Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology

Institute News

Invited Lectures by Institute Scientists

Awards and Honours
1. Dr. Rohtash Kumar, Dr. S. K.Ghosh and Dr. S. J. Sangode were honoured with National Mineral Award for the year 2005, conferred by Ministry of Steel and Mines, Govt. of India for the significant achievements in the understanding of the Himalayan Foreland Basin.
Lectures by Visiting Scientists

Name and Address	Date	Topic
Dr. H.K. Gupta Secretary Dept. of Ocean Development New Delhi	8.4.05	Early Warning System for Oceanogenic Disasters in Indian Ocean (Tsunami and Storm Surges): The Indian initiative
Dr. H.K. Gupta Secretary Dept. of Ocean Development New Delhi	16.4.05	Triggered Earthquakes
Shri S.N. Maurya Dy. Director Software Technology Parks of India, Dehradun	11.5.05	Last Mile Connectivity for Broad Band Services
Dr. S.A. Jafar Consultant ONGC, Dehradun	27.5.05	Chasing a Ghost in Lesser Himalaya: Deciphering a Natural Stratigraphic Order
Prof. C. Leelanandam Emeritus Professor Osmania University Vishakhapatanam	8.6.05	Mineral studies and Mountain Belts
Dr. R.S. Tolia Chief Secretary Government of Uttaranchal Dehradun	29.6.05	Endeavours for making a Self-reliant Mountain State
Dr. Barun Mukherjee JSPS Post Doc Tokyo Institute of Technology Tokyo Japan	5.7.05	Microdiamonds from Himalaya: appraisal for Ultra High Pressure study
Prof. A.K. Sinha Ex-Director BSIP, Lucknow	27.9.05	Tectonic Framework of the Himalaya: some gaps and questions
Dr. Ragnar Stefansson Iceland Meterological Department Iceland	21.11.05	Multiparametric Geophysical Observations. Earthquake Premonitory (Prediction) Studies in India
Dr. Pierre Chevallier Director Institute of Research in Water and Environment, France	30.11.05	Climate Change Impact on Water Resources from the Mountains of Peru
Prof. Nibir Mandal Dept of Geological Sciences Jadavpur University Kolkata	1.12.05	Numerical Modeling and Modern Techniques in the Structural Geology
Dr. Valeri Gitis Institute for Information Transmission Problems RAS Moscow	16.12.05	GIS Technologies for Spatial and Spatio- Temporal Data Mining
Dr. Alexey Lyubushin Institute of the Physics of the Earth Moscow	16.12.05	Multidimensional Geophysical Monitoring Time Series Analysis
Prof. Nibir Mandal Jadavpur University Kolkata	1.1.06	Continuum modelling of flow: geological implications
Prof. Somnath Dasgupta Department of Science Jadavpur University Kolkata	17.1.06	Petrology and geochemistry of the inverted metamorphic sequence across the MCT zone in Sikkim Himalaya and their Tectonic significance
Dr. Vineet Kumar Gupta Consultant Psychiatrists Dehra Dun	28.2.06	Stress management: a scientific approach
Dr. Joy Routh Stockholm University	8.3.06	Organic Geochemistry Molecular Fossils in the Environment
Dr. Jagdish Bahadur Ex. Director DST, New Delhi	27.3.06	Role of Himalayan Snow and Glaciers

SEMINAR /SYIMPOSIA/WORKSHOP/TRAINING COURSES CLICK FOR DETAILS

VISITS ABROAD

Dr. B.R. Arora, Dr. A.K. Dubey and Dr. S.J.Sangode participated and presented papers in the 21st Himalayan-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop held at Cambridge University, U.K. on March, 29-31,2006.

Dr. Rohtash Kumar & Dr.Sumit K.Ghosh participated in Asia Oceania Geoscience Society 2nd Annual Meeting held at Suntec City, Singapore from 20-24 June, 2005.

Dr. S.K. Parcha participated and presented papers in the 4th International Symposium on the Cambrian system held at Nanjing, China from Aug. 16-25,2005.

