33 honoured with India’s most-coveted science prize

Dr Aditi Sen De of Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, is the only woman among the 33 scientists who were awarded for the year 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize — India’s most coveted science and technology award — to 33 winners of past three years on the occasion of National Science Day in Delhi on Thursday.(ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize — India’s most coveted science and technology award — to 33 winners of past three years on the occasion of National Science Day in Delhi on Thursday.

Dr Aditi Sen De of Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, is the only woman among the 33 scientists who were awarded for the year 2016, 2017 and 2018.

De was given the award in the “physical sciences” category for her contributions in quantum communication. She is the only woman to receive the award in this category.The last woman scientist to receive the award was Dr Vidita Vaidya, a neuroscientist from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. She received the prize in 2015 in the “medical sciences” category.

So far, the award has gone to 16 women and 519 men.

The award was instituted in 1958 in the honour of eminent scientist Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, who was also the founder director and chief architect of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a government-funded research and development organisation, which now runs several laboratories and institutes across the country.

The prize comprising a citation and Rs 5 lakh in cash is given each year to outstanding researchers in seven disciplines.

“I feel that the science can be global but the technology should be local, suited to the needs of the people of the country. Our scientists and science organisations should not work in silos, rather they should work together to build a brighter future,” said Modi.

“If this is done, the farmer and the soldier will benefit from science and research,” he added referring to the phrase by Lal Bahadur Shastri “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” to which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had added “Jai Vigyan” and in January this year PM Modi added “Jai Anusandhan” during the Indian Science Congress, an annual event.

Addressing the scientists, Modi said, “You all live your lives in laboratories and you have a tradition of pilot projects. After the pilot, a project is made scalable. So, recently there was a pilot project, now we need to do the real thing. Earlier, it was a practice. And the real thing is: today’s winners need a standing ovation.”

The PM went on to say that scientists and scientific institutes should come together to work for India’s future. Speaking at the event, Union science minister Dr Harsh Vardhan commended CSIR for improving its global ranking. “Over the last few years, under the guidance of our prime minister, our scientists have achieved a lot, especially CSIR that was ranked number nine on a list of 1,207 institutes of the world,” he said.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/33-honoured-with-india-s-most-coveted-science-prize/story-dPSaAkYdVxw2qmXiGA439H.html ((Accessed on March 1, 2019)

National Science Day

National Science Day is celebrated all over India with great enthusiasm on 28th of February every year in order to commemorate the invention of the Raman Effect in India by the Indian physicist, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on the same day in the year 1928. For his great success in the field of science in India, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was awarded and honored with the Nobel Prize in the Physics in the year 1930.

NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY 2019

National Science Day 2019 in India will be celebrated on Thursday, the 28th of February.

National Science Day 2019 theme is – “Science for the People and People for Science”.

NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences), Bangalore will observe the day by a science exhibition which will comprise of 60 different stalls of various departments showcasing their recent research and development work. The event will also play short videos of recent and current researches which are going on at NIMHANS.

Various university and colleges will also celebrate National Science Day by various events and programs. JSSST University, Mysore will organize a series of events comprising of exhibitions, seminars, discussions and workshops. Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar will be conducting programs on National Science Day in various schools comprising of expert lectures, science exhibitions and quiz & debate competitions based on the theme “Science for the people and People for Science”.

Awards will also be given to 4 young scientists who were selected in ‘All India Augmenting Writing Skills for Articulating Research’. Cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, 50 thousand and 25 thousand will be awarded to first, second and third position, respectively. The honoring will be done during a program organised on National Science Day by the Ministry of Science of Technology on 28th February in New Delhi.

Source: https://www.indiacelebrating.com/events/national-science-day/(Accessed on March 1, 2019)

PRAYAS 2019 for FIRST YEAR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

PRAYAS: 6 MARCH, 2019

Event Co-ordinator: Asst. Prof. Ravindra Garmode
Event Co-coordinators: Asst. Prof. Arti Bhatnagar and Ms. Deepa Panakkal

Marshall Breeding: Artificial intelligence has made only a few inroads into the library sector

Marshall Breeding is one of the celebrated American library professionals known worldwide. He is an independent consultant, speaker, author, blogger and tech-expert. He is known for his expert-articles, on technological issues related to the libraries are being published in leading international periodicals. His books and articles are widely read and he has got a strong reader base globally. He has spoken on a wide range of topics in several workshops and seminars in several countries.

 Open Interview brings you Breeding’s interview with Gopakumar V. The interview was aimed at knowing the global technological trends in the libraries.

While sharing his observations on the trends, Breeding also shares his ideas and observations on the status of acceptance of artificial intelligence and robotics; level of adoption of open source software as compared to the proprietary software in terms of market share; and technological acceptance by the libraries and disparities. Being a prolific author, he gives some valuable tips for the library and information professionals who aim to excel in academic writing.

To read the full interview, visit:

https://openinterview.org/2019/02/07/marshall-breeding-artificial-intelligence-has-made-only-a-few-inroads-into-the-library-sector/ (Accessed on February 28, 2019)

Value Education Seminar for First Year Engineering students of SFIT

Value Education Seminar for First Year Engineering students

Organised by Basic Science and Humanities Department

on Friday, 22 February 2019 (10:15 to 12:15 and 2:00 to 4:00)

Seminar Title: ‘Make Each Day your Masterpiece’ Resource person: Ms Deepa Panakkal
(Sub topics: life skills like mechanisms to cope with stress, goal setting, being assertive, handling
failure, empathy and humility.)

