Executive Council Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the 68th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 68 th EC meeting held at NPL on March 11, 2008

Drs PN Srivastava, PN Tewari, Bimla Buti, Sisir Sen, Partha Datta, J C Sharma, Santa Chawla, Harikishan, Indramani Mishra, Ravinder Kotnala, and KL Chopra attended the meeting. Drs N. Raghuram and K. Satyanarayana were given leave of absence.

1. The minutes of the 67 th EC meeting were confirmed.

2. It was decided to accept membership and donation from industries subject to the condition that membership will be unconditional, and that membership will be withdrawn if and when the member industry involves in an unethical practice.

3. Nomination of Drs. Abha Chatterjee, RA Blank, S Raisuddin , Bikas Raymahashaya , IP Abrol, and Sunmugan Ganesan for membership were approved. Brief biodata of the nominees has been sent to the Secretary and Joint Secretary who are requested to take immediate action to inform the concerned persons. In view of complaints received by the President that members elected in previous EC meetings have not heard from SSV, the Secretary & Joint Secretary are requested to do the needful.

4. It was decided to seek income tax exemption for SSV, file income tax returns for the year, and also prepare annual report to be submitted to DST and AICTE in the forthcoming financial year. The concerned office bearers of SSV are requested to follow up.

5. It was decided to hold the next seminar on a suitable topic at NPL or IARI, possibly along with Paintal Memorial Lecture. Dr Santa Chawla is requested to coordinate the event.

6. It was decided to expedite hiring part time help for the SSV office. Also, it was decided that we should approach some senior scientists, with an incentive of a suitable honorarium, to write or edit a suitable book/ manual on ethics in S&T for sensitisation of knowledge workers in academic and scientific institutions.

7. SSV has been requested to send a nominee of the President as a member of an Inquiry Committee headed by a High Court Judge to look into the alleged cases of plagiarism by Prof Kumar, the director of NERIST, Itanagar, AP. It was generally felt that if a suitable written statement by SSV could serve the purpose of the inquiry process, participation in person in the committee may be avoided. However, if it is absolutely essential to participate personally, the President will decide after seeking advice from the members.

8. Several on-going cases of scientific misconduct were discussed. It was decided that if no further progress in these cases is possible, a suitable brief summary of these cases may be posted on our website and e-N&V.

9. SSV website updating and maintenance continues to be a problem. It was decided to explore alternative possibilities and all members are requested to provide suggestions and help.

10. It was noted with satisfaction that the next issue of N&V is in the printing press. It was felt that copies of the N&V must reach members either in the e-form or a hard copy form as soon as possible.

11. It was also decided that current brief news of interest to members should be sent periodically through an e-version of N&V.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair.

K L Chopra

President , SSV

Minutes of the 67th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 67 th EC Meeting held on 13 Dec. 2007 at NPL

The meeting was attended by Drs. K.L.Chopra, Vikram Kumar, N. Raghuram, Indramani Mishra, R.K. Kotnala, Hari Kishan, Santa Chawla and J.C. Sharma. Drs. P.S. Datta, K. Satyanarayana, P.N. Tiwari, Bimla Buti and P.N. Srivastava sent prior information expressing their inability to attend the meeting.

The following decisions were taken

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the 66 th meeting.

2. The minutes of the AGM were approved with the suggestion to ensure that all the case summaries are included in the President's report. The President has agreed to provide the summaries of the cases that did not find a mention in the earlier version of his report. The EC noted the induction of Dr. R.K. Kotnala as Joint Secretary in place of Dr. Ashima Anand, and Drs Vasantha Muthuswamy, Dr Harikrishna and Dr J C Sharma as members of EC in place of Drs. B B Sharma, Prankishan, and Swaranjit Singh. The EC recorded its appreciation for the service of outgoing EC members.

3. The EC discussed the representation of Dr. K. Satyanarayana in the light of prior information regarding the EC meetings that he was unable to attend. It was decided that he may continue as an active member of the EC. The emails for future EC meetings will be circulated to the current members only.

4. The status of updating the SSV website has been discussed. It was decided that Dr. R.K.Kotnala and Dr. BBG Tilak will handle this task on a regular basis.

5. The EC decided to expedite recruitment of the staff under the AICTE grant.

6. The EC reviewed the progress in various ongoing cases. The President has agreed to circulate a short summary of the progress in the NERIST case and any other ongoing cases.

7. The EC approved the following nominations for the membership of SSV: Dr. Rodrigues, Dr. George, Dr. V.P. Awana.

The meeting ended with thanks to the chair.

N. Raghuram

Secretary, SSV.

Minutes of the 66th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 66th EC- SSV Meeting held on Sept 8 at NPL.

Drs P N Srivastava, B. Buti , I Mishra, BB Tilak, Ravinder Kotnala , and K L Chopra attended the meeting. Leave of abscence was granted to Drs P N Tiwari, and P Datta, N Raghuram .

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the 65th meeting.

2. Arising out of the minutes, the urgent need for an updated list of SSV members with their email IDs was pointed out. The Secretary and Treasurer are requested to do the needful.

3. The EC expressed gratitude to the Director , NPL for providing an office space for SSV in the NPL campus. The need for manning the new office of SSV with a suitable staff on a fixed emolument of a maximum of Rs 5000 per month was discussed and approved for necessary action.Further,the EC approved the purchase of suitable furniture and computer for the new office.

4. The Kundu case was discussed. It was decided that SSV should not be involved in any legal activity, such as PIL, in this case.

5. The plagiarism complaint of Prof. Raju against Dr. Atiyah was discussed in the light of the responses from Dr. Atiyah and the counter-response of Dr. Raju, establishing a prima-facie case. It was decided to place the response of both sides on the SSV website.

