JYESHTHA–AASHADH 1944, JUNE 2022 VOL 19 ISSUE 75 www.scienceindiamag.

in PUBLISHED BY VIJNANA BHARATI

Connecting science and people with an Indian perspective

YOGA
Ancient Remedy For
Modern Maladies
The benefits of yoga in leading a holistic
life in harmony with nature are known to
Indians since ancient times, and
increasingly to the western world as well

www.scienceindiamag.in
PATRONS
Prof Anil Kakodkar, Former Chairman,
Atomic Energy Commission
Dr G Madhavan Nair, Former Chairman, ISRO
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Bangalore and Founder,
Swadeshi Science Movement
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE
Prof Suhas Pednekar, Vice Chancellor,
University of Mumbai
Prof VPN Nampoori, Emeritus Professor,
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Vivekananda Pai, Secretary, VIBHA
Praveen Ramdas, Secretary, VIBHA
CHIEF EDITORIAL ADVISOR &
MEMBER, ADVISORY BOARD
Jayant Sahasrabudhe
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
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EDITOR
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Sonam Singh Subhedar
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What’s Inside
COVER STORY
10
YOGA
For All
Image Courtesy: Internet
The benefits accruing
from regular practice of
Yoga are unparalleled, a
fact to which the entire
world is waking up
6 Nataraja @ CERN
The 2m tall metal Nataraja statue at the CERN campus in
Geneva, Switzerland, is not just a cultural landmark but a
metaphor for the cosmic dance of subatomic particles
16 Pancha Bhutas and the Environment
Environmental conservation is integral to life in India where
man is not considered central to environment but a part of
the complex natural world arising out of Pancha Bhutas
21 Exclusive Interview
Prof Ashutosh Kotwal, highly distinguished particle
physicist, speaks at length on W boson and why it is
crucial for the existence of earth
26 The Legend: Sir Asutosh Mookerjee
As Calcutta University VC, Sir Asutosh Mookerjee initiated
path-breaking changes to promote study and research in
higher sciences among Indians before independence
32 Blast from the Past: Bhaskara-I
A first hand account of the building of two payloads of
Bhaskara-I, India’s first experimental Remote Sensing
Satellite, launched on 7 June 1979
37 Profile of the Month: Kamala Sohonie
Remembering the first Indian woman to earn a science
PhD, who gave up a promising career in Cambridge
University to be a part of the country’s freedom struggle
J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 3
READERS’ SQUARE

‘A THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE JOURNAL VAISHAKHA–JYESHTHA 1944, MAY 2022 VOL 19 ISSUE 74 www.scienceindiamag.in PUBLISHED BY VIJNANA BHARATI

ON ALL SCIENCE TOPICS’

Connecting science and people with an Indian perspective

I have just finished the May edition of my

favourite journal, the SCIENCE INDIA.
The cover story by Prof BN Jagatap
of IIT Bombay, Time for India to change
gears in Science and Technology is a
futuristic article that tells us what is next
for us to follow. TIME TO PUSH FOR NEXT LEVEL
ENGAGEMENT WITH S&T
As the article has rightly pointed out, On National Technology Day, India must reiterate its commitment to solve its
multifarious problems with the aid of science and technology

Green Hydrogen has become a buzz word

today, since it is being seen as an agent for
rapid transition to clean and low carbon
energy. The government is eyeing 5M tons of GH annually by 2030.
Similarly, Deep Tech is a new generation of disruptive technology, which
focuses on solving intractable problems in the real world and providing
pioneering new solutions.
Another outstanding article in this edition is on the Paisa Fund
Glass Works in Talegaon, by Dr Chaitanya Giri. The article takes us to
pre-independent India when this glass factory was set up through crowd
funding (Pice Funds) in those days. Where India House in London was
brimming with students studying law and humanities in British universi-
ties, the India House in Tokyo was brimming with students of Science
and Technology.
We also get to read an excellent article under Science and Spirituality
column — ‘Prayer that heals’ written by Dr Sanjeev Rastogi and
Dr Preeti Pandey. We all have heard about the power of a prayer, but its
application in medical science is not only interesting but an eye-opener.
The writers haven’t talked about the theoretical aspect of the power of
prayer, but they have practically applied it in their hospital. We need
more such articles in Science and Spirituality — which tells us how sci-
ence works in the domain of spirituality. The thought of getting con-
nected with the Supreme Power and sharing all concerns during a prayer
actually makes substantial changes in brain activity. This article has
brought freshness to this column.
Besides, the articles, ‘India’s Metrological strength’ by Dr RP Pant,
and ‘Honeybees for the second Green Revolution’ by Dr RP Phadke are
truly enriching as these give us information about fields that we know
the least about. In the current digital era, metrology has an even more
important role to play to improve the quality of products and services. In
fact, honeybees and forests have been associated with one another and
co-evolved as one biological unit since eons.
I truly enjoyed reading the entire edition.
Prof Kumud Das
Assistant Professor
DY Patil International University
Akurdi, Pune

* Send your letters to editor@scienceindia.in

4 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
 75
Let’s Connect
Dear Readers,
The month of June has two important international days that are intimately related to science. One of them
is the World Environment Day (WED) that is annually celebrated on June 5. The focal theme of this year is,
‘Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature’, along with the campaign slogan ‘Only One Earth’. The year
2022 is worthy of attention in the journey of environmental awareness, as it marks 50 years since the first UN
conference on the environment, which was held in 1972 at Stockholm. Here, let us note the specific use of the
word ‘Only’ in the slogan. It simply indicates the fear that has gripped our minds, as we are losing peace with
the nature. Further, there is a need to understand the sense of urgency that word
‘Only’ reflects. It speaks loudly about the urgent transformative actions, which are
essential to come out of the intimidating environmental problems.
The environmental threat has been perceived more seriously, in the last 50 years, Maintenance of a
because of the experiences of extreme weather events, pollution, waste and many higher standard
other problems. This alarming situation is an outcome of continuously increasing
greed of human beings to seek more and more comforts and conveniences in life.
of living, or rather
Achieving comforts through technological advancements, by reducing drudgery, is modernity, puts
considered as the higher standard of living and it is equated with modernity. Main- enormous burden
tenance of a higher standard of living, or rather modernity, puts enormous burden on nature. It is very
on nature. Burden, in simple terms, is an exploitation of nature to attain modernity.
Severe burden has eventually jeopardised the natural ecosystems, giving rise to much evident that
problems like global warming, climate change, loss of biodiversity, etc. It is very we have arrived at
much evident that we have arrived at crossroads; which road to choose — moder- the crossroads
nity or nature?
Answer to this question lies in the focal theme of WED. There are loads of reali-
sations as the search is on for finding solutions to the environmental problems. The
greatest realisation that has evolved progressively through science is — there is a need to lead life in harmony
with nature. To translate this vision into action, it is essential to assimilate the scientific world view of Bharat
— ‘humans are an integral part of the nature’. Bharatiya lifestyle based on this principle is the living example
best suited to the focal theme of WED. Let’s lose no time in adopting the same, for the benefit of the entire
mankind and ‘Only One Earth’.
Another important day is the International Day of Yoga (IDY), which falls annually on June 21. Yoga has
become amazingly popular, particularly in the last century, across the world. People from various walks of life
and sects are practising Yoga. Why is there so much buzz about this ancient Indian practice, and that too even
in the modern West? Has it been seen as a remedy to some specific problems of the modern era? The answer,
absolutely, is Yes.
In spite of having unprecedented comforts, conveniences and scientific approaches in life, the people, on
one hand, are facing newer health problems; and, on the other, are losing the peace of mind. This is a tragedy
of modern times. The importance of Yoga becomes evident here. Though the literal meaning of the word
‘Yoga’ is ‘union’ or ‘harmony’, in practical terms it is a systematic physical and mental exercise that enriches
body as a whole and helps in harmonising the body with the mind. Yoga unites the outer and inner domains
of life, to bring in the desired peace. This method is quite peculiar. Primarily, it seems inconsistent with the
contemporary methods of science. This is because precise measurements, or rather quantification, of either
harmony or peace, seem impossible. Nevertheless, at a very different plane or conscious level, anyone who
undergoes the repetitive rounds of Yoga perceives similar experiences, irrespective of the time and place. This
unique aspect, the similarity of experiences, is sufficient to qualify Yoga as a science. Pursuit of Yoga as a sci-
ence is truly beneficial and essential for the wellbeing of mankind. Exactly like Zero, Yoga is also a scientific
gift of Bharat to the world.
Dear readers, there are other interesting articles in this edition, including a special article about
Dr Asutosh Mookerjee, who led the struggle for Swatantrata through Science. Let’s remember him for his
remarkable contributions.
Jayant Sahasrabudhe

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 5
 Dancing Shiva at CERN, Geneva

SHIVA’S COSMIC
DANCE AND
PARTICLE PHYSICS
The Nataraja statue at the world’s largest
particle physics laboratory is not just a
cultural landmark but holds great scientific
relevance, which was first brought to global
notice by Ananda K Coomaraswamy

n Jayant Sahasrabudhe

I
n the annals of science, 18 June 2004 is an
important date, especially with reference to
India. The Government of India had present-
ed CERN (the European Organization for
Nuclear Research) at Geneva, Switzerland, with a
statue of Nataraja, the dancing Shiva. This was a
memento to celebrate India’s association with this
prestigious laboratory since 1960.

NATARAJA AND COSMOLOGY  Above: The Dance of Shiva is a

In today’s world, Nataraja, symbolising Shiva’s collection of fourteen essays
Image Courtesy: Wkimedia Commons

dance of creation and destruction, has gained a written by Ananda K

significant and powerful new-age interpretation as Coomaraswamy
a ‘modern thought’. The parallel between Shiva’s
dance as Nataraja and the dance of subatomic Right: The statue of Nataraja, or
particles was first discussed by famous scientist Shiva in the dancing pose,
and author, Fritjof Capra, in his article titled ‘The symbolising his cosmic dance of
Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter’ in the creation and destruction, was
Light of Modern Physics. The article was published presented to CERN on 18 June
in the journal ‘Main Currents in Modern Thought’ 2004 by the Department of
in 1972. Later in 1975, Capra’s international best- Atomic Energy of India

6 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
 75
seller — The Tao of Physics, had Shiva’s
cosmic dance as its central metaphor. It is
worth mentioning that The Tao of Phys-
ics, first published in 1975, is still in print
with 43 editions so far and translations
in 23 languages.
The famous cosmologist, Carl Sagan
too drew an interesting correlation be-
tween the theories of modern cosmology
and the dancing Shiva or Nataraja. In
his famous book, Cosmos, Sagan says,
“The Hindu religion is the only one of
the world’s great faiths dedicated to the
idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an
immense, indeed an infinite, number of
deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion
in which the time scales correspond to
those of modern scientific cosmology.” A
well-known authority on physical chem-
istry and Nobel laureate, Ilya Prigogine,
who is also known as a poet of thermo-
dynamics, could see the creation and
destruction emerging from a common
source. For him, Nataraja depicts that

The famous cosmologist,

Carl Sagan, in his renowned
book, Cosmos, says, “The
Hindu religion is the only
one of the world’s great
faiths dedicated to the
idea that the Cosmos itself
undergoes an immense,
indeed an infinite, number
of deaths and rebirths.”

source which is a perfectly balanced cos-

mic dance.
Dr VS Ramachandran, one of the
leading neuroscientists of this age, while
expounding the idea of neuroaesthetics,
too cited how remarkable is the bronze
sculpture of Nataraja. Sir Jacob Epstein,
one of the pioneers of modern sculp-
ture, also said, “Shiva dances, creating
the world and destroying it, his large
rhythms conjure up vast aeons (aeons
mean a period of one thousand million
years) of time, and his movements have
a relentless magical power of incanta-
tion. Our European allegories are banal

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 7

and pointless by comparison with these
profound works, devoid of the trappings
of symbolism, concentrating on the es-
sential, and the essentially plastic.”
The list of luminaries who have been
intrigued by Nataraja is long and unend-
ing. The essence of this dance form of
Shiva has perfectly captured the mod-
ern-day intelligent minds. The Govern-
ment of India acknowledged it as well
and made a serious effort to spread the
profound meaning of the metaphor re-
lated to this dance of Shiva to the modern
world. Through CERN, it has unravelled
the importance of the Dance of Shiva,
the Nataraja. In this context, next to the
Nataraja statue one finds an interest-
ing plaque dedicated to the pioneering
historian and philosopher of Indian art,
Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, popu-
larly known as Ananda Coomaraswamy.
ANANDA K COOMARASWAMY
— A SEER’S DEFINITION OF
THE NATARAJA
What does the plaque read? Ananda K
Coomaraswamy, seeing beyond the un-
surpassed rhythm, beauty, power, and
grace of the Nataraja, had said, “It is
the clearest image of the activity of God
which any art or religion can boast of.”
8 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
Left & above: Ananda K Coomaraswamy,
philiospher & historian who authored
The Dance of Shiva
It is indeed difficult to comprehend
the multifaceted genius of Ananda K
Coomaraswamy. He was a renowned
geologist, an art historian and art collec-
tor of large proportions. He was a poly-
glot, philosopher of high repute and an
esteemed patriot with an intense passion
for swadeshi. He was above all, an intel-
lectual who could debunk all Western
theories that denigrated Indian and ori-
ental art through his excellent self-taught
scholarship. The impact and influence of
his scholarly interpretations of Indian art
and culture were so powerful that they
could transform the Western mindset
even during the hostile pre-independence
days. Yet, indeed, unfortunately, very
little is known about Coomaraswamy’s
efforts. Very few know about his con-
tribution in bringing back the lost glory
and aura to our history, heritage, art,
and culture.
Coomaraswamy was born in the
erstwhile Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka) on
22 August 1877, to Muttu Coomaraswa-
my, a learned and brilliant Tamil lawyer
and his British wife, Elizabeth Beeby.
Named Ananda, he lost his father at the
very early age of two.
He was then taken to England by his
mother. She imparted basic Hindu val-
Images Courtesy: Internet
ues of life to little Ananda, thus, shaping
and filling his mind with sublime rever-
ence, rightful pride for his own history,
heritage and culture. Coomaraswamy
studied geology and botany at the Uni-
versity of London and later returned to
Ceylon to serve the Geological Survey of
Ceylon. As a geologist, he was credited
with the discovery of ‘Thorianate’ and
received a doctorate in science. During
his geological surveys, Coomaraswamy
became acquainted with local traditions,
art, sculpture, culture, and heritage.
These intrigued his mind and intellect,
and that is when he was subsumed by
their study in detail. At the same time,
he was deeply affected by the adverse
impact of British education on his fel-
low citizens. It pained him so much that
he plunged himself into correcting these
wrongs. This, in turn, transformed an
accomplished geologist into a pioneer
historian of Indian art and a foremost
interpreter of Indian culture to the West.
(ref: Encyclopedia Britannica).
Coomaraswamy wrote extensively
about varied aspects of Indian art, cul-
ture, and heritage, highlighting their pro-
found significance on the modern era.
His most celebrated and most sought-af-
ter book, The Dance of Shiva, was pub-

lished in 1918. This 100-year old book
is still relevant and well-read worldwide
today. It is a collection of fourteen es-
says. In his first essay titled, ‘What has
India contributed to human welfare?’
he indicates the fundamentals of Indian
culture. While cautioning Indians about
losing these fundamental elements, he
writes, “The essential contribution of
India, then, is simply her Indianness; her
great humiliation would be to substitute
or to have substituted for this own char-
acter (svabhava) a cosmopolitan veneer,
for then, indeed, she must come before
the world empty-handed. The heart and
essence of the Indian experience are to
be found in a constant intuition of the
unity of all life, and the instinctive and
ineradicable conviction that the recogni-
tion of this unity is the highest good and
the uttermost freedom.”
Later, Coomaraswamy took on the
Western thinkers who disparaged Indian
art in an essay titled ‘Indian Images with
Many Arms’. Here, he explains the un-
derlying meaning of such forms of deities
tearing apart the faulty logic of Western
scholarship. The masterpiece amongst
these essays is the one titled ‘The Dance
of Shiva’, which touches the chords of
innumerable minds, and fascinates the
hearts even today. An excerpt: “But it
may not be out of place to call attention
to the grandeur of this conception itself
as a synthesis of science, religion, and
art. How amazing is the range of thought
and sympathy of those rishi-artists who
first conceived such a type as this, af-
fording an image of reality, a key to the
complex tissue of life, a theory of nature,
not merely satisfactory to a single clique
or race, nor acceptable to the thinkers
of one century only, but universal in its
appeal to the philosopher, the lover, and
the artists all ages and all countries. How
supremely great in power and grace this
dancing image must appear to all those
who’ve striven in plastic forms to give
expression to their intuition of life…
Every part of such an image as this is
directly expressive, not of any mere su-
perstition or dogma, but of evident facts.
No artist of today, however great, could
more exactly or wisely create an image of
that energy which science must postulate
75
Image Courtesy: Internet
From left: Dr Anil Kakodkar, then Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and
secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, India, Dr Robert Aymar, Director General,
CERN, and KM Chandrasekhar, Ambassador WTO-Geneva, at the unveiling of the
Nataraja statue at CERN, Geneva, on 18 June 2004
behind all phenomena. If we would rec- 430 pages. Crouch says that this book
oncile Time with Eternity, we scarcely do documents the remarkably produc-
so otherwise than by the conception of tive career of one of the great minds of
alterations of phase extending over vast the twentieth century. Fortunately, his
regions of space and great tracts of time. painstaking endeavours did bear fruits of
Especially significant, then, is the phase diligence before his own eyes as he could
alteration implied by the drum, and the see the changing minds of contemporary
fire which ‘changes’, not destroys. These critics. People now around the world
are but visual symbols of the theory of have started appreciating Indian art and
the day and night of Brahma……. In the culture. Indian images, symbols, icons
night of Brahma, Nature is inert, and are getting new-age interpretations re-
cannot dance till Shiva wills it: He rises ferred to as ‘Modern Thought’. Cooma-
from His rapture, and dancing sends raswamy, thus, earns a well-deserved
through inert matter pulsing waves of applause for this change.
awakening sound, and lo! the matter also Ananda K Coomaraswamy retired
dances, appearing as a glory round about as a curator of Indian and Oriental Art
Him. Dancing, He sustains its manifold at the Boston Museum in the US on 22
phenomena. In the fullness of time, still August 1947, at the age of 70. He had
dancing, he destroys all forms and names planned to return to India and take a
by fire and gives new rest. This is poetry; plunge into spiritual life. He wanted to
but nonetheless, science.” become a sanyasi so that he could tread
How close is this explanation of the the path of renunciation. However, this
modern theory of cosmology, the ‘Big was not going to happen. Suddenly on 9
Bang’! Coomaraswamy kept on writ- September 1947, while working on a new
ing, reading, collecting, and exploring edition of The Dance of Shiva, he passed
newer vistas of Indian art till he breathed away. Fortunately, by then, his beloved
his last. India had become independent.
In 2002, James Crouch published A What a fascinating saga, isn’t it!
Bibliography of An and a Kentish * The writer is Chief Editorial
Coomaraswamy, an enthralling read of Advisor, Science India
J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 9
COVER STORY WORLD YOGA DAY / JUNE 21

