Interviews of October 2016

1.10.2016:

Dr. Partha P. Majumder:

Director, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kolkata. Did M.Sc and Ph.D. in statistics from Indian Statistical Institute. Is renowned for applying statistics to population genomic studies, susceptibility of certain populations to certain diseases and other areas of biology. His most recent paper published in Nature Genetics has made waves according to Dr. TVV - the paper proposes, based on study of Andaman tribes, that there was a 3rd species of prehumans besides Neanderthals and Denozoans. Another important study proposes 4 lineages cover most populations of India, with 5th lineage is exclusively in Andaman-Nicobar tribes. 4 lineages associated with 4 major language groups in India - north Indian population speaking Indo-Europen languages, south Indians speaking Dravidian languages, NE Indian people who speak Tibeto-Burmese family of languages and 4th that is limited to mainland tribes (Austro-Asiatic tribes??).

Another major research work is on canc. At a cellular level, canc. is solely a genetic disease, though that doesn't mean it is necessarily passed across generations. Working with a global consrtium to identify what DNA alterations are responsible for malignancies. Several types of DNA variations do not cause diseases, but a few do. So mass amount of data from population is needed to identify the dangerous alterations. This will help develop better diagnosis, identifying people at risk and better treatment techniques.

His institute has over 15 faculty members (working on application to biology) and says he doesn't have time to explain research work done by all. But says there are 2 major research groups, one working on infectious diseases and the other on chronic disease. One of the chronic diseases that is being researched upon is NAFLD - a study on some Indian populations found NAFLD in the absence of obesity or fatty deposits in other parts of the body - could there be genetic factors.

Another grouo looking at tuberclosis - explains how pathogens hiding in coconut shell-like structure to evade immune system attack. Immune system then goes to sleep and these pathogens use that opportunity to become active. Smewhat humorous animation illustrating this accomapnies.

Says ISI curriculum, in addition to large dose of mathematics, also has life sciences, social sciences etc. Says this was because the founder of ISI felt that statistics cannot thrive in isolation and had to be applied to other fields. Dr. Partha's father was a biologist who worked for fisheries dept. and biology was a passion for Dr. Partha too; perhaps that is what led him to focusing on statistics for biology.

1. Density of researchers is low in India.
2. Funding for resource-intensive biology research is either low or comes in sporadic bursts, not conitnuous.
3. Young Indian researchers abroad willing to return put off by lack of adequate research facilities in India.

Says he, as a long-time researcher, will take up these problems with the Indian govt.

Interviews of September 2016

3.9.2016:

Prof. Gouriprasanna Roy:

Asst. Professor at Shiv Nadar Univ, Delhi. Working on detoxification of heavy metals - like mercury, lead, arsenic, copper. Heavy metals act like soft acids. Mercury damages enzymes and proteins. Organic or methyl mercury is highly toxic. Methyl mercury cysteine is neuro-toxic. Body has several sulphur-containing proteins/thiols and heavy metals bind to these causing disruption. Mercury is a naturally abundant element. Mercury sulphide, mercury selenide more stable and slightly less toxic. Burning fossil fuels releases heavy metals like mercury and lead. Blood, nail and hair of people living near mining areas found to have high levels of heavy metals.

Current research work - ways to convert/recycle volatile mercury to insoluble mercury sulphide or mercury selenide and reduce synthesis of the more toxic and soluble methyl mercury.

Says that during his school days he was more interested in sports (football) than in studies. Obtained Honours degree in Chemistry from Calcutta. At IISc Bangalore, worked on anti-thyroid drugs for hyperthyroidism, drugs with less side-effects than existing drugs for this disorder. Completed PhD in 2007. Post-doctoral research on T-cells and their role in (treatment of??) diseases like multiple sclerosis, diabetes. Regulatory T-cells and effective T-cells. Effector T-cells may sometimes cause auto-immune diseases - researching on ways to make regulatory T cells help prevent effector T cells from causing auto-immune diseases.

Chemistry is an important part of life. Autism is a result of genetic and environment of factors. Autism caused by complex factors - not just environmental, but substantial correlation between heavy metal exposure and autism.

Currently there is no drug to treat heavy metal toxicity. Wants to discover/develop drugs to treat heavy metal toxicity.

10.9.2016:

Prof. Vd. (Vaid) Kartar Singh Dhiman:

Director General, CCSRAS (Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences), a council under ministry of AYUSH. Hails from a remove village in Himachal Pradesh. Authored several research papers, especially on (Ayurvedic treatment for?) eye diseases. Says that his father's last wish was that one of his sons should be a doctor. Says his father's illness impelled him to become a doctor. His father's doctor visited the village once a week, coming from a place in Punjab 70km away. Didn't have any idea of MBBS, BMS etc. for a long time, but worked hard to become a doctor. Post-graduation in ophthalmology from Gujarat (Medical?) University. Started as a medical practitioner but inspired by Ayurvedic texts which he believes were based on extensive research and experience, decided to shift towards research and evidence-based medicine. Started with a small experiment on dry eye and proved that dry eye could be treated using an Ayurvedic treatment written in 5th or 6th century, based on controlling tear evaporation. Another research project on treatment of glaucoma - mentions there is one type of glaucoma called normo-tensive glaucoma where pressure is normal but nerve damage still occurs. Will start a new division for eye research in Lucknow. 3rd disease which he says is considered untreatable by both Ayurveda and modern medical science is retinitis pigmentosa. However, Ayurveda says the progression of the disease can be arrested if treatment is started early - so if patient is diagnosed with this condition, please start on Ayurveda instead of coming to Ayurveda only after modern therapy has failed! CCRAS standardizes ingredients of Ayurvedic drugs. Oversees pre-clinical research. CCRAS also has a project to digitize ancient Indian medical manuscripts. Aims to modernize Ayurveda - ensuring that standard operational procedures are used in drug preparation and that the safety of these preparations are well analyzed before clinical phase; this also removes scepticism that Ayurvedic drugs may be unsafe due to presence of heavy metals. Purify ingredients

Medical fraternity has doubts over traditional medicine. Recent Nobel prize in medicine to a Chinese researcher was due to integration between traditional and modern systems. In India, for over 50 years even after independence, talk of integration was not even possible as modern researchers would not even listen to ideas of traditional systems. This has been changing in recent times and accelerated due to AYUSH.

Dr. TVV says China doesn't call its new discoveries as "Chines traditional" but just 'Chinese' - no glorification of tradition; focus is on medicine, not on system. Dr.Dhiman says the Chine Nobel prize winner read the Chinese manuscripts in detail, noticed that there was a mention of temperature under which decoction has to be prepared and established that preparing it at 50 deg. Celsius would prevent loss of essential ingredients which was happening earlier - hence was able to get the drug to be effective against malaria.

