plasmas and plasma processing, chaos and nonlinear phenomena, inertially confined

fusion plasmas, novel plasmas and magnetically confined fusion plasmas. In all,

there were 19 invited review talks and about 180 contributed papers. The present

volume contains nine reviews and 26 of the contributed papers presented at the

symposium.

11

(f) Proceedings of the winter institute on foundations of quantum theory and

quantum optics

Guest Editor: S.M. Roy

Pramana, Vol. 56, Nos 2/3, February/March 2001, pp. 137–456.

There is a growing body of physicists worldwide who are interested in

the emerging field of foundations of quantum theory and quantum optics

and their technological applications to quantum information processing

(including quantum computation and quantum communication). The

urgency of seeding and sustaining research collaborations in this field

involving experimental as well as theoretical physicists led to the holding of periodic

winter institutes in India on foundations of quantum theory and quantum optics.

The advance of technology has made it possible over the last decade or so to perform

critical experiments to test the foundations of quantum theory that were until recently

regarded as gedanken experiments. In particular, interference and correlation

experiments using single photons, single electrons and single neutrons as well as

atomic, molecular and solid state physics experiments coupled with quantum optical

techniques have been particularly valuable in shedding new light on non-local quantum

correlations, wave-particle complementarity, macroscopic quantum tunneling,

Schrödinger Cat states, the quantum Zeno effect, and Bose-Einstein condensation.

Further, there have been new theoretical developments of great conceptual

significance such as consistent histories, decoherence and spontaneous collapse,

and the development of a causal quantum theory richer than the original theory of de

Broglie and Bohm. In addition there is worldwide interest in the closely related fields

of mesoscopic physics, quantum computation and quantum communication”.

The enthusiasm for the winter institute is perhaps due to the explosive growth of the

field of quantum information processing. There were 96 participants including 48

speakers. There were separate discussion sessions in the afternoons with different

coordinators taking charge of different focussed areas of research.

Of the 27 articles included in this volume, 11 are on foundations of quantum theory,

six on quantum optics, seven on quantum information processing and three on

mesoscopic physics. The guest editor hopes that this special issue will bear testimony

to the standards attained at this first winter institute and prove to be an important

source of reference.

12

(g) Modern trends in inorganic chemistry

Guest Editors: S.S. Krishnamurthy and A.G. Samuelson

Proc. Chem. Sci., Vol. 112, No. 3, June 2000, pp. 155–438.

The series of symposia on modern trends in inorganic chemistry (MTIC), which began

in 1985 at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, Calcutta has evolved into

a forum for the inorganic chemistry fraternity of the country to meet every two years

and discuss the current status and future projections of research in various frontier

areas of inorganic chemistry, both at the national and international levels. The meeting

held at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore during January 2000 was the first in

the new millennium and the eighth in the series (MTIC–VIII). It was jointly hosted by

the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science and

the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.

This special issue of the journal contains 14 papers based on invited lectures delivered

at the symposium. Apart from oral presentations, the conference had a rich and

extensive poster programme, and abstracts of 100 posters are also included in this

issue. The topics covered span a wide range in the field of inorganic chemistry including

some emerging interdisciplinary areas.

(h) Bay of Bengal monsoon experiment

Guest Editors: Sulochana Gadgil and U.C. Mohanty

Proc. Earth Planet Sci., Vol. 109, No. 2, June 2000, pp. 205–314.

One of the most challenging problems in atmospheric science is to develop an

adequate understanding of the variability of the Indian monsoon on various time

scales: subseasonal, interannual and decadal, that could be translated into a predictive

capability. The monsoon is strongly coupled to warm oceans surrounding the

subcontinent. Most of the monsoon rainfall occurs in association with synoptic systems,

such as lows and depressions, generated over the warm oceans and their subsequent

propagation over the Indian landmass. The Bay of Bengal is exceptionally fertile

generating these systems and plays an important role in monsoon variability.

Studies of satellite data over the past two decades have revealed the nature of

convection/precipitation over the oceans and their relationship, with monsoon

variability. These, in turn, have led to various hypotheses to explain the propagation

of these systems in the atmosphere, their impact on the ocean and the recovery of

the atmosphere and ocean to the predisturbance state. These hypotheses need to

13

be tested and refined by detailed observations of the air-sea coupling during the

monsoon.

The BOBMEX field experiment, an acronym for the ‘Bay of Bengal and the monsoon

experiment’ is aimed at accomplishing this objective by generating critical data on

the subseasonal variation of important variables of the atmosphere, the ocean and

their interface processes. This is the first major national effort at designing experiments

to gain critical insights into the structure of monsoon variability. Under the first national

observational programme of the monsoon trough (MONTBLEX), some observations

of the variation of winds, surface fluxes and other parameters were made in the head

Bay. BOBMEX envisaged the use of state-of-the-art instrumentation to obtain time

series data at two critical locations over the Bay during July-August 1999. Prior to

this, a pilot experiment was undertaken over the Bay in October-November of 1998

to test the instruments and obtain a first-order picture of the nature of variability.

Results of this pilot experiment are presented in this volume in 12 papers dealing

with various aspects of BOBMEX.

(i) International JGOFS symposium on the biogeochemistry of the Arabian

Sea

Guest Editors: Peter Burkill, Roger Hanson, Dileep Kumar and P.S. Swathi,

Proc. Earth Planet Sci., Vol. 109, No. 4, December 2000, pp. 393–552.

Oceans constitute a massive reservoir of carbon dioxide, about 50 times larger than

the atmosphere. Even minor variations in its carbon content therefore affect the

atmospheric inventory significantly. The joint global ocean flux study (JGOFS) was

accordingly designed as the core project aimed at addressing the biogeochemistry

of carbon in the ocean, particularly the upper ocean biogeochemical processes which

by mediating exchanges between the ocean interior and the atmosphere, lead to

climate change. Such studies are expected to yield information on the magnitudes of

spatial and temporal variabilities, and exchanges among various terrestrial reservoirs.

The main objectives of this project are to determine and understand the factors

controlling the time-varying carbon fluxes in the ocean, to evaluate related exchanges

with other reservoirs, and to use this knowledge in developing predictive models of

the earth system response to anthropogenic perturbations.

The tropical Arabian Sea has been regarded as a complex arena of dimly understood

biogeochemical processes that have significant global implications. For instance,

14

the Arabian Sea makes a disproportionately large contribution to denitrification in the

world oceans and maintains super saturation of carbon dioxide in its surface waters

round the year. Yet, details of the processes responsible for sustaining these states

still remain to be elucidated. Is it physics or biology? To examine these questions in

the light of newly acquired information from the Arabian Sea process study, the JGOFS

organized an international symposium on Biogeochemistry of the Arabian Sea at

Bangalore during January 1999, followed by a week long training course on modelling

and synthesis. This issue of the Proceedings contains a set of eleven papers selected

from those presented at this symposium. The editors hope that the incisive selection

of papers included in this volume would provide landmark contributions to the study

of JGOFS.

(j) Advances in modelling, system identification and parameter estimation

Guest Editors: Jitendra R. Raol and Naresh K. Sinha,

Sadhana, Vol. 25, No. 2, April 2000, pp. 71–204.

The field of system modelling and identification has advanced at a rapid rate since

the time of Gauss. As early as in 1795, Gauss made pioneering contributions to

parameter estimation of dynamical systems. This century has seen applications of

Kalman filtering (in 1960s) to the present-day neural networks and genetic algorithms.

With a view to keeping in tune with this fascinating area, researchers and engineers

working in this field were invited to contribute to this special issue of Sadhana. The

ten contributory papers included in this volume span a wide range of techniques and

applications of mathematical modelling system identification and parameter estimation

with good mathematical theories, techniques, and applications to real-life practical

problems. It is hoped that the volume will be useful to researchers and practising

engineers as well as to postgraduate students working in this field.

(k) Emerging dynamic design techniques for mechanical and structural systems

Guest Editors: T.K. Kundra and B.C. Nakra

Sadhana, Vol. 25, No. 3, June 2000, pp. 205–340.

This special issue documents some of the contributed research papers discussed

during the proceedings of International Winter School on optimum dynamic design

using modal testing and structural dynamic modification held at IIT, Delhi during

December 1997. The school was organized with the main objective of providing an

opportunity for presenting the latest trends in the area of dynamic design by experts.

15

An attempt was also made to bring about an awareness of the state-of-art of the

software and hardware in various tools of dynamic design, namely dynamic testing,

identification, modification and model updating.

The dynamic design techniques are applicable to simple as well as complex structural

and mechanical systems. Information from various sources shows that their successful

application to reduce vibrations and improve design covers machine tools, car

engines, scooters, tractors, rail vehicles, power generating turbines, aircraft engines

and structures, helicopters, satellites and even consumer products like golf clubs,

hair clippers, loudspeaker cabinets, lawn mowers, musical instruments, tennis rackets,

disk drives of computers, oil sump lines, bicycles and a host of other consumer and

industrial products and equipment. The editors hope that the papers in this volume

would bring about an awareness of the emerging dynamic design techniques including

their principles, applications, and the state-of-the-art developments in the area.

(l) Nonlinear structural analysis

Guest Editors: T.K. Varadan and Gangan Prathap

Sadhana, Vol. 25, No. 4, August 2000, pp. 341–422.

The Structures Panel of the Aeronautics Research and Development Board of India

organizes a national seminar on aerospace structures (NASAS) every year on a

specific theme. The eighth seminar was on nonlinear mechanics and was held at

IIT, Chennai in October 1998.

During the last 50 years, nonlinear problems of mechanics and mathematical physics

have attracted considerable attention. Earlier, almost all phenomenological studies

were solved using linear or linearized systems. However, rapid advances in science

and engineering have pushed frontiers of technology to such extents that linear

theories no longer suffice. This is the case in aerospace structures where the use of

low-rigidity thin-walled structures results in large deformations governed by nonlinear

differential equations. The solution of such models by approximate analytical or

computational techniques has also become very important.

Four invited and 40 contributed papers were presented at the national seminar. A

great variety of topics were covered including themes such as nonlinear finite element

analysis, composite structures, fracture mechanics, vibration, chaos, contact stresses,

etc. — an interesting mix showing the emerging preferences and thrust directions.

16

This special issue of Sadhana is a collection of five papers selected from those

presented at the seminar. It is also intended as a tribute to the late Professor KAV

Pandalai who championed the cause of nonlinear structural analysis over nearly four

decades of research and teaching and who initially assumed the task of organizing

this special issue but could not complete the assignment due to his unfortunate demise

in 1999.

(m) Advances in solidification processing

Guest Editor: Biswajit Basu

Sadhana, Vol. 26, Nos 1/2, February/April 2001, pp. 1–212.