YOGA
Above and right:
PM Narendra Modi
participates in mass Yoga
demonstration on the
occasion of the 4th
International Day of Yoga

The Best
2018, at the Forest
Research Institute,
Dehradun

Way of Life
10 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
 75

n Dr Rajiv Rastogi
Image Courtesy: pmindia.gov.in

Y
oga is a topic which is most discussed nowa-
days. TV channels, newspapers, magazines,
and social media are full of discussions, de-
bates, news items, articles and blogs relating to
the effects of yoga on human beings in differ-
ent aspects, whether it is physical, mental, or
spiritual. Celebration of the International Day
of Yoga since 2015 has tremendously boosted
and highlighted the importance of yoga in our
The benefits of Yoga in daily life. It has also sensitised the people to a
leading a holistic life in great extent to think about their health and
fitness through yoga. Now one can see people
harmony with nature are practicing yoga in nearby parks and grounds
known to Indians since either in groups or as individuals without any
hesitation. Yoga has been globally accepted
ancient times, and with all its merits and has been converted into
increasingly to the western a global market. 
world. The push to propagate The craze of yoga is so much that the whole
world is involved in celebrating the Interna-
its multifarious benefits to tional Day of Yoga with great zeal and enthu-
every Indian since 2015 will siasm. This month, we will be celebrating the
8th International Day of Yoga. In India, various
go a long way in making yoga organisations, government departments,
us a healthier population    yoga followers, and others are involved in this
celebration. It is celebrated in each corner of
the country by yoga lovers and followers. It
is believed that it has enhanced the accept-

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 11
COVER STORY WORLD YOGA DAY / JUNE 21
ability of yoga among the people to a
great extent.
YOGA: INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO
INDIAN CIVILISATION
The science of Yoga propounded by
Maharishi Patanjali is as old as the
Indian civilisation which has been in-
herited from generation to generation,
culture to culture, century to century
mainly through the word of mouth and
also in text form. By recognising yoga,
the UNGA (United Nations General
Assembly) has rightly said that ‘Yoga
provides a holistic approach to health
and well-being and wider dissemina-
tion of information about the benefits
of practicing Yoga for the health of the
world population. Yoga also brings
harmony in all walks of life and thus,
is known for disease prevention, health
promotion and management of many
lifestyle-related disorders’.
Nearly 2,000 cast members practice sunrise yoga, celebrating the International Day of Yoga 2022 in front of the
Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, USA
12 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
The science of Yoga
propounded by
Maharishi Patanjali is
as old as the Indian
civilisation, which
has been inherited
from generation
to generation, and
disseminated through
the word of mouth and
also through text
Celebration of the International Day
of Yoga has paved the way to popular-
ise yoga in various ways. Students have
started thinking about developing their
career in the field of yoga. Some have
already adopted it. Many universities
in the government or private sector and
other institutions have initiated courses
related to yoga science, yoga therapy,
yoga education, yoga philosophy, etc. of
different durations leading from certifi-
cate courses to postgraduate courses and
the students are inclined to get admission
in these courses. Scientists in medical in-
stitutes and research organisations are
studying the yogic management of differ-
ent lifestyle related disorders and disease
conditions where there is limited or no
treatment available in conventional medi-
cine, and exploring the feasibility to in-
corporate yoga in the treatment protocol.  
Extensive research studies have been
conducted and are being carried out on
yoga all over the world with promising
conclusions about the role of yoga ther-
apy in various disease conditions. Many
medical organisations have established
Yoga Lifestyle Clinics; Integral Health
Clinics; and Centre for Integrated Re-
Image Courtesy: Internet

search and using yoga as an add-on
therapy along with conventional medi-
cine prescription. Case reports have
been reported and published highlight-
ing the role of yoga in specific disease
conditions. Quite a high number of sci-
entific publications are from the field of
yoga. Different non-government organ-
isations are also engaged in promoting
and propagating yoga in their own way.
 
GOVERNMENT PUSH TO
PROPAGATE YOGA
The Government of India has estab-
lished a dedicated ministry to pro-
mote and propagate the indigenous
system of medicine, i.e. Ayurveda, Yoga
and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and
Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in the coun-
try with a separate budget allocation,
named the Ministry of AYUSH which
has taken various initiatives to popular-
ise yoga. Organisation of yoga festivals,
Arogya fairs, conferences, seminars, we-
binars, development of yoga apps, ori-
entation programs, CMEs, count down
programs etc. are some of the initiatives
apart from celebration of International
Day of Yoga in a grand manner in the
whole country. Other ministries and gov-
ernment departments like the Ministry of
Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry
of Sports, Ministry of Defence, Ministry
Image Courtesy: Internet
Statue of Maharishi Patanjali at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, Uttarakhand
Sketch: Dr Rajiv Rastogi
of Culture etc. are also actively engaged
in the celebration of the International
Day of Yoga.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is very keen to popularise yoga. He
says, ‘Yoga is an invaluable gift of ancient
Indian tradition. It embodies unity of
mind and body; thought and action; re-
straint and fulfilment; harmony between
man and nature and a holistic approach
to health and well-being. Yoga is not
about exercise but to discover the sense
of oneness with ourselves, the world
J U N E 202 2
75
and nature. By changing our lifestyle
and creating consciousness, it can help
us to deal with climate change’.  Even
during the period of COVID-19 and
lockdown, yoga proved its efficiency in
the management of such patients when
used as add-on therapy along with the
conventional or Ayush therapies. Many
research studies have been reported so
far establishing the effectiveness of yogic
practices, pranayama, relaxation, and
meditation in overcoming the symptoms
of COVID-9 and strengthening the im-
munity of the practitioner.
Further, yoga has become a part of
curriculum in various courses and pro-
grams. Recently, the National Medical
Commission has introduced yoga for
medical students. There is a thought
of  ‘One Nation:  One Health Sys-
tem’ which is being discussed at various
forums, however, considering the role
and importance of yoga in today’s con-
text, it will invariably be a part of the
proposed concept.
 
Even during the
period of COVID-19
and lockdown,
yoga proved its
efficiency in
managing patients
as an add-on along
with conventional or
Ayush therapies
CHALLENGES OF INCORPORATING
YOGA IN DAILY LIFE
Looking at all these facts and the impor-
tance of yoga it can easily be assumed
that yoga has become an integral part
of our daily life as it is very simple and
affordable. Is it not? But in fact, the
scenario is not like that. Yoga has been
popularised, but often people take it
casually and not practice it as a part of
their daily life schedule. There are many
other factors responsible. Yoga is being
advised and practiced as a therapeutic
intervention which is limited to treating
SC I E NC E I N DI A 13
 COVER STORY WORLD YOGA DAY / JUNE 21
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
or managing the illness. Once the illness
is tackled or we get some relief we forget
the practice of yoga. We have our own
excuses for not practicing yoga on a regu-
lar basis. We have excuses of no time for
it, late night sleeping, late waking up in
the morning, too busy schedule, impor-
tant meetings, stressful life, timelines to
complete official tasks, irregular eating
habits, non-clearing of the bowels, and so
on. Interestingly, people realise that the
regular practice of yoga is good for health
and happiness, and everybody should
practice it, but they feel that the time con-
straint doesn’t allow them to practice. I
came across several people who say that
yoga is wonderful, but I am so busy and
have no time to even breathe, how can I
spare time to practice yoga? I asked them
that yoga is so simple that you don’t re-
quire much time to practice. You have 24
14 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
Above: Representational Image
Right: People perform yoga during an
event organised to mark International
Yoga Day 2022 in Kathmandu, Nepal
hours with you which God has gifted to
everyone without any discrimination and
every person how much busy he or she is
sparing some time to either go for a walk
or some exercise or some physical work
to make them healthy and fit, and you are
busier in comparison to those people that
you have no time to even practice yoga?
Then, they have no answer. 
Yoga is a complete philosophy having
an ultimate goal. Everything in this world
seems to have been incorporated in yoga
in one way or another. But a particular
aspect of yoga related to health and well-
ness is being promoted. Yoga, popularly

known as mind-body medicine in west-
ern world, has varied aspects.  these elements. So, living nearer to nature
Usually, yoga is considered as a way
of life which develops our personality in
all its dimensions, i.e. physical, mental,
social, moral, intellectual, emotional,
and spiritual, in a balanced manner.  Dif-
ferent aspects of yoga include promotion
of positive health, prevention of illness,
treatment of disease, and restoration of
health, besides others. Accordingly, Yo-
gasana, Pranayama, Surya Namaskara,
Dhyan, Yogic aahar, Yogic relaxation,
etc. should be a part of our daily rou-
tine. If we see our traditional lifestyle,
it has so many components of yoga and
naturopathy deeply rooted in our habits
such as — offering water to Sun in the
morning, Sun Salutation, keeping fast on
different occasions, treatment with the
help of earth and water, eating natural
and live food etc.  adopting yoga as a lifestyle.
These things had already been incul-
cated in our daily routine but unfortu-
nately, we have forgotten all these things
resulting in an unhealthy state of body
and mind.
 
Different aspects
of yoga include
promotion of
positive health,
prevention of illness,
treatment of disease,
and restoration
of health, besides
others
YOGA FOR BODY-MIND-SOUL
EQUILIBRIUM
Yoga talks about equilibrium in body,
mind and soul. It gives emphasis on a
stress-free simple life with lots of happi-
Image Courtesy: Internet
ness but until we are not adopting yoga
in a holistic way, we cannot get rid of our
tensions, worries, and illnesses. Yoga and
Naturopathy systems believe that our
body is made up of five great elements
named Prithvi, Jala, Agni, Vayu, and
J U N E 202 2
75
Akash; this universe is also made from
is essential not only for our health but
also for the health of this planet. But our
greed and ignorance has converted this
beautiful earth into a diseased planet.
Government is working tirelessly
to promote yoga to every corner so that
people can adopt it as a healthy lifestyle
by different campaigns, shows, apps,
programs, festivals, conferences and by
celebrating International Day of Yoga ev-
ery year. Now the turn is ours. If one re-
ally desires to be healthy, he must adopt
yoga by including it in the daily routine,
live nearer to nature, take natural and
fresh foods as far as possible, have a good
sleep and relaxation, and have positive
thoughts. Non-communicable diseases
are spreading like wildfire and if there
is any answer to these NCDs, then it is
Our lifestyle is completely related to
our environment. If our environment is
healthy then only one can think of health
and happiness. The Prime Minister has
recently launched a campaign, ‘Lifestyle
for Environment’, with an objective to
make people aware of adopting a life-
style sensitive to environment, and yogic
lifestyle completely fulfils this objective.
It is said in Naturopathy that there is
no word for forgiveness in the dictionary
of nature. It means if you have made a
mistake you have to suffer. Nature has
its own way to punish us. Hence, it is the
right choice to follow the path of nature
by adopting yoga in daily life as a healthy
lifestyle to get rid of the illnesses of body
and mind. This is the only way to pre-
vent the disease and achieve good health
and to celebrate the International Day of
Yoga in its true spirit. This simple step
will not only reduce the burden of illness
but also increase a sense of responsibility
towards ourselves as well as towards the
environment.
*The writer is Former Assistant
Director (Naturopathy), Central
Council for Research in Yoga and
Naturopathy, Ministry of AYUSH,
New Delhi; Professor and Dean,
Faculty of Naturopathy and Yogic
Science, SGT University, Budhera,
Gurugram, Haryana
SC I E NC E I N DI A 15
 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY / JUNE 5

How the Indian

Concept of
Pancha Bhutas
is Central to
Environmental
Conservation
Unlike the western belief, man is not central to
the environment in Indian scheme of things, but
only a part of the complex biotic and abiotic
world that arises out of Pancha Bhutas; harmony
between these five elements is all that is required
to protect and preserve the environment

T
he World Environment Day is
celebrated annually on June 5
by the United Nations Envi-
ronment Programme (UNEP)
since 1973. It aims to promote awareness
the theme ‘Only One Earth’? It means
that there are many galaxies in the uni-
verse, and each has many planets, but the
earth is the only planet where life is pos-
sible. Now, if life is possible only on the
Image Courtesy: Shutterstock

and action on environmental protection. earth, we need to consider why this is so

This year, the World Environment Day
n Dr Anand Madhukar 2022 has been hosted by Sweden with
the theme ‘Only One Earth’ and a fo-
cus on ‘Living Sustainably in Harmony
with Nature’. In this background, many
scientific questions and curiosities arise
in mind.
First, what does UNEP mean by
and what is the ancient Indian scientific
view on it? It also needs to be pondered
and understood what the original nature
of the world or universe is? Did the an-
cient Indians and scientists try to under-
stand the nature of the world (Prakriti)
like modern science? If so, what were
their findings?