Ethical responsibility to disseminate knowledge free-of-cost. Seers have give 4 pramaaNaas.

17.9.2016:

Prof. Samit Chattopadhyay:
Director, CSIR-IICB (Indian Institute of Chemical Biology), Kolkata. Research specializations include chemical biology, canc. biology, immunological biology, developmental biology. PhD from Jadavpur Univ and post-doctorate from Univ of Connecticut and MIT. Says his final school exam results were very poor as he was going through troubled times in those days - had lost his father and a brother in the same year. But his eldest brother and some of his teachers motivated him to not give up and encouraged him to take up college education. Specialized in cytogenetics for his masters. Gene regulation in viruses intrigued him during his post-doctorate research. Was fascinated by the work of researchers like Hargobind Khurana and their dow-to-earth approach. Discovered a tumor-suppressant protein (regulator, gene??) while working in Pune. Says human cells have approximately 25000 genes. Of these, oncogenes are supposed to be in an inactive, "sleeping" state; but if these genes are awakened, tunour results. Says developing a treatment based on his regulator protein will be a better alternative to chemotherapy as the later causes DNA damage that destroys normal cells too thereby causing severe side-effects. Dr. TVV: Why is your protein not in market yet if it has far less side-effects? Reply: Protein is under pre-clinical trial and should go to clinical trial phase soon.

His institute is one of the oldest in India for biology research - established over 60 years ao, with roots going back to 1935. This institute was the first in the world to give the concept of oral vaccine - the institute was then doing research on cholera, leishmania. Dr. Samit has started "Translational Research of Universal? Excellence" - aims to recruit some of the best scientists and take research findings to the point of benefiting the society, a mandate of CSIR. Working on providing a low-cost kit for detecting leishmania (kala-azar). Says his institute has a rich legacy and continues to do excellent work on molecular biology ad small molecule development - it has developed 2 medicines - one for another, and another names Prostatin?.

Message to youngsters: Do not ever give up. Do not think anything (any finding) is small - some Nobel prizes have come as a result of seemingly small findings that turned out to have immense implications on further study.

24.9.2016:

Dr.Goutam Roy:
Director, NIRJAF (National Institute for Research on Jute and Allied Fibre). Institute does research on natural fibers except cotton - jute, flax etc. Inspired by Manna Dey, he aspired to become a singer. However, his academic excellence in textile technology and instrumentation. Has authored 27 text books on computer science (??). Completed masters in instrumentation. Developed 1st electronic fiber bundle strength tester. Prior to this, only mechanical instrument was used in his institute and those required manual intervention and calculation. He felt he could use his knowledge to improve the technique and with his senior's permission developed the electronic one.

Retting is the primary mandate of his institute, mainly the technology part. Inst. has developed several retting technology and these use less water and less or no manual labour. Developed a machine to which plants can be fed directly to extract fibres - applicable to plants like banana, pineapple etc. - this process does not require retting.

Plastic-like synthetic fibers do have some advantages but they are not bio-degradable.

Interviews of August 2016

7.8.2016:

Prof. J. Srinivasan:

Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic sciences, IISc. From an engineering background - M.Tech in mech. engg. from IIT-Madras, masters and Ph.D. from the US. He studied in 10 different schools in a span of about 10 years; school education in 4 different languages (Kannada, Hindi, Tamil?, English). His father was an IAS officer with Karnataka posting, a transferable job. Complated schooling from Bangalore.

Chose mech. engg. by chance. Each of his relatives felt the engg. domain they were working in had no future as there was not much growth in engg. in 1960s.

Had fun with friends in finding mistakes in what was taught by teachers. As an example, in 1950s, a teacher expanded LASER (very new then) as "Light Emission by stimulated ..", and one of his co-students asked the teacher if it was "stimulated" or "simulated".

Masters and Ph.D. specialization on radiative thermal transmission / heat transfer in atmosphere, though the department he studied in was an engg. dept. Says he was surprised to see a waning interest in engg. in the US in the late 1960s; US students didn't seem to realize the immensity of their country's contribution to engg. Also gained expertise in computational modelling (?) which helped him in atmospheric sciences work, like monsoon modelling.

Proxy method used to measure what the temperature was in the past. Ice preserves history - ice drilling in Antarctica to extract ice deposited decades or centuries ago; ice traps air and water; ratio of oxygen isotopes in these is related to global temperature.

Firmly believes that global warming is largely a result of human activities. Says that currently this can be proved only through scientific/mathematical models, but there are people who refuse to believe in mathematical models.

Earth's temperature has risen by 1 deg. celsius in the past 100 years, but if human activities continue in the same way as now, the temperature will rise by 4 to 5 deg. celsius in the next 100 years!! Society has got addicted to a lifestyle dependent on fossil fuel. Society should start changing right now. No scope for postponement, since earth is at a tippping point. If actions are postponed, whatever is done or not done then will not help in preventing the undesirable effects.

Cut down use of fossil fuels to 1/10th. It is okay to use fossil fuels for a few niche uses like medicine, but society is taking a shortcut by using fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing when eco-friendly alternatives.

He has been changing is area of research and teaching every 10 years. Academic career gives him this freedom, something not available in industrial/non-academic career. Says he never applied for a single industrial job as a result.

Says India should have started focusing on solar and wind energy 50 years ago. Instead, India has been continuing to rely on oil and importing oil from abroad. Cost of solar energy production coming down and India must use this opportunity. India must produce energy from soalr, wind and hydro sources.

13.8.2016:

Dr. P. Udaykumar:

Senior deputy Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyd. Has received Norman Borlaugh research fellowship and numerous other awards. Is an eminent toxico-pathologist. 25th years in NIN where he also did his PhD.

Nutrition till 5 years of age has long-standing impact on life. According to Barker's hypothesis, nutrition when one is still in womb can sometimes decide the person's health lifelong, even decades after.

Sustainable development goals for 2030 includes goals related to health. Indian paradox: 1/3rd of population s under-nourished while 10% to 15% are obese or overweight.

Difference between food and nutrition - food is quantity; nutrition is about quality. Road-side eateries sell stomach-filling food but is not nutritious; has little dal and over 80% rice - not a right balance.

Sedentary way of life has increased due to nature of profession. Tells that his grandfathr used to eat a handful of ghee but would walk over 10 kms a day, neutralizing the negative effects of fat-dense and energy-dense ghee.

Vegetable oils generally more beneficial but blending needed since most  vegetable oils, lack one or the other of essential fatty acids.

Favourite quote: "Every food is a poison; only the dose matters". Cannot say tha fat is bad - the amount matters. Doing research on link between food and canc. in mice. Saturated fats, N6 fats and trans-fats seem to have similar levels of tumor-promoting effects as they are dificult to metabolize. N3 fats, which are considered good, are found to have inverse correlation with tumour-formation.