6. The EC member,Dr BB Tilak kindly offered to take care of the SSV website in future after undergoing some training .In the meanwhile , Dr Raghuram is requested to update the website.

7. As per the EC decision, the members who have not attended the three EC meetings in a row may be replaced for the rest of the term of the committee. The same may be reported in the forthcoming AGM. The president was asked to wite a letter of thanks to such members for their valuable contributions to SSV.

8. The President mentioned some new cases of misconduct which are being investigated at present

9. Arrangemens for the one day ( 10am to 4pm ) Seminar on Feudalism in Knowledge Institutions to be held at School of Environmental Biology , Delhi University on Oct 24 were discussed and approved. Prof Ram Tandon of DU will be the Convener of the Seminar
   Prof Deepak Pental will be the chief guest on the occasion and he will deliver the third Paintel Memorial Lecture. Among confirmed invited speakers are : Prof KP Powar, former Secretary AIU, Prof PB Sharma, VC, RGUT, Prof Mohan Agarwal, Director, JP Business School, Prof S. Sen former Dean , IIT KGP, Dr S P Seth, and Dr V Sharma. We expect one or two more distinguished speakers for the Seminar.Some SSV members will be given time for interventions.

10. The Seminar will be followed by an AGM at 4;30 pm.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

KL Chopra

President , SSV

Minutes of the 65th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 65th EC meeting held on 21st July, 2007 at NPL:

Drs. KL Chopra, Vikram Kumar, N. Raghuram, Indramani Mishra, Ravinder
Kotnala, A.R. Verma, B.B.G. Tilak and Bimla Buti attended the meeting.

1. The minutes of the 64th EC meeting were confirmed.
   
   
2. The matters arising out of the SSV investigation into the Kundu case were
   discussed, including the media coverage as well as the editorial and
   correspondence published in Current Science. It was resolved that SSV
   President should respond to some of the issues raised in relation to this
   case as well as in relation to SSV, through a letter to Current Science
   and/or media as needed. It was also decided that a special edition of the
   SSV New and Views should be published incorporating all the available
   reports, news and correspondence on the Kundu case as a single,
   comprehensive reference source for the future.
   
   
3. The President briefed the EC regarding several other cases that have been
   brought to the attention of the Society in the recent past, and the
   preliminary queries done so far to establish the prima-facie case. The EC
   noted with concern that they include several high-profile names from reputed
   institutions such as IIT-Chennai, NIPER, NSIT and CIMAP and requested the
   President to contact the accused and their employers for their comments and
   give them 4 weeks to defend their position before arriving at a decision.
   
   
4. The EC also noted that at least 3 experts have found that the complaint
   of Dr. C.K Raju against Atiyah is valid, and asked the President to
   ascertain Atiyah's views in this regard.
   
   
5. In view of the increasing instances of misconduct coming to SSV from all
   over India, including some of the well-endowed premier institutions in the
   country, the EC reiterates the earlier demand of SSV that the government of
   India must establish an appropriate autonomous body with legal powers to
   monitor and deters misconduct in the country.
   
   
6. The EC welcomed the suggestion of the Vice-President to expand the
   activities of SSV outside Delhi by forming local chapters or adopting other
   appropriate means.
   
   
7. The EC deliberated on the possibilities of combining the SSV seminar, AGM
   and Paintal Memorial lecture by choosing the date and venue appopriately.
   The topic of the seminar will be "Feudalism in Knowledge Institutions". The
   President has been authorised to contact the various speakers identified for
   this purpose.
   
   
8. The EC resolved to enhance the local travel allowance for the SSV
   meetings from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 300/-.
   
   
9. The EC approved the reimbursement of visa charges of the US embassy, New
   Delhi (Rs. 5,110/-), paid by the Secretary, Dr. N. Raghuram, to obtain visa
   for his participation in the ORI conference in Tampa, Florida, USA and
   poster presentation titled "SSV and the Indian experience" in Dec 2006.
   
   
10. The EC authorzied the Treasurer to renew and/or convert the fixed
    deposits of SSV in order to maximize the financial returns to the society.
    
    
11. The EC records its appreciation to Dr. Vikram Kumar, Director, NPL, for
    providing office space for SSV, which is expected to be ready for occupation
    soon.
    
    
12. The EC records its appreciation to Dr. R.K. Kotnala for his regular help
    in arranging the venue, tea and snacks during the SSV meetings.
    
    
13. SSV reiterates its support to the open access movement and requests the
    government, insitutions and academies to do the needful to set up OA
    archives and make it mandatory for authors to make available their
    publications arising from publicly supported research openly.
    
    
14. The following nominations have been approved for the life membership of
    SSV:
    
    Prof. Sohan P. Modak: spmodak@gmail.com
    09823103418
    
    Prof Gautam Desiraju:  gautam_desiraju@yahoo.com
    School of Chemistry, Univ. of Hyderabad
    
    Dr. (Mrs). Suman Kumari Mishra
    Scientist EII, MST Division, National Metallurgical Lab
    Jamshedpur - 831007
    skm_smp@yahoo.co.in , suman@nmlindia.org
    
    Rekha Gour,
    ACTREC (Formerly CRI), Mumbai
    Cell: 098199 94586, rekhagour@hotmail.com
    
    Prof. Deepak Paintal
    Vice Chancellor, Delhi University
    
    Dr. V.K. Aatree,
    ECE, IISc, Bangalore
    
    
15. The EC meeting ended with vote of thanks to the chair.
    

Minutes of the 64th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 64th EC meeting held on 24th Mar. 2007 at NPL:

Drs. KL Chopra, Vikram Kumar, N. Raghuram, Ashima Anand, Indramani Mishra, Ravinder Kotnala, P.N. Srivastava, and P.S. Datta attended the meeting.