16 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2

The second curiosity lies in the ap-
peal of ‘Live Sustainably in Harmony
with Nature’. This slogan inherently
accepts that humans are not cur-
rently living in harmony with nature.
In fact, the world appears to be beset
with many environmental crises today.
Some environmental crises are global
such as climate change, global warming,
ozone depletion, ocean acidification,
and sea-level rise, while some are local
such as local pollution and land deg-
radation. However, there is a two-way
relationship with different feedbacks be-
tween the global and the local environ-
mental problems. Today, it is being seen
that darkness is becoming extinct on
the earth due to electricity usage. One
important aspect of the Russia-Ukraine
war is associated with energy and envi-
ronment. Therefore, it is pertinent, on
the occasion of the World Environment
Day, to reflect on the root cause of vari-
ous environmental problems and crises
from the Indian point of view.
Third, environmental problems need
urgent and practical solutions. So, is it
possible to solve various environmental
J U N E 202 2
75
problems following the Indian point of
view? If yes, how? The answers to all
these questions can be easily understood
through the ancient Indian doctrine
of Pancha Bhutas.
THE DOCTRINE OF PANCHA BHUTAS
The doctrine of Pancha Bhutas, or the
five elements, gradually evolved in an-
cient India to explain the diverse physi-
cal world and nature. According to this
doctrine, all the material objects in the
world are composed of the five essential
and basic elements, i.e., Pancha Bhutas.
SC I E NC E I N DI A 17

These Pancha Bhutas are Akasha, Vaa-
yu, Agni, Jala, and Prithvi. All the physi-
cal objects and gross things come into
existence through the different combi-
nations of these five elements and finally
again merge into them in the end.
Among the Pancha Bhutas, Aka-
sha is the first element that was created
or emerged in the universe. It is a ubiq-
uitous substance that provides space to
other Bhutas, all the bodies, and sub-
stances. Its special attribute is sound
(shabda). On the other hand, Prithvi is
the last to be created among the Pan-
cha Bhutas. It is the grossest among
the five elements with every perceptive
sense, and its unique property is smell
(gandha). The remaining three Bhu-
tas, i.e., Vaayu, Agni, and Jala, have
the properties of touch (sparsha), sight
(rupa), and taste (rasa), respectively.
The Vedic literature indicates the
sequence of the initial appearance of
the five basic elements. It says: ‘from the
soul (Atman), Akasha arose; from Aka-
sha,  Vaay u  appeared; from  Vaa-
yu, Agni arose; from Agni, Jala ap-
18 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
peared; and from Jala, Prithvi came
into being; from the Prithvi, herbs; from
herbs, food; from food, the person (Pu-
rusha) came into being.”
rLek}k ,rLekr~ vkReu% vkdk”A% lEHkwr% A vkdk”kA}k;q%
A ok;ksjf Xu% A vXusjki% A
vn~H;% if̀Fkoh A if̀FkO;k vks’k/k;% A vks’k/khH;ks·Uue~ A
vUukr~ iq#’k% AA & r fS Ùkjh;ksif u’kr~
In Indian thought, Atman (c ãz ) is
said to be sat (lr), chit (f pr), and anan-
da (vkuan). During the emergence of the
universe, the Pancha Bhutas are formed
from Atman. Food and other conditions
necessary for man’s life are created by
different combinations of Pancha Bhu-
tas, after which the humans (Purusha)
Ancient Indians had a clear
view that life was possible
on earth because of different
combinations, groupings
and regroupings of Pancha
Bhutas and a delicate
balance among them
Image Courtesy: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
come into being. Thus, humans are de-
pendent on the Pancha Bhutas for their
existence and survival.
Therefore, the ancient Indians and
scientists had a clear view that life was
possible on earth because of different
combinations, grouping, and regroup-
ings of Pancha Bhutas and a delicate
balance among them that has created
favorable natural conditions for the
healthy existence on earth. The notice-
able diversity in nature and the world is
due to the different types of collocations
and groupings of Pancha Bhutas.
One of the crucial implications of
the doctrine of Pancha Bhutas is that the
material world and nature are not for the
enjoyment and exploitation of humans.
Instead, the Indian view advocates co-
ordination and harmony between Pu-
rusha and Prakriti, keeping the balance
among Pancha Bhutas of Prakriti intact.
THE CONTEMPORARY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
The doctrine of Pancha Bhutas has
inherent science in it. All the evolu-

tive products of Prakriti are composed
of Pancha Bhutas. Therefore, Pancha
Bhutas are directly relevant to the
concept of environment, and the en-
vironment consists of Pancha Bhutas.
The Pancha Bhutas regulate the envi-
ronment by interacting with the atmo-
sphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and
biosphere through various geochemical
and natural cycles.
They control the temperature of
the earth’s environment, maintain the
habitable temperature, and regulate the
pressure patterns, winds, precipitations,
radiations, and Ritu Chakra or the cycle
of seasons.
T herefore , a nat u ra l ba la nce
among Pancha Bhutas and their har-
mony with Purusha is crucial for the life
support system on the earth. However,
they are most critically challenged by
anthropogenic interferences and human
activities, resulting in environmental
crisis such as climate change, global
warming, ozone depletion, air pollution,
water contamination, land degradation,
and energy crisis.
Currently, most of the major envi-
ronmental problems the world is facing
are associated with the Pancha Bhutas.
It is to be understood that a delicate
balance among Pancha Bhutas keeps
our environment clean, stable, and
sustainable. If there is anthropogenic
interference and disturbance to these
fundamental substances, it leads to an
environmental crisis.
Image Courtesy: isha.sadhguru.org
Indians have believed since centuries that a delicate balance among the Pancha
Bhutas keeps our environment clean, stable and sustainable
Pancha Bhutas or five basic elements: Akasha (sky), Vaayu (air), Agni (fire), Jala
(water), and Prithvi (earth)
BHARATIYA DRISHTI FOR
BALANCING PANCHA BHUTAS
The root cause of the present environ-
mental crisis is human interference in
the original nature of the physical world.
The human-centric individualistic and
materialistic ideas, propagated by the
western world, have led to the indis-
criminate exploitation of nature.
On the contrary, there are many
formulas for environmental protec-
tion in the Indian way of thinking, life,
and science. The vision of coexistence,
association, and oneness with nature
has been present in India since time im-
memorial. The feeling of intimacy and
gratitude for nature is clearly visible in
Indian thinking.
J U N E 202 2
75
Image Courtesy: isha.sadhguru.org
In Indian thought, the environment
is not conceived as a physical inanimate
world but a living world, and human
beings are one of the many living be-
ings. The Pancha Bhutas have originated
from Atman, and other material objects
of the world originated from these Pan-
cha Bhutas. Therefore, it is logical that
the Indian scientific thought considers
that there is consciousness in every ob-
ject of nature and not only in man.
One of the implications of the con-
cept of Pancha Bhutas at the practical
level is that the Indian thought does
not have the man at the center like the
western world, but there is compan-
ionship and balance between man and
nature. It has resulted in the Indian
concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’,
which considers this whole world a
family. The concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Ku-
tumbakam’ signifies the Indian vision
of coexistence with all the elements of
the entire universe.
Thus, the Indian scientific tradition
envisions the environment as a holistic
system, with many biotic and abiotic ele-
ments, having various complex interrela-
tions between them. Here, the abiotic or
the material world is also conceived as
the conscious in which the soul resides.
This is an important achievement of In-
dian scientific contemplation because it
has kept the human beings at par with
other elements of nature. From this
point of view, it is clear that the world is
SC I E NC E I N DI A 19
driven by affectionate relation between
all the biotic and abiotic elements. Man
is created by the various elements of na-
ture and environment and eventually
merges with nature and environment.
Thus, there is a special emphasis in the
Indian thought on the mutual coopera-
tion and inter-dependence of man and
nature. It is believed that Purusha can-
not coexist alone without Prakriti.
BHARATIYA DRISHTI FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Many aspects of the Indian way of life
promote environmental protection. For
example, the concept of nature worship
and treating trees, plants, rivers, moun-
tains, planets as deities. Since ancient
times, Indians have established various
places of worship in the mountains and
the reputation of the hill state of Utta-
rakhand is still that of Devbhumi, or the
land of gods. Today, in parallel, mod-
ern science also believes that plants and
trees like Tulsi and Peepal have many
medicinal and health-promoting proper-
ties, and rivers like Ganga have a special
scientific significance. Today, special sci-
entific institutions are being set up for
scientific study and conservation of the
Himalayas and hilly areas.
Various yagnas (;K) and rituals also
held scientific importance in ancient In-
dia. These yagnas and rituals make it
clear that the Indian lifestyle has taken
care of the abiotic world since ancient
times and runs in harmony with it. The
idea of conservation of nature is also
rooted in various Indian festivals, such
as Basant Panchami, Sharad Purnima,
Makar Sankranti, Hariyali Teej, etc.
In the ancient Indian knowledge tra-
dition and scriptures such as the Pan-
chatantra, animals have a special place.
Here, animals have been humanised and
equipped with not only language but
also the intelligence and sensitivity of
human beings. There is an attempt to
educate humankind through the animal
world so that their utility can be under-
stood and they can be protected. Behind
all these was the scientific thinking of
the sages and ancient Indian scientists.
They aimed to create a scientific and
popular basis for conserving different
20 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
Confluence of the rivers Bhagirathi (left) and Alaknanda in Devprayag, Uttarakhand,
whose reputation is that of Devbhumi, or the land of gods
components of the environment and
nature in the society by linking them to
human lifestyle.
Since ancient times, Indians have
known the scientific importance of for-
ests. The Indian way of life has a sys-
tem of four ashrams, out of which the
three — the Brahmacharya, Vanapr-
astha, and Sanyasa, are directly related
to forests. It was in the forests where the
ancient sages discovered Indian knowl-
edge and scientific tradition. Indians
knew from time immemorial that there
is consciousness in trees too. Ancient In-
dian texts such as the Rigveda, Chhan-
dogya Upanishad, and Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad have many references to it.
Therefore, it was no coincidence that an
Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Basu,
taking inspiration from the ancient In-
dian scientific tradition, proved in the
modern era that there is consciousness
in vegetation.
It was in the forests where
ancient Indian sages
discovered knowledge.
Indians knew from time
immemorial that there is
consciousness in trees too
It is clear that the concept of envi-
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
ronmental protection has been a part of
Indian scientific tradition and lifestyle
since ages. According to it, man is only a
part of the whole creation, and his life is
dependent on the biotic and abiotic com-
ponents of nature. Therefore, it is man’s
duty to nurture other biotic and abiotic
components of nature. If this Indian sci-
entific vision of oneness and companion-
ship towards the environment is adopted
by all the people of the world, then all
the environmental problems, global and
local, may be solved. Moreover, various
environmental challenges and problems
humankind is facing today cannot be re-
solved in bits and pieces and in isolation
from the ancient Indian doctrine of Pan-
cha Bhutas. Therefore, it is imperative
to understand the Pancha Bhutas, their
interdependence and balance to find so-
lutions comprehensively. It is equally im-
portant to adopt sustainable lifestyles,
ensuring a harmony among Pancha
Bhutas for the healthy survival of life
on earth.
* The writer is Principal
Project Scientist at the Indian Institute
of Technology Delhi. He works on
Climate Change Impact, Adaptation,
Agriculture, and Indian
Knowledge System
 Q&A

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Prof Ashutosh Kotwal
Eminent Particle Physicist

The Whole Truth

About W Boson and
why it is Crucial for
the Existence of Earth n Dr SG Kulkarni

P
Prof Ashutosh Kotwal, rof Ashutosh Kotwal, a Fritz
the highly distinguished London Distinguished Profes-
sor of Physics at Duke Univer-
professor of Physics, sity in North Carolina, USA,
explains how the is known for his research focussing on
new measurement of precision measurements of fundamen-
W boson may pave the tal particles and searches for new laws
way for the understanding of nature at high energies, using data
Image Courtesy: Internet
ments of the W boson mass. 
A Fellow of the American Physical
Society and the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, he
is the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation Fellowship.
During his recent visit to Pune,
SCIENCE INDIA caught up with him

from the E665, D0, CDF and ATLAS
of a new Physics principle experiments. He initiated and led the
at work in nature analyses to measure the W boson mass
precisely in the CDF II experiment at
Fermilab. Over the last 27 years, he has
published five world-leading measure-
for an exclusive interview. Excerpts:
 
Prof Kotwal, you and your team of 400 sci-
entists have done spectacular work in the
new measurement of W boson mass. Can
you please talk  about the paper you pub-

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 21
lished regarding this — what exactly is the
mass determined by you and what is the ac-
curacy and reliability of the measurement?
Thank you, Dr Kulkarni. My paper titled
‘High-precision measurement of the W
boson mass with the CDF II detector’
was published as the cover story in the
world’s most prestigious journal, Sci-
ence, on 7 April 2022, brought out by the
American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science (AAAS). Our team of
400 scientists at the Fermi National Ac-
celerator Laboratory (Fermilab) has been
working on the analysis of fundamental
particles called W bosons produced at
the Tevatron particle accelerator in the
CDF II experiment for the last 10 years.
In November 2020, at a zoom meeting,
we decrypted the result on the mass of
the W boson. We had worked till then
on encrypted data so that the numbers
should not influence our analysis. The
central value and the uncertainty of the
latest mass measurement is 80, 433 ±
9 MeV/c2 where C is the speed of light
in vacuum. Compared to the predicted
mass of 80, 357 ± 6 MeV/c2 from the
Standard Model theory, it is nearly 77
MeV/c 2 higher. In the language of sta-
tistics, this disagreement has the signifi-
cance of 7σ, meaning that the chance Jayant Sahasrabudhe, National Organising Secretary, VIBHA (second from left),
that this difference is a random statisti- presenting Struggle for Swatantrata through Science, a book published by
cal fluke is less than one in a billion. The Science India, to Dr Ashutosh Kotwal, at the event, ‘The Higgs is Not Enough –
scientific community conventionally ac- Verdict from the Heavyweight W boson’, at Fergusson College in Pune recently
cepts a significance of 5σ, or the chance
of a fluke lower than one in 3.5 million,
that the physicists must clear to claim
a definitive discovery. Accuracy of this of a common man? Could you throw some will freeze and if the reaction rate is little
measurement is 0.01% . light on this? more (if the mass of W boson is little less
The very existence of life on the Earth, than what it is), the planets will evapo-
Since this is a very significant discovery in fact the Earth, the Sun is just because rate. This is one of the most important
that is going to challenge the existing of this W boson and its mass.  aspects of the Universe that is crucial for
proven Standard Model theory, what is the our existence. Knowing it well proves
response from the scientific community Very interesting. But how?  useful in a host of other investigations in
and the common people to this? It is a quantum-mechanical mediator of nuclear physics and astrophysics, such
In just two months, our paper has got the weak force, one of the four known as the creation of all heavy elements, in-
135 citations in the scientific journals. forces in nature. The nuclear fusion of cluding gold. Even 4.7 billion years after
There are 688 media mentions in just one four protons into a helium nucleus is the its birth, the core of the Earth is still hot
week with a potential audience reach of reaction that powers the sun. The reac- and molten. Because of the spin motion
over 1 billion. Normally, the cost of pub- tion requires the conversion of protons of the Earth, the charged particles in this
licity of this level is 14 million USD. It into neutrons by the weak force at just molten core constitute current loops and
was just free because of its news value.  the right rate, which is possible because hence produce magnetic fields around the
the W boson has a large mass. If this rate Earth along the line joining two poles of
That’s great, Sir. I just wonder, what this W is little less (if the mass of W boson is the Earth. This magnetic field around
boson and its mass has to do with the life little more than what it is), all the planets the Earth acts as a magnetic shield and

22 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2

protects life on the Earth from lethal so-
lar radiation.  defined modern physics. Therefore, this
But what keeps the core so hot even after
4.7 billion years?
It is because of the radioactivity induced
by the weak force that releases enough
energy in the Earth’s mantle to keep the
Earth’s iron core molten, (Earth’s crust
contains radioactive elements) generat-
ing a magnetic shield that protects all
life on Earth from lethal solar radiation.
Here also, the rate of radioactive reac-
tion which depends on the mass of the W
boson is important. Little less rate would
freeze the core and a little more rate will
evaporate it.  plus years after that. It was perhaps the
It’s said that the new measurement would
indicate the possibility of a new Physics
principle at work in nature. Would you like
Dr Vyas at the signing to compare this achievement with any such
of the MoU between in history?
NFSU and ISRO’s Space Yes, sure. It takes me 100 years back in
Applications Centre, history. This is reminiscent of a similar
Ahmedabad disagreement observed with classical
physics a century ago — the observa-
tion of the atomic nucleus by Rutherford
in 1911 — which paved the way for the
Dr Ashutosh Kotwal addressing the audience at Fergusson College, Pune, at an
event titled, ‘The Higgs is Not Enough – Verdict from the Heavyweight W boson’
‘This upset to the Standard Model may well point towards
exciting new discoveries in particle physics in future’
J U N E 202 2
75
emergence of quantum mechanics and
upset to the Standard Model may well
point towards exciting new discoveries in
particle physics for years to come.
Ten years ago, you measured the mass of
the W boson with an accuracy of 0.02%.
You also measured the mass of the Z bo-
son. What was the motivation behind that
measurement?
That was the period when all the world
was behind the search for the Higgs Bo-
son whose existence was theoretically
predicted by the Standard Model but was
not experimentally detected for over 40
last particle to be experimentally detect-
ed to prove the success of the Standard
Model. The accurate estimate of mass of
the Higgs Boson was needed to search,
it was highly impossible otherwise. Our
measurements of the masses of W and Z
bosons at that time predicted the mass
of the Higgs Boson near the window of
125 GeV which was very close to the real
value, and this made the discovery of the
Higgs Boson easy.
So, in a way, your team at that time was
responsible for the discovery of the Higgs
Boson. 
( A polite smile with a silence)
What new techniques did your team use as
compared to previous ones for more accu-
rate measurements? How is it significant
as compared to other methods?
Firstly, we used a huge amount of data.
We studied 1000 billion collisions and
4.2 million W bosons collected from
CDF II run between 2002 and 2011.
We  incorporated new information about
the colliding protons’ structure that the
particle physics community has collected
over the decade. There is another factor
which led to a more precise measurement
than all other previous measurements
combined. I devised a method of using
cosmic rays to pin precision sensor wires,
placed at high voltage in a gaseous vol-
ume, to record the passage of electrons
and muons coming from the W boson
decay. (The time of W boson is  3x10 -25s
which is very less and hence it cannot
SC I E NC E I N DI A 23
Prof Kotwal at a lecture organised by Vijnana Bharati at the Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi
be directly detected. For this purpose,
electrons and muons coming out from
its decay and having larger life time are
used). We used the data from these sen-
sors to measure the momentum of each
electron and muon with an accuracy of
0.004%. Understanding such a large vol-
ume of data with extreme precision is
always challenging. Not only is our new
measurement much more precise than all
other measurements but it also demon-
strates rigorous consistency checks. For
example, we also measure the Z boson
mass in both electron and muon channels
and find agreement with the LEP (Large
Electron Position) collider’s measurement
at CERN. No other measurement of the
W boson mass has performed this con-
sistency check.
All this particle Physics is really High
Energy Physics. Why do we require
such high energy for probing?  Physics do you see from this measurement?
There is simple mathematics behind this.
The scattering technique employed to
probe particles of diameter ‘r’ requires
an energy E given by equation r=hC/E .
Here, h is planck’s constant and C is
speed of light. So, protons and neutrons
which have a size of 10 -18 m require a
beam of energy 1000 MeV and the con-
stituents of these particles require energy
24 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
more than 1 GeV.  it is like a bank; if you want to borrow
Mass of the W boson is much higher than
the mass of a proton or a neutron, in fact,
it is much higher than the mass of nuclei of
many elements like Iron also. If this is the
case, then how does it mediate the weak
nuclear force if it is not present in the nucle-
us? How does it take part in the conversion
of a neutron into a proton?
Well, this can be explained on the similar
lines as we explain vacuum fluctuations.
In Quantum Physics, quantum fluctua-
tion or vacuum fluctuation is the tempo-
rary random change in the amount of en-
ergy at a point in space. The uncertainty
principle states that the uncertainty in
energy and time is related by E>= h/Δt.
This means that nature can borrow an
energy Δ E for a time Δ t . In other words,
In particle physics, pairs
of particles having energy  ist, they will also contribute to these fluc-
Δ E and lifetime smaller
than Δ t are continuously
created and annihilated in
empty space
a higher amount, borrow it for a smaller
duration. Smaller the duration, higher
is the amount you can borrow. In par-
ticle physics, pairs of particles having
energy Δ E and lifetime smaller than Δ t
are continuously created and annihilated
in empty space. You can thus consider a
vacuum as a bubbling foam where the
particles with different masses are pop-
ping up and disappearing in a small in-
terval of time. We cannot detect these
particles due to extremely small lifetime,
but they are there for a small interval of
time. Thus, vacuum is not a vacuum in
a real sense. Here, larger the mass (i.e.,
larger the energy), smaller is the life time.
This explains how massive particles like
W bosons are created and disappear in
a short time.
What new possibilities in theories of
Mass of the W boson is influenced by
unknown particles through vacuum fluc-
tuations. If super symmetric particles ex-
tuations and cause an additional change
in the mass of the W boson. Assuming
the contribution from super symmetry
particles, the mass of the W boson would
be more than Standard Model Predic-
Image Courtesy: CERN

