Science and Technology Reporter

A Quarterly Newsletter of the Haryana State Council for Science and Technology Vol. 3, No. 3 July - Sept., 2011

EDITORIAL
The Department of Science and Technology through Haryana State Council for Science & Technology, in its all out efforts to promote and popularize science in the state, is always involved in conducting various science popularization programmes for school and college students. The aim behind organization of these programmes is to generate scientific temper among general masses, particularly students. During this quarter, a Science Workshop was organized at the Saraswati rd Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Jagadhari on 3 September 2011. Dr. R.K. Kohli, Professor and Chairman, Deptt. of Botany, Punjab University, Chandigarh, who is also the first Haryana Vigyan Ratan Award recipient was invited to conduct this workshop for the science students of 11th and 12th classes of the Yamuna Nagar district. In the workshop, he explained the process of research by which a scientist identifies the problem, hypothesize, think and through experiments finds solution and communicates with the world through research publications and books. Another workshop for providing career guidance to the science students of 10th 12th classes was organized through a renowned career counselor Mrs. Usha Albuquerque of Career Smart Group, Noida at Panchkula, in which she guided the participating students about various career options after studying natural / pure sciences. Besides, a workshop on astronomy was also organized at Kurukshetra through Dr. Arvind C Ranade, scientist from Vigyan Prasar, Noida for the science teachers of the nearby schools. From this issue of the newsletter we are adding a new feature, under which we are starting an interesting column dealing with facts of science, latest about science and insights and analysis about science and technology. Hopefully, the new feature will be found interesting and will be appreciated by the readers. (Vishal Gulia)

Editorial Board
Patron :
Shri P K Das, IAS Financial Commissioner & Principal
Secretary, Science & Technology Department, Haryana and Chairman/EC, Haryana State Council for Science & Technology

Sh. Anurag Agarwal, IAS

Director General, Science & Technology Department, Haryana and Secretary/EC, Haryana State Council for Science & Technology

Editor: Vishal Gulia

Scientific Engineer (B) Deptt. of Science & Technology

Haryana, Panchkula

Members: Dr RS Hooda, Chief Scientist,

Haryana Space Application Centre Hisar Shri Rajvir Singh Scientific Engineer (A) Deptt. of Science & Technology

Haryana, Panchkula

Workshop on Careers in Sciences

The Department of Science and Technology, Haryana has organized career counseling cum awareness workshop for career options in sciences for the students of region on 30th September 2011 at Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector-15 Panchkula. In this workshop, the renowned career counselor Mrs. Usha Albuquerque of Career Smart Group, Noida has been invited for guiding the students of 10th to 12th classes about the options of higher studies in natural / pure sciences and future career opportunities after acquisition of higher qualification in science subjects besides other career opportunities. This workshop was aimed to motivate the participating students to study sciences and make it as their career. The key period for students to make serious decisions about their careers is during 10th 12th classes and accordingly this workshop has been arranged for students of these classes to have timely guidance. Mrs. Albuquerque guided the students in judging their aptitude first and then for opting the right path to choose their career. More than 250 students from various Govt. / Private schools of the region participated in the workshop. An information booklet having details like eligibility, selection procedures, top institutes of various disciplines in sciences and engineering etc. was also distributed among the participants. The workshop was inaugurated by Sh. P K Das, IAS, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Govt. of Haryana, Department of Science and Technology. On this occasion, he showed concerns that these days, most of the students are attracted towards engineering and medical courses instead of pursuing basic sciences for higher studies, which would result in acute shortage of quality science

teachers and scientists. Also, it would stand still new researches and further development of technology. He further elaborated that this workshop is a step towards motivating the students back to sciences and making them aware about future prospects in this field with the objective to reverse the declining trend towards sciences. The department will also organize more similar workshops in other districts as well. Besides, department will also take all necessary measures for improving science education in the State. On this occasion, Sh. Anurag Agarwal, IAS, Director elaborated the initiatives taken by the department in recent past to promote science education in the State. He said that there are tremendous opportunities with handsome packages after acquiring higher qualifications in sciences. He asked the participating students to take maximum benefit from the guidance of Mrs. Albuquerque and motivated them to choose science as their careers.

