Interviews of May/June 2017

2.6.2017:

Indian Institute of Millets Research (part of Indian Council Agricultural Research), Hyderabad: Focus on millets as they are part of a solution to malnutrition and also shifting to millets will reduce the burden of lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi: Agricultural scientist and director of the institute. Bachelors and masters in agricultural sciences from Univ. of Agriculture, Blr, Ph.D from TNAU, post-doctorate at Univ. of Queensland, Australia. Has published 50 research papers; has edited and written over 30 books. Received several awards for agricultural research. Worked on sorghum research since 1990. 8 millets grown majorly in India - jowar, bajra, ragi, foxtail and few others. A few others grown in Khasi hills area and in one NE state. Mexico produces a large amount of millets, but India produces a much smaller amount (productivity lower). Says ecosystem a major factor in productivity. Water and moisture the key factors. In the last 35 years, many new hybrid varieties of jowar have been developed by the institute. Despite a reduction in area under millet cultivation, output has remained the same as a result of these new varieties. Only 18 million hectares under millet cultivation now, compared to 40 million hectares over 40 years ago.

Millets important - consumed from ancient times - mentioned in Ramayana and Yajur Veda. Reduction in millet consumption due to wheat and rice becoming cheaper because of increase in their supply - area under cultivation and productivity of those crops had increased, causing the balance of demand shifting in favour of those. Rice, wheat, maize important, but filling belly is not sufficient - malnutrition cannot be addressed by those cereals alone. Millets, on the contrary, are a wholesome food. Bajra - more iron content - helps overcome anemic conditions. Millets in general are richer in fibre - improve probiotic condition. Millets have the lowest glycemic index - so may be viewed as medicine for diabetes, not just as as alternative food.

Landed up in agricultural research by chance, but given a chance now, would still choose agricultural research as it is very challenging. Community seed production is being promoted by the institute. Institute was established around 50 years ago, initial focus on sorghum. Need to reach out to people through dietician, fitness experts etc. to make them aware of health benefits of millet. Millets mainly grown in tribal areas and places with harsh conditions and this poses a challenge in taking crop productivity improvement techniques there. Millets need to be dehusked like rice, but facility not available in many places - this situation needs to be fixed. Program to develop resistance to stem borer which destroys millets. Both traditional and modern methods.

3 major challenges - enhancing productivity; establishing viable supply chain; developing varieties that are more insect and disease resistant so that productivity improves even with organic farming technique. Millets are good for the farmer, good for you (and good for environment??).

10.6.2016:

Dr. Amithabha Chattopadhyaya: Membrane biologist. J.C. Bose fellow at and currently director of CCMB, Hyderabad. B.Sc from St. Xavier's college, Kolkata. M.Sc from IIT   Kanpur. Ph.D. from State Univ. New York at StonyBrook. Post-doctorate at Univ. of California - Davis. Joined CCMB in 1989. Membrane and receptor biology are his major areas of research. Discovered that the level of cholestrol in cell membrane controls entry of pathogens. Recipient of World Academy of Science award in biology in 2016 and S.S. Bhatnagar award in 2001.

3 major works. (a) Study of G-protein cell/coupled? receptors (GPCR); these receptors are involved in activity of several drugs. Interaction of these receptors with cholestrol studies (b) Reducing the concentration of cholestrol in cell membrane found to reduce or inhibit the entry of pathogens. This finding hold a key to treating several infectious diseases prevalent in India - kala-azar, TB. (c) Studies dynamics of water molecules in body cells.

GPCRs in different cells play different roles. GPCRs in eye respond to light, for instance.
Despite lot of money and research effort being spent on drug development, several infectious diseases haven't been eradicated. Drug resistance - result of DNAs having genetic memory. Targeting cholestrols or lipids instead of DNA will avoid the problem of drug resistance, though there is a long is a way to develop such drugs now (drug development in general is a challenging processing). Says the last discovery of a major fundamental drug took place over 3 or 4 decades ago. In the last 15 years, only modifications to existing fundamental drugs have happened. Putting a large amount of money doesn't guarantee drug discovery, sometimes small discoveries lead to important drugs. But it is important to keep working on drug discovery.

Though Prof. Amitabha hailed from a middle class family and there was some pressure on him to pursue a job in govt. job rather than research. But his father was a chemistry major from pre-Independence days, was a bright student and bright mind and inspired Prof. Amitabha in science. Prof. Amitabha's elder brother was a physics major and pursued higher studies abroad - these factors helped him pursue science.

INTERESTING:
Dr. TVV's question: Some bright students get interested in physics, a smaller proportion of them in maths, but hard to find students taking interest in biology as school syllabus for biology is often just a huge list of names to remember.
Prof. Amitabha's response: Says it sounds oxymoronic, but he was not interested in biology during his school days. Was fascinated in physics and chemistry. May have been a disappointment for his family members who may have wanted him to become a doctor. It was during his masters at IIT-Kanpur that he got interested in biology because he found that many of the major problems where chemistry was needed were in biology. It was during his IIT days that physics and chemistry were moving towards elecronics and quantum mechanics (w.r.t. the applied university) and felt that chemistry is a good way to understand some of the fundamentals of physics. Audited classes in biology. At StonyBrook, he was not happy with his research topic in chemistry. However, his chemistry research guide was very understanding and helped him switch to biology research and get an advisor for biology research! So did research in chemistry under a biology research advisor. Says switching research areas during PhD is not easy.

Most of his awards are in biology although he has no degree in biology!! Says he likes the movie "3 idiots" for this reason. It is important to be able to work on what one is interested in - areas of research should not be silos.

CCMB started in 1976 as India realized that it has National Physical Lab, a similar lab for chemistry but none for biology. P.M. Bhargava was its founding director. In 1990s, started CCMB started collaboraring with the industry. CCMB has over 550 awardees. Many of its students have become renowned researchers, faculty members abroad or enterpreneurs in biology-related industry. This despite that fact that CCMB did not offer a degree program for a long period. Had an MoU with a university to offer degrees for researchers at CCMB.

More students coming from rural areas and small towns these days. Language could be a problem but it is important to keep such students motivated. Needs sustained effort to make such students (from small towns, vilages) realize that they are the future and India's success in research depends on them This is key to make India a force to reckon with in research. Feels optimistic that the efforts being taken in this regard by CCMB and the like are in the right direction but is cautious as effectiveness should be judged over long time.

