Creating a Scientific Temper Among the Citizens is as Important as Creating a Vibrant, Efficient Society: Former ISRO Chairman and Chairman of NEP Committee

Dr. K. Kasturirangan

Dr. K. V Rao Scientific Society’s 21st Annual Science Awards Presentation Held

Creating a scientific temper among the citizens is as important as creating a vibrant and efficient society: Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former Chairman ISRO and Chairman of the National Education Policy (NEP) committee

25000 students benefitted from Dr.K.V. Rao Society’s initiatives

Hyderabad August 31, 2021…….Dr. K. V. Rao Scientific Society’s 21st Annual Science Awards Presentation held online today.

Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former Chairman Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and currently Chancellor of Central University Rajasthan and NIIT University delivered the 21stAnnual Memorial Oration “My Tryst with Space and Beyond”.

Speaking on the occasion he said, he was happy to note that the society was founded by Dr. K.V. Rao, who worked for in the Department of Mines in the Nizam State and later in the Geological Survey of India, one of the oldest scientific organizations in the country.

It is interesting to note that Dr. K. V. Rao Scientific Society was formed in 2001 with a view to promote and popularise science, particularly among school children and enthuse and support young scientists in pursuit of their scientific activities said Dr. K. Kasturirangan.

Dr. K. Kasturirangan further said Creating Scientific temper which is as important as creating a vibrant society.

The Mobile Science Lab initiative of Dr KV Rao Society is is going to be equally innovative and exciting he said.

The Chairman of the National Education Policy (NEP) committee. Dr. Kasturirangan spoke about the research being done in astronomy and space science by Indian scientists and the opportunities for the students in the field are immense. He also spoke about the salient features of the New Education Policy .

The KV Rao Scientific Society had embarked on its journey of science promotion and popularization since 2001 and has been involved in encouragement of child scientists and of young scientists in pursuit of science and research. More than 25000 students got benefitted from its activities in the past 21 years. It will impact 5000 students each year in the coming years,

The Society completed 21 years of service to science. Spotting the talent and recognizing it has been the main focus of KVRSS for many years. However, in the last couple of years, recognizing the importance of mentoring, KVRSS has started activities in this direction also. The initiative was given an impetus with a couple of funding agencies coming forward to support two activities, (i) a Science Innovation Lab by Electronic Arts (EA) Hyderabad. The Innovation lab is now well equipped and ready to be used and was inaugurated on 31st by the esteemed Guest, Dr. K. Kasturirangan. (ii) a Mobile Science Lab funded by Orange County Community Fund, (OCCF) California. The mobile science lab development is under progress and we plan to commission it in a couple of months.

Dr. K. Kasturirangan presented 1st SMART(Science Meets ART) Awars and 10th SPARK Innovation Awards, 21st Annual Research Awards.

1st SMART (Science Meets ART) Awards: To celebrate the National Science Day and to let school students visualize science, a competition of drawing/ painting was conducted. A record 662 students from various schools across India participated of which 5 were selected for awards.

SMART (Science Meets ART) Awardees

1. Winner
   Bhavin Saurabh Gupta
   School: Manthan International School, Hyderabad, Telangana.
   Topic: Evolution
2. Runner – Up I
3. Avishi Bansal
   School: Delhi Public School, R K Puram, New Delhi.
   Topic: Science’s ability to Develop
4. Runner – up II
   Akshra Singh
   School: Delhi Public School, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
   Topic: Newton’s Law

10th SPARK Innovation Awards: This event is organized to stimulate the young minds of India, We received 285 projects from various schools across 19 states of India of which 40 were selected for final presentations held online. A panel of eminent scientists and science teachers judged the projects by the students. The winners and runners were given cash awards, and certificates.

