Scientists question removal of eminent researchers from shortlisted Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar
Leading scientists, including some from the jury, have questioned the "integrity" of the process in light of the purported removal of three eminent scientists from the pool of candidates for the newly established Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP). The scientists are Suvrat Raju, a physicist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Prateek Sharma, a physicist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru; and Suman Chakraborty of IIT Kharagpur, who received the Infosys Prize for Engineering and Computer Science in 2022.
This is RVP's first year, and 33 winners were named in four categories: Vigyan Shri for scientists of all ages, Vigyan Yuva for scientists under 45, and Vigyan Ratna for lifetime achievement. The awards are given out in collaboration with Vigyan Teams.
Following the dissolution of previous science awards, including as the highly sought-after Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for scientists under 45, the RVP was established last year; Vigyan Yuva is the prize's replacement.
The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Committee (RVPC), which is led by the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Prime Minister, receives shortlists from subject experts as part of the selection process. The RVPC then forwards its final list to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The government made the announcement of the awards on August 7. After this announcement The Indian Express disclosed that several members of the subject expert committees and the apex committee requested clarification from the government regarding the factors that might have affected the final list of recipients this year and led to the removal of certain names.
Thirty-six scientists, who were all Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award recipients, wrote to PSA Ajay Sood three weeks later on August 30 to express their concerns with the selection procedure.
The fact that two of the three scientists, Raju and Sharma, criticized IISc for abruptly calling off a discussion on UAPA last year that was supposed to be led by student activists Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, has added another twist to this dispute. Additionally, the two scientists had signed open letters regarding the Bhima Koregaon case, the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the NIA.Upon being reached, Sharma informed The Indian Express that he was unaware of the RVPC's recommendation of his name and declined to comment.
Suvrat said he noticed his name was recommended by the apex committee when he received “a congratulatory message from a senior scientist involved in the selection process who assumed, in good faith, that the decisions of the scientific committee would be honoured by the government.”
"This scientist later told me that my name had been removed," Suvrat remarked. "I don't think it matters too much who the exact people who were removed were. The government's actions, which indicate intolerance for dissent, are what matter. The ramifications of such manipulations for academic freedom and democratic rights in scientific areas should worry all academics in the nation.
IIT Kharagpur student Chakraborty responded, "I don't know if my name was in the final list," when approached. All awards, meanwhile, contain a subjective aspect. I accept the ultimate judgment, and I think all the winners are worthy of recognition.
PSA Sood was not accessible for comment even after The Indian Express called and messaged him multiple times.
The government's website underlines that the Honourable Minister of Science & Technology, Government of India, would receive recommendations from the RVPC. It's interesting to note that this phrase was added just this past weekend. The website had previously simply mentioned that the RVPC will review all nominations for the award under the selection process.
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award winners have, however, questioned the PSA in their protest letter whether the recommendations of the supreme committee were adopted in their totality or changed by other bodies or authorities.
“In the latter case we request that details of the nature of these committees and the criteria employed in arriving at their decisions be made public. We request confirmation that the processes and standards used to determine Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards are completely impartial, open, and devoid of any unnecessary factors in order to preserve the integrity of the Bhatnagar award, according to the letter.
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