1. The minutes of the 63rd EC meeting were confirmed.

2. The results of the SSV's own investigation on the Kundu case were presented and the draft document of the final proceedings on this case was discussed and adopted after incorporating the suggestions from the EC members. This investigation was authorized by resolution no. 2 of the 62nd EC meeting of SSV into the alleged misconduct in the publications of Dr. Kundu's group in JBC. Based on the facts of the case, the list of similarities in the figures identified, the responses of Dr. Kundu and JBC/ASBMB to the queries from SSV, as well as the digital image analysis of the figures in the papers published in 2004 and 2005, it was concluded that Kundu and his co-authors are guilty of falsification/fabrication of data in the papers examined. Accordingly, JBC was justified in withdrawing the 2005 paper from publication, and the Padmanabhan committee was not justified in exonerating the authors of the charges of misconduct. The EC resolves to circulate the findings of the SSV investigation to the authorities concerned for suitable action against the guilty, as well as disseminate the information widely for broader awareness. A copy of the SSV proceedings on this case will be made available on the SSV website.

3. The Mashelkar case of plagiarism in his book on IPR was discussed again, in the light of the positions adopted by SSV in such cases earlier and the standards of ethics used for new members of SSV or new nominees as fellows of INSA. While reiterating that SSV takes a serious note of plagiarism by anyone, it was decided to examine the views of Dr. Mashelkar before taking a position on the matter. SSV also expresses its serious concerns over the controversial recommendations of the Mashelkar committee on certain provisions of the Indian patents act and the attitude of the Indian government to those recommendations.

4. On the issue of open access publishing and the ethics of copyrights, it was agreed that it is ethically desirable for the authors to assert the copyrights over their intellectual work and provide open public access to the publications that arise out of publicly funded research. Without stifling the choice of authors/readers, the government may consider a National Open Access Policy on the following lines:

   The Indian Government (and the various agencies supported by it) expects the authors of
   papers reporting publicly-funded research to maximise the accessibility, usage and applications of their findings. To this end, as a condition for research funding, the Indian Government:
   (a) requires electronic copies of any research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in par by Government funding, to be deposited in an institutional digital repository [IR] immediately upon acceptance for publication;
   (b) encourages Government Grant Holders to provide Open Access to their
   deposited papers immediately upon deposit;
   (c) encourages Government Grant Holders to publish in a suitable Open Access Journal where one exists.
   
   5. Regarding new cases, it was decided to obtain more information and take them up for discussion in the next EC meeting.

5. Regarding the News and Views, it was decided to publish it at the earliest with the information available so far, including the proceedings of the Kundu case.

6. The EC resolved that the President, SSV should seek an appointment with the PM and/or President of India to empasise the need for a statutory government mechanism (with legal powers and teeth) to encourage scientific values and enforce research integrity and ethical conduct.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair. 

N. Raghuram

Secretary, SSV

Minutes of the 63th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

Minutes of the 63rd EC meeting held on 28th Feb. 2007 at NPL:

1. Drs. Vikram Kumar, Ravinder Kotnala, Vasant Vankar , Partha Datta
   ,Indramani Mishra, Ashima Anand and KL Chopra attended the meeting.
   
2. The minutes of the 62nd EC meeting were confirmed
   
3. It was reported that SSV has received the Rs 5 Lakh grant sanctioned by
   AICTE. The Treasurer was further authorized to convert the existing Fixed
   Deposits to the higher interest rates available at present.
   
4. The EC appreciated the efforts of our SSV members from Lucknow to form a
   Lucknow / UP Chapter. The Chapter will be formally recognized when it will
   have atleast ten registered members.
   
5. The EC was informed about the continuing problem of not having an
   authenticated and updated list of our members on our website. The Secretary,
   Treasurer, and Dr Kotnala are requested to sort out the problem. All members
   were requested to suggest some person who could assist in taking care of the
   routine administrative functions of the Society on a part time basis, with a
   suitable honorarium for his/her services.
   
6. The President placed before the EC nominations of Prof. Saruppa of IISc,
   Bangalore , and Dr Ghosh, RRL, Bhopal for membership of SSV. The EC accepted
   the nominations.
   
7. The EC noted that our next issue of N&V is delayed and requested the
   Editor to expedite its publication.
   
8. The EC noted with concern that Dr. Satyanarayana has not been able to
   organize the proposed Seminar. It was suggested that faculty members from DU
   and JNU be involved to organize the next seminar in their respective
   institutions. All the members of EC were requested to assist in the process
   of involving faculty members from these institutions. The Kundu case of
   falsification/fabrication was discussed and was noted that the Journal of
   Biological Chemistry (JBC) has withdrawn one of the paper of Kundu etal on
   account of the re-use of some of the photographic strips (Western blots)
   from another of their papers published in the same journal to depict
   different results. The EC takes a serious view of this case of
   falsification/fabrication and has authorized the President to write to the
   Director of the Institute or higher levels in the government to take an
   appropriate action against all those involved. The journal (JBC) should
   publish a note on why it withdrew the paper
   
9. The EC discussed the case of alleged plagiarism by the Mashelkar
   committee, as well as Mashelkar's book on IPR being reported and debated
   recently in the media. The EC takes a serious view of any type of
   plagiarism. An established case of such plagiarism may be reported in our
   SSV website.
   
10. Regarding a lengthy letter from “Save Universities association of India”
    charging DU authorities for unethical practices in the appointment of the
    Head, Ambedkar Centre of Biochemical Research, DU, the President was asked
    to write to the concerned persons for their comments, which will then be
    taken up for further discussion by the EC.
    

