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Did Saket Saurabh win the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize?

Yes. Saket Saurabh did win the said prize in Mathematical Sciences in 2021. He is the Professor of Theoretical Computer Science at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai and an adjunct faculty at University of Bergen, Norway. He specializes in parameterized complexity, exponential algorithm, graph theory and algorithmic game theory which are different fields of computation.

We’ve seen what algorithms are. Hard algorithmic problems are dealt with in parameterized complexity. Exponential algorithm is used to sort infinite range. Graph theory deals with the study of graphs. Algorithmic game theory combines algorithmic thinking with theoretical ideas.

Saurabh got BSc (Honours) in Mathematics and MSc in Computer Science from Chennai Mathematical Institute. He did his PhD in Theoretical Computer Science from Indian Institute of Mathematical Science (IMSc) and became a faculty member later.

He had worked as a research assistant at the University of Bergen and also did post-doctoral studies there. He received a European Research Council Grant twice, and is a recipient of the 2020 ACM India Early Career Researcher Award. He was elected as a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 2020. He has also co-authored two books- Parameterized Algorithms and Kernelization: Theory of Parameterized Preprocessing.

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Why is Vijay P. Bhatkar considered a pioneer in India’s IT industry?

Have you heard of India’s first super computer, Param 8000? It was developed under the leadership of Vijay P. Bhatkar. This happened in the 80s when the U.S denied us a supercomputer. Param 8000 was the second fastest computer at that time.

Bhatkar has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri and Maharashtra Bhushan. He is the initiator of the electronics revolution in our country, and has authored several books and research papers.

He is the founder executive director of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and is now developing exascale supercomputing for India. These computers can analyze massive amount of data at unimaginable speed.

Bhatkar has played a key role in forming the Electronics Research and Development Centre (ER&DC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala (IIITM-K), the ETH Research Laboratory and International Institute of Information Technology in Pune, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation, and the India International Multiversity.

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What do we know about M.R.S. Rao?

Here is a scientist concerned about our body at the molecular level. Prof. M.R.S. Rao is the first scientist in India to initiate research on Chromatin Biology. Chromatin, if you don’t already know, is a genetic molecule made up of DNA, RNA and associated proteins. He has also made valuable contributions in studies on cancer, and in research on RNA.

He has over 100 publications and has guided 30 PhD students and many post-doctoral Fellows.

He completed BSc and MSC from Bangalore University and PhD from IISc, Bangalore. He did post-doctoral studies at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, U.S., where he also served as an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology. Later he joined IISc, Bangalore and worked as its Chairman.

He was the President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (UNCASR) for ten years. He is on the editorial board of many learned journals and has recently joined as senior member on the editorial board of The American Journal of Cancer Research.

Professor Rao has been a member/chairman of several national and international committees. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1988) and the Padma Shri (2010) are among the many prestigious awards won by him.

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Why is Dr. Jagadish Shukla famous?

Dr. Jagadish Shukla was born in a small village, Mirdha, in Uttar Pradesh. The village had no electricity, not even proper roads. The primary school did not have a building, and Jagadish Shukla had his early classes under a large banyan tree! He could not study science in high school because the schools did not include it.

He went to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and graduated in Physics, Mathematics and Geology. He did MS in Geophysics and then finished his PhD too. Later he got a ScD (Doctor of Science) in Meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He chose a career in the atmospheric sciences and became a professor at George Mason University in the U.S.

Dr. Shukla’s study areas include the Asian monsoon dynamics, deforestation and desertification. Do you know what is desertification? It is when the soil loses its quality due to weather or human activity.

Dr. Shukla helped establish weather and climate research centres in India. He also established research institutions in Brazil and the U.S. He has been with the World Climate Research Programme since its start and founded the Centre for Ocean- Land-Atmosphere Studies, Virginia, U.S.

He has also established the Gandhi College in his village for educating rural students, especially women, and was awarded Padma Shri in 2012.

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What are the achievements of T Govindaraju?

T Govindaraju has made significant contributions in the medical field. He is a professor in the Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCAR), Bengaluru. Bioorganic Chemistry uses chemical methods in the study of biological processes.