75

Above: The ATLAS particle detector,

part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
in Switzerland, was used to find the
Higgs boson

tion by up to 80 MeV/c2. Scientists are

Image Courtesy: CERN

also considering the existence of a new
Higgs like Boson. Calculations have also
been performed by considering a Fifth
force, a totally new kind of force or by
considering the existence of dark matter
particles which, I feel, are more probable,
and which change the W boson mass by a
similar amount. More accurate measure-
ment of the mass of the W boson mass
will bring us closer to the truth, probably,
a new electron – positron collider will be
a better choice. Presently, we know much
less about the Higgs Boson, its internal
structure, etc. In future experiments, we
may be able to get some more informa-
tion about Higgs Boson and Higgs field.
We may also be able to produce particles
of dark matter in the future colliders.
Maybe some modifications in the Stan-
dard Model will also be done to match
with the observed data.
This 2018 collision event at the LHC appeared to produce a Higgs boson and a Z
boson. The two gray cones represent jets of particles that decayed from a bottom
and an anti-bottom quark, which likely decayed from a Higgs particle. The green
lines depict an electron and a positron, which likely decayed from a Z boson
What are your new and future plans in the fast disappearing particles. These cir-
light of this recent discovery? cuits will identify the production of dark
I’m pursuing the hypothesis that the matter particles hundreds of times faster
Dark Matter consists of particles and than current computers employed for this
according to certain extensions of the purpose. I am working on these ideas and
Standard Model theory, such particles have published one paper in Nature.
could be produced at LHC. Their life- * The interviewer is Associate
time being very small, it is very difficult Professor in Physics and Vice Principal,
to trace them. I am designing electronic Deccan Education Society’s Willing-
circuits to capture the fleeting images of don College, Sangli, Maharashtra

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 25
THE LEGEND: Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (1864 – 1924)

A Visionary with Unflinching

Devotion To Promoting Science
Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, as
Vice Chancellor of Calcutta Sir Asutosh Mookerjee
University, initiated path-
breaking changes to truly
promote study and research
in higher sciences amongst
Indians, at par with western
universities

n Dr Purabi Mukherji

S
ir Asutosh Mookerjee is a famous
personality and one of the key and
dynamic figures of Bengal renais-
sance. His diverse activities are all mem-
orable, whether his role as an education-
ist, or as one of India’s greatest judges of
all times, or his personal contributions as
a pioneer researcher in Mathematics and All Images Courtesy: Internet

Physics, or his astounding capacity as a

builder of different types of academic in-
stitutions. However, in this brief article,
an attempt has been made to highlight
his role as a great patriot whose lifelong
commitment was to raise his subjugated
motherland to the high pedestal of intel-
lectual supremacy. 
of British India. His mother Jagattarini schooling in South Suburban School. He
EARLY LIFE Devi (1848-1914) was a kind-hearted, was privately coached by famous schol-
Mookerjee was born on 29 June 1864, liberal and free spirited lady from a fam- ars, but his father and two uncles took
in a well-to-do, educated and cultured ily of Sanskrit scholars. Both the par- great interest in his studies and the real
Bengali family in Calcutta. His father ents had an ever lasting impression on training was imparted by them at home.
Dr Gangaprasad Mookerjee (1836-1889) Mookerjee. He was a mathematical prodigy since his
was a qualified and highly reputed medi- Mookerjee had a brilliant academic school days. In 1879, he passed the En-
cal practitioner of Calcutta, the capital career throughout his life. He had his trance Examination conducted by Cal-

26 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2

A Government of India stamp commemorating Sir
Asutosh Mookerjee’s contributions; Right: Lawrence
Dundas, Lord Ronaldshay and Governor of Bengal
(1917-22) presents a Buddha relic to Mookerjee,
then VC of Calcutta University, and acting Chief
Justice of the Calcutta High Court, in 1920
cutta University, standing second in the
order of merit, and joined the prestigious
Presidency College in 1880. In 1881, he
stood third in the FA (First Arts) ex-
amination. Then, in 1883, he stood first
with a First Class in BA (Mathematics)
examination. In 1885, he repeated the
performance, standing first with a First
Class in MA (Mathematics) from the
Presidency College.
Even before acquiring his MA de-
gree, Mookerjee had published three
original research papers in Mathematics
in international journals such as the Mes-
senger of Mathematics and Quarterly
Journal of Pure and Applied Mathemat-
ics. In 1886, he passed the MA Examina-
tion in Natural Science, topping again.
He was the first student from Calcutta
University to obtain a master’s degree in
more than one subject. The same year,
he obtained the prestigious Premchand
Roychand Scholarship in Mathematics
and Science. But, in spite of such brilliant
academic performance and pioneering
research, Mookerjee could not get a job
as a research professor in the University.
Speaking about his change of profession
in 1920 at the Senate of the Calcutta
University, Mookerjee said: “I began life
as a research student in Mathematics
when research was practically unknown
in this country and the ambition of my
life was to be a Research Professor in my
University. Mr Justice Gurudas Banerjee
who was then the Vice-Chancellor of
this University (1890-92), made a des-
perate attempt to create a chair for me
but such were the times that he failed
to collect even a sum which would have
yielded a modest income of Rs. 4000/- a
year which was all that he and I thought
would be sufficient to maintain me as a
Research Professor. The result was that
I drifted into Law, but I made a deter-
mination at that time, Heaven willing,
I would devote myself to the service of
the University, so that in the next genera-
tion any aspiring scholar in my position
might not drift into Law, but have full
opportunities of research to serve the
cause of Letters and Science.”
He was awarded the degree of Doc-
torate of Law in 1894. In 1909, the Brit-
ish government honoured him with the
Companion of the Order of the Star of
India (CSI) and again in 1911, he was
awarded knighthood for his immense
A letter written by Raja
Rammohan Roy to Lord
Amherst in 1823, rejecting
the government’s decision
to establish a Sanskrit
College and forcefully
advocating in favour of
scientific education was
the first milestone in
the quest for scientific
education in the country
J U N E 202 2
75
contributions in the field of education
in India.
A PATRIOT DEDICATED TO SCIENCE
The freedom struggle of various colonies
of Asia in the 19th century was marked
by three trends: (i) Liberal reformist
model, (ii) Nationalism along with pro-
active militant model and (iii) National-
ism based on self-reliant development or
Constructive Nationalism.
The seeds of the third model were
sown in India by Raja Rammohan
Roy (1772–1833) and Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar (1820–1891). They had re-
alised that if a nation had to be devel-
oped and freedom had to be won, then
secular science-oriented education was
absolutely necessary. In this context, the
letter written by Raja Rammohan Roy
on 11 December 1823 to Lord Amherst,
rejecting the government’s decision to es-
tablish a Sanskrit College and forcefully
advocating in favour of scientific educa-
tion was the first milestone in the quest
for scientific education in the country.
The colonial rulers paid no heed to
his appeal as they were not inclined to
impart higher education in science to
Indians. They felt that if the native In-
dians acquired excellence in science and
staged a parallel Industrial Revolution
in India with her huge natural resources,
they would gain self-sufficiency in the
production of manufactured goods, and
Britain would lose its monopoly and
huge profits in business. For example, Sir
SC I E NC E I N DI A 27
 Left: Justice Asutosh Mookerjee in 1911
Above: CV Raman was offered the Palit Professorship
when Sir Asutosh Mookerjee was the Vice Chancellor
of the Calcutta University

Charles Wood, whose ‘Despatch

of 1854’ is considered by some
as the ‘Magna Carta of English
Education in India’, candidly
commented, “If they become in-
telligent through education they
may become dangerous… these
highly educated natives are likely
to be a very discontented class
unless they are employed and we
cannot find employment for them
all… If they choose to educate
themselves, well and good, but
Above: Senate Hall, University of
I am against providing for our future
Calcutta
detractors, opponents and grumblers.” Right: Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (seated,
In 1876, Dr Mahendralal Sircar, third from left) in a group photograph
one of the great pioneers of the early with other legal luminaries of his day
science movement in India, established
the Indian Association for the Cultiva- it was a great boost for the nascent sci-
tion of Science (IACS) in Calcutta with ence movement of India. As Dr Sircar
money mainly collected through public was a close friend of Asutosh Mooker-
subscription. As an institute completely jee’s father, the young Asutosh had very
under Indian management and control, close connections with IACS right from

28 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
 75
its inception.  
Earlier in 1857, the three Universities
of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were
set up by the British rulers, mainly with
the objective of creating trained persons
who would serve as civil servants and
help the colonial rulers in their gover-
nance of India. Asutosh Mookerjee was
appointed as a member of the University
Commission in 1902 by Lord Curzon,
the then Governor General of India. On
31 March 1906, he was appointed as the
Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University.
A year back, Lord Curzon’s decision to
divide Bengal had given rise to nation-
wide resentment and open rebellion
against colonial rule. Asutosh Mooker-
jee was a child of the times. As a patri-
otic educationist, he worked tirelessly to
bring about an intellectual regeneration
and a nation-wide progress in education.

VICE CHANCELLOR OF CALCUTTA

UNIVERSITY
This was the most creative phase of sci-
ence movement in India under the leader-
ship of Asutosh Mookerjee. After assum-
ing the office of the Vice Chancellor, he
gradually blunted the government policy Above: Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray Laboratory, University College of Science
of official stranglehold as intended by and Technology, University of Calcutta

After assuming the office of the Vice Chancellor, Sir Asutosh

Mookerjee gradually blunted the government policy of
official stranglehold as intended by them through the much
criticised Universities Act of 1904. His first priority was to
create an atmosphere for the promotion of teaching and
research in higher studies, through the Calcutta University

them through the much criticised Uni-
versities Act of 1904. Mookerjee’s first
priority was to create an atmosphere for
the promotion of teaching and research
in higher studies, through the Calcutta
University. He, in a very diplomatic way,
reformed and reorganised the University
within the official framework. He suc-
cessfully transformed the University of
Calcutta from an examination holding,
affiliation and degree giving institution
to a vibrant centre of excellence in post-
graduate teaching and advanced research
with international reputation. He set up
postgraduate departments in various dis-
ciplines. Many eminent scholars, both
foreign and Indian, were appointed as
Professors of the newly established de-
partments. He personally supervised the
framing of the curriculum, presided over
the boards of studies in all the disciplines
and especially in the Science courses, he
tried to ensure that modern topics which
were being taught in the British Uni-
versities were included in the Calcutta
University as well. He was reappointed
as Vice-Chancellor for three successive
terms, serving in that position from 31

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 29
March 1906 to 30 March 1914. Lord
Carmichael had commented, “this was
the most important honorary office in
the gift of the Viceroy”.
As the colonial rulers were reluctant
to give financial assistance for higher
study and research in Science courses, Sir
Asutosh left no stone unturned to collect
funds. For close to 40 years, the Calcutta
University had not received any endow-
ments, as the Indian aristocracy did not
imitate the munificence of Premchand
Roychand or Prasanna Kumar Tagore.
But Sir Asutosh’s devotion to the cause
brought back confidence. The Maha-
raja of Darbhanga, Rameswar Singh and
Guruprasanna Ghosh gave some, and
later Taraknath Palit and Rashbehari
Ghosh gave huge amounts of money and
land to the University “for Promotion
and Diffusion of Scientific and Techni-
cal Education and the Cultivation and
Advancement of Science, Pure and Ap-
plied, among his countrymen”. With all
such help at his disposal, while laying the
foundation stone of the new University
College of Science in 1914, Sir Asutosh
clearly spelt out his goal and said “I trust,
I may be permitted to dwell without im-
propriety on the gratifying circumstance
that of the six Professors, fully one half
come from provinces other than Ben-
gal. We are proud indeed, to have in our
teaching body those distinguished rep-
resentatives of Madras, Bombay and the
United Provinces. No stronger testimony
is needed to emphasise the cosmopolitan
character of science, and I fervently hope
that although the College of Science is
an integral component part of the Uni- A statue of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee at the Statesman House, Kolkata
versity of Calcutta, it will be regarded
not as a provincial but as an All-India empire attracted by the excellence of the but they have done nothing to make it
College of Science to which students will instruction imparted and of the facilities burn brighter and higher.”  But after the
flock from every corner of the Indian provided for research.” University College of Science, Calcutta
Earlier in 1913, Sir Asutosh had la- University started functioning; a band
mented and remarked “Our universi- of brilliant young men took up teaching
After the University College ties have done teaching, even teaching and research as their career. Unfortu-
of Science, established by of a high type but the teaching has not
matured that particular precious fruit
nately, Sir Asutosh died prematurely in
1924 and could not see that his hopes
Sir Asutosh Mookerjee in which university teaching in the west were not belied. His favourite protégé,
1914, started functioning, bears in such increasing abundance. The Sir CV Raman, won the Nobel Prize
a band of brilliant young Indian universities have contributed ex- in Physics in 1930. Prof SN Bose, Prof
ceedingly little towards the advance and Meghnad Saha, Prof SK Mitra all re-
men took up teaching and increase of knowledge. They have acted cruited by Sir Asutosh were elected as
research as their career as faithful guardians of the sacred flame Fellows of the Royal Society of London

30 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2

for their original contributions in differ-
ent branches of Physics. Sir KS Krishnan,
who had joined the Science College as a
student, was also elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society, for his contributions in
experimental Physics. Many others such
as Ganesh Prasad, Syamadas Mukho-
padhyay, JC Ghosh, NR Sen, BB Datta,
DN Mallik and many others became
renowned scientists in their own fields.
They were all chosen by Sir Asutosh to
work in his dream University College of
Science, Calcutta University.
Sir Asutosh was connected with the
University of Calcutta for almost 34
years in various capacities — as a mem-
ber of the Senate and Syndicate (1889–
1906), as Vice Chancellor (1906–1914),
and  as Presidents of the councils of Post-
Graduate Teaching in Arts and Science
(1914-1921). He was again made the
Vice-Chancellor and President of the
councils of Post-Graduate Teaching in
The main goal of Sir Asutosh
Mookerjee’s nation-
building exercise was the
organisation of higher
education. He worked for
Calcutta University and
through that mode for all
Indian universities
Arts and Science during 1921-1923.
He was a great admirer of the German
academic traditions and especially their
University system. It may be noted that
the University of Berlin was founded in
the darkest hour of Prussia’s history. The
Universities of Heidelberg, Gottingen,
Leipzig along with Berlin could achieve
astronomical success because of the lib-
eral financial help they received from
the ruling governments. In contrast, Sir
Asutosh felt immensely handicapped in
every step because of the step-motherly
attitude of the colonial rulers.
His relationship with the govern-
ment of Bengal was gradually becoming
tense. The climax reached when Lord
Lytton, as Chancellor of the University,
ONE PATRIOT ON ANOTHER
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore
dedicated the following verses to Sir
Asutosh Mookerjee, aptly summing
up the giant genius who devoted his
life to the advancement of learning
for the progress of his countrymen.
The poet wrote:
“Once the Goddess of Wisdom      years of Indian nationalism when the
Left Her own signature
Upon your name,
And you maintain Her Majesty     
In your life
Let that name of yours ever
Proclaim Her triumph
Uniting your memory with Her service
In this Temple of Learning.”  efficiency of this University have been
offered Sir Asutosh the Vice Chancel-
lorship for another term on certain
conditions.  On 26 March 1923, after
countering the fictitious allegations
made by the Chancellor against him,
in a strongly worded letter Sir Asutosh
replied, “I am not surprised that neither
you nor your minister can tolerate me.
It may not be impossible for you to se-
cure the services of a subservient Vice
Chancellor, prepared always to carry
out the mandates of your government
and act as a spy on the Senate. He may
enjoy the confidence of your govern-
ment but he will not certainly enjoy the
confidence of the Senate and the public
of Bengal. We will watch with interest
the performances of a Vice Chancel-
lor of this type, creating a new tradi-
J U N E 202 2
75
tion for the office… I send you without
hesitation the only answer which an
honourable man can send — an answer
which you and your advisers expect
and desire. I decline the insulting of-
fer you have made to me.” Thus ended
Sir Asutosh’s long association with his
beloved alma mater.
This great son of Bengal died sud-
denly in Patna on 25 May 1924.
The iconic freedom fighter CR Das,
while paying his tribute to Sir Asutosh,
said: “...I doubt whether you can come
across a greater educationist than Sir
Asutosh Mookerjee..---- he was far
greater than merely a great education-
ist. His heart was with the nation. He
was a great builder. He tried to build
the great Indian Nation.” The main
goal of his nation-building exercise was
the organisation of higher education.
He worked for Calcutta University and
through that mode for all Indian uni-
versities. He grew up in the formative
autocratic colonial rulers insulted and
belittled India in all spheres. To Sir Asu-
tosh, his nation-building activity in the
Calcutta University was more important
than other forms of nationalistic activi-
ties. In a convocation address, he once
said: “Plans and schemes to heighten the
the subject of my day dreams........they
have haunted me in the hours of my
nightly rest.”
 
