Kolkata Dec 18 PTI Eminent space scientist K Kasturirangan and Tessy Thomas and experimental physicist Prof H C Verma were awarded the Doctorate of Science Honoris Causa at the 67th convocation of IIT Kharagpur on Saturday The three personalities were awarded the honorary degree for their contributions in respective fields a statement of the institute said Kasturirangan the legendary space scientist who headed ISRO from 1994 to 2003 said in a video sent to the authorities that he was deeply honoured for being bestowed with the degree Kasturirangan is also renowned as the craftsman of the National Education Policy 2020 who changed the face of the countrys education system in India and has been rightfully named the Game Changer of Indian Education the statement said His contribution in the field of astronomy astrophysics and space sciences is remarkable and an exemplar of human brilliance As an astrophysicist he led many path breaking projects in Indian diaspora of satellite missions it said Thomas the first woman scientist to head a missile project was present to receive the honour from Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan The former project director for Agni-IV missile said that she is honoured to receive it from the first IIT in the country This will encourage me to work in the field of missile and unmanned aircraft Thomas is currently leading the development of the state-of-the-art aircraft for armed forces and has been nominated as first the women member in IIT Council by the President of India Verma is the national coordinator of National Anveshika Network of India a flagship programme of the Indian association of physics teachers He has developed more than 600 low cost physics experiments employable by teachers in classrooms and authored popular textbooks on the subject for various graduate and undergraduate programmes His online lectures in Hindi and English have benefitted hundreds of thousands of students including those in remotest areas the statement said M A Ramlu founder head of department of mining engineering at IIT Kharagpur was given the lifetime achievement award while five distinguished persons were given the life fellow awards Degrees were given to the graduating batch of 2021 comprising of B Tech M Tech and PhD students PTI SUS KK KK KK

Mumbai Oct 21 PTI Eminent singers Pankaj Udhas Talat Aziz and Rekha Bhardwaj have joined their hands for a two-day online ghazal festival to raise funds for cancer and thalassemia patients the organisers announced ThursdayThe annual Khazana A Festival of Ghazals founded by Udhas is a free musical concert which will be held on Friday and SaturdayThe festival will be streamed virtually on Hungama across the world Pankaj Udhas YouTube and Facebook channelsKhazana a Festival of Ghazals is a concept over 20 years old which began as a platform for budding ghazal artists to showcase their talent to an audience that appreciates their musical talent the organisers said in a press releaseThe proceeds from the concert in terms of donations will go to the charities to help the treatment of thalassemic children and cancer patients they addedUdhas who is the president of the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust PATUT said he is grateful to all the artists and sponsors for their supportI hope and I am also confident that this 20th year also the show will prove to be a resounding success as in the past Udhas said in a statementEvery year 10000 children with Thalassemia major are born in India which constitutes ten percent of the total number in the world and one out of every eight carriers of Thalassemia worldwide lives in India PATUT provides end-to-end solution on Thalassemia including awareness detection prevention test for matching of bone marrow of donor and donee sponsoring bone marrow transplant of Thalassemia major children under ten years age and counselling the singer popular for ghazals such as Chitti Aayi Hai Aahista and Chandi Jaisa Rang addedThe festival will also feature the likes of Kavita Seth Anup Jalota Osman Mir Sudeep Banerjee Sanjeevani Bhelande and young talents like Jazim Sharma and Meenal Jain among othersThe organisers along with the Cancer Patients Aid Association CPAA and Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust PATUT have appealed to music connoisseurs to donate for the cause PTI KKP RDS RDS

New Delhi Sep 25 PTI Eminent womens rights activist poet and author Kamla Bhasin passed away on Saturday She was 75Activist Kavita Srivastava said on Twitter Bhasin breathed her last around 3 amBhasin has been a prominent voice in the womens movement in India and other South Asian countries Kamla Bhasin our dear friend passed away around 3am today 25th Sept This is a big setback for the womens movement in India and the South Asian region She celebrated life whatever the adversity Kamla you will always live in our hearts In Sisterhood which is in deep grief Kavita Srivastava tweeted PTI UZM TIR TIR