Solidification phenomena are the heart of most of the product manufacturing

processes. From conventional manufacturing processes like foundry casting, arc

welding, ingot casting etc. to the latest technologies like crystal growth, near-net

shape processing, laser processing, and plasma processing, solidification phenomena

play a dominant role in process as well as product optimization. Over the last couple

of decades, there has been significant progress in the fundamental understanding

as well as in the modelling approaches to solidification phenomena. This has led to

better product quality and higher productivity of conventional processing. Besides

these, new advances in understanding the process have led to the development of

several new technologies.

With this background, an international workshop was organised by the Tata Research

Development & Design Centre, Pune, in association with the Indian Society of Heat

& Mass transfer (ISHMT) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),

January 2000 in Pune to review the latest developments on several aspects of

solidification processing, namely, fundamental understanding and modelling, control

and optimization, and new technologies and challenges for the next millennium. This

volume of Sädhanä documents some of the issues that were presented and discussed

in the workshop. It presents a wide range of interesting research work on the

fundamentals (like segregation, microstructure, correction) and applications (thermal

sprays, crystal growth, welding and continuous casting) of solidification phenomena.

The editor hopes that this collection will be useful to researchers and practising

engineers in their respective fields of application.

17

5.3 Special publications

(a) Butterflies of Peninsular India

Author: Krushnamegh Kunte; Editor: Madhav Gadgil,

Published in collaboration with Universities Press, Hyderabad,

Distributed by Universities Press, price Rs. 470/-

This book on butterflies of peninsular India represents the first fascicle

to be published under Project Lifescape. This project is a part of the

initiative of the Academy to enhance the quality of science education.

The project aims to publish illustrated accounts of 1,500 Indian species

(and higher taxonomic categories such as orders and families) of microorganisms,

plants and animals. These accounts are meant to assist high school, college and

postgraduate students and teachers of biology in reliably identifying these taxa. They

would also include ancillary information on distribution, ecology and behaviour that

would help design field exercises and projects focussing on first hand observations

of living organisms. The information thus generated could feed into a countrywide

system of monitoring ongoing changes in India’s lifescape to support efforts at

conservation of biological diversity, as well as control of invasives, of weeds, pests,

vectors and diseases. Hopefully, the accounts would also stimulate popular interest

in the broader spectrum of India’s biological wealth, much as Salim Ali’s books have

done for birdlife over the last fifty-eight years.

This book, of 300 pages contains natural history accounts of

76 butterfly species which are arranged according to their

families and includes 186 exquisite colour pictures of

butterflies.

The book was formally released during the Goa Annual

Meeting by R.A. Mashelkar and was followed by the public

lecture on butterflies by Madhav Gadgil.

(b) Probability and statistics – Echoes from Resonance

Editors: Mohan Delampady, T. Krishnan and S. Ramasubramanian

Published with Universities Press, Hyderabad, pp. 1–201

The Academy launched Resonance as a monthly journal devoted to

science education in January 1996. It is aimed largely at undergraduate

students and teachers of science, though material accessible to somewhat

18

younger students is also included. Each issue contains material in all areas of

science and mathematics, in various formats. Some are individual general articles,

others consist of series with several parts. An effort is always made to attain a good

expository quality in all of them.

Echoes from Resonance is a series born out of Resonance, putting together in a

coherent manner collections of articles (both series and single pieces) taken from

Resonance and all written around a common theme. Typically the individual articles

would have appeared quite independently at different times. These collections should

prove useful to the reader keen to learn about a specific subject, with accounts given

by different authors from different perspectives but all in an expository manner. These

volumes should be useful for students and teachers alike, and complement the

structure of individual issues of Resonance, each of which always tries to cover

different areas of science and mathematics in a balanced manner.

6 ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING

(a) Web access

As part of its constant effort to keep up with developments in journal publishing

worldwide, and to improve the visibility of its journals, Academy has equipped itself to

make its journals available on the World Wide Web. Academy hosts web pages of

all its journals on its web server which is on a leased 64 kbps line to the Internet.

Nine of the eleven journals have web pages with full content on the Web and available

free of charge. The journal sites have information about the journal, contact

addresses, subscription details and information for authors. The contents page for

each issue of a journal is linked to HTML files of abstracts of articles and PDF files of

full articles (both text and illustrations).

The Academy website is at www.ias.ac.in with links to

information on various activities of the Academy. A database

driven search facility is available on the fellowship. The journal

pages are also mirrorred at the IISc website

(www.iisc.ernet.in/~academy).

19

7 RAMAN PROFESSOR

Prof. Itamar Procaccia of the Department of Chemical Physics at

the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot in Israel was the

seventeenth Raman Professor to occupy the Raman Chair.

Procaccia is well known in the world of theoretical physics, in

particular for the work he has done in turbulence and turbulent

transport processes, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, nonlinear

dynamical systems, and fractals.

Procaccia was in India in February-March 2001 for about 5 weeks and had a fruitful

interaction with the faculty of the Indian Institute of Science. He also lectured at IISc

on anisotropy and its decay in developed turbulence, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre

Fluid Dynamics Colloquium on statistically preserved structures in turbulence and

the mechanism for anomalous scaling, and at the Raman Research Institute on

fractal growth patterns and iterated conformal maps. His Academy public lecture

was entitled turbulence: a 19th century problem with challenges for the 21st century.

8 ACADEMY DISCUSSION MEETINGS

8.1 Origin and evolution of life

28 November – 1 December 2000, Orange County, Coorg

During the late seventies and eighties, catalysed by the visits to India of the late Cyril

Ponnamperuma ( the well-known Sri Lankan scientist who worked on the origin and

evolution of the universe) there were a series of meetings in the broad area of chemical

evolution and origin and early evolution of life. These meetings used to be vibrant.

They also led to research activity in the area. In course of time, the tempo of the

concerted efforts slackened and the area is now comparatively dormant in the country.

Globally, considerable progress has recently taken place in work relating to the origin

and early evolution of life. There is a need to revive the activities in the country in this

area.

As regards evolutionary studies themselves, there are isolated pockets of excellence

in the country. However, the overall strength in the area in India is rather poor.

Considering that evolution is central to biology at all levels, this is a sad state of

affairs.

20

The proposed meeting brought together those working in India in the area of origin of

life and evolution for an in-depth discussion. There were five group presentations

and Annexure 6 gives the titles of these presentations.

8.2 Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with hyperbolic conservation laws

(CFDHYP–2000)

1–3 December 2000, Orange County, Coorg

Hyperbolic conservation laws arise frequently in many

disciplines, including compressible and vascular fluid

dynamics, astrophysics and the theory of relativity. Of

these, the hyperbolic partial differential equations arising

in the dynamics of compressible fluids have been

thoroughly studied; in particular aerospace computational

fluid dynamics with hyperbolic systems has now reached

a considerable level of maturity. CFD codes developed for solving these laws on

supercomputers are regarded as supertools for aerodynamic design and analysis.

However, CFD has a much wider spread than what aerospace CFD has covered.

The purpose of the present conference CFDHYP–2000 was to bring together

scientists, engineers and young students actively engaged in doing R&D work in

computational problems involving hyperbolic partial differential equations, for sharing

their experiences with others and facilitating cross-fertilization. Scientists from the

above fields lectured on their areas of specialization; in addition some lectures for

understanding the basics of these various disciplines for the benefit of non-specialists

were held. One of the unique features of CFDHYP–2000 is lectures delivered for the

benefit of non-specialists by doctors on various medical concepts such as pathological

events in atherosclerosis, coronary bypass, aneurysm of aorta and stents. Computer

simulation of fluid flow associated with vascular phenomena is likely to play an

increasingly important role in the treatment of patients. The organizers believe that

all the participants now have a better awareness of and can actively contribute to

“the seamless web of knowledge” about CFD with hyperbolic conservation laws.

The topics covered include hyperbolic systems, aerospace CFD, CFD in astrophysics

and relativity, and computer simulation of flow problems arising in vascular fluid

dynamics. Annexure 7 lists the lectures presented at the discussion meeting.

21

8.3 Function and plasticity of adult brain

25–28 February 2001, Orange County, Coorg

The format of the meeting was one of talks in the morning followed by extended

discussions. These discussions were held informally during walks in the forests in

small groups and the talks and discussions were continued in the evenings at the

venue. The academic exchanges that began at 9.00 AM continued till 11.00 PM on

all days.

The inaugural talk by John Nicholls on regeneration in Oppossum spinal cord was

held at Bangalore on 23 February and was preceded by his public lecture on value of

basic research in neuroscience to society. The other lectures that followed were held

at Coorg. Annexure 8 gives a summary of the talks followed by a full list of the

programme.

9 ACADEMY PUBLIC LECTURES

9.1 Turbulence: A 19th century problem with challenges for the 21st century

Itamar Procaccia (Raman Professor), Weizmann Institute of Science,

Rehovot,Israel

22 February 2001, 4.00 PM, IISc. Faculty Hall

Turbulence is an old problem that continues to challenge theorists

and experimentalists alike. In his talk Procaccia explained, avoiding

technicalities, some of the exciting recent ideas, and reviewed the

most promising new experimental advances. On the theoretical side

the role of statistically preserved characteristic structures (SPCS) was

stressed and on the experimental side the advent of some ultra-fast tracking

techniques. The notion of SPCS offers a novel view of the statistical theory of far-

from-equilibrium systems.

9.2 Quest for unification

Edward Witten, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced

Study, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

11 January 2001, 5.00 PM, CSIC Auditorium

The problem of quark confinement is the question of explaining why

we never see an isolated quark, given that protons and neutrons are

22

made of quarks. In recent years, this problem has been linked in unexpected ways

with the quantum mechanics of black holes.

9.3 Towards a theory of everything

David J Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

3 January 2001, 4.00 PM, IISc Faculty Hall

The current state of string theory and the ambitious attempt to construct a

unified theory was reviewed. The reasons why we have been led to this

theory and the marvellous structures that it has revealed were discussed

and its future prospects speculated.

9.4 Molecular biology of the human embryo and its clinical significance

R.G. Edwards, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK

4 December 2000, 4.00 PM, IISc Faculty Hall

Robert G. Edwards is a pioneer in the medically-assisted reproductive

technology (MART) responsible for the birth of the first “test-tube” baby,

produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryo transfer procedure. Edwards

elucidated early discoveries made by him and his coworkers, which included

successful ovarian hyperstimulation protocols and an understanding of oocyte

maturation and early embryo development. In later years, these helped improving

IVF/MART techniques. Secondly he described important features of human embryos

during preimplantation development and illustrated the occurrence of earliest

embryonic differentiation and embryos exhibiting distinct polarities. He pointed out

amazing similarities in molecular events during early development between the human

and animals such as C. elegans, drosophils and xenopus. Edwards stressed the

need to develop efficient systems for scoring embryos during development on

morphological as well as molecular criteria, in order to assess normality and viability

of embryo development, so that implantation rates can be improved markedly. Finally

Edwards discussed the latest developments such as stem cell biology and therapeutic

cloning and their clinical significance in cell/tissue transplantation medicine. He also

mentioned advances made in preimplantation genetic diagnosis and its role in the

management of inherited genetic disorders. He emphasized the need to develop

molecular approaches in human embryology and to apply them in routine practice of

MART to achieve improved pregnancy rates and take-home-baby rates.