Nutrition in medical curriculum not given enough importance. Even during his M.D. days, the study of nutritional aspects of health was minimal. His study book on pathology has only 20 pages on nutrition, but it interested him a lot and he decided to take up research on nutritional-pathology despite it not being a sought-after specialization.

NIN has developed a kit to detect presence of iodine in salt. Has developed a double-fortified salt that includes iron and iodine. Iodine policy was drafted by govt.; iodine deficiency more prominent in sub-Himalayan regions and parts of NE-India.

Nutritive value of Indian food done 30 years ago. 5 years ago, NIN revisted this study and has come up with updated nutritive value information.

Recommended dietary intake guidelines for Indians also drafted by NIN. Is available free of cost as a Google app. and downloadable from mygov.in.

21 different types of brinjal alone in India - NINs has studied and documented the nutritive value of each; significant variation between these varieties w.r.t. nutritive value.

NIN offers an MSc programme in nutrition.

20.8.2016:

Prof.Ram Ramaswamy:

President, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. Professor at JNU. Outstanding inter-disciplinary researcher. Computational biology, nonlinear sciences. Born in Chennai, but studied in atleast 6 different schools due to his father being in a transferable job in the army. Completed schooling from a boarding school in Mussoorie. Most students from that school would enter business or army, and Ram was unusual in that he wanted to study pure sciences. B.Sc in chemistry from Loyola Colege - says it was not a concsious choice - he soon realized he wanted to work in theoretical chemistry and interface of physics with chemistry. Masters from IIT-Kanpur. PhD from Princeton University in scattering theory. Says IIT-Kanpur had an academic environment comparable to that in top universities in the US; his professors used to give assignment problems taken from latest journals.

Got interested in chaos theory (part of non-linear sciences) when doing post-doctorate in the US. Weather phnomenon, gaps in the rings of Saturn, motion of meteors etc. are all chaotic. Back in India, in the early 1990s, he was in a discussion with a friend, Dr.Alok Bhattacharya, who was a biologist, and this led to Ram taking an interest in computational biology. Question that Alok had was whether genes could be identified easily from long, random genome sequences. This led to his starting research in computational biology, a highly inter-disciplinary field - maths, computation theory, game theory, physics, dynamics, chemistry.

Founded by Dr.C.V.Raman in 1934, IASciences plays an important role in academic life in India. Fellowships awarded based on good work. Says recognition by peers is important for researchers whose work is often independent; IASciences provides recognition through fellowships. The academy publishes several journals in math and science fields.

Says it was in the 1990s that some members of academy started expressing concern over brain-drain in the field of sciences. Hence the academy started to award summer scholarships for 2000 students every year.

Advice to youngsters: Some houmour here. Dr.TVV says he doesn't like to use the word "advice" but he has gray hair and he isn't able to thing of a better word; Prof Ram says with a smile that he (himself) has almost no hair! A career in science is a privilege to have. Lots of interesting problems to solve.

27.8.2016:

Prof. D. Balasubramanian:

Renowned ocular biochemist/biologist. Director of research at LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyd. Kalinga Prize winner. Eminent science popularizer. Say 1.8% of population of A.P. and Telangana are blind as per WHO's (??) definition of blindness - blindness needn't be complete absence of vision. Extremely poor . 3-3.5 million Indians are blind because of very severe refractive index errors - can be treated in 10 minutes by prescribing approriate glasses; these constitute 10% of blind people in India; poverty and lack of access to doctors is why these people remain effectively blind. 45% of blind due to cataract - this too can be corrected by simple surgery. Another 10% are blind due to infections. Thus about 65% of blind people in India have some cure or remedy. Says eye camps are not the best choice for reaching out to larger and disadvantaged population with eye problems - post-operative care is important, which cannot be provided by camps. Pyramidal model of (eye-care??) hospitals and good rural-urban medical cooperation is the best solution to address the eye problems of the huge Indian popul'n.

On research being done. Glaucoma is the slow death of optic nerves. Can it be treated by correcting the eye fluid circulation valves just like heart valves are treated? Are there genetic factors behind glaucoma? Age-related macular degeneration - can stem-cell therapy be used to replace poor retinal cells with healthy ones. Eye of a child not developed fully during birth - develops fully only after birth. Prematures put in high-oxygen chambers are susceptible to retinopathy. LVP eye institute does translational research too by reaching out to .

On his background. He was trained as a chemist. Did M.Sc and PhD in chemistry. Says he got interested in chemistry due to an outstanding teacher. During his PhD years, he worked on understanding crystallines which are proteins the constitute eye lens. Ordinary glass is made of silicon dioxide. Biological lens is made of lipids and proteins, which have tiny ball-like structure - can be compared to cooked saboodaana. Pondered over what causes cataract and moved from CCMB to LVP eye institute - a move from pure theoretical/lab research to translational research -- feels it is one of the best decisions in his life.

On the controversy over genetically modified crops - says it is an unnecessary controversy. Genetic modification helps make plants more robust to pests, meaning less need for pesticides - this translated to safer and healthier food. GM cotton has been used in some countries for decades (Brazil etc.) and no adverse effects have been found. Says GM mustard is likely to be cleared soon by India.

Science as a subject is exciting, just like a good story can be exciting.

Interviews of July 2016

2.7.2016:

Dr.M.Ravikumar:

Seismologist. Director General of Institute of Seismological Research, Ahmedabad. Spent most of his time in Hyderabad (b. 1964?). PhD from Osmania Univ. Works on dynamics of geophysics. Earth's atmosphere and oceans are coupled systems. Kimberlites transport diamonds from deep inside the earth to the crust. Geophysics helps understand distribution of minerals, movement of water, natural oil etc.

Mentions formation of Himalayas -formed around 50-55 million years ago. Earth's tectonic plates goes through a cycle every 220 million years. What is above goes below and plates below come up. TVV compares it to churn of material during cooking of upma. 140 million years ago, Laurasia was the northern continent. Southern part (of that continent??) was Gondwana land. India encountered the maximum number of plumes. In the history of plate tectonics, Indian plate moves the fastest, at 18 cm per year, after breaking away from Laurasia. TVV says "racing India" will continue to race due to scientists like Dr.Ravikumar.

Predicting earth quakes still not possible. The institute works on mitigation techniques - reduce impact of earthquakes. Gives seismic safety factor rating that are site-specific. ISR can predict earthquake in near real time. Building structures must be built in accordance with recommendations dependent on seismic rating of the site. A lot depends on the top-soil - 2 different places that are equidistant from epicentre need not have the same impact. TVV says that building that stand after earthquakes do so due to the hand of scientists like Dr.Ravikumar. Those buildings that were constructed as per the recommended norms will survive earthquakes. ISR has a network of 60+ observation centres that allow epicentre to be identified within 10-15 minutes after an earthquake has started - earlier this process used to take a few hours. Allows better mitigation system.

