Interviews of December 2015

12.12.2015:
Dr. Subhadeep De: Scientist at CSIR-NPL. Recipient of "Young scientist" award in 2015. Has developed a graph illustrating Indian to have optical frequency standard. Satellite placement requires acurate time. Need to synchronize with global clock system. India has developed clock to 10^-15 seconds accuracy (10^-15 clock); was developed by NPL and has been working for 2 years at present. Such precision needed for certain technological applications and also for many scientific experiments, and often the 2 are inter-dependent. Develping such high-precision clocks may take upto 7 years. Now working on developing a higher-precision clock. Standard question of why India shouldn't just import clock instead of developing on its own. Dr. Subhadeep says country needs to be self-dependent on this - otherwise if the exporting country refuses to supply more or repair it in future, India won't be able to launch its own satellites, create defence systems etc. India has one of the world's top 10 fountain clocks. Clocks are at the core of fundamental standards. Explains why mechanical clocks are not sufficient and thereby why atomic clocks are needed. Hence subatomic level understanding needed for atomic clocks. Currently synchronization between atomic clocks in different countries done using satellites. Better way is to use optical fibres for interlinking the clocks, but challenge is in need interlinking continents by fibres under sea; Canada and US clocks are linked using optical fibre and this will become the main mode across continents soon.

Coherence between administration and scientists missing in India's research labs which are largely government funded. Funding never sufficient for science research but better cooperation between administrators and scientists can help mitigate some of the problems - "a message for science policy makers" according to Dr.Raza. Towards the end of the talk, when asked, he says a teacher in B.Sc Physics and his cousin motivated him to go into research. Becoming a doctor was his goal during schools days; joined B.Sc Physics because of not getting admission to medical college. Message to young generations - "shortcuts (jugaad?) don't work"; students must understand the fundamentals even if it takes more time.

19.12.2015: (*)
Dr. B.K. Mishra: Director, CSIR-IMMT. Soft-spoken, humble. Specializes in water security. Dr.Gauhar Raza starts with mention of recent Chennai flood crisis. In response to why he went to help Chennai when he could have as well focused on his lab work, says his team's technology is meant to serve people. His team's technology helped flood victims. CSIR has many filtration units; Science Monitor episode on same day mentioned distribution of special water filters by CSIR-MMIT, Bhubaneshwar, to Chennai flood victims. Unplanned construction the cause of water logging in Chennai; Chennai has clay soil unlike Bhubaneshvar which has laterite rock surface that helps water drain out quickly. 50 lakh people affected by the floods. His team distributed RO-based TERAFIL fllters, of 30 litre capacity (other capacities also available), to the poorest victims who couldn't even ask for help. TERAFIL
does not need electicity or any other source of energy, which is its best part. It is highly economical. It uses sand, clay etc. for filtration and makes turbid water drinkable.
Team still working on addressing problem of purifying arsenic-contaminated water, a problem affecting 17 states. W.r.t. water security, he says availability of water is less of a problem; contamination the major problem; says only science & technology can solve this problem. CSIR has embarked on a major project to address water security.

His lab works on resource utilization, sustainability. When asked about air pollution, which too is in his charter, says stell production, iron ore extraction etc. are increasing in India and air pollution will only get worse unless technology is used to tackle it. Production of 1 ton of steel releases 1.6 tons of CO2 today. His team is developing a technology that allows hydrogen to be used instead of coal as reductant in steel production and will therefore reduce CO2 production significantly.

"Moment of eureka": Went to the US to learn things (higher studies?, for 10 years) that he couldn't learn when working in the industry. Returned to India and worked in IIT-Kanpur. His shift to CSIR excited him the most as it gave him more opportunities to work on what he liked the most.

"Why move back to India? There would have been lot of pressure to settle in the US. For parents, to serve the nation?": Always wanted to work in India. Felt work, the type of things he wanted to work on, was cut out for him in India than elsewhere.

"Message to youngsters": Don't depend on anybody to give you a job; create your own job. Mentions this is the age of start-up culture and says he advised the same to many of his students.

26.12.2015:
Dr. Dinakar M. Salunke: Director, ICGEB; and eminent immunologist. Recipient of SSB award for year 2000. Grew up in poor family but his uneducated parents knew the importance of education and worked hard to help him achieve the best in education. Had to work even while being a student to supplement his family income - did hard jobs like carrying stone for meagre wage of 1 rupee a day. Says government schools were excellent during his days and that his teachers shaped his career; but says he won't comment on current status of government schools as he is removed from ground reality of schools. Feels there are still good govt. schools as some of his bright research students had studied in govt. schools. Shifted from physics (in UG and PG) to biology for PhD since he developed an interest in applying physics (material sciences?) knowledge to understand animate objects and felt physics background would allow him to look at biology from a different angle (was motivated by hearing about physicists who had contributed to biology). One of the first scientists to look at protein structures, especially through protein crystallography. Joined National Institute of Immunology in 1988 on returning to India and says the institute provided him the best research facilities and bright students. Set out to prove that 2 different classes of molecules (some peptide and some carbohydrates) had similar topologies based on the observation that they invoked similar immun response; but turned out they did not have same topology and it was the plasticity(?) of receptors that resulted in similar response. Had topologies been similar, developing vaccine would have been easier. His research work provided new insights into immune system. Dr. Raza humorously asks .
"Why should India do its own research in biology?" - Dr. DMS says even to use ideas developed by others, one's mind to be prepared, and research helps prepare scientific mind. 60-year-old research investments are bearing fruits now and are not wasted efforts; India should continue to invest in research. Mentions that through science diplomacy meetings he has come to notice that some Afric. nations haven't realized the importance of research; even developing countries must spend some money on research.
Q: "Investment in science low in India compared to China. Cauing problems?": Agrees money given for research in many fields is small, but says it is important to maintain a positive stance. Must realize our strengths. Mangalyaan was a huge success despite not having been a relatively low-investment (by world standards) project. No need to compare India with China.
Message: Science is an exciting career. You are paid to do something you want to do and society too recognizes you. Science career helps nurture your own career and also helps serve the society.