23

9.5 How solids bend and break

James S. Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

20 October 2000, 4.00 PM, IISc Faculty Hall

Fracture dynamics remains a challenging research topic in engineering,

mathematics, and nonequilibrium physics. Despite decades of effort,

several fundamental problems remain largely unsolved. Langer

suspected that the difficulties stem primarily from lack of an adequate

theory of deformation near crack tips, where stresses and strain rates were very

large. In an attempt to learn more about the physics of such situations, Michael Falk

and Langer have performed molecular dynamics simulations of deformation and

failure in a simple, two-dimensional, amorphous system. Langer described those

simulations and some unconventional theoretical ideas that were emerging from

them.

9.6 Electronic publishing and telecommunications: Impacts on the global

science enterprise

Irving A. Lerch, The American Physical Society, USA

19 October 2000, 5.00 PM, NIAS Auditorium

While scientists have exploited the communications potential of the

internet since its inception, the globalization of telecommunications

has transformed the quality, breadth, immediacy and content of

international scientific exchange. This has had a dramatic and far-

reaching impact on scientific publication by transforming the science dialog. A

spectrum of correspondence has emerged merging unrefereed reports (email

exchanges and eprint servers) with refereed archival reports (paper, electronic

distribution, CD ROM). This has accelerated the global dialog and broadened

participation in community exchanges— in effect, creating a “collective intelligence”.

It has also threatened to divide “haves” from “have-nots” owing to highly variable

access costs and telecommunications infrastructures. However, a combinatorial

analysis of group productivity as a function of telecommunications costs seems to

indicate that this need not be an impediment to international collaborations. In addition,

new kinds of scientific collaborations are coalescing around “virtual laboratories” (often

referred to as “collaboratories”) whereby access, control, data analyses and

communications are available to support widely distributed groups. The use of the

24

internet for both audio and video real-time and store-and-forward communications

has provided some communities with new means for sustaining contact and given

rise to ambitious education programmes such as the “virtual universities”. But rapid

change has raised large questions as to payment, ownership, track and archival of

huge volume of information by whom, proper role of the scientific community and its

institutions, obligations of government and the other players, impact on regional and

global scientific productivity and the beneficiaries.

9.7 Open archives and search engines”

Alan Gilchrist, Editor, Journal of Information Science, UK and

Stevan Harnad, Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of

Southampton, UK

20 September 2000, 10.00 AM to 12.30 PM, RRI Auditorium

Talks by Alan Gilchrist and Stevan Harnad, were jointly organised by the Academy,

Raman Research Institute and the Karnataka Library Association. Harnad spoke

about the “open archives initiative” and how it would be the ideal solution for scientists

in developing countries for the twin problems of poor visibility caused by predominantly

publishing their work in non-mainstream journals and inadequate access to information

needed for their research due to escalating prices of journals and dwindling budgets.

Gilchrist spoke about the inadequacies of the Internet and the search engines, despite

all the hype, and how the traditional classification and cataloguing skills of the librarian

could come to the fore once again in the era of knowledge management.

9.8 The strong interactions

Heinrich Leutwyler, Institut fur Theoretische Physik, Universitat Bern, Switzerland

30 August 2000, 5.00 PM, IISc Faculty Hall

Heinrich reviewed the development of our understanding of the forces that

hold the constituents of matter together, emphasizing the role of strong

interactions. In particular, he discussed the symmetry properties of these

interactions and showed how the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry

breakdown manifests itself, both in the observed pattern of particles and in

the forces acting between them.

25

Alan Gilchrist

Stevan Harnad

10 MID-YEAR MEETING 2000

The eleventh mid-year meeting was held at the Faculty Hall of the Indian Institute of

Science on 14 and 15 July 2000. There were two special lectures, an evening public

lecture and 30-min lecture presentations by thirteen fellows and associates recently

inducted into the Academy. In what follows, some of these lectures are briefly

highlighted.

1. Special Lecture: Abhijit Sen (Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar)

Clocks, fireflies and the Landau damping of plasma waves

An assembly of coupled limit cycle oscillators provides a useful

mathematical paradigm for the study of collective behaviour in a wide

variety of biological, physical and chemical systems. One well-known

example is the phenomenon of ‘phase-locking’ of oscillators, which

appears to occur naturally in a large community of ‘flashing fireflies’.

Other features, such as ‘frequency entrainment’, i.e. synchronization of oscillators

with diverse frequencies to a single common frequency, find useful applications in

cardiac pace maker cell collections, coupled chemical oscillations etc. This one-hour

talk briefly reviewed the collective properties of coupled limit cycle oscillators and

discussed their significance for many-body systems including the phenomenon of

Landau damping in plasmas. It then discussed some recent work where the effect

of ‘time delay’ on the collective propeties of oscillator systems has been studied.

Time delay is ubiquitous in most real systems due to finite propagation times of signals,

interaction times of chemicals etc. It is found to have some novel effects on the onset

and characteristics of various collective regimes. In particular, the so-called ‘amplitude

death’ regime of oscillators is found to extend even to identical oscillators — a

somewhat surprising result that can have interesting practical consequences e.g. in

cardiac arrhythmia, tuning of coupled magnetron systems, etc.

2. Special Lecture: Partha P. Majumder (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)

Ethnic India: A genomic view

The Indian sub-continent comprises over a billion people who are socially

structured into a number of groups, which are largely intra-marrying.

The cultural and linguistic diversity among these ethnic geoups is

enormous. Past studies using blood-group, serum-protein and red-cell

enzyme markers have shown that the genetic diversity among ethnic

populations of India is comparable to the major global morphological agglomerates,

26

such as the Caucasoids, Mongoloids, etc. Because of the intrinsic limitations of protein-

coding loci, past genetic studies have provided a limited view of the process of peopling

of India and the subsequent ethnic structuring of the peoples of India.

The addition of “neutral” DNA markers — autosomal, Y-chromosomal and

mitochondrial — to the repertoire of population genetic studies has provided immense

opportunities to understand the peopling of India and the structuring of the Indian

peoples into ethnic groups. This talk provided results of recent studies on ethnic

groups of India using various kinds of DNA markers. These results are then used, in

conjunction with pre-historic, historic, linguistic and cultural data, to provide a view of

the process of peopling of the Indian sub-continent, including some pre-historical

demographic events that are statistically estimable from DNA marker and sequence

data. The speaker also contrasted his data on mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal

haplotypes to shed some light on the ethnic organization of the people of India

subsequent to the arrival of modern humans into India from out-of-Africa about

60,000 – 80,000 years ago.

3. Evening Public Lecture: K.S. Valdiya (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced

Scientific Research, Bangalore)

Rising Himalaya: Resurgent Indian shield in South India

The impact of the northward-pushing Peninsular India is manifest in the

Himalaya that is being inexorably pressed against the mainland Asia as well

as in the southern Indian Shield at the tail end of the mobile landmass. Valdiya

spent a significant part of his career working in the Himalayas to study its

geology. According to him repeated occurrence of earthquakes, increase in

elevation of mountain ranges, reshaping of landforms that betray remarkable

youthfulness, deformation of very young sediments and natural blockade of streams

and rivers crossed by active faults, among many developments, testify to the

neotectonic resurgence of the leading and tail ends of the moving Indian landmass.

4. Presentations by new Fellows/Associates

There were twelve 30-minute presentations by newly elected fellows and

associates. Ushadevi N. Bhosle (TIFR, Mumbai) spoke on her theoretical work on

moduli spaces of bundles on curves and their compactifications. M.K. Ghosh

(IISc., Bangalore) spoke on maximum principle and Harnack’s inequality.

P.P. Chakrabarti (IIT, Kharagpur) presented a survey of the techniques of heuristic

search covering the major search frameworks, fundamental search algorithms and

27

their properties. Indrani Bose (Bose Institute, Kolkata) spoke of two spin models,

viz. the spin ladder model and a frustrated spin model in two dimensions and

highlighted the success of these models in explaining new phenomena. S.M.

Bhattacharjee (Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar) showed that a double-stranded

DNA can be opened by a force only if the force exceeds a critical value, and this

unzipping is a critical phenomenon. The difference between the scaling behaviour

of unzipping by force and thermal melting and the hypothesis that long-range critical

correlations within the unzipped part drive the highly correlated biochemical functions

during replication or transcription. Maneesha S. Inamdar (JNCASR, Bangalore)

explained the work of her group to unravel the events during normal blood vessel

formation, using the mouse as a model system. Pratima Sinha (Bose Institute,

Kolkata) spoke on chromosome transmission during cell division and M. Vairamani

(IICT, Hyderabad) on his chiral recognition studies by mass spectrometry. R. Ramaraj

(MKU, Madurai) spoke on photoelectrochemistry in micro- and macro-heterogeneous

system. In his talk on elephants, agriculture and people, R. Sukumar (IISc.,

Bangalore) touched upon ecologial aspects of crop raiding by elephants, which

according to him is partly due to the degree of fragmentation of habitat and partly

due to the higher nutritive value of cultivated crops compared to wild forage plants.

Sukumar also discussed the lacunae in our understanding of this issue and the

implications for managing elephant-human conflicts. Amit Ghosh (IMT, Chandigarh)

spoke on emergence of new strains of vibrio cholerae: implications for the

recombinant oral vaccine strain VA1.3. R. Narasimhan (IISc., Bangalore) spoke on

numerical simulations of fracture initiation in ductile materials under dynamic loading

and proposed a simple model which enables rationalization of the observed dynamic

fracture behaviour of ductile materials. The concluding talk of the mid-year meeting

was by T. Radhakrishna (Centre for Earth Science Studies, Trivandrum) on mafic

dyke intrusions and the late cretaceous geodynamics along the western continental

margin of India.

The mid-year meeting was attended by about 200 fellows and associates from all

parts of the country and 17 teachers selected from the Academy database of

teachers. The public lectures and special lectures attracted an audience of nearly

250 to 300 in the faculty hall. The full programme is in Annexure 9.

28

11 GOA ANNUAL MEETING

The National Institute of Oceanography in association with the Goa

University invited the Academy to hold its annual meeting in Goa.

This invitation was accepted and the meeting, sixty-sixth in the series,

was held from 24 to 26 November 2000. The

inaugural function as indeed the scientific programme

was held at the Kala Academy, Panaji, Goa and consisted of a

welcome address, the traditional introduction of fellows by N. Kumar,

the president of the Academy followed by his scientific address. The

following is a summary of the scientific programme and other events.

