Six professors win Infosys Prize 2018 for science and research
Bengaluru, Nov 13: Six eminent professors have been awarded the Infosys Prize 2018 across different categories of science and research, the software major's science foundation announced Tuesday.
The annual award includes a pure gold medal, a citation and a prize purse worth USD 100,000 (or its equivalent in Indian rupees), the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) said in a statement.
"India needs to cement its place as a hub for innovations across various fields of science," said Narayana Murthy, Trustee ISF and Founder, Infosys.
"The Infosys Prize seeks to honour the efforts of some of the brightest scientists and researchers and highlight the country's ongoing quest for science excellence," Murthy said.
A six-member jury of renowned scientists and professors selected the winners from 244 nominations received in six categories, ISF said.
By recognising these researchers and celebrating their achievements, the Infosys Prize aims to inspire young minds to explore science as a career option and advance innovation in the country, the foundation said.
"With improving synergies between the scientific community and industry we are poised for cutting-edge science and research innovation. The science of today is, after all, the technology of tomorrow," said K Dinesh, President of ISF.
In the field of Engineering and Computer Science, Navakanta Bhat, Professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was awarded for his work on the design of novel biosensors based on his research in biochemistry and gaseous sensors that push the performance limits of existing metal-oxide sensors.
Bhat has devised gas sensors with ultra-precise detection accuracies necessary for space and environmental monitoring, especially useful for India's growing space, atomic energy and security programmes, ISF said.
In the Humanities category, Kavita Singh, Professor and Dean, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi was awarded for her study of Mughal, Rajput and Deccan art.
Singh's work shows the significance of museums in highlighting the social impact of art, and thereby relates visual culture to large contemporary questions of secularity, modernity, and political conflict, the foundation said.
The prize for Life Sciences was awarded to Roop Mallik, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for his work on molecular motor proteins, which are crucial for the functioning of living cells.
Mallik has identified and measured forces needed to transport large particles inside cells, and demonstrated their role in fundamental processes such as targeting pathogens for their destruction and moving lipid droplets for fatty acid regulation in the liver.
Nalini Anantharaman, Professor and Chair of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Strasbourg, France was awarded the prize in Mathematical Sciences for her work related to "Quantum Chaos".
The quantum world is the one of the deepest secrets of the universe and mathematics is the language that helps us understand this world, ISF said.
Mathematicians and physicists have been trying for decades to unravel the mysteries of this subatomic world.
In the field of Physical Sciences, SK Satheesh, Professor, Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, was awarded for his pioneering scientific work in the field of climate change.
His studies on black carbon aerosols, the dark, light absorbing, microscopic particles in air which greatly influence the energy balance of the atmosphere over the Indian subcontinent, have enabled a better understanding of the role of these particles on climate change, precipitation, and, human health in the Indian subcontinent.
The Infosys Prize 2018 for Social Sciences is awarded to Sendhil Mullainathan, Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science, the University of Chicago in the US for his path-breaking work in behavioural economics, ISF said.
Mullainathan's research has had substantial impact on diverse fields such as development, public finance, corporate governance and policy design.
A significant part of this work is relevant to India, ISF said.
"We hope the work of all our winners bears fruit and helps improve societies and economies across the world," said Dinesh.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
