News and Events, NAL, Bangalore

Karnataka Rajyothsava was celebrated at NAL on 23 November 2007. The programme commenced with a melodious invocation by Dr A Vanaja and Mrs Sandhya of FRP Division. Mr Prathap Naik, President of the Kannada Samskritha Sangha (KSS) in his welcome address, introduced of the chief guests Prof J Shashidhar Prasad and Dr Geetha Ramanujam. Dr. R Ramachandra Rao the editor of ‘Kanaada’ and the vice president of KSS gave a brief glimpse of the articles written in this year’s Kanaada. Prof J Shashidhar Prasad released 33rd issue of Kanaada and Dr Geetha Ramanujam released the Kannada version of the Director’s Report 2007. This was followed by distribution of prizes to the high school and college students, mementoes and certificates to the authors of the invited articles by Prof Prasad. Dr Geetha Ramanujam gave mementoes to the authors from public and NAL.The Director NAL Dr AR Upadhya felicitated Prof J Shashidhar Prasad and Dr Geetha Ramanujam, presenting them with a shawl and mementoes. Prof Prasad in his address was nostalgic of his days in NAL way back in 1971. He appreciated the efforts of the Sangha in continuously bringing out the Kannada magazine since its inception. He cited the instance of Mysore University bringing out technical manuals and dictionaries, which has been found very useful. He also thanked the organizers for felicitating him.

Dr Geetha Ramanujam in her address thanked the organizers for recognizing her little contributions to the cause of Kannada and felicitating her. She spoke of her lack of awareness of Kannada literature till her post graduation days and how her posting in the municipal college, Holenarasipur brought up a complete change in her towards Kannada literature. She was all praise of the excellent work being done by the KSS in bringing out a scientific journal in Kannada every year.

Dr AR Upadhya in his address said that more scientific articles have to be written in Kannada, highlighting not only the scientific achievements of the day but also the importance and role of Kannada littérateurs like Dr R Bendre, T P Kailasam and DVG and the scientific contributions of Sir M. Visheweshwariah and Sir C V Raman. He also said that glory to any language came from the achievements made by the people speaking the language and hence requested everyone to do their best in their respective fields so as to bring glory and fame to the language, land and people of the state. The function concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr H S Subramanya, literary secretary of KSS.

The cultural programme in the evening began with the felicitation to the cinema artists C R Simha and Smt S Suneetha. This was followed by melodious light music programme by Smt. S Suneetha and party.

R Ramachandra Rao

National Aerospace Laboratories observed Vigilance Awareness Week 2007 from 12-16 November 2007.

As a part of Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) the employees of NAL took an oath on 12 November 2007 at 11.00 am.

Slogans related to Vigilance Awareness were displayed on all the notice boards. Essay/ Speech competitions were conducted. An interactive session, with some major contractors/ suppliers of NAL was also organized.

The valedictory function of the VAW 2007 was organized on 16 November 2007. Dr J J Isaac, presided over the function. Dr K Ramachandra, Former Director, GTRE, delivered the keynote lecture on “ Technology Readiness, Transfer, Denial and Vigilance”.

Smt. M. Vimala, Section Officer (Vigilance) compered the programme and proposed the vote of thanks.

M Vimala

The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) was established in 1959 under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NAL will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee Year during 2008-09. As a part of NAL’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, an International Conference is being organized, to create a forum to exchange information on the latest advances in aerospace science and technology and to explore networking possibilities to achieve technological advancement on a global scale. This Conference is intended to provide a platform for International R&D Organizations, Academia and Industrial Agencies to present their latest achievements and explore the possibility of deriving synergies. It will also showcase the Aerospace Technologies of NAL. The Conference will comprise of keynote addresses, invited talks, and contributed papers as well as exhibits from industries.

A website for this conference ‘International Conference on Aerospace Science and Technology’ was launched on 27 November 2007 by Dr A R Upadhya, Director, NAL. The website can be accessed at http: //www.nal.res.in/nal50/incast.