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

Science Workshop at Yamuna Nagar

A Science Workshop was organized at Saraswati Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Jagadhari on 3rd September 2011. In this workshop about 1000 science students of classes 11th and 12th from different Govt. and Pvt. schools and undergraduate college students of the Yamuna Nagar district participated. Dr. R.K. Kohli, Professor and Chairman, Deptt. of Botany, Punjab University, Chandigarh gave an interesting talk on the topic How to think of Research as career with least facilities. Professor Kohli motivated the young students and inspired them with a lecture on how to think of Research as career with least facilities. According to him the excitement and creativity of knowledge is unlimited in science. It is the scientist who lives after death. World-over, the society and the government approach to the scientists for finding solutions to various problems. He explained the process of research by which a scientist identifies the problem, hypothesize, think and through experiments finds solution and communicates with the world through research publications and books. After the talk, an open discussion and question answer session was held with the participants. The participants showed keen interest and asked lot of questions related to career opportunities in science. Mrs. Jagjeet Kaur, District Education Officer, Yamuna Nagar was the Chief Guest of the above workshop. Participating teachers and students appreciated the efforts made by the S c i e n c e & Te c h n o l o g y D e p a r t m e n t f o r promoting/popularization of science through organizing lecture/talk on scientific issues by eminent scientist.

Some important facts about science

Collected by: Dr.V.K. Kochhar and Dr. Sunita Kochhar
v In 1011 an Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) wrote Book of Optics describing for the first time the properties of a magnifying glass. These principles led to the invention of microscope later on. The so-called discovery of microbial life on moon was false. It was due to the fact that NASA researchers mistook bacteria from their clothing which were sticking to the Surveyor 3 camera left on the moon and recovered later by Surveyor 3 during handling. The earth's magnetism is thought to be caused by electric currents flowing through its core of molten iron and nickel. Electric motors work in the opposite way to generators. Generators send electricity through coil of wire in a magnetic field which makes the wires to move and the phenomenon is called electromagnetic induction. While in electric motors such as in cassette players the current is used to move a shaft. Conifers (giant Sequoias and pines) are the oldest trees on this planet. The oldest- Methuselah Pine growing in Western USA is about 4800 years old. v The colour of universe is beige according to a survey of red-shift emissions by 200,000 galaxies by a group of astronomers from John Hopkins University. Moon is moving away from the earth as its orbit is increasing by 3.5 cm every year. There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body laid end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times. The Great Barrier Reef is 2000 Km long and is the longest living structure on Earth. The temperature on the surface of Mercury exceeds 430C during the day and falls to minus 180C at night. The lotus seeds have the longest viability of 300-400 years. A mosquito has 27 teeth. The microwave was discovered accidentally after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate in his pocket melted.

v v

v v v v v

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

Why plastic bags are being banned all over the world? Biodegradable Alternatives.
Drs V.K. Kochhar and Sunita Kochhar Retired Deputy Directors & Heads of Biotechnology, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow When we go out for shopping for be it grocery, vegetables, clothes, stationary or any thing, delivery in plastic or simply polythene bags is taken for granted. Life without plastics in the present day routine is unthinkable. But do you know the use of plastic bags was started only in 70s and gained momentum in 80s to reach its peak in 90s and in the recent decade. But why is it that after being in use so extensively it is increasingly becoming necessary to ban the plastic bags (Fig.1.)?

