National Science Day celebration at CSIR – INSTITUTE OF MINERALS AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY

Bhubaneswar, March. 2:  CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology in its 60th diamond jubilee year celebrated National Science Day to commemorate the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman on 28 February 1928. This year the theme of national science day has been aptly chosen as ‘Global Science for Global Wellbeing.’ At CSIR-IMMT, various scientific activities were conducted.

 Like earlier years, science day lecture was delivered by Dr.SanghamitraPati, Director, ICMR-RMRC, Bhubaneswar. She delivered on a very relevant topic “Global Health Equity in Digital Era: Harnessing the role of Science and Technology” in the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Hall of CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar. On the occasion, Dr.BhagyadharBhoi, Chief Scientist enlightened the scientists, staffs and scholars about the how science is directly catering to the wellbeing of living organisms, including humans on the globe/earth.

Befitting to the national science day theme, an unique online panel discussion was organised under the flagship CSIR JIGYASA program, in which alumni of CSIR-IMMT from across the continent like USA, UK, South America (Peru), Central Asia (Israel). The panel discussion was targeted for student audience of school and colleges. Dr. Rashmita Barik, Dr.Perumal Pandurangam, Mr. Arya Das, Dr. Kamala Kanta Nanda, Dr. Swagatika Kamila, Dr. Anshuman Swain and Mr. Shreyanash Biswal participated in the panel discussion and provided their valuable response during the discussion.

 All of them are presently actitive researchers in outside India after completing their study in India. From CSIR-IMMT, Dr. Trupti Das, Dr. Bama Prasad Bag and Dr. Bikash Kumar Jena working as senior principal scientists from diverse area of research also contributed in the panel discussion. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Debi Prasad Das, Senior Principal Scientist and JIGYASA coordinator of CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar. Dr. Satyajit Rath and Bikram Parida coordinated the smooth live streaming during the unique global panel discussion. Mr. Rajesh Parishwad, Head, Public Policy, India and South Asia of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) participated in the panel discussion and provided information about various avenues of RSC for school level science education.

Dr. G Narhari Sastrty, Director, CSIR-NEIST and CSIR-IMMT also joined the panel discussion and appreciated the effort of all panellists for sparing their time and contributing to our JIGYASA activity. He also catalysed the National Science Day program through his support and guidance. The national science day program at CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar was co-ordinated by Dr.Manas K. Dalai, Principal Scientist and Dr. Manish Kumar, Principal Scientist.