* The writer is a retired professor
of Mathematics, Gokhale Memorial
Girls’ College and Rabindra Bharati
University, Kolkata, who also served
as a Counsellor at IGNOU. An execu-
tive council member of Institute of Sci-
ence, Education and Culture, Kolkata,
she has more than 45 research papers
to her credit, published in national and
international journals. An author of
two books on Physical Sciences and
Mathematics, she was awarded the
‘Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memo-
rial Gold Medal’ and a citation by
the ‘Global Economic Progress and
Research Association’ of India for her
excellence and contributions in the
field of ‘History of Science’.
SC I E NC E I N DI A 31

Image Courtesy: Internet
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Throwback to ISRO’s
Early, Tentative Steps
A scientist assigned to
build the two payloads
for Bhaskara-I, India’s
first experimental
Remote Sensing
Satellite, relives the thrill
32 SC I E NC E I N DI A
n Suresh Naik
F
orty-three years ago on 7 June
1979, with the launch of Bhas-
kara-I satellite, began the great
era of space-based remote sensing in In-
dia. This is a first-hand account of the
J U N E 202 2
India’s first
experimental Remote
Sensing Satellite,
Bhaskara-I, was
launched on
7 June 1979
Bhaskara-I  satellite’s imaging system,
the challenges faced in its making and
after the satellite’s launch.
ISRO created history in the field of
space technology by launching its first
ever indigenously made satellite named
Aryabhata in the year 1975, which was
a scientific satellite. Four years later,
ISRO took a huge step forward by
achieving another great success in June
1979. Bhaskara-I, the first experimental
remote sensing satellite built by ISRO,
was launched in the Low Earth Orbit
 75
from the erstwhile Soviet Union (pres-
ently in Russia) by the C-1 Intercosmos
Vehicle. Significantly, ISRO achieved this
big success in the very first attempt. This
satellite was named after the 7th century
great Indian mathematician, Bhaskara I.
 The remote sensing sensors system
(payloads system) of the satellite consist-
ed of two types of sensors, viz. two televi-
sion cameras that operated in the visible

Image Courtesy: profgeorgej.com

and near-infra-red spectrum and a Satel-
lite Microwave Radiometer (SAMIR).
Imageries of Bhaskara-I at 1 km spatial
resolution helped in carrying out land
use, forestry and geological studies.
SAMIR payload measured brightness
temperature at two channels in 19 GHz
and one in 22 GHz for study of ocean-
state, water vapor, liquid water content
in the atmosphere, etc.  Dr George Joseph (right), who headed the team responsible for the design and
The responsibility related to the two
payloads for Bhaskara-I satellite project
was assigned to the Space Applications
Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad; and the lead
centre for the entire spacecraft was to
be the erstwhile ISRO Satellite Centre
(presently the UR Rao Space Centre),
Bangalore. It would be interesting to go
back in time by nearly 48 years and re-
capitulate some of the developments at
the very stage of inception, taking place
at SAC, Ahmedabad.
 
GIVING SHAPE TO BHASKARA-I
In 1976, there was a wave of excitement
amongst SAC scientists with the oppor-
tunity to work on upcoming payloads
for the Bhaskara-I satellite project. I was
assigned the responsibility to lead the
activity of building the two payloads for
the satellite. I still vividly remember that
incident: Our then director, Prof Yash-
pal, called me to his office; and he said to
me, “Suresh, I have decided to give you a
new challenging responsibility of build-
ing the payloads required for Bhaskara-I.
The newly formed department for this
will be under your leadership, and so
and so building is allotted for this work.
From tomorrow, that will be your second
home!” I later found out that there were
only two people in that ‘new depart-
ment’! One was a personal assistant for
me and the other was myself!
While the design and development
development of the TV payloads for Bhaskara-I, receiving the Padma Bhushan from
the President KR Narayanan in 1999
of the TV payloads was in the hands of ties required to carry out these activities
a division headed by Dr George Joseph, had to be looked after by me. Moreover,
the design and development of SAMIR the facilities, establishment and imple-
payloads was to be looked after by Mr menting the building of payloads needed
OPN Calla’s group at the SAC. The to be started from scratch. Work began
well-known scientist Dr K Kasturiran- on a number of fronts for the project
gan (who later adorned the position of right away, including the creation of
Chairman ISRO) was the Project Direc- various new technologies, the erection of
tor. AS Kiran Kumar was one of the key laboratories, machinery, equipment, and
scientists who worked on this project recruiting and training the manpower.
with Dr George Joseph, also rose to the Once a satellite reaches its designated
position of Chairman ISRO eventually. orbit in space, it is difficult to repair it if
I had the important responsibility of a fault is found unlike in ground-based
building the two payloads at SAC. This systems. For this, it is important to main-
In 1976, there was a wave of excitement amongst SAC
Ahmedabad scientists with the opportunity to work on
upcoming payloads for the Bhaskara-I satellite project
was truly challenging as no such work tain high quality and reliability of the
had ever been done at the Ahmedabad satellite during its construction, which is
centre before, or in the whole of India. It built into it while designing. There was
involved multiple responsibilities com- not enough time or funding to establish
prising fabrication and assembly of hi-rel up-to-date laboratories/ facilities for the
space hardware, evolving and implemen- fabrication and testing of the engineer-
tation of an effective quality assurance ing model. (That time, three different
programme and testing, and evaluation models of each satellite subsystem were
and certification of the payloads. Apart made: engineering model, proto model
from these responsibilities, the challeng- and the flight model.) So, some stop-
ing work of establishing the special facili- gap arrangements had to be thought of.

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 33
Hence, there was the need for innovative
thinking in establishing facilities expedi-
tiously. Some illustrations in this regard
are given below:
ULTRA CLEAN LABORATORY
It is imperative to keep the work area en-
vironment clean (minimal air dust) dur-
ing production; because while making
electronic assemblies, if even a small
particle of dust falls on the sensitive part
of the circuit, there is a possibility of seri-
ous problems being encountered in the
functioning of the concerned equipment
in space. Adopting a ‘low cost and less
time consuming’ approach, window ACs
and laminar flow work benches fitted
with hepa (high efficiency particulate
absorbing) filters were used.  This includes a facility which simulates
Another example is the potting re-
quired for the high voltage power supply
(8 KV) to supply power to the two TV
cameras which were to be installed on
the satellite for earth observation from
space. The insulating strength of air is
reduced due to relative humidity in air.
As a result, the air flow between the two
terminals of the power supply is breached
and the current flows into the terminals.
If this happens, not only the TV cameras
but the entire satellite will be in danger. It
was decided to use a medium of polyure-
thane to prevent this. For this, a power
supply was constructed in an aluminium
vial, two wires were removed from the
terminal and polyurethane compounds
were inserted in it. After a certain period
of time (curing), this substance becomes
thick like rubber. However, care must
be taken to ensure that there is no air
bubble in the potting process; otherwise,
the same will cause arching and will have
serious consequences.
 
RELIABILITY AND QUALITY
ASSURANCE (R&QA)
Conditions in space like extreme tem-
peratures, vacuum, hazardous emissions,
etc. are extremely unfavourable for a
satellite. As mentioned earlier, repairing
these devices in space is a long way off.
Therefore, there is a need for evolution
and implementation of an effective and
stringent reliability and quality assur-
ance programme.
34 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
Presenting IRS1C
imagery to then PM
PV Narasimha Rao
(2nd from left). From
left: R Aravamudan,
Director ISAC; Dr
George Joseph, Direc-
tor SAC; Dr DP Rao,
Dy Director NRSA;
MG Chandrasekhar,
Scientific Secretary;
Dr BL Deekshatulu,
Director NRSA;
Dr K Kasturirangan,
Chairman ISRO
I would like to mention one example
about the challenges in establishing the
environment simulation test facilities.
the space environment, viz., vacuum
condition combined with hot and cold
temperatures (called thermo-vacuum fa-
cility). The thermo-vacuum test technol-
ogy of the remote sensing payload was
developed in India for the first time. The
test was to simulate the situation where
a satellite camera is taking a picture of a
scene on the surface of the earth while
moving in space. The camera should be
inside the thermo-vacuum chamber; ar-
tificial scene simulators should be placed
outside the chamber. A circular glass
window was placed in the chamber’s
wall so that the camera could see the
‘view’ from inside the chamber. There
were two challenges in this work: one
was that the glass should not cause any
distortion in the image; and, to make
the arrangement vacuum tight so as not
to affect the vacuum condition inside.
Testing technology was developed over-
coming many such challenges. Thanks to
the dedication and hard work of all the
concerned teams at SAC, the payloads
were delivered on schedule.
 
THRILLING EXPERIENCE AFTER
THE LAUNCH
At the appointed time, the satellite
Bhaskara-I was integrated with the Rus-
sian vehicle on the cosmodrome and the
countdown for the launch began. The
satellite was successfully placed in the
designated orbit. Eventually, the time
came to switch ‘on’ the TV payload.
Image Courtesy: profgeorgej.com
The tension in the control room
had reached its limit! The payload was
turned on and we missed our heartbeat!
The whole satellite began to shake and
wobble! The payload was switched ‘off’
in an instant and the satellite was placed
in ‘safe’ mode. After trying to find out
the exact cause of the breakdown, the
conclusion was what we had feared.
Arching was taking place as a trace of
air had remained at the time of potting.
After the study, we came to the con-
clusion that since there was vacuum in
space, the air bubble would be pulled
outwards and would go out after 8-9
months. It was decided to turn on the TV
payload after nine months. Finally, that
day came! Would the satellite payload
start working properly or all the hard
work would go in vain? — this was the
biggest question on top of all our minds.
Moments of thrilling drama were taking
place in space! The payload was turned
on ... and there was jubilation in the con-
trol room. Bhaskara-I TV payload was
working properly!
The onboard TV cameras transmit-
ted images that were used in hydrology
and forestry. SAMIR too transmitted
rich scientific data which was used in
ocean studies. The launch of Bhaskara-I
was the first important step which paved
the way for future launches related to
remote sensing. Also, Bhaskara-I helped
India make its mark in space.
* The writer is former Group
Director at ISRO and currently the
Chairman of International
Space Society

Image Courtesy: Shutterstock
Turbulence caused by an escalating US-China Cold War
in outer space needs attention in India
n Dr Chaitanya Giri
T
he modern world roughly runs
on an order set on international
consensus between opposing
factions. Consensus is easy to main-
tain when their capabilities do not fully
match with their ambitions. But once
the gap between aims and capabilities
narrows, especially in less understood
domains, the order experiences turbu-
lence. Turbulence caused by an esca-
lating US-China Cold War is brewing
in outer space, and needs India’s rapt
attention.
The baton of the Cold War that the
Soviet Union held for long after the
Second World War has now gone to
India: Neither
Non-Aligned, Nor
An Active Ally,
But A Prudent
Space Player
China. The Belt and Road Initiative
partners are now the new Eastern Bloc
or COMECON, and outer space is the
new arena for a technology race. How-
ever, unlike the Soviet Union, China
is motivated by nothing less than tan-
gible economic gains compared to the
simple-minded Soviet Union content
with a ‘we first syndrome’. Like the
game of ‘go,’ China intends to occupy
as many stakes as possible, from the
space economy through control on fi-
nances for innovation, aggressive merg-
ers and acquisitions, and rambunctious
space diplomacy with Chinese char-
acteristics. The Soviet-US Cold War
was limited mainly to grandstanding
through spectacular space projects.
Still, the new cold war between the US
and China is multidimensional and has
extended in outer space. It will pan out
for many decades, as is evident from
the plans set by the US Artemis Accords
and the China-led Earth-Moon Special
Economic Zone (SEZ).  like-minded partners, including Russia,
J U N E 202 2
75
SCIENCE DIPLOMACY
US-CHINA AND THE
REST OF THE WORLD
Today, the US and China swap each
other’s position in the gross domestic
product, nominal and purchasing power
parity, and rankings for the first and
second-largest position among all the
economies in the world. The third-larg-
est economies in both ranking charts
are approximately three times smaller
in size. The economic heft offers them
a power pedestal to plan their econo-
mies for the next few decades. Investing
in space capabilities is vital for them.
Most economic, political, and science
and technology pundits are vouching for
greater return on investment. The abil-
ity to invest in space more than nations
ranking below them is a good bet, as it
will endure their economic might for a
few decades. But both are not ready to
let the numbers three, four, and those
below form a unified alliance. To avert
such alliance formation, the US has
made the strategic Artemis Accords with
like-minded partners.
 Similarly, China is searching for
SC I E NC E I N DI A 35
 which has entered into an International
Lunar Research Station agreement.
However, Russia-China relations are
complicated for various simmering fac-
tors, including China’s recurrent claims
over the far-eastern port city of Vladi-
vostok. More specifically, Russia and
China had planned to visit Mars with
the Phobos-Grunt mission in 2011. The
spacecraft, though, never made it. The
collaboration for Mars between the two
Eurasian nations came to a screeching
halt and has not restarted yet.
India has formidable space capa-

Image Courtesy: Internet

bilities but has not made up its mind in
joining either of the astropolitical blocs.
Although there is no vote on the blocs,
a space-faring India will collaborate on
its own terms. However, this must not
be construed as our romantic penchant
for non-alignment.
Artemis Accords and Earth-Moon-
SEZ have nothing to do with space mili-
tarisation or weaponisation. As an aside,
in an era of fourth-generation warfare,
disregarding unassuming weapons and
their ability to create mass disruption
will be foolhardy. But any multinational
attempt to set up infrastructure in outer
space demands security apparatus — se-
curity from politically motivated attacks
or natural phenomena in space. Both
these megaprojects will certainly spawn
off a tremendous amount of security
technologies, triggering a technology
revolution in the military industry.
 