18.6.2017:

Dr. Sharad Kumar Jain: Senior scientist, National Institute of Hydrology (autonomous institute under Ministry of water sciences), Roorkee. 15% of ground water is used for food production, a significantly high proportion of ground water. Withdrawal of water is increasing but productivity of water usage hasn't improved accordingly - better productivity of water usage needed. Usage of water is very efficient in Rajasthan and some parts of south India but in several other parts of the country, water is wasted (due to inefficient usage). One study in Israel says that it is possible to increase apple production by at least 8 times with same amount of land and water if better techniques are used!

Works on hydrological modelling, data collection techniques for modelling
, application of emerging techniques for data capture and modelling. River flow a crucial part of river ecosystem. Working on "environmental flows" - society needs water (and river needs society??). In India, river water plays an important role in cultural and religious ceremonies (ear-piercing of young ones performed on river bank), i.e. beyond food production and farming, unlike in other countries.

Mathematical modelling used now. Earlier engineers used physical modelling, say to study the functioning of dam and its impact. Remote sensing (satellite-based) an exciting part of modelling; it can identify what types of crops are grown, even in remote areas which cannot be reached easily for ground study.

Virtual water - a concept that has become popular due to emerging water crisis. Virtual water trade is calculated for long-term sustainability. Indicates quantity of water used in producing goods - not just the amount of water in that product - example, one can model the virtual water associated with a shirt/textile-product - amount of water that went into producing the shirt, though a shirt doesn't contain water.

Major challenges in hydrology - quantity and quality important. Ensuring quality a major task. What should this institute or any new institute of similar . Needs to enhance technical capability - states need to have vibrant mechanisms to maintain and sustain water resources; according to constitution, this is the responsibility of states. Quotes an ancient Hindi (or Sanskrit) saying about body being made of five elements and says that ever since ancient times, importance of proper water usage has been emphasized

25.6.2017:

Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan: Director, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI-CSIR, Roorkee). Outstanding structural engineer. Was a scientist at Advanced Seismic Testing laboratory of CSIR. Obtained his B.E. from College of Engineering - Guindy, in 1984. M.Tech in structural engineering from IIT-Madras. PhD from IISc, Bangalore. Started his career art Tata consulting engineers limited [TCE]. Then joined CSIR-SERC (structural engineering research centre) in 1987. Structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, machine supporting structures, soil interaction and reinforced concrete structures. Authored 78 national and international publications.

Among 3 major research works:
A vibration problem in a major thermal power unit in Raichur which severely affected its efficiency - the cause of the problem was difficult to diagnose. Studied the signature of vibrations (analogous to ECG) and using analytics and computer simulation (for both the likely cause and the solution) solved the problem. Solution said that the hood of the rotor could be increased - a seemingly simple solution for a significant problem. 7000 crore award?

Establishment of earthquake testing facility in CSIR-SERC - "ASTaR" lab established as a national facility in 2007. Funded by a board of research ??? that was affected by an embargo due to Gujarat earthquake. Nuclear facilities need to need to be shut-down very quickly during earthquakes - needs a very precise mechanism to decide based on vibrations whether a shut-down and conceal action needs to be initiated. ASTaR lab developed facilities to simulate earthquakes and could help devise the required model at low cost. 

Used an analytical method, the spectrum method, for seismic analysis. For any elasticity-related problem, the finer the finer the "mesh size", the better. Applied computer simulation and modeling for this problem - effect of blasts, quakes etc. are usually "mesh invariant", transient w.r.t vibration duration.

Over 38% of greenhouse emissions in India come from construction processes. Cement-production highly energy consuming. Producing 1 ton of cement emits 1 ton of CO2.

Geopolymer a viable and eco-friendly alternative to cement. Geopolymers produced mostly from fly-ash, slag and some other inorganic (unlike typical polymers) materials. Says some Indian institutes (not CBRI)  have developed geopolymers.

2 important and very different challenges facing the housing segment in India. Rural and poor people cannot afford more than Rs.400 per sqft., a cost that is very low even by global standards. Low-cost but safe housing needed - possible with innovative building techniques/materials. Ensuring safety of low cost construction materials used in plinth (basement zone) - protecting them from erosion during floods - adding small amounts of materials like kerosene to mud/clay in plinth found to prevent erosion. Similarly, to protect thatch from fire, a suitable covering layer may be used - reduced the air content available to thatch, preventing it from catching fire. Several such economically viable solutions/interventions developed by his institute for low-cost, safe housing.

Prefabricated building system. Says 2-3 states supply the labour for construction and they are exploited. There is a lack of quality labour. In future, the availability of unskilled labour is bound to reduce further.

Says Roorkee is one of the 2 or 3 "centres of gravity" of civil engineering research in India. Roorkee has been an ideal location for hydraulic research in India - several hydraulics-related work (like Ganga canal) happened in Roorkee. Major works of CBRI - underreamed (??) pile foundation, pollution control measure for brick kilns, making bricks from inferior soil.

Underreamed pile foundation CBRI has developed for clay soil areas (clay expands a lot after absorbing water - weakens the structural foundation through friction etc.). CBRI's solution involved inserting vertical structures of certain shapes into soil around the foundation and these bear the impact of clay expansion. This technique suited only for clay soil, but is yet used worldwide!

Zigzag kiln - slows down the velocity of hot air in kiln and thereby reduces the amount of (particulate??) pollutants emitted from kilns.

New areas of research - many of the problems that existed 30 years ago no longer exist today. Fire protection for large buildings, protection of heritage buildings are being researched.

Interviews of March/April 2017

25.3.2017:

Dr. S. Seetha: Program Director, Space Science Program Office ISRO. B.Sc Hons. from Hindu College, Delhi Univ., and M.Sc from IIT-Madras. PhD in Physics at IISc - research on white dwarf pulsations. Specialized in study of variable stars, x-ray and gamma ray experiments on Indian satellites. Key role in ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission, India's 1st inter-planetary mission. Principal investigator of AstroSat. Best Indian women scientist award in 2012. Young scientist award earlier.