Fig. 2. Structure of Polyethylene chain the major constituent of Plastic.

almost completely replaced paper bags as also plastic replaced metal, glass, timber, stone and other materials. Currently more than 500 billion or even 1 trillion plastic bags are used world wide. But how is it that after capturing the world for 3-4 decades, why the use of plastic bags is being banned or being reduced? It is due to multiple reasons such as environmental concerns, reduction in the supplies of petroleum and petroleum products and global climate change due to excessive use of petroleum products and increase of green house gases in the environment. Environmental Concerns and health hazards: It is the excessive and indiscriminate use of plastics that has resulted in environmental and health hazards. Besides that it results in huge amounts of plastic waste sticking to unexpected places and pollutes the environment (Fig. 3). Most of the plastic waste is not degradable and finds its way in water bodies and other places. Even in landfills it may take 1000 years for plastic bags to decompose. According to an estimate each person produces 572 Kg of litter per year, out of which more than half is plastic waste. USA is the biggest polluter followed by China, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, UK respectively. Unauthorized recycling units cause environmental pollution; unregulated littering of plastic bags has resulted in the choking of water ways, rivers and other water bodies all over the world. Plastic litter has been found even on most unexpected places like North and South Poles and Mount Everest. Many cattle are choked to death while grazing on litter containing plastic bags. Plastic bags are injurious to human health as well, especially

Fig.1. Common site in Indian cities, a rag picker with load of plastic bags.

Before going further into the problem of plastic bags, let us consider what are plastics made of and why did they capture the market of packing and delivery systems. Plastic bags are made of polyethylene and consist of long chains of ethylene monomers consisting of one atom of carbon and two of hydrogen (Fig.2). Ethylene is derived from petroleum and natural gas. The light weight plastics bag as we know today was the invention of a Swedish engineer Sten Gaus Thulin. He was first to develop the idea of plastic bags by simple folding, molding and cutting of plastic tubes. In 60s a patent was obtained by Celloplast Company of USA in 1965 for the first time. Soon after other companies like Mobil (famous petrochemical company) and Dixie Bag Company obtained patents of variations of this basic concept in 1977 and later on gradually the plastic bags became cheaper than paper bags due to improvement in technology and abundant and cheap petroleum supplies at that time. But it was not till 1982 that the plastic bags were started to be used on a large scale, when America's large grocery companies like Kroger and Safeway started replacing paper bags with more affordable plastic bags. From mid 80's the plastic bags

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

discouraged all over the world and many countries besides India, USA, Russia, South Africa, UK and others. Bio-degradable alternatives to plastic: Now the big question- are there any alternatives to plastic? There are biopolymers or the products made from natural sources that can be easily biodegraded can be used to make bioplastic which can be easily rolled into films to make bags. Of course there is the old paper bag which is made from the most abundant natural biopolymer the cellulose (Fig.4). The cellulose is the common biopolymer on earth and about 33% of all plant life is composed of this natural biopolymer. But paper bags occupy lot of space and are not that strong although they are bio-degradable. The cloth bag which is made from cotton and is also made of the biopolymer cellulose is another time tested alternative. Some of the other biopolymers that have been used to make films to make bags is starch-which is another naturally derived polymers of polysaccharides ie. carbohydrates. There are some other polymers like polylactic acid (PA) and polyhydroxybutyric acid (PHBA) which have also been used to make bioplastic. The researches are still going on but as yet there is still no alternative to the paper or cloth bags which is biodegradable as well as environmental friendly. Moreover the biopolymers are sustainable and are always renewable since they are made from plant sources. Sense of responsibility: Unless we realize the importance of self discipline and social responsibility it is hard to find any alternative to plastic, meantime although the scientists are still engaged in finding suitable alternatives. We have to follow the norms and as an individual responsible citizen and discharge effectively our role in society. At many public places after some functions are over, the whole ground is full of litter, plastic bags, plates, cups which show our lack of responsibility and feelings towards our duties. The day we all start realizing this and start understanding our duties, alternatives will definitely be there. This is why we need to stop the use of plastic bags as soon as possible and make it mandatory for people to bring their own eco-friendly bags to stores.

