February 28, when Sir CV Raman made public announcement of his discovery of the scattering of light - a scientific phenomenon which is now named after him and called the Raman Effect - in 1928, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, thus making him the first Asian to be conferred with this prestigious prize for sciences, has been rightfully declared as the National Science Day (NSD). The celebrations of NSD started from 1987, the birth centenary of Sir CV Raman. Ever since this day is celebrated all across the nation with much fanfare. Unfortunately until very recently, this day coincided with the announcement of the annual budget, and therefore the NSD was completely eclipsed by the media who used to cover only the budget news and this important day remained at most on the foot notes of most media. Fortunately ever since the change in the budget announcement day and time to 1st of February, 11 AM, the NSD has been getting some attention in the media as well. With this expectation I tried browsing the printed editions of the Times of India and Economic Times that I subscribe, and was painfully saddened to see that not even a cursory reference to the NSD was covered, notwithstanding the fact that the first citizen of India, the Honourable President of India presided over the NSD function at the Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi and internationally acclaimed Dr Gagandeep Kang delivered a lecture. It is therefore no wonder that the percentage of women in science, which incidentally was the theme for this years NSD, is as low as 15% less than half the world average of 30%. While it is the prerogative of the media what to cover and what not to, but then the neglect of science news is so very visible that it is no wonder that science does not appeal to young students. Hope the media introspects. Every one of us reap the benefits of science that accrue to us from the unending applications that science provides us as technology, which has led us to the present era of knowledge society, yet when it comes to coverage of science in media there is lot that is expected from the media.
On the occasion of the NSD, theme-based science communication activities are carried out all over the country, particularly in science centres across India and also in scientific institutions. Most of these research institutions throw open their doors to the public to see the research that they do in their labs, which were mostly considered as ivory towers. We at the Nehru Science Centre have been celebrating the NSD event annually and of all the events that we organise on this occasion, the prime attraction is the Raman Memorial Lecture, which is organised on this day. The Raman Memorial Lectures have been delivered by some of topmost Scientist’s of our country, which include among others Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Prof CNR Rao, and so also other equally distinguished scientists ; namely Prof MM Sharma, Prof Mashelkar, Prof Narlikar, Dr Kakodkar and others. This year the Raman Memorial lecture was delivered by a nonagenarian and one of the prime movers of nuclear energy programs in India, Padma Vibhushan Dr MR Srinivasan. Even at his advance age of 90 plus he enthralled the audience with his lecture that highlighted the success of Indian nuclear research besides covering general science subjects. He side stepped our request asking him to deliver his lecture seated on the chair, by standing near the podium to deliver his lecture for almost an hour until taking his seat for answering several audience questions. The entire family of Dr MR Srinivasan, his wife, daughter and son joined us for the lecture to make it a memorable event. The auditorium was jam packed and we had several students who were squatting on the floor. Dr Srinivasan, notwithstanding his tiredness was so overwhelmingly accommodative of requests from several students and teachers for a selfie.
The main celebrations of the NSD however happens at the National capital. This year, the National Science Day was celebrated in Delhi under the theme ‘Women in Science’ at the Vigyan Bhawan. The Honourable President, Ram Nath Kovind ji presented several awards for science communication and popularization as well as for women scientists. In all the Honourable President gave 21 awards under the categories, National Science and Technology and Communication Awards, Augmenting Writing Skills For Articulating Research (AWSAR) awards, SERB Women Excellence Awards and National Award For Young Woman Showing Excellence Through Application Of Technology For Societal Benefits. Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science and Technology and Smriti Irani, Minister for Women and Child Development. The program also included a special NSD lecture, which was delivered by renowned women scientist of India, Prof Gagandeep Kang, Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad. Dr Kang was recently elected as the first women FRS of India. It was an apt choice of the speaker, specially considering the theme for this years NSD - Women in science - which has been chosen for the purpose of increasing public appreciation of the scientific issues involved and motivating young girls to peruse science as their career. Dr Kang spoke on the pandemic of infectious diseases particularly highlighting the current Corona Virus outbreak and spoke on a new phenomenon which she described the ‘, Infodemic’, which is a fake information that becomes viral on the social media on matters pertaining to the diseases like the Corona Virus. She said that fake or false information on medical issues are as bad as the pandemic itself and appealed to the people to be circumspect while dealing with microbial pandemics.
Prof. Gagandeep Kang has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious fellowship of the Royal Society and in the process she has joined the illustrious company of the greatest of scientists who have been conferred with this honour and that include among others, Isaac Newton (1672), Charles Darwin (1839), Michael Faraday (1824), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Albert Einstein (1921), Francis Crick (1959), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), J C Bose (1920), C V Raman (1924), M N Saha (1927), H J Bhabha (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944) S N Bose (1958) etc. The first Indian to be conferred with this honour, however is Ardaseer Cursetjee Wadia.
The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists. Founded on the 28th, November 1660, the Royal Society was created on the 15th July, 1662 and it now boasts of some 1700 plus fellows - including the latest entrant Dr Gagandeep Kang, who has been conferred with the honour recently and will be allowed to use the post nominal title FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society). True to the spirit of this prestigious scientific body and central to its philosophy, the motto of this institution is ‘Nullius in verba’ meaning ‘Take nobody’s word for it’. Announcing the new members to its August body the current President of the Royal Society, Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan said “It is our Fellowship that has remained a constant thread and the substance from which our purpose has been realised: to use science for the benefit of humanity”.
Prof. Kang has not been new to extraordinary acclaim that she has been receiving in the recent past for her groundbreaking work. Some of the awards that Dr. Kang has been conferred with recently include; Woman Bioscientist of the Year, from the Government of India (2006); election to Fellowship of the American Academy of Microbiology (2010), the Indian Academy of Sciences (2011), National Academy of Sciences (2013), Ranbaxy Research Award (2014), the Faculty of Public Health in the UK and Dr. SC Parija Oration Award, Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (2015), and the Fellow of Indian National Science Academy and the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences (2016). The latest addition, the FRS, is another befitting honour for Dr Kang.
Prof. Gagandeep Kang is a physician scientist, who for many years worked as a Professor of Microbiology and Head of the Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences and the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Prof. Kang has made pivotal contributions to understanding the natural history of rotavirus infections as well as other enteric infections, which are important causes of mortality and morbidity in India. Dr. Kang is known for her interdisciplinary research of enteric infections among children. She has played a significant role in developing indigenous vaccines against typhoid and rotavirus in India.
Rotavirus is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, with India being one of the hardest hit countries. It is estimated that the rotavirus kills approximately 453,000 children under five years of age worldwide every year, which includes an estimated 98,000 from India. The WHO describes rotavirus as a major threat to the health of children across Southeast Asia. It is for this reason that India has launched the rotavirus vaccine as part of the national immunisation programme, inspired by the works of Dr Kang.
Dr Kang’s fellowship is pathbreaking in many ways, particularly because women in science, a domain that has largely remained patriarchal, is something which is hard to come by. This recognition for Dr Kang is sure to motivate women scientists to dedicate their lives to research and be instrumental in changing our lives, for the better. It is also hoped that the NSD with the theme Women in Science, and the celebrations that happened across the country including the lecture by Dr Kang will immensely benefit young girls to peruse science as a career.
Prof. Kang is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Translational Health Service and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Jai Hind Jai Vigyan.
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