TVV says 1950s was hailed as the start of space age and there was a lot of euphoria. Need to embark on an "Earth mission" that tries to look at the earth and understand the earth better, just like space age spurred moon mission, mars mission etc.

9.7.2016:

Prof. Dipankar Banerjee:

Astrophysicist/astronomer, Indian Institute of Astrophysics. Interview at Srinagar. PhD thesis was about sun. Currently associated with Aditya-L1 sun mission project of ISRO. Developing an instrument called coronagraph that will be a part of Aditya-L1's payload - this instrument is meant to observe and study sun's corona. Aditya-L1 will be placed in a Lagrangian position/orbit - a stable position where the gravitational pull of sun and earth on the satellite will be equal. This position will let the satellite to be in a position that allows continuous observation of the sun. Also building a 2 metre glass telescope that will be positioned in an observatory in Kashmir/Ladakh near India's border. Says Indian Institute of Astrophysics originated at the sun observatory in Kodaikanal.

Never anticipated becoming an astronomer/astrophysicist during his school days, though he was very interested in physics. Says good grounding in physics and mathematics are sufficient to pursue higher studies in astrophysics - needn't have specialized in astronomy/astrophysics early on.

Students interested in astronomy, astrophysics can become a member and participate in conferences of Astronomical Society of India. When TVV says that people often ask him about astrology when he talks to public about astronomy/astrophysics, Prof. Dipankar Banerjee says astrology isn't science as its basis is not understood and is not verifiable.

India offering good opportunities for research. Golden time for research in fundamental sciences in India. Says opportunities becoming limited in the West (plus increasing competition there?). Talks about importance of tie-ups of research institutes with universities; level of research will improve with such tie ups.

16.7.2016:

Dr. Kiran Kalia:

Biochemist. Director of NIPER, Ahmedabad (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research). Her father fled to India during partition. Despite difficulties, her parents valued education; her father would tell her that the one thing he would definitely give is education. Studied biochemistry (masters degree) at Lucknow University after completing B.Sc. Opted for PhD after masters - says wanted to have "Dr." prefixed to her name. PhD from Indian Toxicology Research Centre of CDRI (CSIR??). Walked right to the office of the director of that institute to check the status of her PhD application and check about fellowship options.

Dr.TVV says number of diabetics in India has doubled during the period 2000-2013. Dr.Kiran has done research related to complications related to diabetes, like diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy. Says mortality due to diabetes as such is not high; mortality results more from hypoglycemia resulting from body's response to medicines - hypogycemia particularly harmful to brain which is more susceptible to blood glucose variations. Worked on genomic marker of Indian population to identify susceptibility to diabetic complications. Identified some genomic markers in western Indian population. 45% of diabetes patients end up with nephropathy.

Has wonseveral awards. Considers the President Guide Award that she received while at school the best and most powerful; received the award from president V.V.Giri.

Indian pharma industry the 3rd largest in the world. Indian phrama industry now entering the biopharma domain. NIPER was established by Govt. of India with the idea of having a pharma research institute at par with IITs for engg. and sciences. Around 15 courses available at different NIPERs. Dr.Kiran is a member of Intnl. Organization of women scientists.

Dr.TVV says only around 4-5% of educational/research institutes in India have women directors, so India has a long way to go in terms of getting more women into research. Dr.Kiran says women need to display more confidence than men to enter and have a sustained career in research.

24.7.2016:

Dr.B.N Gangadhar:

Director, NIMHANS-Bengaluru. Grew up and studied in BLR. His parents told him stories of Sir C.V.Raman & Visveshvarayya and these inspired him. Since his 6th standard school days, he was intrigued by mental health - wanted to know what really psychiatrists treat. Studied M.D. at NIMHANS. His major research was on electroconvulsive therapy - over 30 years of research and 150 papers around this topic. Tremendous refinement in EC therapy (ECT) during the past 40 years, in terms of procedure and instruments. New equipment allows delivering just a fraction of discharge compared to past; anaesthic a norm now. Says ECT, in vogue for over 80 years, is here to stay despite availability of medicines. Success rate around two-thirds - i.e. 2/3rds of people with mental illness become completely normal in terms of mental health following therapy. Even among the remaining proportion, some improvement is seen. Mental illness should not be stigmatized.

Medicines for mental illness in vogue for ~60 years. Work on to make them more effective and reduce adverse effects.

Long way to go for diagnostic utility of tests. No confirmatory tests as yet for mental illness. Existing tests give some leads and work in progress to get causative information.

Nice quote by Dr. B.N.Gangadhara - Other physicians speak of giving more years to life. Psychiatrists focus on giving more life to those years.

Now measurement of amount grey matter and white matter possible without surgical/autopsy procedures, because of MRI. Connectivity between parts of brain can be measured.

Medicine has opened it doors to all scientific specialties - maths, engg., computer science. M.Phil in neurosciences available to students from other disciplines too.

TVV mentions aging population. Dr.BNG tells aging is a normal process but there are some people who start to age prematurely - in such people both brain and other organs age quickly; these people become withdrawn due to cognitive decline. Some mention of brain remaining young for ever.

Transcranial direct stimulation procedure to improve cognitive function! Research happening on yoga and its ability slow down or possibly even stop again. Brain neurotrophic factor. Increased levels of BDNF avoids depression. Initial statistical evidence indicates positive effects of yoga.

Many mental disorders can be treated by general primary care doctors, but they need to be trained more. This is essential because of growing population and practical impossibility of psychiatrists to reach out to this large population. Dr.BNG says (most?) people go to primary GP first, not directly to a specialist, for problems like eye infection, loose motion, back pain etc. Same can be done for mental illness too.

Messages: No health without mental health. Mental health can be cured and no stigma should be associated with it.

30.7.2016:

Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao (?): ICRI (?) - agricultural research institute.

Interviews telecast in June 2016

4.6.2016:

Dr. J Amalorpavanathan: Director of dept. of vascular surgery at Madras Medical College. Specializes in organ transplant. Says he was a dull student early in his school days. Getting into a medical school was a distant dream. But a passionate physics teacher kindled his interest in science amd that helped him score well in science and maths starting around 8th standard. Was intrigued on seeing a beating heart during a visit to MMC (medical "exhibition" - school visit to medical college's anatomy lab). During his pre-UG 1-year course at Loyola college, a chemistry professor further kindled Amalorpavanathan's interest in science. On the question of ethical issues surrounding organ transplant, says French scientists in 1970s did some study on coma and identified that there are atleast 2 categories - one where the comatose person's life could not be saved at all and another where the person could be maintained in comatose state with a chance of recovery. Later an American research paper by "Mohandas & Chu" (neither of whom the interviewee knows about) claimed that if brain stem had died or has been irreversibly damaged, then the comatose person could never be brought back to normal condition - this is considered true brain death.