INDIA’S STRATEGY IN NEW COLD WAR
Although the importance of non-align-
ment has dwindled in India’s foreign af-
fairs, it certainly reaps both pros and
cons of its legacy. The benefit being the
ability to cut across blocs. India saw it-
self as diminutive in economic stature
Image Courtesy: Internet
India has formidable space capabilities but has not
made up its mind in joining either of the astropolitical 
blocs. Although there is no vote on the blocs, a
space-faring India will collaborate on its own terms
in the yesteryears than the Soviet Union ships with a few countries. At times,
and the US but was no pushover even like-minded countries have sabotaged
then. Its economic heft continues to be important constituents of India’s space
smaller than China and the US. Still, it program. There were times when unex-
commands far more geopolitical might pected entities went a long way in as-
today across two-thirds of the world, sisting India during its time of need. Ex-
which has acquired an attractive title pecting permanency from the cold war
— the Indo-Pacific. India cannot as- in outer space is futile. In the coming de-
sume to be a bystander to the to-dos of cades, the global space aspirations will
astropolitical cold war blocs with such gravitate around these bulky blocs and
stature. It must continue to remain au- collective might. An inattentive India
tonomous about its meta-strategy, but it may face the wrath of such gravitational
has to make a choice in the short term. turbulence. New Delhi better prepare
The option may not be to sit cosily in for the outer space cold war because it
any of these blocs. A pragmatic India is is charging upon us. 
also not likely to again create an incon-  
sequential starry-eyed bloc. But what *The author is a Space Policy &
it can choose to do Diplomacy Consultant at the Ministry
is chalk out short- of External Affairs’ autonomous think
term goals and at- tank, Research and Information
tain them with sur- System for Developing Countries

gical precision from (RIS), New Delhi. He has an award-

participating in such winning PhD in Astrochemistry and
massive space mega- spent his doctoral and postdoctoral
projects. years in Germany, France, Japan
India continues and the United States. He was a
to enjoy long-run- crew member of the European Space
ning space partner- Agency’s Rosetta Mission

36 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
 75
PROFILE OF THE MONTH: KAMALA SOHONIE (18 JUNE 1911 – 28 JUNE 1998)

Pathfinder for
India’s Woman
Scientists
Kamala Sohonie, the first Indian
woman to earn a science PhD,
remained undeterred in her pursuit
of science, despite facing social
taboos and even humiliation

Image Courtesy: Anil Sohonie

Kamala Sohonie
during her
tenure as faculty at
Nutrition
Research Laboratory,
Coonoor (mid-1940s)
n Ambica Vankamamidi

A
Gandhian-style dharna against
Nobel Laureate C V Raman to
gain admission into IISc, an
unbelievable short PhD thesis of just
40 typewritten pages completed in
about 16 months at Cambridge, which
received international acclaim, first In-
dian woman scientist to be conferred
with a doctorate degree, historic de-
cision to leave behind a brilliant ca-
reer for the national freedom struggle
which otherwise may have earned her
a Nobel, Rashtrapati Award for her
work on neera are just a few of the trail
blazing achievements of our very own
Kamala (Bhagvat) Sohonie.
Born on June 18, 1911 in Indore, in
present-day Madhya Pradesh, Kamala
Bhagvat was one of the first women
graduates in science in India. Many
Indian women were inspired by foreign
women missionary doctors, to earn
medical qualification. Hence, they pre-
ferred biological sciences to pure sci-
ence subjects. When women preferred
to pursue pure science streams, they
had to literally request or plead for
admissions!
ADMISSION AT IISc
Kamala Sohonie was attracted to the
field of chemistry as her father Naray-
anrao, and uncle, Madhavrao, gradu-
ated from the Tata Institute of Sciences
(the present Indian Institute of Science,
IISc) in the same field. Kamala topped
BSc at the Bombay University in 1933.
She decided to pursue research at Tata
Institute of Sciences. Sir CV Raman,
Nobel Laureate, director of the insti-
tute, refused to grant her admission.
According to various reports, the re-
fusal to grant admission was due to
gender bias. Various scholars opined
that Raman had strong social preju-
dice, and Kamala faced the same. She
was, however, adamant to do research
at the institute, and sought reasons
for her admission to be declined. She
began a Gandhian-style Satyagraha.
With no reasons to decline her admis-
sion, Raman had to relent and Kamala
was admitted to the institute.
Raman, however, allowed her ad-
mission on strict terms that were hu-
miliating. Kamala’s admission was on
probation, and her selection as a regu-
lar student would depend on her prog-
ress after one year. The progress would
have to be evaluated by the director.
She would not be allowed to work dur-
ing the day as she may distract the at-
tention of male students at work in the
same laboratory. She would have to
work for late hours in the night under
supervision of a guide. Her passion to
excel made her accept all the terms set
for her admission.
Under the guidance of Shri M
Sreenivasayya in the Department of
Biochemistry at IISc, Kamala began
her research work on characterisation
of various proteins present in milk, le-
gumes and pulses. By 1936, she had
published five papers. In 1936, she sub-

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 37

Three scientists at the Cambridge University (from left), Derek Richter, Robert Hill and Frederick G Hopkins in whose
laboratories Kamala Sohonie worked while pursuing her PhD
mitted her work on detailed analysis of
amino acid content of the NPN, and
nutrients of milk to Bombay Univer-
sity and received her MSc degree. She
was also the only woman to be work-
ing on pulse proteins at that point of
time. Her work impressed Raman, pav-
ing the way for women to work in his
lab. Lalitha Chandrasekhar in 1936,
Sunanda Bai in 1939 and Anna Mani
in 1940 are some pioneering women
scientists who joined Raman’s labora-
tory subsequently.
LAURELS AT CAMBRIDGE
Before embarking on her research pur-
suits at Cambridge, Kamala was with
the Haffkine Institute for Training,
Research and Testing at Bombay. In
1937, she joined the research group of
Derek Richter at the Biochemical and
Physiological Laboratory at Cambridge
University. Richter’s lab had identified
monoamine oxidase, and young Kama-
la had some experience in the field from
her work at Haffkine. She published
two papers on her work at Richter’s lab.
Kamala joined the group of Robert
Hill, as Richter left Cambridge. Hill
was famous for his discovery of cy-
38 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
It was at the lab of the
Nobel laureate Frederick
G Hopkins at Cambridge
University that Kamala
Sohonie submitted her PhD
thesis on the universality
of cytochrome C in the
respiration of plant tissue
tochrome C and the ‘Hill reaction’ of
photosynthesis. Encouraged by Hill,
Kamala began her study on mitochon-
drial enzyme cytochrome oxidase in
plant tissues. Her work impressed her
mentors who encouraged her to apply
for a fellowship to work at the labo-
ratory of Nobel Laureate Frederick G
Hopkins, who made a landmark dis-
covery about the importance of vita-
mins in diet. The result of the discovery
transformed the study of biochemistry
and nutrition.
Kamala won the fellowship and
joined the Hopkins lab. It was here
that she submitted her PhD thesis on
the universality of the cytochrome
C in respiration of plant tissue. Her
Images Courtesy: Internet
thesis was unique in many ways. She
completed her PhD work in about 16
months from her arrival at Cambridge.
Her thesis was in 40 typewritten pages.
Her brilliant work was acknowledged
through a grant of a PhD degree from
Cambridge University. Thus, she cre-
ated history by becoming the first wom-
an from India to have earned a PhD in
science. While at Cambridge, Kamala
came in close contact with eminent sci-
entists through a travelling fellowship
of the American Federation of Univer-
sity Women for research studies. She
was the first Indian woman to get this
scholarship.
PATRIOTISM
In 1939, Kamala took a bold decision
to leave Cambridge to participate in the
freedom movement in India. She was
highly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi
and participated in rallies in Bombay.
Had she continued at Cambridge, she
could have won a Nobel! Her decision
to return leaving a brilliant career for
the cause of freedom struggle is rare, es-
pecially when women scientists at that
time were not welcomed wholeheart-
edly by their male counterparts.  

On her return in 1939, Kamala
joined the Lady Hardinge Medical Col-
lege, New Delhi, and became head of
the newly opened Department of Bio-
chemistry. However, on not finding a
conducive atmosphere as most of her
colleagues were male, she joined the
Nutrition Research Laboratory (NRL)
at Coonoor as the Assistant Direc-
tor. Kamala’s work at Cambridge and
her passion aided her work progress
at NRL. By 1944, her group worked
and published papers on ascorbic acid,
thiamin and nicotinic acid. The focus
of her team was to bring in a system-
atic approach to improve the health of
the Indian population through proper
nourishment. Kamala subsequently
quit the NRL.
A reason for this decision could
be her marriage in 1947 to Madhav
Sohonie, an actuarial science student
at the London University. She moved
back to Bombay. Her family commit-
ments did not deter her passion for sci-
Her work at Bombay’s Royal Institute of Science involved
the characterisation of trypsin inhibitors and thiaminase
in various food sources; nutritional aspects of neera (palm
nectar); pulse and legume proteins, all of which was very
relevant to the needs of the Indian population
ence. She was selected for the post of
Professor of Biochemistry at the Roy-
al Institute of Science, Bombay. Her
work focussed on characterisation of
trypsin inhibitors and thiaminase in
various food sources; nutritional as-
pects of neera (palm nectar); pulse and
legume proteins. Her work was very
relevant with the needs of the Indian
population. Her group was also inter-
ested in finding out the nutrient content
of several regularly consumed Indian
foods. She and her group published a
series of research articles on Bombay
fish and double beans. Her work at the
institute included profiling and cata-
loguing of nutritive values of Indian
foods. This was first of its kind research
in the country.
WORK ON NEERA (PALM NECTAR)
On the suggestion of Dr Rajendra
Prasad, the first President of indepen-
dent India, Kamala researched on the
benefits of neera through a system-
atic analysis. The work established
that neera was a good source of vi-
tamin C and other vitamins, and the
presence of sulfhydryl compounds pro-
tected loss of vitamins during storage.
Her research showed that neera and
cheaply available gur were a rich source
of supplements for tribal malnourished
adolescent children and pregnant wom-
en. The results showed a significant im-
provement in their health. Kamala was
bestowed with the Rashtrapati Award
for this pioneering work. She was also
made advisor to the Aarey Milk Project
Factory, Bombay, where she developed
a protocol that prevented the curdling
of milk.
However, she was not given the post
of the director of the Royal Institute of
Science for four years. Finally, she was
appointed to the post of the Director of
the Institute, making history as the first
woman director of the institute. This
was wholeheartedly acknowledged by
Derek Richter under whom Kamala
had worked while in Cambridge.
Even after retirement in 1969, she
continued her research. She was one
J U N E 202 2
75
Image Courtesy: Anil Sohonie
Left: Kamala and her husband
Madhav Sohonie
Above: With her sons, Anil
and Jayant
of the founding members of Consumer
Guidance Society of India (CGSI) that
was initiated by nine women in 1966.
The society educated the Indian popu-
lation on the importance of consumer
rights. She also popularised science
through her writings. One of her fa-
mous works is Aahar Gatha, written
in Marathi language.
NATIONAL AWARD
Dr GV Satyavati, the first woman Di-
rector General and Chairperson of the
Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR), decided to honour Kamala
Sohonie for her pioneering work that
was not recognised in the field of sci-
ence. She invited Kamala, who was
84 years then, to receive the award
at Delhi, where a grand function was
organised in her honour. Kamala was
finally honoured with the National
Award for Excellence and Contribu-
tion to Science by ICMR. According
to Anjana Chattopadhyay in Women
Scientists in India, Kamala Sohonie
passed away in 1998.
Throughout her life, Kamala brave-
ly faced hurdles and worked passion-
ately towards her areas of interests to
benefit the society. Scientists such as
Kamala Sohonie need to be mentioned
and recognised as their lives would be
an anchor for women to conquer more
heights in their respective fields.
*The writer is Science Commu-
nicator, CSIR-Indian Institute of
Chemical Technology, Hyderabad
SC I E NC E I N DI A 39
Premises of the
Indian National
Science Academy,
New Delhi
IN FOCUS: INDIAN NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY, NEW DELHI
INSA: Nurturing and Promoting
Excellence in Science
Through its multifarious activities, the nodal science academy of the country coheres all
scientific bodies and common public together with the thread of science
n Dr Chandra Mohan Nautiyal
N
EAR the busy ITO crossing
in Delhi, one notices a seven-
storied tall building in fawn
colour, with a board ‘INSA’ in blue at
the top.  It has taken 87 years for INSA
to rise to that level. INSA can stand tall
because the foundation was strong.
The early 20th century was a time
when nationalism in India was grow-
ing.  People in all professions, fed up
with the British rule, were also yearning
40 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
for an identity. The time was the 1930s.
This was when the Nobel Prize was an-
nounced for Prof CV Raman, which
he received as a British-Indian citizen,
something that pricked him for a long
time, as he had noted.
 It was around this time that the then
British government started exploring,
with various academic and learned so-
cieties of India, the possibility of setting
up a National Research Council. This
should be seen in the backdrop of the
emergence of several giants of science
like PC Ray, JC Bose, CV Raman, Saty-
endra Nath Bose, and Meghnad Saha by
then. Srinivasa Ramanujan had already
made an imprint. So, the Indians were
not viewed as primitive, and incapable
of intellectual pursuits anymore. De-
pendence on foreign journals was also
reducing. The research journal Current
Science was started in 1932 at the initia-
tive of the likes of internationally and
highly respected Raman, Saha, Birbal
Sahni, SS Bhatnagar and others. 
The editor of the prestigious jour-
All Images Courtesy: Indian National Science Academy
nal Nature, Sir Richard Gregor vis-
ited India and the idea of establishing
a research council picked up, and was
discussed across the country. Megh-
nad Saha advocated the formation of
an academy on the pattern of the Royal
Society, London, during the Pune session
of the Indian Science Congress Associa-
tion (ISCA). It received support from LL
Fermor, the then president of ISCA and
this led to the inaugural meeting of the
National Institute of Science of India
(NISI) on 7 January 1935, which was
chaired by the new President of ISCA,

JH Hutton. Originally, it functioned
from 1, Park Street, Calcutta, which was
the headquarters of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal.  
LUMINARIES AT THE HELM
Fermor was the first president of NISI.
Meghnad Saha took over as the president
in 1937 and was followed by a string of
brilliant successors. Padma Vibhushan
SN Bose of Boson fame; Raman’s student
Padma Bhushan KS Krishnan; father of
modern statistics in India, Padma Vib-
hushan PC Mahalanobis; the architect of
Indian nuclear programme Padma Vib-
hushan Homi J Bhabha; ‘towering and
multi-faceted’ (in Kalam’s words) Padma
Vibhushan Raja Ramanna; Padma Vib-
hushan MGK Menon; Bharat Ratna
CNR Rao; Padma Bhushan SK Joshi and
Padma Vibhushan RA Mashelkar are
some of the very well-known scientists
who graced the INSA president’s chair.
Prof Menon and Dr Ramanna even
In January 1948, INSA
was made an adhering
organisation to the
International Council for
Science as the Indian
government’s representative
served as ministers for S&T with the
central government. Padma Shri Prof AK
Sood, who recently became the Principal
Scientific Advisor to the Government of
India, was INSA president during 2017-
2019 and has been succeeded by Prof
Chandrima Shaha, JC Bose Chair Dis-
tinguished Professor, National Academy
of Sciences India (NASI), at the Indian
Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata,
and former director of the National In-
stitute of Immunology, New Delhi.
A decade into its existence, NISI was
now recognised as the premier scientific
society for all branches of sciences in In-
dia in 1945. The next year, in 1946, NISI
moved to Delhi. India gained indepen-
dence in 1947, and SS Bhatnagar became
INSA President. He boldly announced,
‘In a free India, science is no longer to
A Government of India stamp commemorating Dr Daulat Singh Kothari,
president of the Indian National Science Academy in 1973
Indian Science: Transforming India, a
popular book published by INSA
be the tool of foreign imperialism, and
its two great tasks are to develop Indian
scientific talent to its utmost capacity so
that it can make a worthy contribution
to humanity’s pool of scientific thought
and knowledge, and to develop India’s
resources so that the lot of the common
man in this country may be improved.’
The spirit has been maintained.
In January 1948, INSA was made
an adhering organisation to the Inter-
75
national Council for Science (ICSU) as
the representative of the Indian govern-
ment. Soon, with grants from the now
Indian Government, NISI had its own
campus at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi, by 1951. The growth in stat-
ure continued. The name of NISI was
changed to its present name of Indian
National Science Academy (INSA) in
the year 1970.  The Department of Sci-
ence & Technology, which celebrated its
50th year in 2021, was formed in 1971
and INSA came under its umbrella as an
autonomous institution.
Some of the major objectives
of INSA are:
n Identifying, nurturing, and promoting
scientific talent and excellence in science
n Supporting research in science
n Communicating with the government
on issues interfacing science and soci-
ety, including future science, education
and research
n Advising on policies based on evidences
n Publishing research journals, books,
and white papers
n Linking with the international scien-
tific community and representing Indian
science community on international fora
 
J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 41
 ence academies, INSA is
involved in selection of
about 1500 young grad-
uating students every
year, who are supported
to work in well-equipped
laboratories during sum-
mer vacations.  I NSA
accords importance to
reaching out to the un-
reached and has started a
Raja Ramanna, best known for his role programme under which
in India’s nuclear programme during INSA Fellows and Young
its early stages, served as INSA Scientist-Medalists as
president as well
well as INYAS mem-
bers will be supported
HIGHER RESEARCH WITH INSA, if they wish to travel to
AWARDS AND HONOURS remote places and spread
The Fellowship of INSA is a much the knowledge and mes-
sought-after honour. There are about sage of science. The pro-
1000 fellows of INSA at present and in gramme has resulted in
addition, there are about 100 foreign fel- hundreds of lectures that
lows. About 16 Nobel Laureates have have especially benefitted
been INSA Fellows. In fact, the list of many young students.
INSA fellows reads like Who’s Who of The prestigious post of the INSA president INSA also conducts
Indian science! For instance, Prof Yash has been occupied by stalwarts of Indian the INSPIRE Faculty
Pal, former UGC Chairman, former DST science, such as (clockwise from top left) Selection for DST un-
Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Prasanta Chandra
Secretary, and former president, NCSTC Mahalanobis, Meghnad Saha and SN Bose der which bright young
Network, was an INSA Fellow. scientists are given ap-
Apart from the fellowship, INSA pointment as lecturers
gives away about 70 medals, oration national exposure (up to six months) to for five years. For teach-
awards, including the chairs estab- young scientists, to go abroad and work, ers, about 25 refresher courses and 150
lished. Eleven of these are named after and an opportunity of exchange of ideas lectures are organised annually.
past INSA presidents. These honours in- and collaboration with senior scientists.  
clude international awards, general med- Even within India, INSA offers fellow- INSA PUBLICATIONS
als, subject-wise medals, INSA Teacher ships to teachers to go and work at re- Standard publications form a strong pil-
Awards and medals for young scientists. search institutions and learn techniques lar of INSA’s activities. INSA publishes
The young scientists have a special and gain exposure. There are bi-lateral a unique journal by the name Indian
place in INSA’s scheme of things.  Annu- programmes like Etienne Wolff (with Journal of History of Science, in addi-
ally, INSA Medals for Young Scientists France) and Leopoldina Lecture Series tion to Proceedings of the Indian Na-
and INSA Young Historian of Science with its counterpart in Germany. tional Science Academy and the Indian
awards are presented. INSA established INSA holds important positions in Journal of Pure & Applied Mathemat-
the Indian National Young Academy many international networks like the ics. INSA also publishes books, alone
of Sciences (INYAS) in the year 2015, Association of Academies of Sciences or with international publishers, that
which is now a very vibrant organisation (AASA) and the World Academy of Sci- may not attract commercial publish-
of up to 100 young talented scientists. ences (TWAS).  ers. In recent years, in addition to well-
The International Exchange Pro- Under the INSPIRE Internship researched books on water resources,
gramme of INSA provides valuable inter- programme, along with two other sci- bio-materials, drug development, etc.,
INSA has brought out books that appeal
to students and common people. They
INSA has a special place for the young scientists, giving the include highly popular Indian Science:
INSA Medals for Young Scientists and INSA Young Historian Transforming India (Hindi version: 
Hkkjr dks cnyrk Hkkjrh; f oKku) and Vignettes for
of Science awards annually. Besides, the Indian National Success in Academia — A Guide for
Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) was established in 2015 Young Researchers.  During the Co-