Till 35 years ago, ISRO satellites were used only for remote sensing and communication, not on space observation. Initial years - worked on optical astronomy - ground-based observatories (Kavalur, Nainital, Mt. Abu). Later used piggy-back payloads in satellites for space research. Photometry - light intensity of stars and their variation with time. Developer 3-channel photometry technique. Light curve analysed per Fourier transform or power-density spectrum. These give hints about spin and orbital periods. Most of her research has been about variability of stars.

3-channel photometer contributed towards holar telescope. Helps overcome atmospheric effects. Led to area called astro-seismology. Also studied optical counterpart of x-ray binaries. Companion star is observed in optical and correlated with x-ray of neutron stars or black holes. This led to 2 space experiments - gamma-blast experiment. This led to discovery of around 50 gamma ray bursts. ASTROSAT itself was conceived following the success of those experiments. Simulation and calibration needed to check whether sensors are working correctly. Calibration often needs to be done both on ground and in space - are challenging. Mentions that to calibrate, Sahara desert was observed - the best "near"-uniform surface (not perfectly uniform, but the best that could be got on earth).

ASTROSAT - India's 1st dedicated space telescope satellite. Many indigenous technologies developed for ASTROSAT. Says many of these technologies have gone beyond similar prior satellites of other countries. Dr. TVV asks why ASTROSAT is termed telescope, not observatory, because observatory would mean catering to projects of different institutions/researchers - requires sequencing of tasks, close monitoring of those (Dr. TVV - like look at this place, then turn here, then turn back - very complex operations). ASTROSAT - multi-wavelength astronomy asset. X-rays are the richest source of information about compact objects like neutron stars. For companion stars, it is light or UV rays. Studying all 3 types of rays gives more information about the system.

3 major important discoveries of ASTROSAT. UV-imaging telescope - very well-resolved images of galaxies - has helped many previously unresolved components of some galaxies. Discovered a very unique pair of binary stars in an open cluster NGC188 - 1 proven to be a hot blue star one while the other a cool star. Discovered a high-energy object, micro-quasar that has evoked interest of many space researchers as target for observation. Polarization of X-rays from crab nebula studied. 4 payloads onf ATROSAT are co-aligned - observed the same target. 5th payload - scanning sky monitor.

Future - Chandrayaan2 - orbiter, lander, robot. Aditya L1 - mission to sun. Small satellite - xrosat to study polarization on of xray.

Interested in science from school. Father's profession - engineering, might have helped. Space science can be challenging for women around times of satellite launch. Difficult for women to be scientists without family support.

1.4.2017:

Dr. Shantanu Bhattacharya: Director, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Kolkata). Works at the interface of chemistry, biology and material science. Prof. of organic chemistry at IISc, and Hon. prof. at JNCASR. PhD at Rutgers Univ and 3-year post doctoral study at under the guidance of Dr. Hargobind Khurana at MIT. Dr. TVV prefaces the program with mention of research on anti-aging drugs, pesticide-free agriculture etc.

IACS is the oldest institution of its type in India, started in 1878. Founded by Dr. Mahendralal Sircar. Much of Dr. C.V.Raman's research work leading to his Nobel Prize too was done at IACS. 28.2.1928 - discovery of Raman Effect announced - day celebrated as "'National Science Day'". Dr. Meghnad Saha, considered in some sense the founder of astrophysics, associated with IACS. Also Dr. K.S.Krishnan, a PhD student under Dr.Raman and a key person in the development of National Physical Laboratory.

Lot of current emphasis on IACS is on interdisciplinary science. Another strong area of IACS is material science. Integrated PhD offered in many branches of science. Scholarship offered is higher than in many other institutes. Expects the institute to become a degree-awarding univ in the future.

Current research work on certain polymers that are used to create gels that would be useful in medicines and pesticide-free agriculture. Gels used as pheromone trap - gels are more resistant to leaching, better withstanding heat and rain, whereas conventional pesticides would be leached.

Working on small molecular structures - related to telomere biology. Controlling the activity of telomerase helps control aging. Shorter telomore length also related to some age-associated, non-infectious diseases. 2/3 of world's population will be above 65 by 2050.

New generation of antibiotics an emerging area of research. All cancs caused by damaged genes, mutations. Gene therapy promising for curing diseases like this as well as other gene-damage-related diseases. But delivering the genes is a difficult task. Viruses were tried for delivering genes in 1980s, but severe allergic/anti-microbe reactions made it unsuccesful. Working on new methods to deliver corrective genes.

Worked on chemical biology. especially on rhodopsin, under the guidance of Dr. Hargobind Khurana.

Need dedicated teachers who can disseminate science to people in interior areas of the country. Need demonstration of science to reach out to more people.

Life mantra: Choose the job you like. If you like it, won't feel like a burdensome job.

8.4.2017:

Prof. Somak Raychaudhury: Director, IUCAA (Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics), Pune. Was Prof and Head of Physics Department at Presidency Univ, Kolkata and Dean of Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Completed B.Sc in Physics in 1983 from Presidency University, Kolkata. Pursued further studies from Trinity College, Oxford. Obtained, in 1990, Ph.D in astrophysics from University of Cambridge. Has made outstanding contribution in research areas related to supermassive black holes, gravitational lensing, cosmology, super clusters of galaxies (largest structures in universe).

It is now known that our galaxy is just 1 of billions of galaxies, and sun is a very ordinary small star. Milky way is a part of Virgo super cluster. At least 10 billion galaxies, the number being just a lower limit. Around 75% of galaxies are flat like chappatis, with spiral structures; they are relatively young. Old galaxies are more round. Has studied interaction between galaxies - lot of action going on as galaxies smash into each other. Galaxies are not uniformly distributed in space. Rather, they are distributed like filaments of a spider web. Milky way will smash into neighbouring galaxy in another 4 billion years. Galaxies move along these filaments and fall into galactic clusters. Studying how Milky way is moving and its interactions with other galaxies; these weren't studied earlier due to lack of powerful telescopes.

Galaxies moving through dark matter which is not visible, like trucks moving through highways with highways not being visible but trucks and dhaabaas (stars, gas, dust) being visible.