Minutes of the 62th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The 62nd  meeting of the EC was  held at 11 am on Dec 16, 2006 at NPL.
The following members attended the meeting:

Prof. K.L. Chopra, Dr. N. Raghuram, Dr. B.B. Sharma, Dr. Pran Kishan,
Dr. Indramani Mishra, Dr. R.K. Kotnala, Dr. Bimla Buti Dr. Ashima
Anand and Dr. K. Satyanarayana.

The EC decided as follows :

1. The minutes  of the 61st EC meeting were confirmed
   
   
2. Arising out of the minutes, the Kundu case was discussed in the
   light of his response to SSV queries and the comments of an expert. It
   was decided that SSV may seek views of other expert(s) and place a
   summary of the case on our website as and when appropriate. In the
   meantime, the DBT Secretary may be sent a reminder for his response to
   our earlier queries.
   
   
3. Dr N. Raghuram  summarised the highlights of the ORI conference in
   USA to which he was invited to make a presentation. He will provide a
   report on it for publication in he forthcoming News &Views.
   
   
4. Dr. Ashima Anand informed the EC about the media reports in
   Australia about fraud and plagiarism, mostly involving foreign
   students.
   
   
5. The President informed the members that AICTE has very generously
   approved  a grant of Rs  5 Lakhs for the activities of the Society
   such as a National Seminar on ethics in S&T communication, a Workshop
   on ethics and regulatory issues in biotechnology, development and
   publication of resource materials (especially a compilation of
   literature and teaching/learning resources and curriculum for training
   in scientific values. All members are requested to take active part in
   fulfilling these commitments and organising approriate SSV activities
   in knowledge institutions.
   
   
6. Dr Satyanaryana discussed details of the forthcoming National
   Seminar on ethics in S&T communication, which he will covene. It was
   decided that the Seminar will be held at NPL  (subject to  permission
   by the NPL director) during the mid-late Feb , 2007. A programme
   outline and the names of several possible speakers were discussed. The
   Convener will finalise the program in due course and provide it to the
   Editor for the forthcoming issue of N&V.
   
   
7. Dr Sharma discussed the possible contents for the next issue of
   N&V. Some suggestions were made by the EC members. It was decided that
   the next issue (Dec ,2006) should be ready for circulation during
   January, 2007. The EC noted that the last issue (Aug 2006) was already
   circulated electronically to all the available email addresses and
   also uploaded on the SSV website.
   
   
8. The EC approved the following nominations for the membership of the
   society. As per the decision of SSV, a brief biodata of the proposed
   new members has to be placed  on our website for a month to invite any
   objection from any knowledgable person before the membership is
   conferred.
   

Minutes of the 61th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held at 2:30 pm on Oct 4, 2006 at INSA.

The meeting was attended by:
PN Srivastava

Indramani Mishra

Ravinder Kotnala

K. Suryanarayana

Swaranjit Singh

B B Sharma

Pran Krishan

Vikram Kumar

KL Chopra

1. The minutes of the 60th EC meeting were confirmed.

2. The following recommendations of an EC subcommittee were discussed and approved:
   

1. Dr Kotnala will henceforth look after all matters related to the induction of new members

2. All nominees for membership, whether accepted members or not , be put on our email list

3. Folders be created for SSV email address so that EC members have an easy access to the SSV information

4. The Rs 2 lacs corpus provided by CSIR be placed in a fixed deposit @ 7.5 % interest for 37 months as offerd by the Sydicate Bank.

5. Application for DST grant for the last and this year be submitted and be followed up.

3. Drs B B Sharma, Dr Pran Krishan and Dr Swaranjit Singh be appointed as Associate Editors of N&V. They will jointly take care of the publication of N&V in the absence abroad of the Editor ,Dr P N Tewari.

4. The Kundu case of an unethical practice was discussed . The President was advised to write first to Dr Kundu for his comments and thereafter take a suitable action for further pursuit of the case.

5. Dr Suryanarayana presented his proposal for the next SSV seminar on Ethical issues for Author Credits for Scientific Publications. The Seminar will be convened by Dr Suryanarayan and is proposed to be held at ICMR during January , 2007. The convener is authorised to sety up committees and make appropriate arrangements as deemed fit and proper.

6. The nominations of Dr P K Nagar by Prof Chopra, and that of Dr Sharma by Dr Mishra were discussed and approved for membership of SSV.

7. Arising out of this discussion , it was decided that in future, a brief biodata of a nominee be placed on our website for a month inviting any comments from our membership. The EC will consider the nomination for approval provided no verifiably negative comments are received by the Secretary /President .

The meeting ended with thanks to the chair.
KL Chopra
President , SSV

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Minutes of the 60th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 12th July 2006 at NPL.

The meeting was attended by:
Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. N. Raghuram

Dr. K. Satyanarayana

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. Bimla Buti

Dr. A.R. Verma

Dr. Pran Kishan

Dr. B.B. Sharma

Dr. P.S. Datta

Dr. P.N. Tiwari

Dr. R.K.Kotnala

Dr. Vikram Kumar, Dr. Ashima Anand, Dr. V.D. Vankar, Dr. P.N. Srivastava
and Dr. BB.G. Tilak conveyed their inability to attend the meeting.

The following decisions were taken:

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 59th EC held on 21st April 2006.

2. The  EC discussed the reactions to the proceedings of the SSV Seminar on "Accountability in Scientific Institutions and a discussion on Corruption and Whistle Blowers Protection Act" held on May 11 at NPL. It was agreed that whereas it is not possible to censor distinguished speakers, we may advise speakers on sensitivities. Further, it was decided that if a documented proof of the publications and patents of the Directors of CIMAP or any other institute is available, the President is authorized to write to the concerned Directors for their comments  and further action may be taken on hearing from them.

