National Science Day 2020: From Indira Hinduja to Sunetra Gupta, Five Indian Women Achievers in Science

New Delhi, February 29: The National Science Day 2020, celebrated in honour of renowned Indian physicist Sir CV Raman, is observed annually on February 28. The National Council for Science and Technology Communication, which decides the theme for National Science Day celebration each year, decided that the event should this time focus around the "women in science". Adhering with the theme, LatestLY is highlighting the stories of five among top Indian woman achievers in the realm science.

Aditi Pant: She is an Indian oceanographer and was a part of the Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1983 and became the first Indian woman to visit Antarctica along with Sudipta Sengupta to study geology and oceanography. Pant pursued BSc from the University of Pune. She completed her MS in Marine Sciences, with a US government scholarship, at the University of Hawaii. Aditi completed her PhD at London’s Westfield College, and returned to India to join the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa.

Indira Hinduja: She is a gynecologist at Inkus Ivf Centre in Charni Road, Mumbai and Breach Breach Candy hospital. She is a member of Bombay Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society.,Indian Association of Gynaecological Endoscopists and Indian Association of Sex Educators. Dr Hinduja is a pioneer of the gamete intra-fallopian transfer technique (GIFT), and has also delivered India’s first GIFT baby.

Sunetra Gupta: Sunetra is a novelist, and Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford. Gupta has a passion for studying infectious agents that cause diseases such as influenza, malaria and bacterial meningitis. She is a recipient of the Scientific Medal by the Zoological Society of London and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award for her scientific research.

BP Dakshayani: Bannihatti Parameshwarappa Dakshayani is the former group director of the Flight Dynamics and Space Navigation groups of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Satellite Centre. Dakshayani was appointed to ISRO Satellite Centre in 1984 and was assigned to computer programming and orbital dynamics. She was responsible for the low earth, geosynchronous orbit and interplanetary missions of the ISRO Satellite Centre. She was project manager for the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment and deputy project manager for the Mars Orbiter Mission.

Nandini Harinath: Nandini is a rocket scientist at ISRO’s Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. She has worked on 14 missions over 20 years at the ISRO. She is the Project Manager, Mission Design and served as deputy operations director on the Mars Orbiter Mission, also called Mangalyaan.

Moumita Dutta: Moumita is an Indian Engineer working at the Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO- Ahmedabad, as a scientist/engineer. Dutta expertise in the development and testing of the Optical and IR sensors/instruments/payloads. She was part of the team Mars Orbiter Mission. She is a recipient of the ISRO Team of Excellence Award for the Mangalyaan.

The importance of the annual National Science Day celebration is to highlight the need of science in everyday-life. Since 1999, the various themes of the event have highlighted how science impacts our ecology, geography, agriculture and irrigation, apart from playing the life-saver role through medicine and nation-building role through physics. Science also forms a foundational bloc in striving towards a sustainable future.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 28, 2020 08:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).