22nd Punjab Science Congress culminates at DAVIET

Jalandhar, February 9, 2019: 22nd Punjab Science Congress which was organized by DAVIET in association with IKG PTU Jalandhar under the aegis of Punjab Academy of Sciences from February 7-9, 2019 culminated here today. The theme of the congress was ‘Innovating Science & Technology in the Service of Society’. Spanning over a period of three days, 22nd Punjab Science Congress had five tracks namely Agricultural Sciences and Food and Sugar Technologies; Bioscience, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology; Pure and Applied Chemistry, Pure and Applied Physics, Mathematical Sciences and nanotechnology; Medical, Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences; All Branches of Engineering and Technology including Textile Technology and Computational Sciences. The response to the Congress was phenomenal as in three days around 350 papers were presented by renowned scientists, academicians, and researchers. Day three of the Congress began by a Plenary talk by Lt. Col. Dr.Gurpreet Inder Singh, Vice Chancellor Adesh University, Bathinda on the topic “Punjab on the Brink of Environmental Health Crisis”. In the talk he highlighted the fact that the modern day society thrives on exploitation of natural resources which has had an adverse effect on the ecosystems and the overall environment. The case of Punjab is important because it is the bread basket of the country but because of indiscriminate use of pesticides, release of industrial waste and exhausts from fossil fuels, the environment has degraded a lot. He highlighted the fact that we live in times when air, water and soil are all polluted resulting in rampant spread of chronic diseases. He emphasized that we should be committed to change our life styles so that dependence on fossil fuels should be reduced and sustainable energy options should be developed to save the environment of the state. The highlight of the 22nd Punjab Science Congress were the various awards which were presented to honour excellence. In all five young scientist awards were given. In the category of Agricultural Sciences and Food and Sugar Technologies, Ms. Prerna Thakur, Department of Vegetable Science Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Punjab, got the award. In the category of Biosciences, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Biotechnology Dr. Pooja Manchanda , Assistant Professor Molecular Genetics, School of Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, in Pure and Applied Chemistry, Pure and Applied Physics, Mathematical Sciences and Nanotechnology, Mr. Hirdesh, Research Scholar (UGC-DAECSR) Mumbai Project Fellow GNDU Amritsar, in Medical, Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Parneet Kaur Deol, Assistant professor, GHG Khalsa College of Pharmacy, Gurusar Sadhar, Ludhiana and in All branches of Engineering & Technology, including Textile Technology and Computational Sciences, Mr. Rajan Vohra, Research Scholar Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar got the Young Scientist Awards respectively. In addition to a certificate and medal, they got a cash prize of Rs7500 each for their achievement. In Poster Presentation, in the track of Agricultural Sciences and Food and Sugar Technologies, Ms Jatminder Kaur, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, in Biosciences, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Biotechnology, Ms. Sumedha Arora Ph.D. Scholar, School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, in Pure and Applied Chemistry, Pure and Applied Physics, Mathematical Sciences and Nanotechnology, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Assistant Professor, PG Department of Chemistry, DAV College Dasuya, in Medical, Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jasmine Kaur, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana and got the first prizes respectively. The winners got a cash prize of Rs 2100 each for their achievement. In the category of Research award for a rural women working in the area of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the award was won by Ms. Gagandeep Kaur and in the category of Young Scientist Award for a person for original research findings presented in Punjabi Language, the award went to Ms. Jaspreet Kaur. The Innovative Teaching Award was won by Dr. Rajiv Khosla, Assistant Professor and Advisor, Biological Sciences, DC Collegiate Sr. Secondary School, Doaba College Jalandhar and Mr. Ajay Kumar Bahri, Lecturer in Physics, Government Senior Secondary School, Kartarpur. The second Prize was won by Ms. Simarjit Kaur, TGT Science, DRB DAV Centenary School, Batala and the third prize was won by Ms. Ranju Bala, PGT Computer, DRV DAV Centenary School, Phillaur. Dr. Ajay Sharma, Vice Chancellor, IKG Punjab Technical University was the Chief Guest for the Valedictory Function. In his address he highlighted the need for quality technical education to be provided to around 14 crore young Indians by 2030. He also shared his belief that it is through advancements in science that long term solutions to the problems of society can be found out. He highlighted the initiatives taken by IKGPTU like Centralised instrumentation centre, sharing of laboratories, seed money for researchers upto 10 lak to promote scientific research in the region. Dr. Manoj Kumar, Principal DAVIET stated that in the modern day technological world, knowledge is power , hence everyone has to keep himself abreast of the latest in his respective field. Further, he shared that it is through initiatives like 22nd Punjab Science Congress that interdisciplinary collaborative solutions to multidimensional contemporary problems will be found out. Prof. N. R. Dhamiwal, Department of Chemistry, Punjabi University Patiala and Secretary, Punjab Academy of Sciences extended the vote of thanks. He expressed his happiness at the fact that the Congress invited a huge response and was a grand success. He also announced that the 23rd Punjab Science Congress will be held at SLIET Longowal. The valedictory function was attended by Prof. A.S Ahluwalia, President, Prof. T.S Thind, Vice President, Prof. N.R. Dhamiwal, Secretary, Prof. J.I.S. Khattar, Joint Seretary, Punjab Academy of Sciences, Patiala. In addition to these, the executive members of Punjab Academy of Sciences namely, Professor Tarlok Singh, Prof. Jagtar Singh, Prof. Paramvir Singh, Prof. Rajan Gaur, Prof. S.S Hundal, Prof. Manoj Kumar and Prof. Kamlesh Guleria, also attended the meeting. Chief Editor Prof. Harish Chopra, Ex-Officio Member and Prof. I.J.S. Bansal along with Organizing Committee members Dr. Sudhir Sharma, Organizing Secretary, Dr. Vinay Chopra Convenor, Dr. Neeru Malhotra and Mr. Ramandeep Singh Johal, Co-convenors of the Congress were also present during the 22nd Punjab Science Congress.