Patent No. 209238 was granted to Kumar K J S, Pourassamy A, Rajagopalan SR, Rajagopal I, Rajam KS for ‘Invention relating to the development of a machine for electrochemically assisted arc machining useful for fast cutting of billets, rods and sheets of metallic materials of various sections which are difficult to cut by conventional methods’.

A renowned biophysicist, Dr Samir K. Brahmachari, the Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He took charge as Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and DG of the CSIR on 12 November, 2007.

Before he joined the CSIR family as the Director of IGIB he was a professor at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He received M.Sc degree in Physical Chemistry form Calcutta University and Ph.D. from Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He specialises in structural biology and genome analysis. Dr Brahmachari, has spent 23 years at the IISc, Bangalore researching genetics and molecular biology. He has been involved in issues related to unethical exploitation of genetic resources from the developing world. Dr Brahmachari was also engaged in the massive international project to map the human genome.

Dr. Brahmachari, has demonstrated the structural flexibility of DNA and the role of repetitive sequences in DNA transactions much before the discovery of repeats association with genetic disorders. His work on the structural flexibility of telomeric repeat sequences is one of his well cited contributions. He has pioneered functional genomics initiative in India and has successfully led the Indian genome Variation Consortium project and presently coordinating a national network project in ‘In Silico Biology’ for drug target development. He has demonstrated association of two genes to Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Born on New year’s day in 1952, Dr Brahmachari is a recipient of several prestigious national and international awards. He has over 130 publications in leading international journals and has five patents and 10 software copyrights to his credit.

NAL welcomes Dr Brahmachari as the new Director-General, wishes him all the best and assures him all the support and cooperation as given to his predecessors.

Patent No. 208812 was granted to Dr P S Gopalakrishnan and Mr P S Lakshmi Narasimhan on 6 April 2007 for 'An Improved Process for the Manufacture of Fibrous Silicon Carbide'.

Silicon Carbide has various uses such as refractory material and grinding medium in machine industry. It is also used as high temperature ceramic material in gas turbines, rocket nozzles etc. Present invention provides industrially viable process for preparation of fibrous form of Silicon Carbide since whiskers form causes health problems. Fibrous form is also preferred as it makes a porous perform and infiltrate it with the matrix material in manufacturing composites.

The Management Committee of NAL Officer’s Club has been reconstituted with Dr M N Sathyanarayana as the Vice President, Dr A Giridhar as the Secretary, Mr C V Giriraj as the Joint Secretary and Mr R P Thangavelu as the Treasurer.

MICAV2007

NAL’s Rotary Type MAV, ‘Ragrota’ won a certificate of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs.3500 at MICAV2007, held at Agra during 21-26 October 2007.

Valedictory Function of the Familiarization Programme

Familiarisation programme for the new entrants was organised in the last week of October 2007 and first week of November 2007.

The valedictory function of the familiarization programme for the two groups was arranged on 31 October 2007 and 7 November 2007 respectively.

In the closing session, the new entrants were invited to share their experience and provide feedback about the programme. The youngsters felt the orientation programme has given them a bird’s eye view of the facilities, technologies and programmes of NAL. They all appeared to be very happy to be part of NAL. They were very appreciative of the programme specifically the meticulous arrangements chalked out by the Knowledge and Technology Management Division (KTMD).
The Adviser, Sr COA, Head KTMD and Jt. Head, KTMD advised the youngsters to take the organsiation forward with a scientific spirit and enjoy themselves in the organization.
The function ended with a vote of thanks from Mr Somanarayanan, KTMD.

Gomathy Sankaran and N Shailaja Menon

Patent No.197138 was granted to Dr P S Gopalakrishnan and Mr P S Lakshmi Narasimhan on 6 April 2007 for ‘An Improved Process for the Preparation of ß-Sialon Powder’.

The invention discloses an improved process for the preparation of ß-Sialon from naturally occurring aluminosilicates, which are cheap and abundantly available. Sialons are technologically important materials finding application in cutting tools and structural parts of combustion engines and high temperature bearings.

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