Bhoutikam - Physics

1. Winners
   Joe Daniel, Teja Narasimha Rao & Gedela Bodhisatva
   SBOA School and Junior College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
   Project Title: "Electronic Security Braking System(ESBS)"
2. Runners Up I
   Aayush Bhansali
   Delhi Public School, Greater Noida, New Delhi.
   Project Title: "Super Energy Saver for Longer Battery Life and Reducing E-Waste"

Jeevanam– Biology

1. Winners
   Shashwat S Nair & Arnav Dixit
   Venkateshwar International School, New Delhi
   Project Title: "NeerSanchayan: S-shalankund (Water Conserving Smart Sink)"
2. Runner up – I
   B Anjali
   Venkateshwar International School, New Delhi.
   Project Title: “SHVAASK- The Respobuddy”

Rasayanam– Chemistry

1. Winner
   Siddhanth Singh
   Venkateshwar International School, New Delhi.
   Project Title: “Cyanobacteria Neutralizer and Ocean Cleaner (CYNOC)”
2. Runner Up - I
   Bhavay Garg &Shubham Gupta
   Maharaja Agarsain Public School, New Delhi.
   Project Title: "Pollution Check-O-Meter"

Ganitam – Math

1. Winner
   S HariniHemavarshini
   Shristi Vidyashram Senior Secondary School, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
   Project Title: "Playing with Powers"
2. Runner Up – I
   Anand Kumar Sah
   Army Public School, Raiwala Military Station, Uttarakhand
   Project Title: “T-Ratio Calculator (TRIC)”

21st Annual Research Awards: To encourage research in basic sciences the Society has instituted these awards in the broad fields of Bhoutikam, Rasayanam, Jeevanamand Ganitam. Students below the age of 30 years and actively involved in research in various states of India are given awards. This year the event was open to students from across India and 212 students participated from 22 states of India. 12 students, 3 each category received the awards.

Research Awardees

GANITAM-(MATH) Awardees

1. Winner
   Arvind Kumar
   Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
   Project Title: "Regularity of powers of quadratic sequences with applications to binomial ideals"
2. Runner Up – I
   Kousik Dhara
   Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
   Project Title: "The (n, ϵ)-pseudospectrum of an element of a Banach algebra"
3. Runner Up – II
   Kalane Sagar
   Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, Punjab.
   Project Title: "Classification of pairs of quaternionic hyperbolic isometries"

Bhoutikam - Physics -awardees

1. Winner
   Subhajit Sinha
   Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
   Project Title: “Bulk Valley Transport in Twisted Double Bilayer Graphene”
2. Runner Up I
   Leelashree S
   University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana.
   Project Title: “Structural and Magnetic Properties of Room Temperature Multiferroic Lu0.9Ho0.1FeO3”
3. Runner Up II
   Seemesh Bhaskar
   Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh
   Project Title: “Hybrid Soret Nano-assembly for Ultrasensitive Surface Plasmon-Coupled Emission and Photonic Crystal-Coupled Emission Interfaces”

Jeevanam - Biology awardees

1. Winner
   Tushna Kapoor
   Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
   Project Title: “Nanoscale indentation of plasma membrane establishes a Contractile actomyosin scaffold through selective activation of the Amphiphysin-Rho1-Dia/DAAM and Rok pathway”
2. Runner Up I
   Vinayak Sadasivam Tumuluri
   Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra.
   Project Title: “Mechanism of DNA cleavage by the endonuclease SauUSI – a major barrier to horizontal gene transfer and antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus”
3. Runner Up II
   Ujjayinee Ray
   Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka
   Project Title: "Identification and Characterization of Novel Inhibitors of Nonhomologous End Joining: Implications in DNA Double-Strand Break Repair and Cancer Therapy”

Rasanayam - Chemistry awardees

1. Winner
   Amreen Kaur Bains
   Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali, Punjab.
   Project Title:“Ni-Catalyzed Borrowing- Hydrogen Reactions via Hydrogen Atom Transfer (HAT)”
2. Runner Up I
   Pallavi Thakur
   Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad, Telangana.
   Project Title: “Cobalt Nanoparticles Dispersed Nitrogen Doped Graphitic Nano spheres based Rechargeable High Performance Zinc-Air Batteries”
3. Runner Up II
   Bidushi Sarkar
   Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka
   Project Title: “Chromium nitride nanoparticles supported on N-doped graphitic carbon heterostructure as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction”

Though the year 2020-21 has been globally stressful, KVRSS converted its programmes online and not only managed to conduct most of them, but the events were conducted for students across India. The response has been great and record number of students participated in the events

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