Asked about Eureka moment:
1. TN govt passed the cadaver organ transplant law in 2008 and he being made the head or advisor of the council overseeing this programme and ensuring highest standard of ethics in organ transplants.
2. A leading and reputed British medical journal wrote an article about TN's organ transplant - a peer-reviewed journal praising the programme.
3. PM hailing TN's cadaver organ transplant programme as the best in India.

On his teaching principles as a professor at MMC: Students should grasp the issues of the country. Stresses the importance of critical thinking, especially for surgeons - question everything and take in only what passes the test of science.

Message to young students: "You must suspect the obvious"  - a quote from Sherlock Holmes. Try to put ethics in work.

11.6.2016:

Dr. Ajit K Kembhavi:

Astrophysicist. VP, International Astronomical Union. Founding member of IUCAA, Pune.  Was an avid reader during his school days and used to read books at municipal libraries. This despite his not being able to understand full many of the concepts that he read, like calculus. Didi PhD under Prof. J.V.Narlikar at Tata Institute. Worked with distinguished people at Cambridge during post-doctoral studies. Subsequently worked with Prof. Narlikar to set up IUCAA in Pune, as Narlikar wanted to create an institute that would allow aspiring students who did not have early exposure to astronomy to pursue research in astronomy and astrophysics.

Public libraries an asset. Reading hard copy books gives pleasure, something that cannot be matched by reading on ipad or computers. Also says that his parents had no idea about research studies or astrophysics and would have wante dhim to become an engineer or a doctor, but gave him the freedom to pursue him interest.

Wanted to work on gravitational waves. Pursued x-ray astronomy at Cambridge university. Actively worked on research on quasars. Quasars accrete matter around and produce energy. He co-authored a well-known book on astronomy, published by Cambridge University press.

Started observing galaxies. Image processing techniques used to study galaxies. Currently working on "big data" astronomy. Says astronomers were the first use of "big data". Worked with Persistent Systems co. on big data for Virtual Observatory alliance which he headed for some time. 

India heading towards becoming a major contributor to major international collaborative projects on astronomy. India part of the 30-metre telescope project.

On research projects on pure science, one should not do a cost-benefit analysis right away. That doesn't mean that a country like India should spend indefinitely on research projects; there should be checks and balances on government funding to research to ensure funding produces good quality research work. Symbiosis needed between institutes and universities. Says Homi Jehangir Bhabha wanted unaffiliated institutes to be gradually absorbed into universities.

Message to the young generation: Young people should follow their passion, what excites them most. The current generation should be happy as there couldn't have been a better time to do research in astronomy.

18.6.2016:

Dr. A.S.Kiran Kumar:

ISRO chairman and distinguished space scientist. (NOTE: Already interviewed in 2015; 2nd time interview). Interview starts with talk of ISRO's recent experiment with RLV (reusable launch vehicle). Says RLV is necessary to reduce cost of access to space. TVV asks whether reusability really provides cost savings as 70% to 80% of weight of space launch vehicles is fuel and payload. Dr. Kiran Kumar says though fuel constitutes higher proportion of weight, cost of system is usually higher than fuel cost. Wing body, sensors and navigation systems developed indigenously used in RLV.

ISRO set to launch 20 satellites in one rocket. Restarting capability of the 4th stage engine helps in placing multiple satellites in different orbits. Putting many satellites in one launch requires high precision and lots of simulation on dynamics; centre of gravity changes after each satellite is launched; need to ensure the satellites are placed such that they don't collide with others.

GSLV-Mark 3 will help put satellites in geostationary orbits. This vehicle is planned to be launched in Dec 2016 on its 1st mission. GSLV-Mark3 has higher payload capacity. Experimenting with electric propulsion system as against a pure chemical propulsion system. Electric propulsion system can use solar energy to emit ions and propel the vehicle.

Aditya-L1, India's 1st space mission to study the sun. The satellite will be stationary relative to sun. Project timeframe 2018-2019. Success of Mars Orbiter Mission gave confidence for Aditya-L1 mission. The satellite will help study coronal mass ejection, magnetic phenomenon of sun etc.

Human rated vehicles needed to carry humans to space. Working on developing a capsule that can carry 3 astronauts. Wisely adds that the country must take a decision on whether launching humans to space is really priority as compared to other space technology projects. On INRES, says DGCA (civil aviation dept.) has given approval to use GAGAN (?) data.

Interesting question from TVV who says many people ask him this question: Indian govt. organizations are known to be lethargic. How does ISRO, which too is a govt. organization, manage to be an efficient and successful one? Dr. Kiran Kumar says the reason goes back to ISRO's roots. Vikram Sarabhai helped shape Indian space technology sector. India has contributed maximum to space technology.

25.Jun.2016:

Dr.Firdous A Nehvi:

Chief Scientist, Saffron Research Station, SKUAST-Kashmir. Agro-scientist who has represented India at several international conferences and has won several awards. Interview at the "saffron bowl of India", Pampore. Roughly 160000 saffron flowers need to be collected to get 1gm of saffron! Saffron is one of the costliest spices and is very labour-intensive. Dr.Firdous had a passion for plants rightsince childhood. PhD in plant breeding genetics. Was a meritorious university student due to which he got an opportunity to do research.

Saffron cultivation main source of income for many in Pampore. But the farming system practiced turned out to be not very remunerative and there was a slump in production. National Saffron mission/policy introduced in 2010 by Indian govt. to encourage farmers. Dr.Firdous did pioneering work in drafting this policy. Govt. created around 100 deep bore wells as a part of this mission.

Traditional production system impacts the quality of saffron despite the saffron flowers of Kashmir being of very high quality. Saffron needs a lot of time to dry and during the prolonged drying process, many of the flavonoids are lost. Developed a new technology that allows drying to complete within 10 hours and in this process, 100% of the flavonoids are retained. Vacuum drying and electrical/solar drying techniques developed for large and small farmers.

Iran, a major saffron producer, has a very different system of production due to industrial backing, something similar to private industry-backed tea cultivation in India. Industrial support will benefit saffron cultivation in India.

A very commonly asked question according to both TVV and Dr.Firdous. Why can't saffron be grown in other parts of India? Saffron needs sub-zero temperatures during its vegetative phase and Pampore's climate suits this. 80% of saffron in India is from Pampore.

TVV: Is Kashmiri saffron truly the best in the world, even though Iran, Morocco and some Europena countries produce saffron? Are we being proud just because we cultivate it? Dr.Firdous says this is not a myth and that Kashmiri saffron is unique in many ways. Chromosome length of Kashmiri saffron is 3 times longer than that of other saffrons. pampore has won heritage site recognition from FAO. Geographical Indicator for Kashmiri saffron likely.