11.1 Presidential address

Cold atoms

N. Kumar, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore

A gas of identical and, therefore, quantum-mechanically indistinguishable

atoms is cold in an absolute sense if the de Broglie wavelength for its thermal

motion exceeds the mean interatomic spacing. For atoms obeying Bose

statistics, the resulting overlapping of waves leads to the Bose-Einstein

condensation – with an extensive occupation of the lowest single-particle

state. The BEC is a macroscopic-scale quantum phenomenon with several

counter-intuitive properties, including superfluidity, well known for long in liquid4He – almost exclusively. Recently, this helium-centricity was ended decisively with a

series of remarkable experiments culminating in the realization of BEC in the dilute

alkali-atomic gases, and some other systems. This required confining a few million

atoms in mm-sized traps for a few minutes, and cooling them down to nanokelvins,

using magnetic fields and light (laser) beams that involve some of the cleverest

techniques and ideas in recent times. This lecture was all about the How and the

Why of trapping and cooling of atoms towards BEC. About basic implications and

practical applications, e.g. atom lasers. Also, about its probable future. The talk

concluded with some observations on the work in this area going on in the country.

This was followed by three days of lectures and symposia. The highlights of the

scientific programme follow:

29

11.2 Special Lectures

(a) Glimpses into the earth’s interior from observations of objects in space

P. M. Mathews, University of Madras, Chennai

Lunar and solar gravitational forces subject the earth constantly to a

stretch-and-squeeze action (resulting in solid earth tides), raise ocean

tides, give rise to variations in earth’s spin and generate torques which

cause variations in the earth’s orientation in space. Measurements of

such effects are made with almost unimaginable precision by means of

space geodetic techniques, which variously employ the most distant objects in the

universe (quasars), or the moon, or artificial earth satellites, as reference objects.

How well can such observations be accounted for, and future behaviour accurately

predicted (e.g. for use in space missions), from geophysical theory? What earth

parameters play the most influential roles in determining the observed responses to

luni-solar forcing? What has been learned about the earth itself by confronting theory

with observations? These questions were discussed in the light of recent work in this

field, following a broad survey of the phenomena involved and of the methodology of

space geodesy. According to Mathews, the present-day space observations give us

glimpses of the earth’s interior to surprising depths.

(b) Genetic engineering for developing plants for high soil salinity environment

S.K. Sopory, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,

New Delhi

One third of world’s irrigated land is presently contaminated with high

level of salt, and in the coming decades, more land area will become

unsuitable for crop agriculture due to high salinity and for want of water.

It has therefore been emphasized, time and again, to utilize all available

technologies and the gene pool to develop plants that are tolerant or

resistant to abiotic stress.

In his lecture, Sopori described the mechanisms leading to an understanding of plant

responses to salinity stress, especially the role of calcium and various calcium-binding

proteins. Attempts to transfer the potential genes and modulate their expression in

transgenic plants to confer tolerance to the otherwise salinity-susceptible plants were

described and the work done by his group on two calcium-binding proteins, and

over-expression of these proteins by genetic manipulation leading to salt tolerance

was presented.

30

Since abiotic stress leads to changes in many metabolic pathways, Sopory suggested

that a basic fundamental knowledge with regard to different mechanisms, in halophytes

and in non-halophytes, should be undertaken to modulate metabolism and

development for better growth and productivity of crop plants under unsuitable soil

and environmental conditions.

11.3 Public Lectures

(a) The magic in chemistry

S. Ranganathan, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad

It was an hour of visual delight to capture the basic excitement in chemistry,

as a discipline that profiles the dynamic melody between energy and matter,

which played an important role in our atavistic and early evolution. There is

still no better way to propagate the message and benefit of science than

presenting its manifestations, which project the basic principles. Indeed, when

teaching enjoyed a premier place in the dissemination of science, experimental

demonstration was always the forum and one could find illustrations of this from the

time of Faraday, Raman and our own early development. This art, due to diminishing

appreciation, has all but vanished from our classrooms and academic gatherings. A

revival would have a positive influence in our understanding, learning and propagation

of science and Ranganathan described his talk as a very small step in this direction.

The dozen eye-catching demonstrations that he illustrated covered the principles of

partitioning on a matrix, heats of reactions, light scattering, Tyndal effect, electron

transfer, the change of chemical energy to light energy, smart gels, exothermic

reactions, the drop in electron potential to heat and light, principles of chemical

explosion, entropically driven enthalpically unfavourable processes, fine dispersions

and myth and reality, by displays, respectively, burn without pain, cold fire, electron

shuttle, sunset, chemiluminescence, jel shakti, fire with water, sugar on fire, volcano,

chemical chill, smog and Bengal fire.

(b) Butterflies

Madhav Gadgil, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Butterflies are amongst the most colourful of actors in the drama of co-evolution

of flowering plants and insects. In their life cycle they achieve a neat separation

of the two forms of interactions amongst plants and insects; hostile in case of

larvae with plants evolving chemicals to repel herbivores and mutualistic in

case of adults with plants producing nectar to reward them for pollination.

31

The larvae move little; the relatively short-lived adults a great deal from flower to

flower and from host plant to host plant to lay eggs. Butterflies possess colour vision

and flowers use colour markings to attract and guide them. Thus equipped, butterflies

have evolved broad, colourful wings and a flapping flight to attract mates. But this

also attracts predators and butterflies evade them with devices such as fast, erratic

flight. Some species of butterflies can tolerate and accumulate toxic compounds

produced by plants to discourage herbivores and adults of these species are free of

predation by lizards and birds. These unpalatable butterflies possess brightest of

colours and a most leisurely flight. They may aggregate in large gatherings, often of

several species and undertake long distance migrations. Little studied, the Indian

butterflies present a great opportunity to combine solving intellectual puzzles with

enjoyment of beauty while exercising in fresh air. Madhav Gadgil illustrated his talk

with a number of colourful slides to drive home the point.

11.4 Microsymposium: Climate, Monsoon and India’s water

Precipitation during the Indian Summer Monsoon is the main source of water for

India. Of the total amount of water received annually from precipitation, [400 x 10(6)

m(3)] the country uses approximately 15% for irrigation and 5% to meet industrial

and domestic needs. About 45% flow out to the sea, a large fraction of it to the Bay of

Bengal. Without the monsoon, India would be a barren land. The country’s

dependence on this resource can be gauged from the fact that a small deficit in

monsoon precipitation can lead to major adverse impacts on the country’s economy.

The Indian Summer Monsoon is also an important element of the global climate

system. A complex series of interactions between monsoon and the rest of the

elements of the climate system determines availability of water in India. This

microsymposium provided glimpses of the complex processes that go on in this

system. R. Ramesh discussed how the monsoon varied during the last 10,000 years.

Historically the monsoons have been a stable (but with considerable interannual

variability) feature of the global climate. A concern today is that man-made influences

might be disturbing this stability. A. Jayaraman discussed the impact of man-made

fine suspended particles in the atmosphere on precipitation. Besides influencing

precipitation, the cloud also has an impact on the radiation budget of both the local

atmosphere and the ocean. M. Sareen discussed a possible impact of the monsoons

on the global climate on geological timescales. It turns out that the weathering of

continental rocks in Himalayan rivers fed by monsoon precipitation can remove

32

atmospheric carbon dioxide. Predicting behaviour of such systems is a risky

proposition. Nonetheless, practical considerations today require that predictions be

made. In fact, come May, India eagerly awaits the prediction from the India

Meteorological Department (IMD) about precipitation expected during June-

September (and hence availability of water for the rest of the year). M. Rajeevan

described how IMD has been making these predictions since 1988 and he discussed

other techniques that have been in use worldwide to make seasonal predictions,

and their success rates.

11.5 Lecture presentations by new Fellows/Associates

There were ten 30-minute presentations by new Fellows and Associates spread over

the three days. Kulinder Pal singh (TIFR, Mumbai) gave the first talk on peering into

the hearts of galaxies. Composed of hundreds of billions of stars and swirling masses

of gas and dust bound together in different shapes, galaxies are truly majestic objects

in the sky. Contained in their hearts or nuclei are perhaps the most powerful engines

in the Universe. The knowledge gained from the studies of recent images, spectra,

and rapid variations in the light output (X-ray, optical, etc.) from the nuclei of galaxies

was dwelt upon and the rich potential of new diagnostic tools in X-rays that are just

beginning to become available was highlighted. Santanu Bhattacharya (IISc,

Bangalore) spoke on lipids which are molecules that spontaneously form organized

assemblies in aqueous media. These are fundamental building blocks of biological

membranes and the functions carried out by the cell membranes are indispensable

for life. A large number of naturally occurring lipids is known and they have a variety

of biological roles. However, their isolation in pure form requires their chemical

synthesis, which opens up opportunities for their molecular design. Membrane

formation from lipid analogues of defined molecular structure provided critical insights

about their physical, chemical, and biological properties. The speaker mentioned a

number of lipids developed in his laboratory. Somdatta Sinha (CCMB, Hyderabad)

in her presentation on collective behaviour in biological systems discussed a few

examples from different biological processes using a computational approach. T.K.

Chandrashekar (IIT, Kanpur) in his talk on receptors for anions and cations highlighted

the receptor properties in solid and solution phases of two expanded porphyrins

(sapphyrin and rubyrin). Baldev Raj (IGCAR, Kalpakkam) spoke on his studies

concerning probing of microstructures and their evolution by acoustic and magnetic

methods. The title of the talk by Shubha Tole (TIFR, Mumbai) was how the brain was

33

built. The brain, a complex, powerful organ, arises from a simple sheet of embryonic

tissue. In the past ten years, exciting findings have emerged about the development

of brain from the earliest stages of the embryo. She began by describing the challenge

faced by the embryo and summarized her findings that reveal some molecular players

involved in this process. She then focussed on the development

of cerebral cortex, the brain structure that is responsible for our

highest cognitive and perceptual functions and finally, the ongoing

work in her laboratory, and the attempt to place this within a broader

framework of the directions of neuroscience research over the

coming years. In his lecture on cluster explosion dynamics in intense laser fields, M.

Krishnamurthy (TIFR, Mumbai) brought out the theoretical challenges in understanding

the dynamics of the nanoplasma evolution and from an application viewpoint the

new possibilities to physical sciences like table top accelerators, table top nuclear

fusion studies, pulsed X-ray generation, etc. He presented experiments recently

initiated at TIFR and discussed the first results. G. Krishnamoorthy (also of TIFR,

Mumbai) spoke on fluorescence dynamics in biology. One of the challenges in biology

is to explain the function of complex systems observed in the timescale of milliseconds

to hours from the dynamics the systems undergo in the shorter timescales of

femtosecond-millisecond. Time-domain fluorescence is an ideal method for studying

the dynamics. The fluorescence methods for studying various aspects with emphasis

on correlation between dynamics and function were highlighted in this talk. The last

talk was by Ram Seshadri (IISc, Bangalore) on carbonate mineralization and

biognostic routes to new materials. Mineralization processes in

natural systems are complex and fascinating. Living systems

display a remarkable tendency to precipitate minerals from solution

with exquisite control over the phase, size and shape of crystals

and their modes of aggregation. While determining how these are

achieved is important from the viewpoint of developmental processes in biology,

there is also the imperative to understand how Nature manages to prepare high-

performance materials from rather mundane crystalline phases such as calcium

carbonate and that too under near-ambient conditions of temperature and pressure.