3. Several names of possible speakers were discussed to be invited for the second A.S. Paintal memorial lecture, to be held sometime during the third week of September. The president was authorized to contact them.

4. The contents of the next issue of News & Views were discussed and approved. The issue is expected to be published by the end of August. Dr. A.R. Verma said that 2006 is the centenary year of Dr. D. S. Kothari and that there should be an article focussing on his contribution to the promotion of human and scientific values in the next issue of the SSV bulletin. Dr. Krishan Lal would be requested to write the article.

5. The EC acknowledged with gratitude the grant of Rs 2 lakhs , as Corpus, received from CSIR.  The treasurer was authorized to open an FD at the best possible interest rate in a bank.

6. The request for the DST grant for SSV for 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 was discussed. The EC asked the Secretary and Treasurer to process the
   request for these two years at the earliest.

7. The president requested EC members to organise more activities of the Society. It was decided to hold a one day seminar on “Autonomy and Responsibility of Scientific Institutions” in Nov-Dec 2006. Dr. Satyanarayana agreed to be its convenor. He was requested to take necessary action for its organisation.

8. Dr. Pran Kishan has been co-opted as a member of the EC and Associate Editor of News and Views.

9. The president requested EC members to organise more activities of the Society. It was decided to hold a one day seminar on “Autonomy and Responsibility of Scientific Institutions” in Nov-Dec 2006. Dr. Satyanarayana agreed to be its convenor. He was requested to take necessary action for its organisation.

10. The meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.

List of new members whose nominations were approved:

Dr. S.N. Singh,
Head, Electronic Materials Division
National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg,
Pusa, New Delhi – 110012.
e-mail: snsingh@mail.nplindia.ernet.in

Phone No. 011-25734283(O)

Dr. J.C. Sharma,
Electrical Sub-station In-Charge
National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg,
Pusa, New Delhi – 110012.
e-mail: jcs28@mail.nplindia.ernet.in
Phone No. 011-28742098

Dr. V. Chandrasekharan
Scientist-G,
Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory
Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad.
e-mail: chandru@dmrl.ernet.in

Phone No. 040-24340884

Prof. Anurag Sharma
Physics Department
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi- 110 016
Res: 24, Taxila Apt., IIT CAMPUS
Email: asharma@physics.iitd.ac.in
asharma_iitd@hotmail.com
Office: +91-11-2659-1350, 2659-1929
Fax: +91-11-2658 1114
Res: +91-11-2686 7022; 2686 5039

Dr. B.C.Chakravarty

Electronic Material Division

National Physical Laboratory

Dr. K.S.Krishnan Road

New Delhi – 110 012

chakravartybidhan@yahoo.com

Office (011) 25734283; Residence (011) 28743609

Fax: (011) 2575268; 25764189

Dr. Anil Jain

President, Vaiseshika Electron Devices

38-Industrial Estate, Across Tangri River Bridge

Ambala Cantt.-133 006

e-mail - shunya@sancharnet.in 

Phones (171)-2699827, 2699891

Fax -(171)-2699773

Sd/-

N. Raghuram

Secretary, SSV

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Minutes of the 59th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 21st Apr. 2006 at NPL.

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. N. Raghuram

Prof. P.N. Srivastava

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. Bimla Buti

Dr. B.B.G. Tilak

Dr. Hari Kishan (Dr. Vikram Kumar's nominee from NPL).

Dr. P.S. Datta, Dr. P.N. Tiwari, Dr. R.K.Kotnala, Dr. Rajesh Kochhar and Dr. Ashima Anand conveyed their inability to attend the meeting.

The following decisions were taken:

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 58th EC held on 27th Jan. 2006.

2. The EC was glad to note that the website has been updated, including the new issue of News and Views, which is now available for circulation. It was decided that the possibility of bringing out special issues on topics of current interest such as deemed universities may be explored.

3. The President informed the EC about the action taken on the email from Rashmi Mishra regarding her authorship on a controversial paper mentioned on the SSV website, and her threats of legal action. The EC noted that the website has been updated to reflect the fact that she and another co-author withdrew their co-authorship after SSV took up that paper on charges of plagiarism.

4. The EC wished to verify the decision of the last AGM held on 29th Apr, 2005, regarding the proposal to shift the registered office of SSV. It is reproduced below:

   "Due to some uncertainty , the present registered office of the Society may have to be changed. The AGM approved the change to any other convenient address as deemed fit by the EC. The Director , NPL may be requested by the President to  permit the use of NPL address for the registered office of SSV."

5. The EC approved the utilisation report regarding the expenditure made from the DST grants received last year, for onward submission to DST. Regarding the separate project proposal to DST for documentation and trend analyses, members of the EC may explore the possibility of finding collaborating social scientists to carry out surveys on scientific values in India.

6. The EC approved the posting of information and news from authentic sources on the SSV website with an appropriate disclaimer that SSV does not owe any responsibility for them.

7. The EC has approved the proposal to hold a half-day seminar in collaboration with National Physical Laboratory and Human Rights Law Network, Delhi. The seminar will be held on the theme "Accountability in scientific Institutions" on 11-05-06 at NPL between 2.30 to 5.30 PM and includes a discussion on corruption and whistle blowers (protection) act. A notice to this effect may be circulated widely to all the members and institutions in Delhi.