All big galaxies, including ours, have a super massive black hole in their centre. These black holes have mass ranging from a million to a billion times the mass of the sun, but their size is just about the size of solar system or smaller. Says till a few years ago, Stephen Hawking had a bet with astronomers that existence of black holes cannot be proved. But now astronomers not only know the existence of black hole in Milky way but also know its mass very precisely - about 40 lakh times the solar mass. With powerful telescopes available now, it has become possible to study precisely the movement of stars around black holes - by definition, black holes themselves cannot be seen. Impressive videos of orbiting of stars around this unseen black hole available on the internet. By combining data on speed of these stars and knowing that they haven't collided with the black hole yet, the size of the black hole is inferred. Most of the matter we know of, consisting of protons and neutrons, a.k.a. baryons, form only a small fraction of all matter, and are only few 100 to thousand degrees. But large amount of matter is 10 lakh degrees hot. Black holes cause gas and stars around them to move extremely fast and heat up to such high temperatures. This is studied through radio and x-ray observations. This study was not possible till around 15 years ago. GMRT (Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope) is world's largest radio telescope and gives very detailed, precise information - not possible to obtain through other telescopes. NCRA-TIFR developed GMRT.

Very few astronomers of the present have actually looked through a telescope! Not like old days (as still imagined by school children) where scientists (astronomers) had to look through telescope. Even with optical telescopes, astronomers now look on a computer the visuals captured by telescopes. Sitting in a small air-conditioned room in Bangalore, observes data captured by a telescope in Ladakh. Even optical astronomy produces terabytes of data. Radio telescopy, in a few hours, gives 15 GB of data. Data explosion in astronomy - so no longer possible to compute and find things manually. Automation needed. Machine learning needed to classify things and help look for interesting things. Big data techniques used like in many other fields now. Has collaborated with computer scientists and biologists on papers on how the same big data techniques can be used in various domains - astronomy, study of brain and its disorders etc.

India now involved in global projects related to astronomy. These projects are of such a large scale that a single country cannot fund it - hence international collaboration. Astrosat launched recently by India - now in a conference in Jaipur (where the interview was recorded), scientists are studying the 1st set of data collected by ASTROSAT. Data currently for use only by India. Will be made available to global research community after a year. India building some of the components for what will become the largest telescope in the world. India also playing an important role in SKA project, which is building a multi radio telescope in South Africa and Australia, which will be world's  most sensitive radio telescope.

IUCAA is a part of a consortium related to the world's largest telescope in South Africa. Data from this telescope is made available by IUCAA to scientists and research labs from other countries.

UGC realized in the 1980s that nuclear physics, particle physics and astrophysics need resources that cannot be handled by a single university. Hence 3 inter university centres established by UGC and IUCAA is one of those. A new telescope in Nainital was unveiled last year - researchers early in their research career can start observing data from this telescope before they start working on data from larger telescopes. Astronomy has become a multi-disciplinary field - mathematicians, chemists, physicists, engineers and even biologists who are interested in the implications of techniques and findings from astronomy.

Dr.TVV: Astronomy and cosmology serve mankind's quest to understand its who are we, where are we questions, but is there a practical use to astronomy and astrophysics beyond this serving quest?

Reply: Astronomy has pushed the frontiers of technology. Most of the technologies in mobile phone borrow from radar technologies used in astronomy. Phones in camera use technology that was developed to send digital images from Hubble telescope. Infrared technology used in nigh-vision cameras for defence use technology originally developed for infrared telescopes. Gravitational wave observation technology used to detect tiny displacements under the earth that are used predict/detect earthquakes, find minerals under the soil etc. Lot of new industries have been spun off from such technologies for precise measurements in astronomy. Dr. TVV summarizes: research in basic sciences is the foundation on which technological research can build up.

15.4.2017:

Prof. Ashok Sen:

22.4.2017:

Dr. Phanikanta Mishra: (b. 1956??) Eminent archaeologist. Retired. regional director, ASI, Kolkata. Doctorate from School of Archeaology, Delhi. Well known for his discovery of a Buddhist stupa in Madhya Pradesh that was declared as a heritage site and protected site in 1996 (or 1999?).

Dr. TVV: How are archaeological artifacts like terracotta dated? Reply: Beads, pottry etc. follow a style reflecting their period. Mauryan period - northern black polished ware. Gupta period - pottery changed - pottery was of red or ochre colours. Both carbon-dating and thermoluminescence used to date archaeological specimens. Archeaology is pure science in that sense. (and combined art and science).

On development of stone age tools and stone age culture. Prehistoric man cranial capacity - 2000 cc; current human's cranial capacity is 1500. Sudden increase in IQ capacity before stone age, yet hunting techniques evolved gradually. Early stone age humans tried to use boulders to hunt animals coming to drink water; artifacts from this period are larger and don't have much human work done on them (almost no chiselling?). In middle stone age, they used smaller, chiselled stones to hunt animals more effectively and to get tastier part of animal meat. Late stone age saw development of microliths - small chips, tools to remove animal skin.

Oldest animal or human artifact available to archaeologists? 130000 B.C. - skull of boscomolatica elephus (??, some extinct type of elephant?) - same type of skull dating to the same period found in Narmada basin, India as well as South Africa.

Evidence of earliest human habitation in India are megaliths - stone monuments from stone age, found in several places in south India as well as north India.

Dr. TVV: How do archaeologist differentiate between a status of Buddha from that of Mahavira, given that both are portrayed as having very similar facial features, very calm composure? Says this quesytion arose when he visited Chennai museum recently. Reply: Ideally, any educated person, not just archeologists should know about this. This knowledge should be marketed in a way which is lacking at present. Buddha often portrayed as having curly hair, signs on head, peepal tree nearby, and in various mudras, dhyaan mudra, bhoomi sparsh mudra, abhaya mudra etc. Mahavira not portrayed as displaying mudras, very plain and simple - sometime accompanied by chauri-bearers.

Similarly, portrayals, figurines of sacred rivers differentiable based on associated symbols/signs. Yamuna on crocodile, Ganga on tortoise. Dr. TVV says this indicates that Yamuna once had many crocodiles and Ganga abounded with tortoises, but due to human intervention and pollution, these have almost disappeared from these rivers. Dr. Mishra agrees and says children must be made to understand the historical significance of these ancient statues and this will lead to ecological awareness too.