42 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2

vid-19 pandemic, Host Immunity and
Vaccines: Covid-19 – A White Paper was
a welcome addition as a clear, organised
information base on the pandemic with
analysis.  Books on ethics and funding
opportunities for the students are also
highly popular. Some books have been
brought out with international publish-
ers too. A very interesting aspect is that
several of these books are available free
to download on the website (www.insa-
india.res.in).
I NSA publications are special.
Talking about science in ancient India
has become a fad now. But since much
before this new fad, INSA has been
consistently bringing out books and
a journal on science in ancient India,
which are all evidence-based, backed
by serious research. Sisyadhivrddhi-
da Tantra of Lalla is an important astro-
nomical work from the pre- Bhaskara-
II period. Now, an English translation
of this vital text is available.  across the country.
The Sulbasutras are the manuals
of an ancient cult fully established in
the time of Samhita, like the construc-
tion of altars (vedis) for sacrifices to fire.
These ancient priestly practices are sup-
posed to be very close to the origin of
mathematics in India. The book pres-
ents critical texts and translation of the
four Sulbasutras.
Quite well known is Susruta Sam-
hita: A Scientific Synopsis, which is
published with a classified account in
two parts: the first dealing with theo-
ries and practices of surgical treat-
ment, and the second with a classified ac-
count on living creatures, medicinal
plants and animal substances of vege-
table and mineral origin, medicinal and
surgical terms, appliances, instruments,
weights and measures etc. Similar-
ly, Charak Samhita has been published.
There are also books like Astronomy in
India: A Historical Perspective, A Con-
cise History of Science in India, Aryab-
hatiya of Aryabhat as a source book as
well as with commentary.
 
ENGAGING WITH THE SOCIETY
The Covid-19 pandemic impacted
outdoor activities globally, but INSA
organised a number of webinars and
Prof AK Sood (top), who recently
became the Principal Scientific
Advisor to the Government of India,
was INSA president during 2017-
2019 and has been succeeded by
Prof Chandrima Shaha (above) as
the INSA president
discussions on a variety of cutting-edge
as well as common interest topics by In-
dian and foreign experts. The academy
feels it is important that people across
the spectrum in society think about sci-
entific issues. With this in view, INSA
also organised two competitions dur-
ing the Covid-19 phase, jointly with the
Science & Engineering Research Board
(SERB). These included a photo and film
competition on ‘Science through My
Eyes’ and an essay competition on ‘Sci-
ences and Our Lives: Before and after
the Pandemic’.
Apart from these activities, the
Academy plays a very important role as
75
a think tank for science, and of a bridge
between the society and the government.
Science and technology touch the lives
of people. The academy has, in the past,
deliberated on a range of vital topics like
Genetically Modified (GM) Crops and
ethical treatment of animals, and, of
late, about ethics in research and pub-
lication, higher education and also in-
novation. The reports were prepared,
published or submitted to the relevant
governmental agencies.
INSA also contributes to and is also
signatory to many international issues
such as climate change and bio-diversity
and is currently on the International Ad-
visory Committee for International Year
of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Devel-
opment (IYBSSD) 2022. Such issues will
decide the fate of the human race on the
earth. In fact, INSA is organising a se-
ries of activities on the IYBSSD 2022
through several of its 16 local chapters
INSA has an illustrious past and is
going full steam into the future. In an
age when science and technology are
becoming more and more critical for so-
ciety, energising and invigorating science
academies is vital. Academies can pro-
vide views that are independent, in the
spirit of science and rise above narrow
considerations. An academy acts like the
Pole star or a guiding beacon to provide
direction to science and scientists, which
will ultimately benefit the society and
the nation.
 
* The writer is a scientist and
active science communicator who
superannuated from Birbal Sahni
Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow,
in 2016 as Scientist-in-Charge of its
Radiocarbon Laboratory. A product
of IIT-R and PRL, Ahmedabad, he is
an INSA Young Scientist awardee and
was Convener of NCSTC Network. 
He is associated with many science
programmes and organisations such as
Secretary, UP Academy of Sciences; as
expert for AWSAR programme,
Chairperson of National Children
Science Congress-UP (E) and
associated with activities of many
states’ Science Councils.
J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 43
BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCIPLES AND

Yoga to Tackle
PRACTICE OF YOGA
IN CARDIOVASCULAR
MEDICINE

the Largest Killer

Indranill Basu-Ray
Darshan Mehta
(Editors)
Springer

on the Planet
A new book with authors comprising who’s who of
cardiology brings spotlight on the ever-expanding
salutary role of Yoga in treating cardiovascular diseases
 
BN Gangadhar, chairman, Ethics Board
at the National Medical Council, India,
to name a few.
The book has 32 chapters with easy-
to-follow algorithms, illustrations, and
key points in each chapter. The book is
n Dr Damodar Reddy Kumbala divided into five parts: an introduction,
pathophysiology, laboratory techniques
The third portion of the book in-
troduces the reader to the frontiers of
medicine. It explains how modern-day
neuroimaging techniques have helped to
image the brain and thereby understand
the functional and anatomical differ-
ences brought about by the practice of
Yoga. Another chapter introduces the
readers to next-generation techniques
used in the world’s most advanced medi-
cal facilities to grasp and research the
ever-expanding salutary role of Yoga in
multiple disease states.
The fourth part of the book discusses

T
his is the world’s first reference
book covering the role of Yoga in
cardiovascular diseases. It details
epidemiology, physiology, pathology,
prevention, and management of cardio-
vascular diseases based on the current
scientific understanding of Yoga. Sev-
enty-five experts from four continents,
including the most notable names, con-
tributed to this work to create the world’s
first comprehensive reference literature
on yoga in cardiovascular medicine.
The authors include Dr Gregory
Fricchione, Director of the Benson-
Henry Institute for Mind Body Medi-
cine and Associate Chief of Psychiatry
at the Massachusetts General Hospital,
Harvard Medical School, Boston; Dr
Robert Schneider, Dean of the College
of Integrative Medicine, Maharishi In-
ternational University, Fairfield, USA;
Dr Keith C. Norris, Professor of Medi-
cine, UCLA Division of General Internal
Medicine, and Health Services Research;
Dr Subash Chandra Manchanda, former
chief of cardiology at the AIIMS, New
Delhi; Dr Srinath Reddy, president Pub-
lic Health Foundation of India and Dr
and imaging, management of different
cardiovascular diseases with Yoga as
a therapeutic entity, and an important
appendix. The first part introduces the
reader, who may be a non-specialist in
cardiovascular diseases. It also contains
a chapter explaining the prevalence and
spread of cardiovascular diseases world-
wide. The reader is also introduced to the
use of Yoga as complementary medicine,
given the severe limitations of modern
medicine in treating modern day epidem-
ics like cardiovascular diseases, which
are the largest killer on the planet.  showing takeaway messages.
The second portion of the book talks
about the pathophysiology of cardio-
vascular diseases and how they can be
attenuated with Yoga. This section dis-
cusses the latest medical research about
the etiology of different cardiovascular
disorders, including the dominant role
stress plays in multiple modern-day epi-
demics, including hypertension, diabe-
tes mellitus, heart attacks, and stroke. It
also explains the clinical, physiological,
and genetic basis of the diseases and how
Yoga appropriately works at multiple lev-
els to prevent and treat them.
Yoga as a preventive and therapeutic op-
tion for different cardiovascular illnesses.
This section covers all well-known heart
diseases, including high blood pressure,
high blood sugar, high blood cholesterol,
metabolic syndrome, heart failure, and
stroke. It also covers a novel chapter on
the role of Yoga in the newest epidemic
that the world faces, which is COVID.
All the diseases have been extensively
covered in its research aspects using
Yoga, with extensive diagrams, pathway
charts, and most importantly, “boxes”
The fifth section, called the appen-
dix, has three essential chapters. The first
is by an American trained vascular sur-
geon and a practicing Yoga teacher talk-
ing about the daily routine that must be
followed based on Yoga principles. One
chapter covers the medicinal and anti-
inflammatory properties of the Yogic
diet. Lastly, but very notably, a detailed
chapter on diet and nutrition according
to the Yoga philosophy.
The book has forewords written by
the country’s two most extraordinary
faces of Hinduism — Dr HR Nagendra,

44 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
Cardiovascular diseases, comprising a
variety of conditions affecting the heart,
are the largest killer of humans on earth,
but can be tackled with Yoga to an extent
as delineated in this new book

Padma Shri, and Maharaja Karan Singh,

Padma Vibhushan. Dr Nagendra writes
in his foreword, “I commend the editors
and the authors for taking this arduous
task of bringing to light the Yoga’s ben-

All Images Courtesy: Internet

efits, as evidenced by clinical studies.
This endeavor, I am confident, will entice
many clinicians and researchers to take-
up Yoga research. Moreover, it will entail
millions who practice Yoga to be assured
that their health is protected by one of
the best inventions in this universe ever
discovered by mankind.”
Dr Karan Singh writes in
his foreword, “While Yoga
as a series of postures has
become popular throughout
the world, and indeed now
we have a World Yoga Day,
it is important to remem-
ber that though all these
postures are useful, Yoga is
something deeper than only
a physical exercise. It affects
the body, the emotions, and
the mind, all three of which
need to be functioning har-
moniously. This book helps
us understand the science
behind the use of Yoga as a preventive
and therapeutic modality and is a valu-
able addition to the growing volume of
literature on various aspects of Yoga. I
commend Dr Basu Ray for his pioneering
work bringing together so many expert
views on this fascinating subject.”
Yoga practice has expanded substan-
tially in India and western countries after
UNGA declared 21st June as the Interna-
tional Day of Yoga, proposed by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. Yoga has been
practiced and promoted by many Ameri-
can physicians and researchers who
understand that it is an excellent
practice that integrates the mind,
spirit, and body via meditation and
controlled breathing. Unlike what
many “intellectuals” would try to
propagate, Yoga is not a bunch of
postures. Modern medicine has
proved its tremendous utility in pre-
venting and curing many diseases.
This book is an indispensable com-
panion for all those involved in di-
agnosing and treating heart disease.
* The writer is a Diagnostic
and Interventional Nephrolo-
gist. He is a consultant nephrologist
at Renal Associates of Baton Rouge,
Los Angeles, visiting professor at All
India Institute of Medical Sciences,
Rishikesh, and a visiting professor at
BLDEA’s Medical University, Bijapur

J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 45
DR ANNA MANI NATIONAL AWARD FOR WOMAN SCIENTIST 2020 / DR LIDITA KHANDEPARKER

Significance of Microbes in
the Realms of Diversity
Dr Lidita Khandeparker’s
research has characterised
microbial communities from
geographically close
habitats and elucidated
that the population
structure is significantly
influenced by localised
interactions
n Science India Bureau

O
ceans are the largest trans-
boundary ecosystems on the
earth and harbour a wide
gamut of micro-organisms. Dr Lidita
Khandeparker has contributed signifi-
cantly in understanding the implications
of microbes in the domain of biodiver-
sity, food web dynamics, bio-commu-
nication, the spread of pathogenic bac-
teria, and functioning of the tropical
monsoon-influenced marine environ-
ment. This has been helpful in evalu-
ating the overall health of the aquatic
ecosystem.
The microbial community structure
has a deterministic influence in the habi-
tat modulation and ecosystem function-
ing at different trophic levels leading to
a cascading effect. Dr Khandeparker
has contributed to the development of
different methods for quick detection
of microbes by utilising their protein fin-
gerprints and species-specific molecular
markers. She has been conferred with
the Dr Anna Mani National Award for
Woman Scientist, for the year 2020, by
the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govern-
ment of India, for her outstanding con-
tributions in the field of aquatic micro-
bial ecology, marine biofilms and their
relevance in the oceans.
Dr Khandeparker’s career in earth
and ocean sciences spans over two-and-
half decades. She is a Principal Scientist
at CSIR-National Institute of Ocean-
ography (CSIR-NIO), Goa. She did her
schooling from Pragati High School,
Verem in North Goa, and completed
her graduation in Chemistry (Honours)
from Dhempe College of Arts and Sci-
ence, Panaji. She followed it up with
post-graduation in Biochemistry from
the Goa Medical College. She joined
the CSIR-NIO as a Project Scientist in
1995 to pursue her research career in an
Indo-US collaborative project. She was
awarded PhD in Marine Sciences from
the Goa University in the year 2003. Dr
Left: Dr Lidita Khandeparker
Above: With her team onboard a
research vessel
Khandeparker was a visiting researcher
at the Seto Marine Biological Laborato-
ry, Kyoto University, Japan. During her
early research at CSIR-NIO and post-
doctoral research at Kyoto University,
Japan, she focused on marine biofilms.
Microorganisms form a major
component of biofilms in the aquatic
habitats and play a significant role in the
structuring of population of higher or-
ganisms (metazoa). Dr Khandeparker’s
research on biofilms has contributed
to the basic understanding of biofilm
chemistry, which plays a vital role in the
rock and mineral weathering, especially
when the microbes live in a biofilm on
their surfaces. Her studies on marine
biofilms and their relevance in microbe-
metazoa interaction have implications in
the control of biofouling, development