Interviews telecasted in May 2016

7.5.2016:

Prof. Santosh Kapuri: Director, CSIR-SERC. Specializes in solid mechanics and has 25 years of experience in structural engineering. Born in a small town called Nabadwip in WB. Had a fun-filled childhood; learnt swimming in Ganges, near an ISKON temple and once even got lost after going for a swim; was found after a day. Got 11th rank in state higher secondary (12th std) exams. Talks about how he learnt good value system from his father and therefore became a role model for him; father ensured his family got healthy food, adequate clothing and good education. Thanks his teachers for having given them free tuition.

Went to Stanford Univ in 2010 on a Fulbright scholarship. His guide (Prof. Charles Steele) at Stanford asked him to perform research on how cochlea in the ear of animals helps differentiate between different frequencies to validate some theory. His experimental results (on Gerbil, a type of rodent) were very different from expected results. Was initially unable to explain this and told Prof. Steele about this. Prof. Steele simply took Santosh to a restaurant and told his to think over the problem for more time. After 2 more weeks, Santosh was able to come up with an explanation. Eureka moment was Prof. Charles Steele's appreciation of his presentation of his findings which led to a revision of a Nobel laureate's theory.

Worked with GAIL to design an improved way to bury pipelines. Narrates how he rejected a particular pipeline layout proposal as its design assumed equal pressure on all sides of gas pipes, which isn't the case. Proved that a different burying design is what would work best for the type of gas pipes that had be procured already.

Tells that unfortunately many students who take up engineering studies do not do so due to real interest in that field. Says there is a need to attract true talent into engineering. Pay package a problem - need to give better incentives to get talented people into research. While he acknowledges that research doesn't always produce quick tangible results unlike industrial work, importance of research should not be overlooked and hence the need to attract talented people to research.

Message to students: Understand that the country needs you. Too many people going abroad for career; while it is understandable, such people should be made to know that opportunities are emerging in India.

Need to install health assessment and monitoring policy for construction and infrasturcture projects, in the context of the recent flyover collapse in Calcutta.

14.5.2016:

Dr. Sudhanshu Vrati: Dean, Indian Institute of Translational Health Sciences and Technology (THSTI). Current reasearch interests include study of viral replication and vaccine development. Hails from a small town in western U.P. which had just 1 science college. Studied in kerosene lamp light at nights due to lack of electricity in his town and had to deal with insect bites too :)

During his school days, his father would spend a long time him teaching science to Sudhanshu, paving the way for Sudhanshu to become a scientist. His father was a businessman (owned a printing press that published several books, usually related to homeopathy), not a teacher,and yet was passionate about science.

During his post-graduation days (late 1970s) he decided to become a medical researcher. Did his post-graduation in microbiology which was rare in India at that time; there were many colleges offering masters degree in biochemistry but microbiology was rare. Got very excited about study of viruses (which, unlike bacteria, couldn't be seen using microscopes) which are the smallest microorganisms and are special for being a disease-causing organism that was not a full-fledged living beings. Applied for scholarship an got admission in Australia.

Says "Eureka moments are rare for scientists despite working hard". Considers fortunate to have been involved in the development of a rotavirus vaccine and mentions some interesting speculation in the research team when they about to open an envelope that contained results of their vaccine trial - result turned out to be better than he had anticipated. Rotavirus kills ~1lakh kids a year in India. When asked about phases of clinical trials, says several rounds are carried out to establish safety of vaccines. They cannot be tested on infants right away - must first establish safety in adults, then among relatively younger people, and only at last on small kids.

"Translational biological science", which became a buzzword 8 years ago, means translating the research knowledge of academic microbiologists, into novel diagnostics or medicines. Says many researchers working on pure biology-related in  often

Interest in science dwindling in India, more so for biological science. Students increaisngly going towards engineering and commerce/management. Says he hears about schools closing down biology stream due to lack of takers for that stream. Students feel it takes too long to establish themselves in medical/biosciences field and return on investment is low.

Message: Science can be rewarding both at intellectual level and at financial level (pay) if one stays focused on research and on getting the research results translated to useful applications.

21.5.2016:

Dr. Satheesh Chandra Shenoi: Director, NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology). Grew up in a small village in Kerala (b. 1958). His village lacked basic amenities. His village being close to the ocean and his walking along the beach daily to go to school was a reason that may have made his take up ocean studies. Was fascinated by the physics behind ocean currents etc; not too interested in biology. Wanted to pursue masters in physics. But on noticing an advertisement about a course on masters in oceanography, which was largely to do with physics behind oceanic phenomenon, decided to choose that as both he felt that would satisfy his interest in both physics and oceanic phenomenon. Joined National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, early in 1980s. Undertook Arabian sea experiment that helped discover more details about the south-west monsoon. The experiment revealed that the part of ocean between Kerala and Lakshadweep becomes the warmest oceanic region in the world well ahead of the annual onset of monsoon. Kelvin waves and Rossby waves transfer energy and water between Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal. Rossby waves transfers relatively fresh water from Bay of Bengal to Arabian sea; without this, Arabian sea would become more saline ad Bay of Bengal could become less saline, more like a giant lake. The experiment revealed the dynamics of south-eastern part of Arabian sea that are crucial to monsoons.

Another study he has undertaken is to understand why south Arabian sea doesn't see many cyclones unlike Bay of Bengal, despite both lying in the same latitude region and receiving almost equal sunshine. Says one reason is Arabian sea being more saline due to less rivers feeding into it and it getting less rainfall compared to Bay of Bengal. Arabian sea has stronger winds and the entire water in Arabian sea can be mixed within a day by this energy, causing the warm water on the top to mix with colder water below, bringing down the average surface temperature of Arabian sea. On the contrary, Bay of Bengal doesn't have such strong winds to mix its water and hence its surface temperature remains comparatively higher.

Opines that being unable to predict the monsoons with high precision is a failure and to make better predictions, more studies on oceanic systems needed. More studies needed on climate change as well. Oceans store 93% of the excess heat from global warming is stored by oceans. Of this large portion, over 70% gets accumulated in the Indian Ocean. Currently bulk of this excess is stored in the deeper regions of the ocean but this cannot continue for long. This will have an impact on monsoons and other climatic phenomenon.

Message to students: Need to find ways to extract freshwater from ocean water. A desalination plant in in Minicoy/Lakshadweep now produces around 1 lakh litres of freshwater per day from sea water. Great possibility for further applications based on ocean studies (mentions something about methane store capable of meeting needs for hundred thousand years?)