Concentrating on the key role played by thin organic layers in natural mineralization

processes, attempts were made to crystallize minerals on organic monolayers self-

assembled on suitable metal or oxide substrates. Seshadri reviewed the work of his

group in this area, and touched upon the use of natural biomineral forms as templates,

34

and their recent efforts to prepare macroporous materials using biognostic

approaches.

There was a 90-minute panel discussion on the exciting new Human

Genome Project. The panelists included H. Sharat Chandra (IISc,

Bangalore), Usha VijayRaghavan (IISc, Bangalore), J. Gowrishankar

(CCMB, Hyderabad) and M. Vijayan (IISc, Bangalore).

On the last day, the participants were treated to a visit to the 17th century Basilica of

Bom Jesus and a boat cruise towards Panaji with live entertainment of folk music

and dance.

The Goa meeting was one of the best organized in recent times, the credit for which

should entirely go to E. Desa, Satish Shetye and his colleagues at NIO. The Vice-

Chancellor of University of Goa B.S. Sonde and his colleagues also helped in the

organizational arrangements. About 180 Fellows attended the meeting from outside

Goa and with Associates, invited teachers, spouses etc the number of attendees

from outside Goa crossed 300. The full programme is in Annexure 10.

12 SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Four main activities are being carried out as part of the efforts to contribute to the

improvement of science education in the country. These are (a) summer fellowships

(b) participation of teachers in meetings (c) refresher course for teachers (d) lecture

series for student/teachers.

12.1 Summer fellowships

Summer Fellowships are awarded to bright students and motivated teachers to work

with Fellows of the Academy on research-oriented projects. During the summer of

2000, 69 students and 10 teachers were awarded two-month fellowships to work

with Fellows at different parts of the country.

12.2 Participation of teachers in Academy meetings

Over the years, with the help of its Fellowship, the Academy has built up a database

of teachers from colleges and universities all over the country. Up to about 30 teachers

are invited to participate, as guests of the Academy, in its mid-year (July) and annual

(October–November) meetings. This provides opportunities to teachers to attend

scientific programmes, as well as to meet and interact with Fellows. At the two

35

E. Desa

Satish Shetye

meetings held in 2000, 71 teachers attended the

lectures, at the end of which an interaction session

was held at which teachers were invited to present

their views and the problems they faced in their

teaching work.

12.3 Refresher courses for teachers

This is an important programme to help motivated teachers improve their background

knowledge and teaching skills. The duration is two weeks and approximately 30

teachers selected from all over the country undergo a rigorous course of lectures,

discussions and problem-solving sessions. During the year, three refresher courses

were held and the following is a summary of these meetings.

(a) Refresher course in animal sciences

Karnatak University, Dharwad, 1–15 June 2000

No. of participants: 17

Resource persons: S.K. Saidapur, R. Gadagkar, H.A.

Ranganath, K. Muralidhar, Amitabh Joshi

Inaugurating the course, R. Gadagkar described the various Academy programmes

to promote science education in the country and stressed the need for interaction

between universities and national research institutes. A series of lectures and

laboratory sessions were held from 1–15 June 2000. The lectures were delivered in

various frontier areas of biology such as behavioural ecology, chronobiology,

evolutionary biology, endocrinology and modern genetics. The laboratory exercises

on ELISA of steroid hormones, induced breeding in frog, study of development stages

in frog using live material, Drosophila morphology, preparation of slides of polytene

chromosomes, identification of mutants in Drosophila, enzyme histochemistry of

steroid dehydrogenases, and some surgical techniques in rat were conducted. A

discussion session was held during which various issues such as decline in the

number of students to UG courses in colleges, and modernizing the teaching

programme were considered. The participants were appraised about applying for

research projects to various R&D agencies. The general response of the teachers to

the course was very good. The course was concluded by a talk by S.K. Saidapur on

Biology in the 21st century.

36

(b) Winter school on modern biology

Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, 6–17 November 2000

No. of participants: 38

Resource persons: Chitra Dutta, Rukhsana Chowdhury, Samir Bhattacharya

This refresher course on modern biology was held to acquaint college and university

teachers with developments in modern life sciences. Four lectures each of 90-minute

duration were held every day on two different topics. The lectures included formal

teaching and interactive discussions. The topics covered included (a) general

concepts (b) immunology (c) gene expression (d) genome research (e) membrane

(f) proteomics (g) carbohydrates (h) recombinant DNA, and (i) cell signalling. The

course was rated highly by all participants and its content considered informative

covering many important areas of modern biology. The quality of teaching was highly

appreciated and the resource persons were happy with the level of interaction and

enthusiasm of the participants. It was felt that refresher courses in life sciences

should be arranged more frequently.

(c) Refresher course in theoretical physics

Bishop Moore College, Mavelikara, 6–18 November 2000

No. of participants: 25

Resource persons: N. Mukunda, S. Chaturvedi,

R.Simon, R. Jagannathan and J. Sethuraman

This course was held at a quiet farming resort at a place

near Adoor in Kerala and was attended by 25 teachers

from all over India. An equal number of local students

and teachers also attended.

The topics covered in the course included (a) thermodynamics and statistical physics

(b) mathematical methods in physics (c) quantum mechanics and (d) physics of

waves. Three hours were devoted each day to formal lectures in the morning session

and to problem-solving sessions in the afternoon.

The limitation of only 4 speakers, each giving 9 hours of lectures on a chosen topic

with equal time used for problem sessions, was academically a good success. The

seriousness of the entire effort was appreciated by the participants.

The overall impression among participants was that this course was very useful and

37

much better than the ones conducted by UGC and Academic Staff Colleges. The

lectures were considered excellent and the duration just adequate. The discussion

sessions were quite useful so much so that some felt that more time should have

been made available for discussions. A few felt that detailed syllabus, lecture notes

and problem sets should be made available well in advance to help teachers to

study and come prepared with doubts and clarifications. The venue of the course

and the serene ambience were appreciated by all participants and it was felt that

such courses should be organized at more regular intervals.

The Science Education Panel of the Academy plans more courses in the coming

months working with colleges in subject areas of mutual interest. The experience

indicates that there is a real need for such refresher courses organized and run in

short-duration lecture programmes.

12.4 Lecture series for students/teachers

Academy arranges two or three-day lecture programmes on carefully chosen topics

at selected college and university departments for the benefit of local students and

teachers. Speakers include Fellows and others from nearby institutions.

During the year, the following lecture series was arranged:

(a) Current trends in chemistry

University of Delhi, Delhi, 3–4 November 2000

Speakers: N. Sathyamurthy, R.N. Mukherjee, B.M. Deb and Pushpa Bajaj

The topics covered include (a) elementary chemical reactions (b) inorganic chemistry

– the biological perspective (c) production of acrylic fibres (d) bonding, structure and

interaction (BONSAI !!)

In addition to the above programme, M.A. Viswamitra of IISc, Bangalore delivered

two lectures under the auspices of the Academy at the summer project programme

for class XI to III year B.Sc. students in the physics department of University of Pune

on 10/11 May 2000. The topic of the two lectures was on crystallography (its method

and applications to biological molecules) and on drug design.

38

13 ACADEMY FINANCES

Prudent management of the available resources, increased assistance from the

Department of Science and Technology and the support received from the Ministry

of Human Resource Development, New Delhi for publication of Resonance all helped

in ending the year on a satisfactory note despite a raise in expenditure both under

Plan and Non-Plan. Printing of publications and postage constituted 45% of the

expenditure under Non-Plan and 29% on staff salaries and the remaining 26% on

administrative expenses. Under Plan, thanks to DST, the activities of science

education panel, the discussion meetings and annual meetings are being carried on

satisfactorily. Savings from Plan are being used for the construction of a small building

to provide accommodation for fellows, summer students etc at the Academy land

near HMT.

14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Academy’s publication activities are possible because of the honorary and unpaid

services of editors, members of editorial boards and the large number of reviewers

who examine and comment on manuscripts sent to them for opinion. Several fellows

also contributed their services in other Academy activities such as organizing annual

meetings and discussion meetings and conducting programmes on science

education, etc. The Department of Science and Technology has made available

generous financial assistance under Plan and Non-Plan budget of the Academy.

They and other funding agencies such as the Ministry of Human Resource

Development have greatly contributed to the activities undertaken by the Academy.

The local organizing committee at Goa University, Goa and the Academy staff in

Bangalore have ensured a large participation at the scientific meetings of the Academy.

39

Table 1

Table 2

41

Information on papers submitted for publication (January to December 2000)

Accepted Rejected Pending Total **

1. Proc. (Chem. Sci.) 41 50 6 97 ( 13)

2. Proc. (Math. Sci.) 30 75 7 112 ( 7)

3. Proc. (Earth Planet. Sci.) 35 24 25 84 ( 17)

4. Sadhana 38 6 7 51 ( 5)

5. Pramana 148 37 44 229 ( 10)

6. Bull. Mater. Sci. 72 18 36 126 ( 126)

7. J. Astrophys. Astron. 79 2 5 86 ( 57)

8. J. Biosci. 51 73 2 126 ( 7)

9. J. Genetics 21 5 1 27 (0)

10. Resonance 37 52 53 142 ( 38)

11. Current Science 679 586 111 1376 ( 95)

Total 1231 928 297 2456 ( 13)

* including briefer items such as news, correspondence ** As compared to last year’s figures

*

Information about published pages in journals (January to December 2000)

Vol. No. No. of No. of Total No. of **issues Papers pages 2000

1. Proc. (Chem. Sci.) 112 6 50 642 ( 126)

2. Proc. (Math. Sci.) 110 4 32 472 ( 8)

3. Proc. (Earth Planet. Sci.) 109 4 49 552 ( 208)

4. Sadhana 25 6 45 640 ( 68)

5. Pramana 54,55 12 173 1864 ( 40)

6. Bull. Mater. Sci. 23 6 96 558 ( 540)

7. J. Astrophys. Astron. 21 4 77 476 ( 182)

8. J. Biosci. 25 4 50 416 ( 372)

9. J. Genetics 79 3 21 140 ( 51)

10. Resonance 5 12 162 1292 ( 84)

11. Current Science 78,79 24 825 3458 ( 146)

1580 10510 ( 135)

* including briefer items such as news, correspondence ** As compared to last year’s figures

*

Table 3

Table 4

Impact factors of journals*

IMPACT FACTORS

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

1. Proc. (Chem. Sci.) 0.288 0.400 0.473 0.294 0.339 0.254

2. Proc. (Math. Sci.) 0.154 0.143 0.184 0.149 0.048 0.061

3. Proc. (Earth Planet. Sci.) 0.308 0.563 0.130 0.136 0.229 0.412

4. Sadhana 0.111 0.075 0.071 0.068 0.144 0.171

5. Pramana 0.349 0.354 0.340 0.284 0.278 0.314

6. Bull. Mater. Sci. 0.233 0.278 0.296 0.287 0.319 0.393

7. J. Astrophys. Astron. 0.588 0.489 0.439 0.111 0.286 0.625

8. J. Biosci. 0.368 0.397 0.435 0.520 0.370 0.404

9. J. Genetics 0.375 0.278 0.317 0.894 0.419 0.588

10. Current Science 0.292 0.364 0.376 0.515 0.567 0.512

*(Source: Journal Citation Reports - a part of Science Citation Index published by the Institute of Scientific Information,Philadelphia, USA for the years 1995 to 2000.)