Some key issues and concerns observed among adolescents include those relating to forming a self-

image, managing emotions, building relationships, strengthening social skills, and dealing with or

resisting peer pressure. Students at this stage are more prone and vulnerable to high risk situations

and may easily succumb to it.

How well an adolescent deals with these issues is decided by a host of factors that include their

personality, psychosocial support from the environment (that includes parents, teachers and peers),

and the life skills that they possess. Our contribution as teachers, came in the form of the value

education seminar that was organised for our First year Students.

The value education seminar was organised for all the 8 classes of first year engineering. Given the

large no. of students, the sessions were conducted in two slots for 4 classes each. The resource

Person, Ms Deepa Panakkal, focussed majorly on helping students identify and enhance upon some

of the important life skills using real time examples that were easily relatable to students. She

emphasized on how students need to focus on their ability for adaptive and positive behaviour that

would enable them to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life and also better equip

them to handle failure as a learning experience. ‘Positive behaviour’ implies that a person is forward

looking and even in difficult situations, can find a ray of hope and opportunities to find solutions.

This was one of the main messages extended to students.

The session also focussed on interpersonal skills that help people make informed decisions, solve

problems, think creatively, communicate effectively, empathize with others, and cope with

managing their lives in a healthy and productive manner. While all these capabilities were

discussed, the importance of being respectful and humble was also emphasized. Thus the session

focussed on helping students value skills that truly matter to make them not just competent

professionals but also individuals with a strong sense of values and character.

(Inputs by Ms. Deepa Panakkal, Asst. Prof. Basic Sciences and Humanities)

CELEBRATION OF MARATHI BHASHA DIWAS IN SFIT - Part 3 (Participant Entries)

Thank you for participating in the contest organized for the celebration of Marathi Bhasha Diwas 2019! And a Special Thanks to Shri. Tulshiram Kudale for the wonderful and poetic evening!!

We hope that the celebration was thoughtful and the contests worthy of participating. Our primary objective was to identify the "creative talents" in our Institute by way of this big day.

We do understand that you all were too busy in your routine jobs. So yes, we do appreciate the fact that a few of you (if not all) participated. Better some than none! 

You all were a wonderful group of participants and your positive spirit helped us make this celebration both productive and fun. Please feel free to share your feedback and gripes so that the same could be incorporated for the next year's celebration.

Once again, we thank you for being part of the Marathi Bhasha Diwas 2019!!

With regards,

Team - SFIT LIRC 

CELEBRATION OF MARATHI BHASHA DIWAS 2019 in SFIT - Part 2

Marathi Bhasha Diwas was celebrated on 27 February 2019 in St. Francis Institute of Technology with great enthusiasm. Many contests were organized a week before to celebrate the occasion. Students and faculty participated in the recitation of their poems at a get-together in the Assembly Hall of the Institute. 

Details of the participants for every segment of the contest is as follows:

Spin a Story Contest with 100 words:

1) प्रथमच..! by Asst. Prof. Sunil Pansare (In-Charge HOD, Mechanical Engineering)

2) निरोप..! by Asst. Prof. Sunil Pansare (In-Charge HOD, Mechanical Engineering)

3) खरा मानकरी by Asst. Prof. Sunil Pansare (In-Charge HOD, Mechanical Engineering)

4) विसाव्या शतकातील आनंदी by Tanmayee Gosavi (TE-ExTC A)

Pen a Poem:

1) एक होता पाकिस्तान by Vaibhavi Naik (TE-ExTC B)

2) मायबोली मराठी by Mr. Raheem Sayyad (Library Attendant)

3) कितीदा नव्याने तुला आठवावे by Ankush Patil (BE-ExTC B)

4) आई by Asst. Prof. Pradnya Rane-Sawant (Computer Engineering)

5) मैत्री म्हणजे......!! by Prof. Dr. Kavita Sonawane (HOD, Computer Engineering)

6) बाजार by Sumukh Maduskar (TE-CMPN B)

7) जास्त त्रास कशाचा?  by Vibha

Face-A-Book:

1) श्री. अच्युत गोडबोले यांचे मुसाफिर by Ms. Yashada Agarkar (Laboratory Asst., Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering)

Cook it up:

1) खांडवी by Ms. Sucheta Prabhudesai (Asst. Librarian)

2) ठिकरीची आमटी by Natasha Shinde (BE-ExTC B)

3) मांसवडी by Asst. Prof. Dr. Vaishali Jadhav (Information Technology)

Marathi Personalities:

1) महाराष्ट्र भूषण: डॉ नानासाहेब धर्मादिकारी by Mr. Vishal Acharekar (Laboratory Asst., Mechanical Engineering)

Alongwith the above contests, a book exhibition of Marathi books was organized in the Library.
Also, a page "Maharashtra Times: Pahile Paan (पहिले पान)" dedicated to Review of Books was created on our blog. This page contains reviews of books published in Maharashtra Times e-paper.