Mentions Khajuraho's importance in depictions of scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Is happy that he discovered and excavated the 35th temple in Khajuraho in 1999. It was in a dilapidated condition. Went for horizontal excavation. Had to expand by 30 feet horizontally and needed to acquire land. Local residents protested and man-handled workers engaged in excavation. He explained to people the importance of excavation work and how people will benefit from tourism, after which residents supported the excavation work.

Dr. Mishra's father too was an internationally renowned eminent archeologist known for major discoveries in places like Vaishali and Pataliputra. Started career in ASI in 1981. Initially had to work at a northern district (Rewa) in Madhya Pradesh. In those days, exploration was very difficult - small team of 2-3 people working in scorching heat with paper maps. Could not find anything for long and decided to move to a different place for exploration. When he mentioned this casually to a village head, the mukhya said he could take Dr. Mishra to an "Ita kaa bhatta", in a densely forested area, from where villagers were collecting bricks. They started in a tractor at 7 PM and reached the place at 9 PM - the `ita ka bhatta1` turned out to be a Buddhist stupa from Mauryan period, over 2300 years old. Found a huge monastery and several artifacts. Went to library next day to verify that the place was in fact undiscovered. A very exciting moment for Dr. Mishra. Felt that God had left this site undiscovered by others only for Dr. Mishra to find!

Buddha bowl carried by Kanishka to Peshawar during 3rd Buddhist council. Deputed to work in Kabul. Found the bowl in Kabul museum, but some addition inscriptions in Persian and Brahmi script were added later - presence of swastik symbol, lotus symbol, and the material being the same as one known to be used . Excited to discover the bowl!

Dr. TVV: List 3 major unresolved mysteries in archaeology. Answer: Lots of unsolved problem; ongoing work and in many, final answer not arrived at yet! Deciphering Harappan script. Dating the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata based on archeological findings. Finding the source and course of mythological lost Saraswati river. Dr. TVV's summary - interesting field with lots of opportunity to discover.

29.4.2017:

Dr. P. Sreekumar: Director, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru). Interview at Pune. Played a key role in Project Chandrayaan. Ph.D from Univ. of New Hampshire after M.Sc in physics from IIT Bombay. Worked for 10 years as research scientist at NASA's Goddard space research laboratory. Has 120+ publications. NASA's achievement award in 1991. 40 years of research experience.

Dr. TVV: Top 3 research areas that you worked on?
Worked on high energy gamma ray astronomy. It was rarely explored till 1990s. Was a part of the science team associated with Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO). Aim of CGRO (launched in 1991) was to map the sky and identify active galaxies, quasars etc. CGRO was the 2nd of NASA's "great observatories" (1st being the Hubble space telescope?). Microwave background has been studied from 1950. There was a prediction that a similar phenomenon would exist with gamma rays too. Worked on characterizing gamma ray glows and finding whether a glow was a real emission; produced one of the first spectrum that showed what the glow was all about. 'CMB' among the major findings of the observatory; it's a faint glow that fills the entire universe.

After joining ISRO, moved from study of gamma rays to something closer, the study of solar system. Being associated with Chandrayaan 1, carried out study of moon's surface, especially its chemistry. Chemical mapping of moon's surface. The mapping was carried out by the orbiter itself, didn't have to depend on the sole lander. Sun emits flares and Xrays, and studying how these are absorbed by re-emitted by the surface helped identify the elements present in the surface. 1-to-1 mapping exists between energy of source emission and that of re-emission. This technique is used by gold merchants to assess presence of copper in gold. Challenges with studying moon's surface: cannot carry Xray source to moon, instead rely on solar emission. But solar emissions are unstable (time variant), unpredictable. Meaning energy of solar emission had to be measured in addition to re-emission/reflection from lunar surface. Theoretical models were developed to correlate the 2 and identify the elemental composition.

Currently involved with ASTROSAT. X-ray optics and focusing very different from focusing techniques for light. Refractive index of most materials is almost 1 for Xrays, meaning Xrays pass through with almost no bending. Only way to reflect Xrays is by using grating (grating index??) - make Xray hit at a very shallow angle (less than 1 or 0.5 degree) on a lattice structure, leverage "external" reflection. Dr. TVV's analogy - children throwing a stone on a pond's surface at a certain angle such that the stone bounces over the surface for quite a distance instead of sinking.

Thus scattering is used to achieve focussing of rays. Team has now embarked on improving this technique, so that mirror can become smaller - leads to next generation of Xray telescopes. Leverage multi-layered mirrors for this (100, 200 or 300). Working with ISRO satellite centre and Raja Rammana centre for advanced technology. Extra-polarimetry is an emerging field in astronomy.

Dr. TVV: What is the need for a new solar telescope in Ladakh, when one of the earliest solar telescopes, the Kodaikanal observatory's telescope, is under your institute? Reply: Science and technology improving and there is a thirst to get higher resolution images and more data. Kodaikanal telescope's data continues to be useful, provides daily observations that are now publicly available. India's biggest multi-application solar telescope is in Udaipur. Newer telescopes aimed at studying specific regions of sun, sunspots etc. Space-based telescopes have become prominent in the past 15 years, but putting 2 metre telescopes is an expensive proposition. Land-based telescopes like Ladakh's complement space-based telescopes.

On ISRO's Aditya mission. Is being designed specifically to study sun's corona as close as possible to sun's disk and unravel the mystery behind enormous difference in temperature between solar surface and corona, i.e. identify the source of the extreme heat of corona. Due to extreme contrast between corona and solar disk, the mission will have to produce artificial eclipse to observe the corona. The coronagraph will create artificial eclipse by reflecting sun light using a mirror through a hole that is about the size of sun disk's image, thus leaving out the light from corona to observe. The mission is extremely challenging as studying the corona from vicinity is very difficult.

We are in a golden age of astronomy. India involved in building the 30-metre telescope which will be world's largest; TMT project started in 2004. TMT consists of 492 1.4m diameter mirrors, hexagonal segments that act together as a single large mirror. India building 100 of these component mirrors. India has developed the technology to create these mirrors and the same technology and facilities can be used in future for indigenous projects, like India's own TMT. India has also developed control systems to align these mirrors to correct small misalignments that will occur when these mirrors are used for observation. Another work is building the mounting system for these mirrors. Thus, India is contributing not just money but also hardware and software.

