DST Inspire Science Internship Camp

Jalandhar, November 3, 2015: Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar organised a DST-INSPIRE Science internship Camp till 6th Nov, 2015. Department of Science and Technology (DST) has developed an innovative programme named Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) to attract talent to the excitement and study of science at an early age and to help the country build the required critical resource pool for strengthening and expanding the S&T system and R&D base with a long term foresight. Total 188 students from different schools of Punjab participated in the camp.

On the inaugural day of the camp, Dr. Lalji Singh, Padmashri, former Vice chancellor of BHU and former Director of CCMB, Hyderabad delivered a lecture on’ Science of establishing individual identity:-Past, Present and Future’.

This was followed by an another prestigious talk by Dr. Arvind, Professor (Physics) from IISER, Mohali on’ A Glimpse into the Quantum world’. Welcoming the chief guest, Principal Dr. Gurpinder Singh Samra highlighted the necessity of such programmes to popularize core subjects of science at the basic level which can play a very important role in promotion of significant research and development. He further added that the college is always ready to take initiative in this direction. HOD Arun Dev Sharma outlined the thrust area of the course and welcomed the participants.  Dr Inderjeet conducted the stage for the session.

In afternoon, students were distributed in different labs (Biotechnology, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology) of the college for the practical Session. Practicals were conducted under the supervision of Prof. Jaswinder Kaur and Prof. Gagandeep Kaur (Department of Zoology), Prof. Bhupinderpal Singh, Prof. Vikas Kumar and Prof. Geetanjali Moudgil(Department of Chemistry), Prof. Harsharan, Prof. Gobind Ram, Prof. Inderjeet Kaur and Ms. Gurmeen (Depr. of Biotechnology), Prof. Narveer Singh, Prof. Navneet Arora and Prof. Amritpal Singh Nindrayog (Dept. of Physics) and Prof. Upma Arora (Dept. of Botany).

Dr SK Aptae mentioned that Radiations are a part of our everyday life, be it the solar or UV radiation, cosmic radiation that we are exposed to during air or space travel, or X-rays that are routinely employed for diagnosis of several of our ailments. That exposure to high levels of UV, ? and ? particles or ?-rays can be quite detrimental is well known. Not so well known are the effects of low doses of ionising radiations. Are radiations at all levels harmful to life? Then how does one explain the apparently healthy human populations living in the high background natural radiation areas of Kerala, China and Brazil? No radioactivity, ash or green house gases are released to the environment (zero discharge) in nuclear power production. But a major part of the energy, generated in nuclear fission, is continuously released, in the form of huge volumes of heated water, to nearby water bodies by operating power plants (both nuclear and non-nuclear). Can this thermal discharge adversely influence aquatic ecosystem – i.e. environment, biodiversity, food chain, fisheries etc? Several important studies have been conducted, both in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and outside DAE, to address these issues. DAE has also successfully practiced agriculture and horticulture in and around several nuclear installations in the country and used ionising radiations for crop improvement, food preservation, and diagnosis and cure of several human diseases. Highlights of these efforts will be presented with an aim to allay common man’s fears/apprehensions and misgivings about radiations and nuclear technologies, and to bring forth the environmental safety and bio-safety of nuclear power production.

Dr. Vandana Bhalla said that Supramolecular chemistry as defined by Lehn ‘chemistry beyond the molecule’ aims at the design and synthesis of molecules which are useful to understand and mimic nature’s specific interactions toward various guest molecules by non-covalent interactions. These non-covalent interactions are vital for preparation of various functional materials having applications as catalysts, sensors and optoelectronic devices. The presentation will explore the journey of chemistry from synthesis of molecules having covalent bonds to synthesis of macromolecules through non-covalent interactions. Importance of chemistry in day to day life will be discussed. Furthermore, discussion will be focussed on different aspect of supramolecular chemistry and connection between supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology.

On remaining days of the camp, distinguished personalities from different research sectors will come to grace the occasion. Dr. P.K. Pati (GNDU), Dr. Narinder Singh (GNDU), Dr. A.S. Ahluwalia(PU), Dr. G.S. Kocher(PAU) and Dr. Bijay Singh(PAU) will delivered lectures on their respective specialized areas of research.