42

Circulation details of journals (January to December 2000)

Subscription Complimentary Fellows Total&

India Foreign India Foreign Associates

1. Proc. (Chem. Sci.) 560 56 45 90 184 935

2. Proc. (Math. Sci.) 532 85 48 91 131 887

3. Proc. (Earth Planet. Sci.) 473 61 57 91 95 777

4. Sadhana 530 20 46 20 152 768

5. Pramana 760 50 55 49 259 1173

6. Bull. Mater. Sci. 1963 35 76 17 136 2227

7. J. Astrophys. Astron. 474 141 53 25 104 797

8. J. Biosci. 908 56 67 80 267 1378

9. J. Genetics 600 113 94 10 167 984

10. Resonance 3742 48 188 2 - 3980

11. Current Science 4000 79 220 57 76 4432

a. includes about 1370 MRSI members in India and abroad b. includes about 2075 personal subscribers

c. includes about 2050 personal subscribers

a

b

c

1. Dr S.K. Acharya(b. 1-11-1951)

All India Institute of MedicalSciences, New Delhi

Areas of Interest: GeneralMedicine, Gastroenterology, andLiver Diseases

6. Dr A. Jayakrishnan(b. 25-4-1953)

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute forMedical Sciences & Technology,Thiruvananthapuram

Areas of Interest: PolymerChemistry, Biomaterials, andControlled Drug Delivery

Annexure 1

NEW FELLOWS — 2000(effective 1 January 2001)

2. Dr Anil Kumar(b. 31-12-1955)

National Chemical Laboratory, Pune

Areas of Interest: ChemicalThermodynamics, Physical OrganicChemistry and BiophysicalChemistry

3. Prof. Sudha Bhattacharya(b. 7-3-1952)

Jawaharlal Nehru University, NewDelhi

Areas of Interest: MolecularBiology, Molecular Parasitology,and Genomics

4. Prof. P.K. Chattaraj(b. 26-4-1958)

Indian Institute of Technology,Kharagpur

Areas of Interest: DensityFunctional Theory, Quantum Chaosand ab initio Calculations

5. Dr Bhudev C. Das(b. 1-5-1948)

Institute of Cytology andPreventive Oncology (ICMR), NewDelhi

Areas of Interest: Molecular Biologyof Cancer, Molecular Virology, andMutagenesis & Human Genetics

7. Prof. Amitabh Joshi(b. 4-3-1965)

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Research,Bangalore

Areas of Interest: Population andQuantitative Genetics, EvolutionaryGenetics, and Population Ecology

8. Dr Shyam Lal(b. 25-12-1957)

Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad

Areas of Interest: AtmosphericScience, Atmospheric Chemistry,and Ozone Trace Gases

9. Dr Bhaskar G. Maiya(b. 20-6-1956)

University of Hyderabad,Hyderabad

Areas of Interest: Bio-InorganicChemistry, Photochemistry, andSupramolecular Chemistry

10. Dr G. Marimuthu(b. 25-2-1954)

Maduraj Kamaraj University,Madurai

Areas of Interest: AnimalBehaviour and Chronobiology

43

11. Prof. Rahul Mukerjee(b. 9-2-1956)

Indian Institute of Management,Kolkata

Areas of Interest: Design ofExperiments, Asymptotic Theory,and Survey Sampling

12. Prof. R. Nagarajan(b. 9-8-1942)

Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Mumbai

Areas of Interest: Superconductivity,Magnetism, Valence Fluctuation,Heavy Fermion Behaviour,Mossbauer Spectroscopy, andInstrumentation, Cryogenics

13. Dr Nitin Nitsure(b. 9-11-1957)

Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Mumbai

Areas of Interest: AlgebraicGeometry

14. Dr R. Ramesh(b. 2-6-1956)

Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad

Areas of Interest:Palaeoclimatology, ClimateModelling, and Mass Spectrometry

15 Prof. Ram Sagar(b. 1-7-1952)

U.P. State Observatory, Nainital

Areas of Interest: Astronomy andAstrophysics, and High EnergyPhysics

16. Dr R. Raghavendra Rao(b. 22-9-1945)

National Botanical ResearchInstitute, Lucknow

Areas of Interest: Plant Taxonomy,Ethnobotany, Phytogeography, andBiodiversity & Conservation

17. Dr VijayalakshmiRavindranath(b. 18-10-1953)

National Brain Research Centre,New Delhi

Areas of Interest: Neuro Biology,and Neuro Toxicology/Pharmacology

18. Dr Girish Sahni(b. 2-3-1956)

Institute of Microbial Technology,Chandigarh

Areas of Interest: ProteinEngineering, Molecular Biology/Biotechnology, and Enzymology

19. Dr Dinakar M. Salunke(b. 1-7-1955)

National Institute of Immunology,New Delhi

Areas of Interest: StructuralBiology, MacromolecularCrystallography, and MolecularBiophysics

20. Prof. M.K. Sanyal (b. 6.1.1954)

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics,Kolkata

Areas of Interest: CondensedMatter Physics, Surface Physics, andSynchrotron X-ray Scattering

44

21. Prof. Diptiman Sen(b. 17-1-1959)

Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore

Areas of Interest: TheoreticalCondensed-Matter and StatisticalPhysics, and Quantum Field Theory

22. Prof. Anil Kumar Singh(b. 2-4-1952)

Indian Institute of Technology,Mumbai

Areas of Interest: BioorganicChemistry, Photochemistry, andPhotobiology

Dr K. Kasturirangan (President)

Prof. N. Kumar (Previous President)

Prof. N. Balakrishnan (Secretary)

Dr D. Balasubramanian

Prof. S.M. Chitre (Vice-President)

Prof. S. Dattagupta

Prof. R. Gadagkar

Prof. Indira Nath (Vice-President)

Prof. E.D. Jemmis

Prof. R. Kumar (Vice-President)

Prof. Antony Kevin CheethamUniversity of California, Santa Barbara,California, USA

Areas of Interest: Solid State andStructural Chemistry

Prof. Michael E. FisherUniversity of Maryland, Maryland, USA

Areas of Interest: Statistical Mechanicsand Chemical Physics

Prof. Edward P.J. van den HeuvelAstronomical Institute, Kruislaan, SJAmsterdam, The Netherlands

Areas of Interest: Stellar Evolution

NEW HONORARY FELLOWS

NEW COUNCIL FOR THE TRIENNIUM 2001–2003

Prof. N. Mukunda(Vice-President & Editor of Publications)

Prof. K.J. Rao

Dr P. Rodriguez

Prof. N. Sathyamurthy

Dr S.R. Shetye

Prof. A. Sitaram

Prof. A.K. Sood (Secretary)

Prof. S.K. Sopory

Prof. G. Srinivasan (Treasurer)

Prof. M. Vijayan

45

23. Prof. Raghavan Varadarajan(b. 27-11-1960)

Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore

Areas of Interest: ProteinStructure and Folding

Annexure 2

HONORARY FELLOWS DECEASED

1. Dr V.C. Anguli

(b. 25-10-1919, d. 22-7-2000) Elected: 1962

Areas of Interest:Neuropathology, ExperimentalPathology, and Oncopathology

FELLOWS DECEASED

2. Bijan Bihari Lal(b. 4-8-1913, d. 2.6.2000)

Elected: 1948

Areas of Interest: ArchaeologicalChemistry, Archaeometry,Conservation, andEnvironmental Archaeology

3. C.K. Majumdar(b. 11-8-1938, d. 20-6-2000)

Elected: 1976

Areas of Interest: StatisticalPhysics, Electron States, andMagnetic Properties

4. K. S. Mani

(b. 18-10-1928, d. 28-3-2001)

Elected: 1974

Areas of Interest: Neurology

5. R.S. Mishra(b. 10-8-1918, d. 2000)

Elected: 1966

Areas of Interest: DifferentialGeometry, Relativity, and FluidMechanics

6. Biswajit Nag(b. 20-8-1933, d. 6-2-2000)

Elected: 1974

Areas of Interest: Electronicsand Computer Science

1. Olivier Kahn

(b. 13-8-1942, d. 8-12-1999)

Elected: 1999

Areas of Interest: Molecular magnetism

2. Minoru Oda

(b. 24-2-1923, d. 1-3-2001)

Elected: 1995

Areas of Interest: RadioAstronomy

46

Table 5 : Average Age of Fellows at Election

Average age according to classified subjects Total Avg ageYear no of total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 elected f’ship