What are the human resource challenges that India faces in such large projects? More academics, industry and students needed to boost the study. Another concern is the need to enhance student participation in astrophysics - need more students interested in experimental physics to enter the field. The institute has been running a program for the past 5 to 6 years to bring engineering students into experimental physics - a (dual??) degree course that will help engineering students work in astronomy projects. But the need for more students entering pure science research remains.

Astronomy facing challenges in terms of number of new students entering the field. Teaching community may have been lax in .

Institute conducts a lecture series on Sundays for public interested in astronomy - catering to general curiosity about astronomy. Offers a 20 session crash course for students (esp. engineering students), at the end of which students will be in a good position to decide whether they would like to pursue astrophysics. 3rd initiative is aimed as colleges - student groups can use institute's facilities to carry out small-scale experiments.

Interviews of January/February 2017

14.1.2017:

Prof. Apurva Sarin: Senior Professor, NCBS-Bengaluru. Masters in zoology from Delhi Univ and PhD from ..? Recipient of young scientist award in 1990. Currently Dean, InStem. Specializes in stem cells, regenerative medicine, and the mechanism of cell actions and how their fate are determined. Mentions induced puripotent stem cells - stem cells grown in lab and made to become a specialized cell of choice - while this has already been demonstrated, building a full organ from stem cells remains a challenge.

Human body has trillions of cells of several types. An active area of research is understanding how stem cells know what specialized cell it has to become during regeneration of cells (why stem cells in skin become skin cell, not cell of some other organ), and how do they continue to remain as stem cells before regeneration.

Dr. TVV asks: Is stem cell taking human medicine towards something like lizard tail regenration? Prof. Apurva says that lizard tail can regenerate only once - a rule that researchers are trying to understand. InStem started in 2009 - institute of stem biology and regenerative medicine.

Curiosity drives a biologist - a curiosity about things which may not get understood completely in one's own lifetime but may be understood completely by future scientists. Different research groups within InStem - one group working on stem cell-based solution for cardiomyopathy, another group working with NIMHANS to understand cell mechanisms behind emotional, cognitive health. Another group working on sugars/receptors on cells. Dr. Apurva's own group, the most recently formed within inStem, is working on understanding T-cells, how their numbers are regulated; says her research is not specific to stem cells - asks questions about how cells deal with low energy situations etc. - says the answers to these can help stem cell research too.

On colaboration with NIMHANS - schizophrenia, bipolar disorder etc. which are believed to be complex multi-gene disorders, as compared to single-gene disorders like sickle-cell anemia that is more well understood.

NCBS works on biology from he level of biomolecules to ecosystems (savanna system, for instance). Joined NCBS in 1998, now with InStem.

No single incident that led her to become a research biologist - says it was a.

Must trust your instincts and pursue what you want to do. Unfortunately, students often find it difficult to convince their parents that research is a viable career. Says there is  no simple answer to this problem - perhaps if students get their teachers to persuade those who are difficult to persuade!!!

There is fear about stem cell research. Agrees that regulation is needed but it must be an informed regulation. Needless fear should be avoided - there are dangers associated with pretty much anything developed in labs, not limited to stem cells.

21.1.2017:

Dr. Sudhir Mishra: (Very expressive, energetic) Eminent missile scientist. CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace. Bachelors degree from Jabalpur University. M.Tech in mechanical engg. from IIT-Madras. Has worked on almost all major missile development programs of DRDO. Worked as a scientist in DRDL, Hyderabad. Developed guiding systems, propulsion systems and several other systems involving mechanical engineering. Says he has been working on missile programmes since a time when India was very poor in missile technology - had to develop things from scratch due to lack of help in this domain from other countries, and often had to use what would be considered tinkering/"jugaad". 1994 - developing Prithvi - .

Remembers that his passion for missiles goes back to 1973/1974 when in 7th or 8th standard. Studied in Hindi medium school in MP. Had to give a talk in class - chose to talk about some astra for which he gathered information from some Hindi magazines  - background mythological story of that astra says whatever one wishes will become true and intense wishes will definitely become true. That saying came true in his case as after his studies, he got to work with Dr. Abdul Kalam's team in 1984. Says Dr. ABdul Kalam is his role model. Says unlike other people of his (Mishra's) generation who wanted to go to the US and become rich, he decided that his only ambition was to develop missiles for his country, not to become rich. He feels full of energy and wants to deliver new and best things.

Soldier capabilities enhanced by BrahMos missiles, a joint venture of India and Russia. DRDO involved not just in development of missiles and weapons, but also high-energy food, pre-cooked food (starting from cholay, bisibele bath, idli powder), protection suit, special shoes. Some food technology/product from DRDO has been sold to Patanjali food brand. Says DRDO has had several spin-offs, food item being just one example.

BrahMos is the best missile system - like Rolls-Royce, beyond BMW and the like. All 3 defense services use BrahMos and it gives a threat/protection enevelope of atleast 5 kms. Feels very proud of BrahMos and his team that has designed and developed it - huge team involving almost every engineering domain.

How did BrahMos manage to go into production in a short time. Calls it a result of "mind to market". Tells youngesters - "knowledge without speed" is of no use. Perfection, speed and competence should go together. Research that takes long time is of no use (to the armed forces?) - BrahMos program kept this in mind and hence was able to deliver the missile for testing in 2001, just 3 years after the agreement was signed in 1998.