Fig.3. Plastic litter sticking to grass on the ground and even to a tree.

due to emanating gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ethylene and acetylene from burning of plastics for recycling. Some years back, the government had appointed Justice R.C. Chopra Committee that included heads of Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Boards and experts in environment and human health to go through the effects of plastics on human health and environment. The recommendations were implemented and Delhi government banned use of plastic bags. Similarly the central and other state governments including Haryana Government have banned the use of plastics bags. Fines or surcharges are being imposed on the use of plastic bags. Petroleum supplies and global climate change: During the early years the plastic bags found favour because of abundant petroleum supplies. But with the dwindling fossil fuel resources, the fossil fuels like petroleum and natural gas need to be conserved. Therefore, the diversion of precious petroleum for manufacturing plastics is being discouraged. Besides this aspect, the excessive use of fossil fuels has resulted in global warming and general climate change all over the world. Since, the excessive use of plastic products including plastic bags also ultimately results in the use of more petroleum and global climate change, the use of plastic bags is being

Fig.4. Structure of cellulose consisting of chains of glucose residues as amylose and amylopectins.

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT ASSESSMENT AND MONOTORING SYSTEM (NADAMS)

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad in association with HARSAC conducts a project on National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System. Based on the satellite data and other ancillary data on monthly basis, the agricultural drought bulletins are being generated from July to October 2011 under the project. Based on the analysis of the drought bulletin of July 2011 for Haryana, 8 districts were indicated in the alert condition, 7 districts in the

watch situation and remaining 6 districts were normal with respect to agricultural drought. This was due to scanty rainfall in the state during July month. The situation was better for the State during August as 15 districts were observed as normal and 6 districts in watch situation in the month of August. The situation had improved further during September as the agricultural situation was observed as normal throughout Haryana.

HARSAC'S M.TECH GEO-INFORMATICS COURSE GETS AICTE RECOGNITION

Realizing the importance of Geo-informatics tool for developmental planning and for sustainable management of resources Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC) in collaboration with Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology (GJUS&T) started an M.Tech. Geoinformatics programme in 2009. This course covers the study of Remote Sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), Computer Science and Information Technology. Thirty students with B.Tech or M.Sc. qualifications are admitted under this course through an entrance test organized by GJUS&T. The admissions, conduct of examinations and award of degree are managed by the University, however the classes & practical work are managed by HARSAC. An MoU for this collaboration was executed by the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Govt. of Haryana, Science & Technology Department and the ViceChancellor of GJUS&T in the presence of the then Chief Secretary on 11th August 2009 at Chandigarh. Now, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) vide ref. no. F.No.North-West/1-441580791/2011/EOA Dated: 30-08-2011 has granted its approval for the M.Tech Geoinformatics course being offered by GJUS&T and HARSAC.

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

A Tribute to Indian Scientist

Manali Kallat Vainu Bappu was born on August 10, 1927 to a senior astronomer in the Nizamiah Observatory, Hyderabad. A brilliant student throughout, Vainu Bappu not only excelled in studies but took active part in debates, sports and other extracurricular activities. However, astronomy to which he was exposed from an early age, became his passion. Being a keen amateur astronomer, even as an undergraduate, he had published papers on variable star observations. After obtaining his Masters degree in Physics from Madras University, Vainu Bappu joined the prestigious Harvard University on a scholarship. Within a few months of his arrival at Harvard, Vainu Bappu discovered a comet. This comet was named Bappu-BokNewkirk, after Bappu and his colleagues Bart Bok and Gordon Newkirk who worked out the details of this comet. He completed his Ph.D. in 1952 and joined the Palomar observatory on the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship. There, he and Colin Wilson discovered a relationship between the luminosity of particular kinds of stars and some of their spectral characteristics. This important observation came to be known as the Bappu-Wilson effect and is used to determine the luminosity and distance of these kinds of stars. He returned to India in 1953 and largely through his efforts, he set up the Uttar Pradesh State Observatory in Nainital. In 1960 he left Nainital to take over as the Director of the Kodaikanal Observatory. He modernised the facilities there and it is today an active centre of astronomical research. He however realised that the Kodaikanal Observatory was inadequate for M. K. Vainu Bappu making stellar observations and started (1927-1982) searching for a good site for a stellar observatory. As a result of his efforts, a totally indigenous 2.3 meter telescope was designed, fabricated and installed in Kavalur, Tamil Nadu. Both the telescope and the observatory were named after him when it was commissioned in 1986. He was awarded the Donhoe Comet-Medal (1949) by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, elected as Honorary Foreign Fellow of the Belgium Academy of Sciences and was an Honorary Member of the American Astronomical Society. He was elected President of the International Astronomical Union in 1979.