1971 39 42 43 47 *** *** 45 44 *** 6 43

1972 38 42 44 51 46 *** *** 41 *** 10 44

1973 *** 47 45 45 *** *** *** *** 45 6 45

1974 43 42 50 46 51 50 55 47 47 106 46

1975 50 49 52 47 54 49 54 48 43 85 49

1976 44 44 47 35 44 48 50 53 49 18 46

1977 46 41 50 *** 41 53 50 45 51 17 46

1978 47 39 40 41 65 53 52 53 50 14 48

1979 *** 44 41 45 *** *** 37 55 46 14 45

1980 *** 43 *** 44 51 43 *** 54 46 8 45

1981 49 42 50 45 52 48 48 49 39 19 46

1982 38 49 45 47 55 52 55 51 47 15 48

1983 *** 43 50 42 56 48 46 49 42 18 46

1984 43 46 44 47 55 54 46 55 45 20 48

1985 40 45 50 48 44 45 46 44 45 20 46

1986 41 46 47 46 54 48 48 50 54 27 47

1987 37 44 48 43 *** 47 51 50 43 27 45

1988 48 46 45 45 53 47 54 50 47 28 47

1989 49 49 46 47 62 53 61 53 48 28 49

1990 54 50 47 46 53 51 47 50 48 28 49

1991 44 44 45 45 49 50 *** 56 46 32 45

1992 45 42 44 43 51 44 43 39 42 44 43

1993 43 45 43 47 50 51 50 55 45 46 46

1994 37 46 42 49 50 50 49 50 43 27 46

1995 40 48 44 48 46 45 47 52 42 33 45

1996 44 44 41 43 57 48 51 *** 49 25 46

1997 41 48 48 51 40 49 50 44 45 23 46

1998 46 45 45 52 57 48 48 54 48 22 48

1999 44 46 49 35 45 43 48 48 45 22 45

2000 47 46 45 43 49 48 50 49 48 28 47

2001 44 49 45 48 50 47 41 56 45 23 47

avg age 44 45 47 46 51 49 49 49 46 839 47

total no. 74 164 135 131 62 70 47 56 100

1. Mathematical Sciences 2. Physics 3. Chemistry

4. Engg.& Technical Sciences 5. Medicine 6. Earth Sciences

7. Animal Sciences 8. Plant Science 9. General Sciences

47

Annexure 3

1. Nagendra Nath N S 23

2. Chandrasekhar S 243. Pancharatnam S

4. Bhagavantam S 255. Sarabhai V A

6. Kaw P K 267. Siddiqi M R8. Badami J S

9. Ananthakrishnan R 2710. Narlikar V V11. Sukhatme P V12. Viswanathan K S13. Joshi A C14. Chowla S

15. Ramachandran G N 2816. Kosambi D D17. Rama Swamy S18. Randhawa M S

19. Jayaraman A 2920. Krishnamurti D21. Patel J S22. Rao P S23. Doss K S G24. Neelakantam K25. Rao A Nagaraja26. Seth B R

27. Madhusudana N V 3028. Patodi V K29. Asthana R P30. Dixit K R31. Maheswari P32. Subbaraya T S33. Venkatarayudu T

34. Rangaswami S 3135. Rao C N R36. Subramanian C V37. Taylor H J38. Ananthakrishnan S V39. Chakravarthy S N40. Malurkar S L41. Ramaswamy M N

42. Balaram P 3243. Chandrasekhar S44. Deshpande S M45. Kane G P46. Ramakrishnan A47. Ramaseshan S48. Ramaswamy C49. Ramaswamy M K50. Sadasivan T S51. Sudarshan E C G52. Singh V53. Bappu M K V54. Bhabha H J55. Krishnamurti K56. Murthy G V L N57. Vakil R J58. Vijayaraghavan T59. Subramanyan V

60. Krishnan R S 3361. Raghunathan M S62. Ramanathan K G63. Subba Rao B R64. Kapur P C65. Dasgupta S N66. Desai B N67. Iyer M P V68. Kalamkar R J69. Mahadevan C70. Narayana N71. Rau M A G72. Venkataraman K73. Kumaran V

74. Chandrasekaran C 3475. Jha S S76. Khoshoo T N77. Murti P B R78. Satya Prakash79. Seshagiri N80. Swaminathan M S81. Tilak B D82. Bharucha F R83. Ganesan A S84. Giri K V85. Kappanna A N86. Krishna Rao P R87. Raghavan T S88. Ramdas L A89. Sarma P S90. Seshadri T R91. Singh Inderjit92. Venkiteshwaran S P

93. Agarwal G S 3594. Athreya K B95. Lal B B96. Lal M B97. Mahendra B C98. Narayanamurti V99. Ranganathan Srinivasa100. Rangaswami G101. Rao B N B102. Sundaram S103. Srinivasan Ramachandran104. Sen Ashoke105. Padmanaban T106. Rao K V S107. Prasad Dipendra108. Desai S V109. Dutt N L110. Iyengar K S K111. Krishnaswamy S112. Narayanamurti D113. Rao S Ramachandra114. Rao S S M115. Sahni M R116. Sastry S G117. Shah R C118. Sreenivasaiah B N119. Wheeler T S

48

Fellows elected at or below 40 years of age

120. Balasubramanian R 36121. Govindachari T R122. Kapoor S S123. Lal D124. Mehta G125. Menon M G K126. Mukunda N127. Narlikar J V128. Puri V129. Sasisekharan V130. Siddiqi O131. Singh B B132. Venkateswarlu P133. Ramanujam C P134. Gowrishankar J135. Rao K K136. Uma Shanker R137. Srinivas V138. Deshpande D L139. Joshi S S140. Krishnan K S141. Krishnan M S142. Krishnaswamy K R143. Madhavarao B S144. Mata Prasad145. Paramasivan S146. Roy S C147. Shabde N G148. Sharma N L149. Singh B N150. Tawde N R151. Subramaniyam K152. Joshi Amitabh

153. Agnihothrudu V 37154. Anantharaman T R155. Chauhan B S156. Gadgil Madhav157. Nanjundiah V158. Parthasarathy R159. Rao U R160. Sharma M M161. Subrahmanyan R162. Singhi N K M163. Gadagkar R164. Bagchi Biman165. Bagchee K166. Khakhar D V167. Kumar L S S168. Mahajani G S169. Parameswaran H170. Subramanian T S171. Vaidhianathan V I172. Paranjape K H173. Udgaonkar Jayant B

Annexure 4

Age when elected

49

174. Bal D V 38175. Chidambaram R176. Desikachary T V177. Govil G178. Iyengar P K179. Krishnamurthy E V180. Majumdar C K181. Menon T R182. Narasimhan M S183. Nori M V184. Parthasarathy K R185. Prasad R R186. Radhakrishna B P187. Raja Gopal E S188. Ramanan S189. Rao P V S190. Santappa M191. Sarma I G192. Shastri N A193. Swarup G194. Shastry B S195. Sarma D D196. Karandikar R L197. Chakravarti S P198. Gogate D V199. Janaki Ammal E K200. Krishna Sri201. Moghe M A202. Ramanujam S203. Srinivasaiengar C N204. Nityananda R205. Siddiqi S206. Sharma Ashutosh207. Chakrabarti P P

208. Agrawal H O 39209. Bhagwat W V210. Chandrasekharan211. Dani S G212. Ghatage V M213. Hans-Gill R J214. Irani J J215. Joshi S K216. Kapur R L217. Mistry K B218. Prasad Gopal219. Radhakrishnan V220. Rajaraman R221. Ramakrishnan P S222. Ramakrishnan T V223. Ramdas A K224. Seshadri C S225. Vardya M S226. Vishveshwara C V227. Kulkarni B D228. Dhar D229. Sathyamurthy N230. Brahmachari S K231. Satya Murthy N S232. Ganeshaiah K N233. Nagaraj R234. Ogale S B235. Sundararajan G236. Borkar V S237. Pandey G P238. Srikrishna A239. Ramaswamy Sriram240. Chaudhuri H241. Kalyanasundaram R242. Kapur S N243. Khanolkar V R244. Madhava K B245. Rao B S246. Rao P Krishna247. Roy S K248. Sawhney K

249. Baba C V K 40250. Chakravorty A251. Chowdhury M252. Ganapathi K253. Krishnan S254. Likhite V N255. Mashelkar R A256. Narasimha R257. Narasimhan Rangaswami258. Rama259. Ramamurthy V260. Shorey T N261. Sundaram A K262. Surolia A263. Thomas J264. Sreekantan B V265. Sridharan Ramaiyengar266. Parimala R267. Rao M R S268. Krishnamurthy H R269. Prathap G270. Sood A K271. Banerjee D272. Chandrasekhar J273. Godbole Rohini M274. Mathur D275. Sunder V S276. Ganesh K N277. Ramaswamy R278. Nag Subashis279. Asundi R K280. Banerjee K281. Bhalerao G D282. Bharadwaja Y283. Bhatnagar S S284. Bhatti H K285. Yashonath S286. Pandit Rahul287. Jayannavar A M288. Kurian K I289. Nair U S290. Palacios G291. Rao B Sanjiva292. Rao H S293. Savur S R294. Subramaniam A P295. Uppal B N296. Venkateswaran C S297. Thangavelu S298. Jameel S299. Narasimhan Ramanathan

50

Annexure 5

NEW ASSOCIATES – 2000

1. Vinod Kumar Aswal(b. 2-8-1971)Bhabha Atomic Research Centre,MumbaiAreas of Interest: Small-angleNeutron Scattering in the Studies ofCondensed Matter

4. Vijay Vinayak Patel(b. 1-4-1969)Centre for Artificial Intelligence andRobotics, BangaloreAreas of Interest: Instrumentation,Real Time Process Control, PC andMicroprocessor-based ProcessControl

2. Ramesh Hariharan(b. 23-1-1969)Indian Institute of Science,BangaloreAreas of Interest: Design andAnalysis of Combinatorial Algorithms

3. Arvind N. Nair(b. 9-4-1971)Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, MumbaiAreas of Interest: Lie Groups, andRepresentation Theory

5. Vidita A. Vaidya(b. 15-11-1970)Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, MumbaiAreas of Interest: Neuroscience

6. Umesh Vasudeo Waghmare(b. 19-9-1968)Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Research,BangaloreAreas of Interest: ComputationalCondensed Matter Physics andMaterials Science

Discussion MeetingOrigin of Life and Evolution

(30 November–1 December 2000, Orange County, Coorg)

List of Lectures

List of Participants Topics discussed

1. M. Vijayan, V. Sitaramam, Structure (origins - chemical evolution,

S. Chandrasekhar and N.T. Saraswathi biophysics, bioenergetics)

2. Apoorva Patel, Sanjay Jain, Models (origins of life, the genetic code,

Chitra Dutta and Somdatta Sinha complexity)

3. Amitabh Joshi, R. Gadagkar, Genetics (gene regulation, population

M.K. Chandrashekaran and Renee Borges genetics, human genetics, behaviour)

4. Shama Barnabas, Mukund Katti, Analysis (sequences, phylogenies)

Yogesh Shouche, H.A. Ranganath

5. Vijay Chandru, Johannes Manjrekar, Informatics (genomics, databases)

S. Mahadevan, V. Nanjundiah

Symposium on CFD with Hyperbolic Conservations Laws (CFDHYP - 2000)(1–3 December 2000, Orange County, Coorg)

1. S.M. Deshpande Inaugural address

2. N. Balakrishnan Some aspects of unstructured mesh calculations

3. P.H. Prasad Anatomy and functions of the heart and circulation

4. G.R. Nagbhushana Presentation

5. Vivek Jawali Coronary bypass surgery - the changing scene

6. R. Krishnamurthy and Grid generation for aerospace applications

K. Anandhanarayanan

7. Rahul Pandit Defibrillation via the elimination of spiral turbulence in

models for ventricular fibrillation

8. Arnab Rai Choudhuri A theoretical model of the solar magnetic cycle

9. C.V. Vishveshwara Conservation laws in the General Theory of Relativity

Annexure 6

Annexure 7

51

Discussion Meeting “Function and Plasticity of Adult Brain”

(25–28 February 2001, Orange County, Coorg)

Summary and Programme

The opening talk by Wesley Thompson illustrated by some stunning pictures of his new

discoveries on the role of the Schwann cells in the formation of synapses following

denervation, at the rat neuromuscular junction. His work showed that the reactive glial

cells show extensive branching following denervation and that nerve sprouts from functional

end terminals are guided by these very processes.