28.5.2016:

Prof. Khurshid Iqbal Andrabi: Vice-chancellor, Kashmir University. Specialized in bio-informatics. Born and grew up in Srinagar. Family had a legacy of producing educated people - education was imperative for his family. On being asked about role models, says he didn't have a role model during his early days. Life was simple but a lot was happening. Says he virtually grew up on streets and was exposed to everyday science. Inspiration for science came from everyday routine. Though he had other inclinations, took biochemistry for higher studies based on advice of others. Got to realize that it was one of the best possible decisions as his interest in the subject increased during his masters degree. Gold medalist in his masters program. Got CSIR scholarship from PGI Chandigarh. PhD on signalling translational mechanism in cells. Post-doc research at Tufts University - research on human cell response to growth factors and protein signaling related to tumour cells. Post doctoral abroad exposed him to several Nobel laureates and the best thing he learnt was humility - these Nobel laureates never boasted about their achievements and yet carried out inspiring work. Wrong hormonal signals can lead to abnormal cell divisions.

On returning to Kashmir Univ, faced challenges as the univ was small and was struggling to come up. However, he was never put off by these and always tried his best. Started the bioinformatics (?) department at Kashmir Univ. When TVV mentions his Facebook acquaintances who have done research abroad asking him about their willingness to come back to India but being unable to do it due to not knowing how to deal with Indian conditions or lack of clarity on opportunities, Prof. Andrabi send out a strong message - when coming back to India, come back as an Indian, not as a foreigner. Says he came back to India without expectations. Be prepared to face challenges. Says his department is now on par with international standards and over 20 students/researchers who have worked in the US have come to work/research at Kashmir Univ.

Says vibrancy is a hallmark of any good univ when TVV mentions that he noticed several students in Kashmir Univ coming to labs/libraries over an extended weekend and that he was impressed by the neatness and the ambience of the labs. Says inspiration comes from the top, not the bottom - professors and lecturers have the onus of inspiring students. So highest standards in recruiting lecturers. Propagation of basic research is of utmost importance - for example, be it bioinformatincs, cell biology or any other specialized field, biology and research on it is fundamental.

Laments about policy-makers of higher education knowing little or nothing about higher education and taking too long to take decisions.

Message: Be Indians. Work on developing domestic technologies. Indians abroad do a great job on innovation and research. Why can't Indians demonstrate the same innovative spirit in India.

Interviews telecasted in April 2016

2.4.2016:

Dr. M Anandaraj: A very enthusiastic, lively talk by Muthuswami Anandaraj, a renowned plant pathologist. Director of IISR (Indian Inst. of Spice Research) at Kozhikode, an institute that is a subsidiary of Indian Council Of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Interestingly, Dr. Anandaraj is about to retire (on superannuation) on that very day (31-March-2016), a few hours after the interview was shot! Interviewer T.V.Venkateshwaran. Born at Marikuppam, a semi-urban place near Kolar gold fields; his father worked at KGF. Was a top-scorer during school days. Talks about the diverse cultual background in which he grew up - mother tongue Tamil, but grew up in Karnataka, often talks in Kannada at home, has Anglo-Indian, Christian friends and friends from other states.

Tells people should shun superstition and emphasizes the need to instill scientific temper in young minds. Narrates a humorous incident to substantiate this point - was returning home with a friend after joint study; was asked to avoid a route as it was supposed to be haunted. Didn't believe it and bravely decided to take the route. Scared by a rock rolling down and started running with a friend. Seeing this, another man started running behind them and asked why they were running - on hearing about the rolling rock, the man said the rock started rolling down accidentally when he was carrying out some digging work :D !!

His passion lay in life sciences and medicine. After doing M.Sc was under pressure to become an IAS officer. Dropped out of PhD (??) to pursue IAS. Worked in Acountant General's office for a while while preparing for IAS. On first attempt didn't get IAS offer due to relatively low score in written exam but got offer for some some other lower-ranked civil service role. At this time, his mentor (who allowed him to drop out of PhD, assuming Anandaraj would take up a research job in ICAR ??) came to know that Anandaraj was trying for an IAS offer asked the latter to apply for ICAR and not pursue IAS. Joined ICAR in 1978? Says he is thankful to his mentor and says he has absolutely enjoyed his agricultural research work of over three decades. He has no regrets about not having become a civil servant (some of his friends went on to become IAS officers).

Large scale phytophthora (soil-based fungi) attack in 1982 affected spice yield and Dr. Anandaraj was called upon to address this problem.

Some discussion about turmeric. TV wonders whether people's notion that deeper the colour of turmeric the better its quality is a wrong notion. Anandaraj says it isn't wrong as curcumin content does contribute to the colour.

Chairman of International Pepper Community headquartered at Indonesia, under the aegis of UNESCO. Recipient of C.S.Venkataraman Memorial award, J.S.Pruthi award, UGC award.

Has 2 important patents:
1. Delivering bio-control organisms as capsules for use by farmers in their farms. Makes it very easy for a Sikkim farmer to apply this to his ginger plantation - just needs to dissolve the capsule in water and apply to the field. No burden of transporting bulky material over long distances.
2. Delivering the bio-control agents through seeds of spices themselves. Possible for corriander, fennel, fenugreek etc.

Message:

1. Students should be encouraged to take up research work. Country needs to be self-reliant in food production. Ample scope for innovation in agro-sciences. Too many people get drawn to IT sector for financial gains.
2. Create awareness, instill confidence in young minds.
3. Agro-scientists need a path in the back (be applauded) for their contribution towards helping India move towards becoming an exporting country.
4. We need to get maximum production from shrinking resources - shortage of land, water and labour; plus climate change posing challenge. Need to fulfill Gandhiji's dream of of making every Indian village self-reliant. (Promote agriculture-based industries??)

9-April-2016:

Prof. V.Ramakrishnan: Director, IISER (Indian Institute of Science Education & Research), Thiruvananthapuram. Ph.D. in molecular spectroscopy. School education in Tirunelveli district (son of a Tamil teacher), higher studies in some well-known universities in Tamilnadu; master's degree from Annamalai university. Motivated in studies by a physics techer (one Venkatasubramaniam) and an English teacher who honed Ramakrishnan's oratory and deep-thinking skills by asking him to write good essays on say life of Gandhiji, thereby helping make Ramakrishnan a good orator too. PhD in physics from Kerala University in 1987. Ramakrishnan is the most highly educated person in his family. His father, despite being a person who only had a diploma, not a degree, inspired Ramakrishnan and would ensure that the family followed a disciplined, orderly life - like getting up and bathing by 6 AM, studying sincerely and going to sleep by 10 PM to get sufficient sleep.

Inelastic and elastic scattering and Raman effect. Interviewer T.V.Venkateshwaran tells for laymen how K.S.Krishnan would explain Raman effect using the analogy of cricket bat hitting a ball. If the bat moves backward a bit before it pushes back the ball, the ball loses some energy, while if the bat moves forward when it strikes the ball, the ball gains energy. If the bat remain still when ball strikes it, the ball doesn't lose or gain energy. Similarly, when a photon strikes an electron when the electron is moving away from the photon, the photon loses some energy, whereas if the electron is moving towards the photon when the photon strikes it, the photon gains energy when reflected or scattered back.