46 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
of eco-friendly antifouling products and
in the elucidation of their ecology. She
pointed out that microbial metabolites
have a significant role in piloting the
population of marine invertebrates to
their settlement habitats using different
biochemical signals. These contributions
were recognised by the CSIR for which
she was awarded the CSIR-Young Scien-
tist Award in the field of Earth, Atmo-
sphere, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences,
in the year 2008.
Dr Khandeparker has published over
60 research publications, authored book
chapters, and presented several research
papers at national and international con-
ferences. She is an Associate Professor at
the Academy of Scientific and Innova-
tive Research (AcSIR) and is involved in
teaching, and coordinating courses re-
lated to Marine Ecology, Microbiology,
Biotechnology, and Biological Oceanog-
raphy. She is a recognised research su-
pervisor at the Goa University and has
guided several PhD students.
Dr Khandeparker played a promi-
nent role in the CSIR XII five-year plan
project, titled ‘Ocean Science Towards
Forecasting Indian Marine Living Re-
source Potential (Ocean Finder)’. Under
this project, mesocosm experiments were
carried out for the first time in the open
ocean oligotrophic environment of the
Arabian Sea which is expected to pave
the way for a better understanding of the
ecosystem dynamics and improve the ca-
pability to forecast living resources. She
also contributed to the differentiating
bacterial populations in the open ocean
based on their physiological status to
provide important insights into food web
dynamics of the North Eastern Arabian
Sea (NEAS) by participating in several
oceanographic cruises.
She was a member of the UK-India
Education and Research Initiative (UK-
IERI) project titled ‘Development of
Methodology for Biological Assessment
of Ballast Water Management Systems’
in collaboration with the Newcastle Uni-
versity, UK.As a part of the Ballast Water
Management Program (under the Minis-
try of Shipping and Directorate General
of Shipping, India), Dr Khandeparker
has made a series of observations at dif-
Dr Khandeparker at her lab at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
ferent major ports of India to elucidate
the diversity of marine pathogenic bacte-
ria and the possibility of their transloca-
tion to alien environments.
Spread of epidemics originating from
the seas is of great concern to human
health across the globe. Her research
on monitoring of pathogenic bacteria
in different port ecosystems, including
estuaries of India, has significance in
the establishment of appropriate warn-
ing systems at the local level and man-
agement of Ship’s Ballast water from a
global context. She has been a member of
and a lead consultant for bodies evaluat-
ing the diversity of pathogenic bacteria
among the participating countries for
the ASEAN-India project titled ‘Extent
of transfer of alien invasive organisms
in South/SE Asia region by shipping’, by
the Ministry of External Affairs, Gov-
ernment of India. India and Singapore
lead the project with participation from
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and
Vietnam. Under this initiative, she de-
veloped novel analytical and molecular
methods for microbial identification,
with an emphasis on pathogenic bacte-
ria. She also contributed to developing a
novel technique based on the principle of
hydrodynamic cavitation for disinfection
of seawater having potential in the treat-
ment of ship’s ballast water.
Estuaries are often surrounded
by dense human settlement, and Dr
Khandeparker has extensively worked
on the microbial ecology of the tropical
monsoon-influenced estuaries. She has
been monitoring the microbial diversity
on a daily basis for over a decade in the
J U N E 202 2
All Images Courtesy: Dr Lidita Khandeparker
Zuari estuary, Goa, and this research
provides fine resolution data on bacteria
and their pathogenic forms and strength-
ens the development of local advisory
on water quality and utilisation of the
coasts for tourism purposes. She, for the
first time, made a series of investigations
to address the influence of tides on mi-
crobial populations, and such studies
are helpful in the prediction of hazards
caused by pathogenic bacteria in the
changing climatic scenario. Further, she
could relate the influence of land run-off
on the pathogenic bacterial variations
in the surface sediments of an estuarine
environment and showed that allochtho-
nous input to the estuarine system facili-
tates bacterial production, whereas, in its
absence, the estuarine system depends on
the appearance of specific bacterial pop-
ulations to utilize the in situ production.
Analysis of environmental DNA
(eDNA) is a new and rapidly evolving
molecular genetics tool with great po-
tential to facilitate the effective moni-
toring, management, and conservation
of important aquatic bio resources. She
has unraveled the diversity of uncultured
microbes by genomic analysis of eDNA
(metagenomics) and characterised mi-
crobial communities from the coastal
environments (estuaries and ports). This
information is critical for linking envi-
ronmental changes with the functioning
of higher trophic level organisms because
many environmental impacts go via the
base of the food web. Such studies have
implications for fishery assessment and
ecosystem analyses and will pave the way
to identify strategies for the conservation
of biodiversity in the tropics.
SC I E NC E I N DI A 47
NATIONAL SCIENCE ROUNDUP
Multi-shelled dinosaur eggs
found in Madhya Pradesh
Ten dinosaur eggs in Dhar district of
Madhya Pradesh have been discov-
ered by a team of researchers from
the Delhi University. The eggs were
discovered in Dinosaur Fossil National
Park and belong to a species of Titano-
saurs, a group of sauropod dinosaurs.
Dinosaur eggs found in MP throw
new light on our understanding of
the giant, extinct creatures
Among the mix is a unique egg which
indicates that the species in India
reproduced like birds. The eggs have
been found to be one within the other,
a condition known as ovum-in-ovo
or multi-shelled eggs. This discovery
from a Titanosaurus nest suggests that
their oviduct morphology was similar
to that of the birds, opening up the
possibility for sequential laying of eggs
in this group of sauropod dinosaurs.
New spectrum sensor to improve
wireless communication
Researchers at the Indian Institute of
Technology Mandi have developed a
state-of-the-art tech for telecommu-
nications — a cooperative spectrum
sensor which enhances the reusability
of the radiofrequency spectrum, which
IIT Mandi has developed state-of-the-
art tech for wireless communication
48 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
will help improve data communication
for future wireless communication ap-
plications. The radiofrequency waves,
or “spectrum” as they are known in
the telecommunication field, are used
for wireless communication and the
wireless radiofrequency spectrum is a
limited resource allocated via licenses
by the government.
India’s first liquid-mirror telescope
India has set up its first ever interna-
tional liquid-mirror telescope (ILMT)
at the Devasthal Observatory campus
of the Aryabhatta Research Institute
of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in
Nainital, Uttarakhand. It is the largest
ILMT of Asia and has been installed
at a height 2,450 metres. It is also the
world’s first liquid-mirror telescope to
be commissioned for astronomy. The
telescope will be used to observe the
galaxies and other astronomical ele-
ments present at the edge of the world.
Indians may lose 5 years of life
due to air pollution
Chronic air pollution cuts average
global life expectancy by more than
two years per person, a study pub-
lished recently showed. More than
97% of the global population lives
in areas where air pollution exceeds
recommended levels. It is said that
if global PM2.5 levels were reduced
to five micrograms per cubic metre
recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO), average life
expectancy would rise by an average
of 2.2 years. If India doesn’t meet
the WHO guidelines, the average
Indian resident is set to lose five years
of life expectancy.
ISRO facilities will be open
for private sector
IN-SPACe is a new platform launched
with the motto to facilitate private
sector participation in the space pro-
gramme. Once private sector players
join hands with ISRO scientists, such
joint ventures will make India stronger
in the global market. As many as 60
private companies have already started
exploring avenues, while some have
started designing and manufacturing
satellite launch vehicles, space applica-
tions, PSLV rocket launchers, etc.
IISc develops miniproteins to
prevent COVID infection
Researchers at the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have de-
signed a new class of artificial peptides
or miniproteins that can render viruses
like SARS-CoV-2 inactive. According
to a study, the miniproteins can not
only block virus entry into our cells
but also clump virus particles together,
All images Courtesy: Internet
IISc researchers develop artificial
peptides to prevent COVID infection
reducing their ability to infect. The
researchers noted that a protein-
protein interaction is often like that of
a lock and a key. This interaction can
be hampered by a lab-made minipro-
tein that mimics, competes with, and
prevents the ‘key’ from binding to the
‘lock’, or vice versa.
New study to fight bacterial
infections without antibiotics
Researchers at the Institute of Na-
noscience and Technology (INST),
Mohali, have found a novel way to
treat drug-resistant bacterial infec-
tions: by inducing self-destruction
in the bacteria. This new treatment
method stemmed from a discovery
stumbled upon by the scientists at
INST: they found that some highly
infectious bacteria synthesise magnetic
nanoparticles in their cells. Taking ad-
vantage of this property, they agitated
the nanoparticles with an alternating
magnetic field to generate hyperther-
mia (excess heat) in the bacteria. The
study results indicate that the induced
heat destroyed 70-80% of the bacteria,
reducing the infection.

New breakthrough in cancer
treatment in drug trial
A group of 12 rectal cancer patients
showed no signs of a tumour after tak-
ing an antibody drug for six months,
according to an ongoing medical
trial in the US. Besides their tumours
disappearing completely, none of the
participants reported any severe side-
effects either. The patients underwent
a series of medical exams — physical,
endoscopy, bioscopy, PET scans and
MRI scans — and none of the reports
showed a tumour. All 12 patients
had a clinical complete response, with
no evidence of tumour on magnetic
resonance imaging, though longer
follow-up is needed to assess the
duration of response.
Drug developed by gene editing
could cure AIDS
A team of researchers has developed
a new vaccine using gene editing
that can cure HIV-AIDS. The team
has demonstrated initial success in
neutralising the virus with a single
vaccine developed by engineering-type
B white blood cells that activate the
immune system to produce HIV-
neutralising antibodies. The study
details the antibodies as safe, potent,
and scalable, which may be applicable
not only to infectious diseases but also
in the treatment of non-communicable
conditions, such as cancer and autoim-
mune diseases.
Ancient DNA reveals secret origin
of Black Death
Scientists have now
claimed to identify
the origins of the
bubonic plague.
Analysis of ancient
DNA of victims of
the Black Death
buried in cemeteries
on the old Silk Road
trade route in Cen- An artist’s
tral Asia has led to impression of
solving the mystery. the most fatal
pandemic in
Scientists human history,
found genetic the Black Death
fingerprints of the of 14th century
INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE ROUNDUP
bacterium Yersinia pestis in
individuals who had been buried with
tombstones, referring to a “pestilence”
at the site by Lake Issyk Kul, in what
is now Kyrgyzstan. The bacterium
was recovered from the teeth of three
women buried in a medieval
Nestorian Christian community in the
foothills of the Tian Shan mountains.
The three women likely died during
1338-1339 with the earliest deaths
documented elsewhere in the
pandemic were in 1346.
Russia and Europe could re-align on
Mars mission
Nearly two months after Europe and
Russia severed ties in space, the joint
Mars mission may be getting back on
the table. The European Space Agency
(ESA) and the Russian space agency,
Europe and Russia’s joint Mars
mission may be back on the table
Roscosmos, have held talks over the
mission that was primed to launch this
year but was a victim of Moscow’s war
in Ukraine. While the ESA is yet to
say anything officially on the matter,
they did confirm the meeting. The ESA
would consult its members following
the talks, but added that the chances
for cooperation to resume were low.
Over 8000 ancient frog bones
discovered in a ditch
Archaeologists working in the United
Kingdom have discovered over 8000
bones of ancient frogs and toads at
an iron age site. The bones have been
found in a ditch, an Iron Age round-
house at Bar Hill near Cambridge
and are being estimated to be the
remains of about 350 amphibians.
The discovery was made during the
digs in the area as part of the National
Highways improvement scheme. The
J U N E 202 2
The excavation site near Cambridge
that yielded 8000 ancient frog bones
remains were found in an area where
a settlement existed during the middle
and late Iron Age (400 BC- 43 AD).
However, the archaeologists are not
sure about the reason behind the
presence of these huge numbers of
bones in the area and are baffled
by the findings. Scientists from Mu-
seum of London Archaeology (Mola)
said, “the sheer quantity of remains,
all concentrated in one single place, is
extraordinary.”
World’s largest known plant is
4,500 years old
Researchers have discovered what is
now believed to be the largest plant in
the world. The single plant of Posido-
nia australis was discovered in the
shallow waters of the World Heritage
Area of Shark Bay in Western Austra-
lia. Analysis shows that the underwa-
ter fields of waving green seagrass are
a single organism covering 70 sq m or
180 sq km through making copies of
itself over 4,500 years.
NASA launches study of UFOs despite
‘reputational risk’
NASA is launching a study of UFOs as
part of a new push toward high-risk,
high-impact science. It is setting up
an independent team to see how much
information is publicly available on the
matter and how much more is needed
to understand the unexplained sight-
ings. The experts will also consider
how best to use all this information.
NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas
Zurbuchen acknowledged the tradi-
tional scientific community may see
NASA as “kind of selling out” by
venturing into the controversial topic,
but he strongly disagreed.
SC I E NC E I N DI A 49
BRAIN-TEASERS

QUIZ: International Day of Yoga

1. The International Day of B. Donald Trump controlling breath called? C. 18
Yoga was first celebrated in C. Narendra Modi A. Pranayama D. None of the above
which year? D. None of the above B. Mudra
A. 2014 C. Surya Namaskar 9. How many koshas do
B. 2015 4. What does the word ‘Yoga’ D. None of the above humans have as per the
C. 2016 mean? yogic system?
D. None of the above A. Relaxation 7. Who is known as the father A. 5
B. Join/Unite of Yoga for codifying all its
B. 2
2. Who of the following is C. Mindfulness aspects into Yoga Sutras?
C. 4
known as Adiyogi, or the D. None of the above A. Shiva
D. None of the above
originator of Yoga? B. Brahma
A. Brahma 5. What is the theme of Inter- C. Patanjali
B. Vishnu national Day of Yoga 2022? D. None of the above 10. Karma yoga is a branch of
C. Shiv A. Yoga for people Yoga based on the teaching of
D. Ganesh B. Yoga for well-being 8. How many steps are there which text?
C. Yoga for Humanity in Surya Namaskara or Sun A. Bhagavat Gita
3. The idea of an International D. None of the above Salutation? B. Rig Veda
Day of Yoga was proposed by? A. 6 C. Ramayana
A. Bill Gates 6. What is the technique of B. 12 D. None of the above

Enrich Yourself with Facts on World Hydrography Day

n June 21 is annually cele-
brated as the World Hydrog- n In 1921, the International

raphy Day since 2005. Hydrographic Bureau came into

existence with the sole purpose
n Hydrography is the science of providing a safe mecha-
that measures and describes nism for consultation between
the physical features of governments on matters related
the navigable portion of to safe navigation, technical
the Earth’s surface and its standards and protection.
coastal areas. Hydrogra-
phers conduct hydrographic n In 1970, the bureau’s name
surveys to measure the depth was changed to the International
and bottom configuration of Hydrographic Organization
water bodies. This is done (IHO).
mainly with specialised ships
and boats with echo sound- n Everyone is encouraged to
ers and sonars. take part in World Hydrogra-
phy Day in order to enhance
n The World Hydrography public awareness about the
Day theme for 2022 is relevance of hydrography.
Image Courtesy: Internet

“Hydrography – contribut- WHD provides opportunities

ing to the United Nations for national hydrographic of-
Ocean Decade.” The theme fices, industry partners, expert
for the year 2021 was “100 contributors, and the scientific
years of international coop- community to promote their
eration in hydrography.” work and services.

Answers : 1 (B), 2 (C), 3 (C), 4 (B), 5 (C), 6 (A), 7 (C), 8 (B), 9 (A), 10 (A)

50 SC I E NC E I N DI A J U N E 202 2
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 TEAR AWAY POSTER

Kamala Sohonie
(18 June 1911 – 28 June 1998)

“She was patriotic and actually

Image Courtesy: Internet

returned home from Cambridge to give her might to the

freedom movement. She had excellent offers from US
pharma companies, but her nationalistic spirit prevailed”
— Anil Sohonie, son of Kamala Sohonie
J U N E 202 2 SC I E NC E I N DI A 53
 THE CALENDAR
Celebrating Science This Month
JUNE 1
National Aerospace
Laboratory (NAL), India’s
largest aerospace firm, was
established by CSIR in
Delhi in 1959. It was shifted
to Bangalore in 1960.
Tata Institute of Funda-
mental Research (TIFR)
was founded in 1945, by
JRD Tata, then chairman
of the Tata Group. Nuclear
physicist Homi Bhabha, the
Father of Atomic Energy in
India, was its first director.
JUNE 2
The first AIIMS (All India
Institute of Medical Scienc-
es) was established in 1956
in New Delhi, under the All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences Act, 1956.
JUNE 3
Ruchi Ram Sahni, scientist
and educationist, passed
away in 1948. Sahni was a
pioneer meteorologist and
physicist and was the father
of renowned paleobotanist
Birbal Sahni.
JUNE 4
Darshan Ranganathan,
well-known for her work in
bio-organic chemistry, was
born in 1941. She passed
away, too, on this day in
2001 in Hyderabad.
JUNE 5
World Environment Day is
observed annually.
GSAT-19 satellite was
launched by GSLV Mk
III-D1 in 2017, from the
54 SC I E NC E I N DI A
Second Launch Pad (SLP) at
Satish Dhawan Space Cen-
tre SHAR, Sriharikota.
Manipur University was es-
tablished in 1980 under the
Manipur University Act.
JUNE 7
World Food Safety Day.
Prof MS Narasimhan, who
played a key role in the de-
velopment of mathematics
in India, was born in 1932.
He was the first chairman
of the National Board for
Higher Mathematics. He is
the only Indian to win the
King Faisal International
Prize for Science from Saudi
Arabia.
Bhaskara-I, the first ex-
perimental Remote Sensing
Satellite built in India, was
launched in 1979 by C-1 In-
tercosmos from Volgograd
Launch Station in Russia.
JUNE 12
INSAT-1D was launched in
1990 to conclude the first
generation INSAT series.
JUNE 15
DN Wadia, a pioneering
geologist in India, passed
away in 1969. He was
among the first Indian
scientists to work in the
Geological Survey of India
and is remembered for his
work on the stratigraphy of
the Himalayas.
JUNE 16
Acharya Sir Prafulla
Contributed by Surbhi Agrawal and Rajeev Singh (University of Delhi)
J U N E 202 2
Chandra Ray, known as the
Father of Indian Chemistry,
passed away in 1944.
Guru Ghasidas Vish-
wavidyalaya, the 9th state
university of undivided
Madhya Pradesh, was
established in 1983 in
Bilaspur, in present-day
Chhattisgarh. It is now a
Central University.
JUNE 18
Kamala Sohonie, who
became the first Indian
woman to receive a PhD in
a scientific discipline, was
born in 1912.
Sir Trichnopoly Chelvaraj
Anand Kumar — androlo-
gist, reproductive biologist
and the creator of the sec-
ond scientifically docu-
mented test tube baby in
India — was born in 1936.
JUNE 19
World Sickle Cell Day is
observed to raise awareness
about this genetic disorder
in which normal, round
and flexible blood cells turn
sickle-shaped, hampering
normal movement of blood
cells and oxygen they carry,
causing severe pain.
The Ariane Passenger Pay-
load Experiment (APPLE),
ISRO’s first indigenous,
experimental communica-
tion satellite, was launched
into GTO by the European
Space Agency’s Ariane-1,
V-3 rocket, from Kourou in
French Guyana in 1981.
June
2022
JUNE 20
Sir Salim Ali, known as the
‘Birdman of India’, passed
away in 1987.
JUNE 21
International Yoga Day is
observed all over the world.
World Hydgrography Day.
Summer Solstice is
observed each year on
June 21, which marks the
longest day in the northern
hemisphere with the longest
duration of sunlight.
JUNE 28
Sir Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis, the Father of
Modern Statistics in India
and founder of Indian Sta-
tistical Institute, Calcutta,
passed away in 1972.
Kamala Sohonie passed
away in 1998.
JUNE 29
Sir Asutosh Mukherjee,
prolific educator, jurist,
barrister and mathemati-
cian, was born in 1864.
Sir Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis, the Father
of Modern Statistics in
India, was born in 1893 in
Calcutta.
JUNE 30
World Asteroid Day.
Sir CNRRao, the only
living Indian scientist to be
honoured with the Bharat
Ratna, was born in 1934.
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