8. The EC has approved the nomination of the following new members:

Dr. Surendra Prasad

Director, IIT-Delhi

sprasad@ec.iitd.ac.in

 

Dr. S.C. Kashyap,

Dept. of Physics, IIT-Delhi

skashyap@physics.iitd.ac.in

 

Dr. Anand Akhila

Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR)

Lucknow - 226006

akiladr@hotmail.com

Phone: 9415517642

 

Dr. Swaranjit Singh

Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR)

Sector 39-A, Chandigarh - 160036.

swaranjitsingh@yahoo.com

9. Considering the enthusiasm of scientists from Chandigarh and the offer of Dr. Swaranjit Singh of opening a regional SSV chapter in Chandigarh, the EC approved the idea of a chapter in principle and requested the President to work out the modalities in consultation with others. 

10. The EC decided to request Dr. Swaranjit Singh to join the Editorial Advisory Committee of the SSV News and Views.

11. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

sd/
N. Raghuram
Secretary, SSV

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Minutes of the 58th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 27th Jan. 2006 at NPL.

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. N. Raghuram

Dr. Ashima Anand

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. P.S. Datta

Dr. P.N. Tiwari

Dr. Vikram Kumar

Dr. B.B.G. Tilak 

Dr. R.K.Kotnala.

The following decisions were taken:

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 57th EC held on 7th Nov. 2005.

2. The EC noted that the next issue of News and Views is ready to go to press and suggested that the list of new members inducted during 2005 may be included in this or the next issue.

3. The President informed the EC that SSV is now registered with UNESCO "Global Ethics Observatory" as one of the member organisations dealing with ethics in S&T.

4. The EC approved the report of the treasurer regarding the expenditure made from the DST grants received last year, for onward submission to DST.

5. The EC has approved the nomination of the following new member:

 Dr. B.V.Reddy, Scientist, NPL.

6. The EC has requested the Director, NPL, to provide office space for SSV in NPL campus. The President shall send a formal letter to the Director, NPL in this regard.

7. The EC has resolved to replace any of the EC members who do not attend 3 consecutive EC meetings without prior information or seeking leave of absence.

8. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

sd/
N. Raghuram
Secretary, SSV

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Minutes of the 57th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 7^th Nov. 2005 at NPL.

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. N. Raghuram

Dr. Ashima Anand

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. Vikram Kumar

Dr. R.K. Kotnala

Dr. Bimla Buti.

The following decisions were taken:

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 56^th EC meeting.

2. Based on the quotations obtained the EC approved the purchase of a Laptop computer (Acer), a scanner (HP 2200 C) and a USB voice recorder (Advik) from Infochip technologies, Delhi, and a printer from an appropriate source.

3. The EC appreciates the effort of Dr. Kotnala in getting the new letterpads printed and resolves to reimburse the costs involved.

4. The EC entrusted the task of updating the website to the Secretary, in coordination with the service provider, M/s. Indezine.

5. The following new nominations have been approved by the EC for SSV membership.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the chair.

Sd/

N. Raghuram

Secretary, SSV.

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Minutes of the 56th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 22th Aug. at NPL, soon after the first Dr. A.S. Paintal memorial lecture by Prof. M.G.K. Menon.

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. N. Raghuram

Dr. Ashima Anand

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. P.S. Datta

Dr. P.N. Tiwari

Prof. P.N. Srivastava

Dr. Vikram Kumar

Dr. V.D. Vankar

Dr. B.B.G. Tilak

Dr. R.K.Kotnala
Dr. Bimla Buti.

The following decisions were taken:

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 55th EC held on 6th Aug 2005.

2. The EC was informed of the username and password of the new email account of the SSV ( scientificvalues@gmail.com ), so that all the EC members can access it to monitor the activities and correspondence of the SSV, as well as to forward profiles of new members, articles/presentations and other resources of interest to the EC
   members. The same would serve as a private website for EC and others.

3. The President informed the EC regarding the letter he received from the office of the SAC-C, in response to the SSV's complaint regarding the recent editorials (Jul. 2005) in British Medical Journal and Lancet "expressing concern" over the suspicious papers published in their journals by Dr. Ram B. Singh from Moradabad, UP. The EC was pleased to note that the SAC-C showed some sensitivity to the issue
   and requested  Delhi University and ICMR to  conduct respective enquiries on the basis of our letter of  complaint.

4. The EC discussed the complaint of Prof. V. Sitaramam from University of Pune against his Vice Chancellor regarding the latter's non-cooperation to forward the former's project proposal to UGC for funding. It was decided that the President will ascertain the facts and write letters to higher authorities, if needed.

5. It was decided that the News and Views of the SSV needs to be brought out more frequently ( 3-4  times a year), by seeking help from other EC members, if necessary. It was also decided to print  a suitable version of Dr. A. S. Paintal Memorial Lecture by Prof. M.G.K. Menon  as an article in the next News and Views of the SSV.

6. The EC deliberated on the need to expand the membership drive, through announcements  in media/journals like Current Science  and  by SSV members  who are invited for lectures on scientific values. There is also a  need to involve students/researchers/post-docs and other young scientists as "Associate Members" .

7. The EC  approved ,in principle,the  possibility of formation of local chapters of SSV, in cities that have a significant number of our members. The possibility of having EC members from outside Delhi, possibly from among the office bearers of these local chapters ,was agreed to.

8. The EC decided to explore mechanisms for raising funds, including seeking donations from various government funding agencies, international donor agencies as well as major charities or industrial houses that are interested in scientific values.

9. The President requested the EC members to organise/suggest more activities that can be taken up in the near future, either by SSV alone or with other suitable partner agencies.