Michael Bate focussed his talk on the wiring of motorneurons in Drosophila embryo.

Peristalsis occurs during hatching of embryo into the first instar larva. Interestingly, while

absence of sensory neurons does not affect wiring, the coordination of movement appears

to be dependent upon several factors including inputs from contra-laterial side.

Jonathan Bacon talked about electrical synapses and formation of gap junctions at these

sites. The synapse studied was the one that occurs between giant fibre (GF) and

tergotrochanteral motor neuron (TTM). He spoke about identification of a new class of

proteins, the Innexins, in Drosophila that are analogous to connections in vertebrates and

that these molecules are responsible for gap junction formation in invertebrates.

Bang-sensitive behaviour in flies follows an extremely complex behavioral paradigm with

an equally complex physiological basis. Chun Fang Wu shared some remarkable results

on behaviour of flies post electric shock. He addressed the role of mutants such as para,

affecting the threshold level measured in terms of electrical stimulation required to produce

seizures associated with bang-sensitive behaviour. What was remarkable was the

resemblance of this behaviour to human epilepsy.

Eve Marder spoke on activity-dependent regulation of neurons, synapses and small

networks using somato-gastric ganglion of lobster as a model system. The ganglion shows

a tonic rhythmicity, which in turn is the result of interplay of inhibitory signals between various

motorneurons. Her hypothesis was that intracellular sensors regulated different

conductances for various ions and that activity patterns are determined by specific

combination of conductances.

Ken Muller talked about neurons and circuits operating in the leech that are involved in

learning events such as sensitization, desensitization and habituation and the role of

neurotransmitters such as serotonin in the same process.

Annexure 8

52

Synaptic plasticity involves cross-talk between several signalling events. Upinder Bhalla

discussed ways of simulating these mechanisms by modelling. The model arises from

treating each component of signaling pathway as a reaction with a set of forward, backward

rates and rate constants so that one can now assign numerical values to them for simulation.

Hollis Cline discussed the role of neuronal activity and activity-dependent processes

governing axonal targeting in the visual system in the Xenopus tadpole. The dendritic

arborisation of optic tectal neurons as well as those of retinal ganglion cell neurons is found

to be highly dependent on the activity. She also discussed the role of a molecule CPG15

that could mediate arborisation and synapse maturation.

Long-term synaptic change is mediated by altered gene expression. Mani Ramaswami

presented evidence for using neuromuscular junction in Drosophila as a model system to

study genetic alterations in the synapse in response to electrical activity. Using a double

mutant comatose and Kumbhkarna results in high Ca2+ levels at the synapse mimicking

increased activity in the presynaptic neuron. This triggers the transcription of activity-

dependent genes such as D fos, Djun and CREB.

Tim Tully made a lasting impression by his erudite talks and ability to convey the excitement

in the new field of molecular psychology. He talked about the genetic basis of memory

using the T-maze on Drosophila. Spaced training of flies where the electrical shock was

given at definite intervals of time produced a more long-term memory as opposed to massed

training, which results in a more transient form of memory. The molecular basis can be

explained by activator and repressor forms of CREB. In flies, the centre for memory is the

mushroom body; acquisition and storage being dendritic to it, while retrieval is axonal to

these neurons. Using genetics, analysis of this circuit can be performed.

The zebra fish is a good model system to study vertebrate development. Ajay Chitnis

spoke about morphogen gradients patterning the central nervous system in the fish.

Boundaries between different parts of CNS are established early in development. In a

specific class of mutants called headless (hdl) limitation of “posteriorising factors” is defective

causing expansion of these structures at the expense of more anterior structures.

Our information about our whereabouts comes from information processing regarding the

same in the hippocampus. James Knierim spoke of the analysis of these place cells and

their characterization into three classes; cells which are local cues dominant, distal cues

dominant and cells that are responsible for remapping. Studies were done by recording

the firing of these neurons in the hippocampus in the rat brain.

53

Prolonged or inappropriate exposure to stress can compromise homeostasis thereby leading

to disease. Vidita Vaidya spoke about the effects of stress on the hippocampal cells and

the possible role of serotonin in mediating these effects.

Cells exist in the mammalian visual cortex that respond to specifically oriented stimuli.

Collaterals exist between these neurons. Anirudha Das spoke about the role of these

collaterals in facilitation and depression of the responses of the neurons to visual stimuli.

Learning can induce tremendous changes in the brain circuitry. This capacity of the brain

can result in changing behavioural performance. Michael Merzenich spoke about how these

plasticity-induced remodelling can be both beneficial as well as catastrophic. In addition

these changes can be used in therapy of disorders such as dyslexia and that it is essential

to remodel the circuitry in addition to correcting the biochemical anomalies in psychiatric

ailments such as schizophrenia.

Most of the participants expressed their appreciation of how much new science was

discussed and stated that they would be keen to attend a second meeting if organized.

The following is the full programme of the discussion meeting.

List of Lectures

1. John Nicholls Introduction

2. Wesley Thompson, Univ. of Texas, Roles of glial cells in the repair and

Austin maintenance of neuromuscular synaptic

connections

3. John Nicholls, SISSA, Trieste Why does the spinal cord not regenerate

after injury?

4. C. Michael Bate Emerging function in the Drosophila

nervous system

5. Jonathan Bacon, University of Sussex, Electrical synapses in Drosophila

Brighton

6. Chun-Fang Wu, University of Iowa, USA Fixed-action patterns and their

modification in an identified neural circuit

of Drosophila mutants

7. Eve Marder, Brandeis University, Activity-dependent regulation of

Waltham neurons, synapses, and small networks

8. Ken Muller, University of Miami, Florida Cellular dissection of a circuit crucial for

learning

54

9. Upinder S. Bhalla, NCBS, Bangalore Simulations of signaling events in

synaptic plasticity

10. Hollis Cline, Cold Spring Harbor Labs, Activity-dependent mechanisms

New York governing visual system development

and plasticity

11. Mani Ramaswami, University of Arizona, Genetic control of long-term synaptic

Tucson change.

12. Tim Tully, Beckman Institute for Gene discovery for memory in drosophila

Neuroscience, NY

13. Mriganka Sur, MIT Cortical plasticity and dynamics

14. Ajay Chitnis, NICHD Lab of Molecular -

Genetics, Bethesda

15. James Knierim, UT-Houston Medical Multi-site analysis of place cell processing

School, Houston in the hippocampal formation

16. Aniruddha Das, Rockefeller University, Cortical dynamics and visual perception

New York

17. Michael M. Merzenich, University of Progressive cortical plasticity-induced

California, San Francisco functional remodeling underlying

variations in behavioral performance

abilities

18. Vidita Vaidya, TIFR, Mumbai Cellular and molecular mechanisms

underlying the influence of stress on the

adult mammalian brain

19. Shona Chatterji, Shubha Tole and General discussion session

M.K. Mathew

55

Annexure 9

Eleventh Mid-Year Meeting(14– 15 July 2000, Bangalore)

A. Special Lectures

1. Abhijit Sen, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar

Clocks, fireflies and the Landau damping of plasma waves

2. P.P. Majumder, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata – Ethnic India: A genomic view

B. Public Lecture

K.S. Valdiya, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore

Rising Himalaya: Resurgent Indian shield in South India

C. Lecture Presentations by Fellows/Associates

1. UshaDevi N. Bhosle, TIFR, Mumbai – Bundles on curves

2. Mrinal K. Ghosh, IISc., Bangalore – Maximum principle and Harnack’s inequality

3. P.P. Chakrabarti, IIT, Kharagpur – Heuristic search in artificial intelligence

4. Indrani Bose, Bose Institute, Kolkata – Spin systems: Surprises and newinsights

5. S.M. Bhattacharjee, Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar – Unzipping DNA by aforce

6. Maneesha S. Inamdar, JNCASR, Bangalore – Building blood vessels

7. Pratima Sinha, Bose Institute, Calcutta – Chromosome transmission during celldivision

8. M. Vairamani, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad – Chiralrecognition studies by mass spectrometry

9. R. Ramaraj, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai – Photoelectrochemistry inmicro/macro-heterogeneous system

10. R. Sukumar, IISc, Bangalore – Elephants, agriculture and people: Conflict andconciliation

11. Amit Ghosh, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh – Emergence of newstrains of Vibrio cholerae: Implications for the recombinant oral vaccine strainVA1.3

12. R. Narasimhan, IISc, Bangalore –Numerical simulations of fracture initiation inductile materials under dynamic loading

13. T. Radhakrishna, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Trivandrum – Mafic dykeintrusions and the late cretaceous geodynamics along the western continentalmargin of India

56

Sixty-sixth Annual Meeting, 2000(24–26 November 2000, Goa)

A. Presidential Address

N. Kumar, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore – Cold atoms

B. Microsymposium – Climate, Monsoon and India’s Water

R. Ramesh, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad –Quantitativereconstruction of paleomonsoon parameters from natural archives using stableoxygen and carbon isotopes

K. Krishna Kumar, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune – Changes inmonsoon in the recent past

Jayaraman, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad – Aerosol radiation cloudinteraction over the Arabian Sea prior to the onset of summer monsoon

M.M. Sarin, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad –Geochemistry ofHimalayan Rivers as an agent of climate change

M. Rajeevan, India Meteorology Department, Pune – Predicting the Indian summermonsoon

C. Special Lectures

P.M. Mathews, University of Madras, Chennai – Glimpses into the Earth’s interiorfrom observations of objects in space

S.K. Sopory, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New

Delhi

Genetic engineering for developing plants for high soil salinity environment

D. Public Lectures

S. Ranganathan, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad – The magic inChemistry

Madhav Gadgil, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – Butterflies

E. Lecture Presentations by Fellows/Associates

K.P. Singh, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai – Peering into thehearts of galaxies

Santanu Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – Lipid design: Fromstructure to function

Somdatta Sinha, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad – CollectiveBehaviour in biological systems

T.K. Chandrashekar, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur – Receptors for anionsand Cations

Annexure 10

57

Baldev Raj, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam – Probing ofmicrostructures and their evolution by magnetic and acoustic methods

Shubha Tole, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai – How the brain isbuilt?

M. Krishnamurthy, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai – Clusterexplosion dynamics in intense laser fields

G. Krishnamurthy, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai – Fluoroscencedynamics in biology

Ram Seshadri, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – Carbonate mineralisationand biognostic routes to new materials

58