28.1.2017:

Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra: Heads cyclone warning division, IMD, Delhi. Cyclone man of India; has studied more than 40 cyclones. Recipient of several awards including Young Scientist Award. What is cyclone? Word cyclone coined by a British officer in Kolkata, British India who observed storm systems in Indian ocean. Word derived from "cyclos" meaning coil. Explains how cyclones form through a cascading phenomemon - a result of instability resulting from heat, involving convection, cloud group formation, low pressure area formation etc. Dr. TVV: why astronomical phenomenon like full moon, eclipse are easily predictable whereas atmospheric phenomenon like cyclones are not? Answer: Atmospheric phenomenon are non-linear, unlike phenomenon like eclipse, solar winds which are linear. Better estimation of early weather conditions will lead to better prediction on cyclones. Non-linear phenomenon don't have empirical equation solutions; instead numerical methods have to be used. Satellites, radars, scatterometers used to observe weather conditions. Cyclones can be predicted upto 5 days in advance - area of occurrence, duration of occurrence, gale speed, tidal wave height associated with cyclone, trajectory. A primary of school teacher of his wrote a short poem on him (Dr.Mrutyunjay) after he joined IMD, telling what he would achieve in future. Tells how his father,in 1970s, had saved many lives by warning villagers about cyclones, at a time when no cyclone warning system existed. Motivates his junior colleagues in his division by displaying photographs of devastation caused by cyclones - feels it is important for meteorologists in his division to realize the impact of cyclone so that they realize the great onus on them to predict cyclones correctly and help save people. Joined IMD in 1992. Posted in Orissa in 1998, and witnessed the devastation caused by 1999 cyclone. Only 24-hour cyclone prediction was possible in India in 1999; consistent and timely forecast was not possible then, so only 40000 people were evacuated in time and 10000 people lost lives. Felt handicapped due to limitation w.r.t. observational infrastructure and prediction system. There has been a paradigm shift since then - multiple weather satellites (unlike just one then), updates from satellites every 15 minutes, digital radars available now, 13050 automated rain gauges, better modeling. IMD is looking for aircraft for supplementary observation for cyclone warning. Considering the cost of ex-gratia paid for kith and kin of lost lives in 1999 cyclone, huge cost invested to improve cyclone prediction post-1999 has helped recover the money by saving lives - 2013 Phylin cyclone led to loss of only 20 lives. Forecast has become lot more accurate and objective; and verification of prediction accuracy is in place now; unlike 1999 when prediction was more subjective, less accurate. More accurate prediction of cyclone path means less are needs to be evacuated. Takeaway message: Investment in science saves lives and money.

4.2.2017:

Dr. Jeet Singh Sandhu: Deputy Director-General, crop sciences division, ICAR. Involved in development of 23 new varieties of pulses. Is known for doing path-breaking work on chickpea. Pulses need less water to grow. Pulses are very friendly - can be intercropped, cultivated together with several other types of crops. Joined Punjab Agricultural UNiv in 1985 as a research fellow. Everyday he looks forward to developing or finding a new variety of crop or observing at how the new varieties are different from older varieties. UN declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. Pulses - good source of protein and help enrich soil through nitrogen fixation.

Dr. TVV: "Why is it called chickpea in English - is it to be used as food for birds only"? Dr. Jeet: Chickpea because shape looks like beak of a chick. Pigeonpea named because of similarity to eye of pigeons? Pulses are a major component of Indian diet.

Bred wild varieties of chickpea with cultivated ones. Many varieties were very adapatable and hence those that grew well in Punjab grew well in central India as well. Dr.Jeet was the 1st person to create a hybrid variety of chickpea - extremely difficult to develop hybrids of chickpea and some institute in Hyd which tried it had failed.

Where do pulses come in w.r.t. food security of India. India contributes 25% of global pulses production. But since India consumes a largely diet, pulse production not enough; shortage not due to technological limitation in pulse cultivation. 80% of pulses grown in rain-fed regions - these are usually farmers who are resource-poor; even quality and seed replacement rate is poor - these are the limiting factors (not technical limitation); considering the challenging cultivation conditions (moisture may be too low to support even germination), pulse productivity in India is on par with global. 20 million tonnes of production expected this year. Last year, India imported 5.8 million tonnes of pulses.

Since pulses are largely grown in rain-fed areas, there is bound to be instability in pulse production depending on rainfall. But he has found that productivity has improved in rain-fed areas, so production has not decreased over 30 years despite drop in rainfall. 3 major challenges facing pulse production: technology should reach farmers immediately; minimum support price for pulses is a must (only recently has govt introduced msp for pulse crops); minimum support price a major factor for India's success in rice&wheat cultivation; pulse procurement from farmers also important.

11.2.2017:

Prof. Naveen Garg: Theoretical computer scientist at IIT-Delhi, specializing in algorithms (esp. approximation algorithms) and computational complexity theory. B.Tech and PhD from IIT. Post-doctoral research at Max-Planck institute. On "theoretical" computer science - does not focus on programming but on understanding what can be solved, how efficiently etc. Approx. algorithms - problems that are too time-consuming to solve, so try to get an approximate solution faster. Algorithm is a self-contained sequence of actions/steps. Uses the example of travelling salesman problem to explain algorithm complexity (NP-hard) and where appoximate algorithms are useful. Has worked on algorithms for scheduling problems. Scheduling problems originated in operations research domain. Scheduling problems in computers: mobile apps contending for resources on the CPU, millions of requests going to a data center - how to minnimize the time to serve a request with given limited resources. Another problem prof. is working on is facility location. Simple example: how to place ATMs optimally, such that customers' total travel time is minimized (for example). Facility location with constraints - say a ration shop can serve only 100 customers. This leads to "local search" algorithms. Locations not yet decided - though experiment - will moving the shop from A to B improve the metric. If the metric does improve by changing the location, stop searching - "near best" solution reached. Has developed an approximation algorithm which can be run quickly for this which will give a solution that will be no worse than 5 times the theoretically best possible solution (which would take thousands or millions of years to compute!!). Came up with a detailed analysis of a greedy algorithm for scheduling that had been used for quite a long time but had not been analysed.

Dr. TVV mentions a recent news about an algorithm used by a US recruiting agency which gave lower weightage to candidates who were located far away from the office location, since it was presumed that they would be less intended to travel long distance to come to work. This had the unintended negative effect of putting coloured and relatively poor people at a disadvantage as most of them were found to live far away from the centre compared to other people. So the algorithm had unfairness built into it and it came under criticism. Prof's reply: This is something about which our research group had a lengthy discussion a few weeks back. We should be extremely careful about letting algorithm run our lives. ALgorithms not biased but the decisions that went into. "FAT ML" (FAirness, Accountability and Transparency in Machine Learning algorithms) conference for past 3 years. The news article in question was triggered by a recent book named "Weapons of Math Destruction" (person with bipolar disotder gets blacklisted by job screening algorithm because of the person's health issue). ACM has issued a statement on how should an algorithm behave w.r.t. fairness and transparency. Many of these types of algorithms are "learning" algorithms that go by past data. Dr. TVV says people should realize that algorithms needn't be unbiased from end-result perspective as they are driven by data and what human decisions went into developing the algorithm.