Research on Surface Enhanced Scattering phenomenon (especially on metals) that is related to Raman effect. Got special funding for this research in 1989. Recent research on Raman imaging on nanomaterials. Raman intensity variation that acts as a signature of surfaces. Studies frequency variation, as opposed to intensity variation, resulting from difference in surface molecular vibrations; helpful in studying sandwich of 2 semiconductors, like selenium and gallium.

Discussion on IISER: IISER, a new concept, is quite unique in that has programs that allows students who haven't studied physical sciences in 11th, 12th to get a firm grounding in science and become science researchers. Similarly, students who have studied maths but not biosciences in high school but want to take up bioscience research will be able to take some courses on biosciences.

6 IISERs operating in India at present. Top 1% ranking students from any state/central board 12th exam can apply for IISER after clearing one of the entrance exams.

As a director of IISER, he is focusing on improving the infrastructure (IISER-Thiruvananthapuram is operating from a temporary campus and is going to shift to a new campus), in addition to improving quality of research and ensuring more students get an opportunity for research.

Message: Be positive and face challenges. Success and failure don't matter.

16.4.2016:

Prof. Talat Ahmad: Renowned earth scientist and geologist. Vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia islamia University; formerly vice-chancellor of Kashmir University. Born in a small town/village called Giridih in current-day Jharkhand. Post-graduation from AMU. Says that despite Giridih being a remote and small place, it provided opportunity to learn diverse cultures/languages - had diverse demography - many Bengali people in addition to Hindi and Urdu speakers. Had many good and friendly teachers. Curious about geology since childhood as Giridih had coal mines nearby and adjoining areas were rich in mica.

Inspirations:
a) his teacher Sanjay Mitra who was a knowledgeable, friendly and multi-faceted person (good at sports too?).
b) Talat Ahmad's uncle who was a doctor and also a naturalist who'd take his Talat on bird-watching trips.
c) A young professor at AMU who specialized in structural geology and was very energetic and passionate, not depending on his students to carry field work.

Discussion moves onto Talat's study of Indian geology. Aravalli one of the world's oldest extant mountain chains, though eroded now. Himalayas, relatively newer. Around 2.5 million years ago, earth was much hotter than now - more volcanic activity; India was in the southern hemisphere, close to current South Africa. As a geochemistry he is interested in the chemistry of volcanic activity. Need to discover new areas of mineral deposits by using models based on understanding of geochemistry; should move ahead of depending on chance discoveries.

Some discussion on pre-cambrian geology. Talks about importance of geology; water could soon become a scarce resource. Water more important than food as people cannot survive without water for more than 3 days but could survive without food for somewhat longer. Thus students must be made to understand and study geology besides maths, physics and chemistry.

During his tenure at Kashmir Univ, he helped expand the earth sciences dept. there. Would often explore remote areas of Ladakh.

Message: Undergraduate education in India must have a flavour of research in it; shouldn't wait till masters programme to understand what research is about. Tells about B.Sc programme in Cambridge Univ (where he got post-doctoral fellowship) which has flavour of research and students proceed directly to research without intervening master's programme.

23.4.2016:

Dr. Archana Pai: World-renowned astrophysicist; one of the around 1000 authors of the historical paper related to the discovery of gravitational waves by LIGO in 2015-2016. Assistant professor at IISER-TVM since 2008. Specializes in gravitational wave physics. Graduation from Bombay and PhD. in astrophysics from Pune (IUCAA?). Her research guide (Sanjeev Dhurandhar?) at Pune is considered to be the father of gravitational wave theory studies in India.  Was curious about celestial events since childhood and joined an astronomy club early on. Was encouraged by her mother. Her curiosity also spread to her brother.

In her Ph.D. she worked on ways to identify ways to detect gravitational waves related. 3 post-doctoral degrees. First one from France. 2nd from Rome - worked with a group that used metal/cryogenic bar based detectors. 3rd post-doc from a Einstein Institute near Potsdam.

Major areas of interest are neutron stars and black holes. Devises signal processing algorithms to detect gravitational waves from binary (neutron star) systems - one aspect of this is optimal strategy to best possible, most promising data from signals received by multiple detectors.

Says she is very excited by the LIGO discovery - still unable to believe that such a string signal would be received to establish presence of gravitational waves. Also excited about the upcoming gravitational wave observatory in India.

Says women scientists face difficulties in India due to absence of sufficient family ans societal support to pursue a research career. Often women researchers take a break and then find it difficult to get a good research opportunity when trying to come back after even 2 years of break.

Message: Quotes Albert Einstein - "I'm not a smart person. I just stare at a problem for long enough". In summary, do not give up - persist and retain the interest in research.

30.4.2016:

Dr. Rajeeva Karandikar: Eminent mathematician, director of CMI since 2010. Specialized in probability theory. His father was a prof of math and statistics. His mother was a chemistry teacher. On TV Venkateshwaran's question about math-phobia, says it is due to the drab way in which math is taught in schools; says students must be taught to relate math with the real world. Other factor is negative reinforcement, being told by others that math is difficult and pressure to score. Tells his father would teach him maths in a logical manner (using coloured buttons to explain addition and carry over) and never pressurized him to score marks. Recounting his past, says he was born and brought up in Indore. Says he had a lot of free time during his younger days, and contrasts that with lack of time for the current generation. TVV says time to take a break to give program viewers get some free time :)

When in Delhi, heading Indian Statistical Institute (2000 and 2004-2006), he got a chance to work with CBI! A CBI officer once asked him whether 7 students scoring exactly the same marks as each other in multiple papers should raise suspicion of foul play. Replied saying he needed more data, data on marks of all students who wrote the exams. Turned out that the 7 suspected students had also scored the same marks as each other in almost all questions. Then computed probability of this happening and found that this is less than the probability of DNA samples of 2 different persons matching when sent through forensic test and told the court of law that if DNA sample was considered a proof, then the marks-matching should also be.

Used mathematical models to identify signals, for white noise filtering and non linear calculus related to noise filtering.

Teachers need to explain maths in a way that young students can understand logically and be able to relate to real world. Says one who is turned off from maths once (early on) will not turn back to maths, though some who are tuned to maths early may choose to turn away later. Important to ensure children don't develop math-phobia.

Problems facing math research. Tells funding needs to be increased for higher education. Funding varies between institutes - IIT get more than NIT which gets more than other institutes and so on; arts colleges get the least. Rethinking needed on financing higher education. Fund providers must realize that funding is a necessary but not sufficient condition for innovation and high-quality research output.

Maths is needed everywhere. On math career opportunities, says things have changed in the past 10 years and new types of opportunities have opened up beyond just academics. High demand for data scientists and big data analytics now. These in turn need good knowledge of math. Math is needed for optimizing business (procurement, delivery??), decide best advertising strategy etc.