Six Weeks Summer Training Course on Remote Sensing &GIS for Post Graduate students from June 20 July 29, 2011
A six weeks Summer Training Course on Remote Sensing &GIS for Post Graduate students was successfully concluded on July 29, 2011. Total forty two (42) students of various universities/ colleges from all over the state participated in this course. In addition to HARSAC Scientists, resource persons from outside were also invited to deliver the lectures during this training programme. The Participants were imparted training in Visual Image Interpretation, Digital Image Processing, GIS and Global Positioning System (GPS). A project was also given to every group of three trainees. The project was related to the preparation of various thematic maps like land-use / land-cover map, landform map and Physiographic map of the Siwani area. The participants were also taken to the field for ground truth survey as well. A project report after completion of the project was also submitted by the participants. Dr. R. S. Dalal, Member Secretary, Kisan Ayog, Haryana was the chief guest on the occasion of Valedictory function and also distributed certificates to the participants.

Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011

KCMP organized Astronomy Workshop for science teachers

A one day 'Astronomy workshop' was organized by the Kalpana Chawla Memorial Planetarium (KCMP), Kurukshetra on 6th August 2011 at the planetarium for science teachers from different schools of Kuruksehtra and nearby areas. Workshop started with a lecture from Dr. Arvind C Ranade, Scientist from Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. In his lecture Dr. Ranade demonstrated several subjects of the practical astronomy like recognizing pole star, changes in seasons on the earth, rising of moon 50 minutes late, one phase of moon towards the earth, why there are 12 zodiac signs etc. A special session was conducted for direct interaction between the teachers and Dr. Ranade stressing on importance of astronomy in present scenario. In the workshop, astronomy kits were also distributed to the invited teachers. Sh. R K Yadav from Vigyan Prasar conducted the hands on activity session and explained the utility of astronomy kits in imparting practical knowledge to the students. Sh. Sanjeev Kumar, Educational Assistant of KCMP also explained the methods of night sky watching. An amazing night sky-view session through telescopes was conducted at the conclusion of the work-shop, in which various constellations, planets and moon were shown to the participants. It was a

thrilling experience for teachers to observe stars and planets at night through telescope. About fifty science teachers from different schools of Kurukshetra and around participated in this workshop. Further, it is worth to mention here that the KCMP which was set , up in the memory of famous astronaut and the brave daughter of Haryana, Late Dr. Kalpana Chawla, to impart education on astronomy in an informal way among students and general masses, has become an important destination for the visitors. During this quarter, it was visited by about 20,148 visitors which include 3,958 students and a revenue of Rs 4,54,480/- was generated through sale of tickets.

Trainings / Seminars / Conferences attended

Sh. Rajvir Singh, Scientific Engineer (A) and Sh. Vishal Gulia, Scientific Engineer (B) from DST, Haryana participated in the Programme on Conceptualization and Implementation of Data Center organized by the Engineering Staff College of India (ESCI), Hyderabad during 5th 7th September 2011. They also took part in the Galaxy Forum India 2011
Haryana State Council for Science & Technology, Bays 35-38, Sector 2, Panchkula, Haryana Ph. : 0172-2561339, 2560339, Fax : 0172-2560018 Website : http//dstharyana.org/

organized by the cooperation of Bangalore Association for Science Education (BASE), the Government of Karnataka's Department of Science and Technology, the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore and the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) during 8th 9th September 2011 at Bangalore.

Kindly send us your feedback to vishalgulia@gmail.com

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Published by : Vishal Gulia, Scientific Engineer (B), on behalf of Haryana State Council for Science & Technology, Panchkula
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Science and Technology Reporter, Vol. 3 (3), July-Sept., 2011