10. The EC approved the nominations of the following list of persons for membership of the SSV.

Dr. L.R. Murmu
Deptt. of Emegency Medicine
All India Instittute of Medical Sciences,
Ansari nagar, New Delhi - 110029.
Email: lrmurmu@aiims.ac.in; lrmurmu@hotmail.com
Phone: 26588700 Ext. 4936/3365/4255 (O); 26588691 (R)

Dr. R. Ramachandran
Science Correspondent
Frontline
203, Ansal Bhavan,
Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110001.
Email: bajji@vsnl.com
Phone: 23731985,6

Dr. Nimisha Sharma
Lecturer, School of Biotechnology,
GGS Indraprastha University
Kashmere Gate, Delhi - 110006.
Email: nimisha401@yahoo.com
Phone: 23869313-16 Ext. 310

Prof. K.K. Aggarwal,
Vice-Chancellor, GGS Indraprastha University
Kashmere Gate, Delhi - 110006.
Phones: 011-23869801-2
Email: kka@ipu.edu; aggarwal_krishan@hotmail.com

sd/-
N. Raghuram
Secretary, SSV

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Minutes of the 55th EC meeting of the Society for Scientific Values:            TOP

The meeting was held on 6^th Aug. at NPL.

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

Dr. P.S. Datta

Dr. Indramani Mishra

Dr. P.N. Tiwari

Prof. P.N. Srivastava

Dr. Vikram Kumar

Dr. N. Raghuram.

The following decisions were taken: 

1. The EC confirmed the minutes of the last 54^th EC held on 29^th April 2005, and the election of the new office bearers and the new Executive Council of SSV as detailed below:

President:

Prof. K.L. Chopra

former director, IIT Kharagpur;

choprakl@yahoo.com phone: 25154114

 

Vice President:

Dr. Vikram Kumar

Director, NPL, N. Delhi,

dnpl@mail.nplindia.ernet.in Phone: 25726931

 

Secretary:

Dr. N. Raghuram,

Reader in biotechnology, GGS Indraprastha University, nandula.raghuram@gmail.com

web: www.ipu.ac.in/btraghu.htm

phone: 23869313-6 (Ext. 217)

 

Joint Secretary:

Dr. Ashima Anand

visc.mechs@mail.com

Phone: 27667856, 7749

 

Treasurer:

Dr. Indramani Mishra

maniindra99@yahoo.com

Phone: 25842294, 25071303

 

Former President:

Dr. P.M. Bhargava,

Vice Chairma, Knowledge Commission

pmb1928@yahoo.co.in

 

Former Secretary:

Dr. P.S. Datta,

Project Director, NRL, New Delhi.

psdatta@iari.res.in 25843297, 2454

 

Editor, News and Views:

Dr. P.N. Tiwari, Former Project Director,

NRL, New Delhi.

premnatht@rediffmail.com 26012615

 

EC Members:

Dr. R. Kochhar, Director, NISTADS, N. Delhi. rkk@nistads.res.in; rkochhar2000@yahoo.com

Dr. Bimla Buti, Former Professor, PRL, Ahmedabad. butib@sify.com

Dr. V.D. Vankar, Professor, IIT New Delhi. vdvankar@physics.iitd.ac.in

Dr. R.K. Kotnala, Scientist, NPL, New Delhi. rkkotnala@mail.nplindia.ernet.in

Dr. K. Satyanarayana, Dy. DG, ICMR, New Delhi. kanikaram_s@yahoo.com

Dr. B.B.G. Tilak, Library of Congress, American Centre, New Delhi. ti_loc@indiatimes.com

 

Special Invitees:

Prof. P.N. Srivastava,

Former Member, Planning Commission and former VC, JNU,

N. Delhi.

pns07@yahoo.com

 

Dr. A.R. Verma,

Former Director, NPL, New Delhi.

2. The EC requested the outgoing Secretary and Treasurer to inform the bank regarding the following:

a)      The decision of the last General Body Meeting permitting any two of the five SSV office bearers to operate the bank account of the SSV.

b)      The names and contact details of the new office bearers, along with their specimen signatures.

3. It was decided that Dr. A. S. Paintal Memorial Lecture by Prof. M.G.K. Menon on 22^nd August 2005 will be held jontly by SSV and NPL at the NPL auditorium. The invitation cards will be printed by SSV and posted by NPL. The hosting arrangements at NPL would be coordinated by Dr. Vikram Kumar and Dr. Kotnala from NPL.

4. The EC deliberated on the need to update the SSV website with the names and details of the new office bearers, latest membership lists, resolutions of the recent GBMs and ECs, as well as news and views.

5. The EC approved the nominations of the enclosed list of persons for membership of the SSV.

Dr. K. Bheemalingeswara Rao

Deptt. Of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi.

Email: kbheema@hotmail.com

Phone: 27667073 (O); 22112393 (R)

 

Dr. C.C. Kartha,

Professor, Sri Chitra Tirunal Instt. For Medical Science and Technology

Trivandrum- 695011.

Email: cckartha@vsnl.com

 

Dr. K.J. Mukherjee,

Assoc. Profeessor, Centre for Biotechnology,

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – 110067.

Email: kjmukherjee@hotmail.com; kjmukherjee@mail.jnu.ac.in

Phone: 26704087 (O); 26187686 (R)

 

Dr. Arun K. Grover

Dept. of condensed matter physics and materials science

Tata Instt. Of Fundamental Research

Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai – 400005.

Email: grover@tifr.res.in

Phones: 022-22804545 (Extn:2327/2441)

 

Dr. Amar Jesani

Centre for Studies in Ethics and Rights (CSER),

Candelar, 4thFlorr, 26, St. John Baptist Rd,

Bandra West, Mumbai – 400058.

Email: jesani@vsnl.com

Phone: 022-26406703

 

Dr. U.C. Lavania,

Scientist F

Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Lucknow – 226015.

Email: lavaniauc@yahoo.co.in

 

Dr. Kum Kum Rani,

RA, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Lucknow – 226015

rkumkum@hotmail.com

 

Dinesh Sharma,

Science Journalist Columnist

A-65, Parvana Apartments

Mauyr Vihar Phase I Extn.,

New Delh-110091.

