“Green Visionary” of India Dr. Prem C. Jain passes away
New Delhi : Dr. Prem C. Jain, famous for decades of service to the environment, earning him a reputation as a “green visionary” has passed away on early Thursday. He was aged 82 years.
Dr. Jain has served as adviser to the President and to the Prime Minister of India; has chaired the International Green Building Congress in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai from 2006 to 2011; and since 2007, has chaired the Indian Green Building Council. He founded the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers in 1980, and the India Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers in 1989. He also rewrote the section on air conditioning, heating and ventilation for the National Building Code of India-NBC 2005, bringing it up to the international level of codes, standards and practices.
Dr Jain who had a master’s degree and a doctorate in mechanical engineering. Upon returning to India in 1970 after post-graduate studies in the U.S., he served as a visiting professor at IIT Kanpur, where he taught post-graduate studies and set up a laboratory for environmental engineering. He has also been on the visiting faculty for the School of Planning and Architecture at Delhi University since 1973.He is known as the most admired teacher par excellence. He has been awarded the best visiting faculty award in 1990.
In addition to his academic accomplishments, Dr Jain was a business entrepreneur, founding Spectral Services Consultants Private Limited (now an AECOM company) in 1980 with the mission of providing energy-efficient, fire safe, fully-coordinated Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) services design for all varieties of planned buildings in India. The firm grew from four employees to a staff of more than 600 in 10 offices.
His name is synonymous with the science of air-conditioning and he is known as one of the most outstanding consulting engineers with design experience spanning more than 45 years. He was a Member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME-USA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA-USA), Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES-USA), International Solar Energy Society (ISES-GERMANY) and Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI-India). He has been listed in Marquis 'Who's Who in the World' from 1997 and in Marquis 'Who's Who in Science & Engineering' since 2000. He has also featured in Baron's 'Who's Who (USA)', 'The Asia 500 Leaders for the New Century' published in the USA in 2000, and in Marquis 'Who's Who in Asia' 1997. Furthermore, he has been honoured with the Rashtriya Gaurav Award at the All India Achievers' Conference in 1997. For his special merits and numerous contributions to the society, he was awarded ASHRAE's highest honour - Louise and Bill Holladay 'Distinguished Fellow' award. He is the Fellow of a large number of International Societies, namely, Institute of Refrigeration (IR-London), Institution of Engineers (IE-India), Institution of Energy Engineers (IEE India) and Indian Society of Lighting Engineers (ISLE-India).
Syed Mohamed Beary, Chairman of IGBC Bengaluru Chapter and Bearys Group has expressed shock over the demise of Dr Prem Jain. He said " Dr Jain was
the most respected Green Building figure in Asia . With his passing away, the green building movement of India has been orphaned. Now the rest of us have to work so much more harder in his absence to make his dreams to make Bharat as the world leader in green buildings".
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AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi urges ‘enter and stay’ strike on Pak, slams BJP on terror, census delay
Hyderabad, May 1 (PTI): In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said the Centre should take decisive action against Pakistan, suggesting that the response should go beyond cross-border strikes.
Speaking to reporters, the Hyderabad MP referred to a resolution passed by the Indian Parliament declaring that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is an integral part of India.
“If any action is taken this time, then it should be ‘ghar mein ghus ke baith jana’ (enter their house and stay). Earlier, it was said ‘ghar mein ghus ke maarenge’ (enter and kill), now it should be ‘enter and stay.’ That’s what should happen,” he said, responding to a question about media reports claiming that Pakistan soldiers are vacating border posts.
He added, however, that he was unaware of such reports.
Citing past terror attacks, including 26/11, Pulwama, Uri, Pathankot, and Reasi, Owaisi stressed that terrorism must be eradicated.
“All opposition parties are urging the government to end terrorism,” he said.
“You (BJP) are in power—you should put a stop to all this.”
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to determine the mode, targets, and timing of India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack.
On April 22, terrorists opened fire in Baisaran—a popular tourist spot in the upper reaches of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district—killing 26 people, mostly tourists from other states.
Owaisi also announced that the AIMIM will contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections and claimed that the people of the Seemanchal region will “teach a lesson” to those who "stole" his party’s MLAs.
He said the party has already declared its candidate for the Bahadurganj constituency and that he will address public meetings in Bihar on May 3 and 4.
“We will fight strongly this time. You’ll see that our MLA candidates will be more successful than before. The people of Seemanchal will teach a lesson to those who stole our MLAs,” he said.
The AIMIM had seen moderate success in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, contesting 20 seats and winning five—all in Seemanchal, a region with a significant Muslim population.
However, in 2022, the party suffered a major setback when all but one of its MLAs switched to the RJD, the state's main opposition party.
Commenting on the Centre’s decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming census, Owaisi said AIMIM had been demanding this since 2021.
He urged the BJP-led government to break the 50 per cent reservation ceiling and introduce a bill to that effect in the next monsoon session. “Opposition parties will support it,” he asserted.
Owaisi also said it is the BJP, the Prime Minister, and NDA allies who must answer when the census will actually begin, and whether the data will be made public before the 2029 Parliamentary elections.