Prof. Govindaraju is from a remote village in Karnataka. As a school boy, he saw that mentally ill patients were treated cruelly. This image guided him to choose his area of research. He completed his PhD from CSIR-NCL. He then did post-doctoral research in the U.S and Germany. His research was on neuro degenerative diseases and cancer. Neuro degenerative diseases occur when cells in the central nervous system stop working.

You must have also heard about Alzheimer’s disease. This occurs when the brain becomes small and the brain cells die. Prof. Govindaraju and his team discovered a new molecule -TGR63 which could be the future drug to treat Alzheimer’s. A Delhi based pharma company has obtained the rights to do its trial runs.

Prof. Govindaraju found the similarities between Alzheimer’s disease and cancer and this led to the discovery of TGP 18, another molecule-based drug. This could be used to treat lung cancer.

He was a Humboldt research fellow in Germany and a visiting faculty at the University of Paris, France. He is also keen on raising the standards of rural schools and has been a part of outreach initiatives. He is also into bringing awareness about mental illness among school children in Karnataka and other states.

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What made Atish Dabholkar a famous theoretical physicist?

Atish Dabholkar is a theoretical physicist who researches on string theory and quantum black holes.

String theory says that reality is made up of vibrating strings that are smaller than atoms and electrons, whereas, black holes are regions in space with very heavy mass. One can say they eat up everything that enter it. Due to their high gravitational pull even light cannot escape from them. Now, quantum black holes are hypothetical tiny black holes, a concept that was introduced by Stephen Hawking.

Atish Dhabolkar is presently the Director of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. He is a graduate of IIT-Kanpur. He did PhD in theoretical physics from Princeton University, U.S. Then he did postdoctoral studies and further research at Rutgers University, Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology.

He worked as a professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. He also served as a visiting professor at Stanford University, US, and was a visiting scientist at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. He joined ICTP in 2014.

He has received many honours, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (2006). He was awarded the Chaire d’Excellence of the Agence Nationale de la Recherche in France the next year. He is also a recipient of the National Leadership award from the President of India in 2008. The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Italy, elected him as a Fellow last year.

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What are the contributions of Binoy Kumar Saikia?

In all our minds, coal is dark black and useful only for burning. Would you like to see fluorescent blue coloured coal? Well, meet this chemist from Assam who developed the technology to make blue fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from Indian coal. Binoy Kumar Saikia is a Senior Scientist at the North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat (NEIST).

The blue CQDs are nano particles, meaning very small in size, though they have high stability, good conductivity, low toxicity and are environmental friendly. They are used for various applications especially for medicine and environmental science. The CQD technology patented by Dr. Saikia helps to reduce imports from other nations.

Saikia got the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 2021. It is given for seven categories by CSIR and he alone received it in the category of Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences. Dr. Binoy Kumar Saikia was the first one from Assam who won this award after a gap of twenty years.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Jejune’?

(pronounced jih-JOON)

Meaning: This adjective is a formal word often used as a synonym of juvenile to describe things (such as behaviours, attitudes, etc.) that are immature, childish, or simplistic. It can also mean uninteresting or boring.

Origin: This term comes to us from the word ‘jejunus’ which is Latin for hungry or meagre. When English speakers first used jejune back in the 1600s, they applied it in ways that mirrored the meaning of its Latin root. However, it is speculated that this word got its current meaning when people confused it with the look-alike French word jeune ‘which means young.

Usage: Monica made jejune remarks about life and art at the party.

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What are the meaning, origin and usage of word ‘Critic’?

(pronounced as kri.tuhk)

Meaning: The word critic refers to a person who expresses an unfavourable opinion of something. It is also used to refer to a person who judges the merits of literary or artistic works, especially those who do it professionally.

Origin: The word, which was formerly spelt critick, has been around since the 1580s. It is derived from French critique, from Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos. The meaning of “one who judges merits of books, plays, etc.” is from around 1600. While the root words often have a meaning of “a judge,” the English word has always had the overtones of a “fault-finder.”

Usage:  She is the book critic for the school’s in-house magazine.

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