Email: dineshc@vsnl.com

 

Dr. Vikrant Vats

Pharmacologist

264-B Plot. No. 15A, Keshavkunj Apartments,

Sector 22, Dwaraka.

Email: vats.vikrant@gmail.com

 

Dr. Manohara S. Mavinakere

(Research Associate, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC)

8003 Apt#204, Eastern Aveenue,

Silver Spring, Maryland

MD 20910, USA.

Email: manohara82@cnmresearch.org; manohara82@hotmail.com

 

Dr. Manoj Joshi

Hindustan Lever Research Centre & Unilever Research India

64, Main Road, Whitefield,

Bangalore – 560066.

Joshi.manoj@unilever.com; joshimanoj@hotmail.com

Phone: 080-28451505, 28452959

 

Dr. Uday Kumar Ranga

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Research

Jakkur P.O., Bangalore  56000064.

udaykumar@jncasr.ac.in

Phone: 080-22082830; 22082831

6. The EC discussed the recent editorials (Jul. 2005) in British Medical Journal and Lancet “expressing concern” over the suspicious papers published in their journals by Dr. Ram B. Singh from Moradabad, UP, and their inability to firmly establish the case due to the alleged unwillingness of the Indian government to investigate it. The EC noted that the SSV office bearers reacted to the issue immediately through the media, and requested the President of SSV to write letters to the various relevant bodies of the Indian government to investigate the case.

7. The next 56^th  EC meeting would be held on 22^nd Aug. 2005, soon after Prof. Menon’s lecture.

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Minutes of the 54th Meeting of the SSV Executive Council                          TOP

A special meeting of the EC was held at 6:00 pm on April 29, 2005 at NRL, Pusa campus. The following were present :

1. Prof K L Chopra

2. Dr Vikram Kumar

3. Dr P N Tiwari

4. Dr P S Datta

5. Dr Indramani Mishra

6. Dr Ashima Anand

7. Dr N Raghuram ( Special Invitee)

Dr A R Verma and Dr PN Srivastava     conveyed their inability to attend the meeting.

The special meeting was called to propose a slate for election of the next council by the membership in pursuance of the new procedure approved by the Annual General Body Meeting held at 5.00 pm on April 29, 2005 at NRL , Pusa Campus. The proposed slate is as follows:

1. President  :K L Chopra
2. Vice President : Vikram Kumar
3. Secretary  :  Nandula Raghuram
4. Joint Secretary : Ashima Anand
5. Treasurer   : Indramani Mishra
6. Former Secretary : P S Datta
7. Editor ( News & Views ) : P N Tiwari
8. Members :  R . Kochhar  ;  Bimla Buti ;  VD Vankar ; RK Kotnala ; K Satyanaryana ; B B C Tilak
9. Special Invitees :   P N Srivastava:; A R Verma

10. President  :K L Chopra
11. Vice President : Vikram Kumar
12. Secretary  :  Nandula Raghuram
13. Joint Secretary : Ashima Anand
14. Treasurer   : Indramani Mishra
15. Former Secretary : P S Datta
16. Editor ( News & Views ) : P N Tiwari
17. Members :  R . Kochhar  ;  Bimla Buti ;  VD Vankar ; RK Kotnala ; K Satyanaryana ; B B C Tilak
18. Special Invitees :   P N Srivastava:; A R Verma

It was decided that this slate be sent by email ( wherever possible ) or by post to members for approval or otherwise of each nominee , along with blank spaces for any other nomination for any position. 

Joint  Secretary

( For Information email Ids of the new perasons are : rkochhar2000@yahoo.com, butib@sify.com; vdvankar@physics.iitd.ac.in; rkkotnala@mail.nplindia.ernet.in; kanikaram_s@yahoo.com; ti_loc@indiatimes.com

President  :K L Chopra ( Former Director, IIT Kharagpur)

Vice President : Vikram Kumar ( Director , NPL)

Secretary  :  Nandula Raghuram ( Faculty, GGS University of Technology, Delhi)

       Joint Secretary : Ashima Anand ( Scientist, Patel Chest Institute, Delhi University)

Treasurer   : Indramani Mishra ( Scientist, IARI, New Delhi)

Former Secretary : P S Datta ( Project Director , NRL ,IARI, Delhi)

Editor ( News & Views ) : P N Tiwari ( Former Project Director , NRL, Delhi)

Members :  R . Kochhar ( Director , NISTADS)  ;  Bimla Buti ( Former Professor , PRL, Ahmedabad) ;  VD Vankar (Professor, IIT Delhi) ; RK Kotnala ( Scientist, NPL ) ; K Satyanaryana ; B B C Tilak

Special Invitees :   P N Srivastava ( FormerMember, Planning Commision & VC, JNU):; A R Verma( Former Director , NPL)

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Minutes of the 53rd Meeting of the SSV Executive Council                          TOP

The EC met  at 2:30 pm on March 14, 2005 at NPL. The following were present :

1. Prof K L Chopra

2. Dr Vikram Kumar

3. Dr A R Verma

4. Dr P N Tiwari

5. Dr P S Datta

6. Dr Indramani Mishra

7. Dr Ashima Anand

8. Dr N Raghuram ( Special Invitee)

Dr P N Bhargava, Dr PN Srivastava , and Dr  Lalji Singh    conveyed their inability to attend the meeting.

1. The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed.

2. Arising out of the minutes , the EC detailed the utilization of the expected DST grant  as  follows :

1. Routine expenses of SSV for the meetings, discussion seminars, part-time clerical assistance, postal expenses, stationary and other contingencies, etc.

2. Bio-ethics Seminar to be held, jointly with IARI, during April at NR