Dr. TVV: Should students prepare for IITs through intensive IIT coaching institutes like those in Rajasthan? Reply: Schooling at Jabalpur; no coaching centre of current type. Purchased study materials from Brilliant Tutorials - feels that is a better way to prepare; students should be let to choose how they want to prepare (give just guidance and inputs to students), rather than spoon-feeding them.

Dr. TVV: Should Indian school system be relooked? In-built mechanism in Indian schools that every student should be trained to become eligible for an engineering/medical/PhD degree. Reply: Mentions German system - parents and teachers meet at various points of student's schooling period, analyze his/her skills and progress and decide whether s/he should be trained for  a research/engineering/doctor-like career or instead for a more hands-on job like carpenter, plumber. Germany has excellent institutes for vocational training. (Unfortunately) Indian system attaches social stigma to non-white-collared jobs; any job that requires using ones hands viewed unfavourably!

18.2.2017:

Dr. Sudhir Kumar Singh: Director-general, National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram. Dr. TVV starts with "a very interesting, in fact, a very powerful conversation with"! Associated with development of several technologies related to solar energy. The building that Dr. Singh now works from, Soorya Bhavan, is now powered entirely by solar power. Says that the cost of solar power has crashed from Rs.10 per watt in 2010 to Rs. 4 per watt. Various means of power generation from solar energy - photovoltaic vs. solar thermal. Photovoltaic has become cheaper in recent times for power generation. For puposes like drying/heating and desalination, solar thermal is more effective. Photovoltaic is good for day-time power, but for all-day power, solar thermal currently more cost effective as storage method for photovoltaic is costlier at the moment. PCM (phase change material) can store high temperature energy.

Dr. TVV: Did you know about using the heat of sun to cool things?! Solar thermal energy used to power compressors for cooling/air-conditioning. Phase change (solid to liquid) technology allows 24x7 usage of solar energy. Solar-biomass hybrid technology - solar power used at times when solar power collection is optimal/sufficient, and biomass serves as supplement or backup when solar power collection is not efficient (less or no sunlight, for example). Biomass allows for high energy energy consumption (especially for high temperature requirements?).

Satellite data used to map solar resources for the whole country. Climate conditions varies between regions - solar radiation reaching the ground changes based on place, time, dust conditions. Rajasthan would seem the best place for solar power generation. While it is true that Rajasthan has one of the highest usable solar radiation, photovoltaic plants installed there degrade faster than in other places due to high heat.

NISE offers several human resource programs related to solar power usage. "Surya Mitra" programme is one such. MNRE sponsors solar power skill development programmes. NISA has a testing lab/facility for accreditation of photovoltaic cells and other systems related to solar power. Only power generating agencies accredited by NISE eligible for government's solar power subsidy.

NISE devloping a power storage system (thermal based) for use with photovoltaic technology. Renewable energy production could go upto 100GW by 2022. At this moment, it is only 9GW, but a lot has been learnt so far which is going to help expand generation of solar power. 50GW of the 100GW target will be rooftop solar panels which do not need land acquisition - hnece easily achievable. Government working with private sector to develop solar parks.

Major challenges: More manpower needed - Surya Mitrahas trained over 10000 people, but a lot more is needed. Cost of solar generation is the major concern but it is expected to come down. Recycling of solar panels is a problem - typical photovoltaic cells do not contain toxic materials (unlike general cells/batteries), but if other materials are introduced in these cells/systems in future, recycling will be a major challenge.

25.2.2017:

Dr. Siddhartha Roy: Director, Bose Institute, Kolkata. Bose Institute celebrating centennial year in 2017. Dr. Roy is a structural biologist and biochemist. Ph.D. in biochemistry from Univ of Delawere. Recipient of Shanthi Swaroop Bhatnaagar Award in 1999. Started as a chemist, thought biology was too complex (too many details), but by the end of his bachelors degree, he had become fascinated with biology and chose biology for research. Worked on DNA structure and fuctions. Says understanding biology needs observing the biological molecules in action. A pioneer in "chemical biology". Biological chemistry, a well-known field for over 70 years is a reductive approach - start with biological structures and breaks them down into chemical constituents. "Chemical biology" takes an integrative approach, studies the whole system together, possibly a collection of millions of modelcules. The term itself was coined in India in 1982 by another Indian scientist (Dr. Bimal Bechawat, Indian Institute of Experimental Medicine). Dr. Siddharth Roy started on chemical biology at a time when it had not yet gained popularity but the tools needed for such integrative study had become available. Omics is one such tool - a biomarker discovery technology; allows studying millions of cells. Another technology involved tagging cells/proteins with a fluorescent chemical (which occurs natural in some jellyfish; the discovery of this chemical or its use won its discoverer a Nobel prize).

Chemical biology expected to revolutionize drug discovery. Says most single molecule drugs were discovered by serendipity, i.e. were  discovered, not designed (example: penicillin). Says one of the earliest such drugs against infectious diseases was originated in India - Dr. U.N.Brahmachari's drug to treat kala-azar. Says this drug had saved as many lives as penicillin but unfortunately Dr. Brahmachari was forgotten - an unsung hero who deserved a Nobel prize (5 other drugs for other infectious diseases had won their discoveres Nobel prizes).

Chemical biology gives handle to drug discovery - says drug discovery, which in itself conplex, is just a part of chemical biology. The field is important because biological systems are too complex and behaviour of chemicals changes when put together into biological system.

Interest in chemistry - inspired by his father who worked as a research assistant to Dr. Praful Chandra Bose, but had to give up full time research to participate in freedom struggle. Despite this, his father remained a chemistry enthusiast and this helped kindle Dr. Siddharth's schoolday fascination in chemistry.

Bose Institute was initially known as "Temple of science". Many legendary people outside the field of science were associated with the institute - Rabindranath Tagore, Sister Niveditha. Dr. Bose may have been inspired by a desire to see India gain intellectual freedom, freedom of thought. Says Dr. Bose is the father figure of inter-disciplinary science.

Says his faculty had identified 2 major inter-disciplinary areas for the institute to focus on - complex systems (described earlier) and synthetic and systems biology.