Dr. P. Banerjee visited Topcon, Singapore to attend GPS training course Sept. 13-18, 2005.

Dr. P. Banerjee visited Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan, and presented paer in Memorial Conference during Dec.14-17, 2005.

Dr. V.C. Tewari participated and presented a paper in the 14th International Conference on the Origin of Life, Beijing, China on June 19-24, 2005.

Dr. N.K. Saini visited Panalytical Application Laboratory, Almilo, The Netherland, to attend XRD user training course on Nov. 7-17, 2005.

Dr. D.P. Dobhal visited Institute of Research and Developments (IRD) Montpellier, France from Nov. 20-26, 2005.

Dr. H.K. Sachan visited Department of Earth and Planetry Sciences, MIT. USA for colloborative research work from April 25-May 15.2005.

MEMBERSHIP OF NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE

Name of the Scientist	Status	Prestigious Committee/s Outside WIHG
B.R.Arora	Member	Editorial Board of the Journal Geophysics
A.K. Dubey	1. Fellow 2. Member	Geological Society of India, Bangalore Indian Geological Congress, Roorkee
G. Philip	Member	ISRO-NNRMS-Sub Committee on Geology
V.Gupta	Member	Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for preparing draft standards on guidelines for preparation of Landslide Hazard Zonation maps on meso- and micro- scale

FOUNDATION DAY CELEBRATIONS

Dr. R.S. Tolia, Chief Secretary, Uttaranchal Government
delivering the Foundation Day Lecture.

The Foundation Day of the Institute was celebrated on 29 June 2005. Dr. R.S. Tolia, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttaranchal was the Chief Guest. He delivered the Foundation Day Lecture on “Endeavours for making a Self-reliant Mountain State”. On this occasion awards were given for the best research paper as well as for the best scientific work carried out in Hindi. First prize was given to Dr . S. J. Sangode for research paper entitled “ Pedogenic transformation of magnetic minerals in Plio-Pleistocene paleosols of the Siwalik Group, NW Himalaya” published in Palaeoecol, Palaeoclimate, Palaeoecology. The second award was given to Dr. P.S.Negi for his Hindi article “Jalwayu pariwartan evam uske viswavyapi prabhaw-ek vigyanic vishleshan”. The best worker awards were given to Sh. Rambir Kaushik, Technical Assistant, Sh. S.K.Chhetri, UDC, Sh. S.K.Srivastava, UDC and Sh.S.K.Thapliyal, FCLA for the good work carried out by them during the year 2004- 05.

NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY

The National Science Day week was celebrated by the Institute by organising the Science Quiz and Hindi Essay Competition for school children from 22-28 February 2006. The various educational institutions of Dehra Dun were invited for participation in the Science Quiz and Hindi Essay Competition. Inspite of Annual Board Exams in Schools, a number of educational institutions participated in these competitions. The title of the Hindi Essay was “Himalayee Pariyavaran - Samasyayay Evam samadan” in which 28 schools participated. Winning students were given certificates and awards. In addition to these the scientists of the Institute delivered lectures in the different schools in and around the Doon valley. A popular science lecture on “Stress management -A scientific approach” was delivered by Dr. Vineet Kumar Gupta a renowned psychiatrist of Dehra Dun. A huge crowed of students and general public attended the lecture. Also on February 28, 2006,an Open day was observed for student sand general public to visit Museum and Laboratories of the Institute. More than 2000 school children and a large number of general public from far off places as Haridwar, Rishikesh, Sailakui, Mohakampur, Sahastradhara and Vikas Nagar visited the Institute.

School children interacting with Scientist on National Science Day

School children participating in the Hindi Essay competition during
National Science Week

NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY

The Seventh National Technology Day was celebrated by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology on May 11, 2005. The Institute observed an Open Day by keeping Museum and other Laboratories open for the general public and for the school and college students. On this day a special lecture was delivered by Shri S. N. Maurya, Dy. Director, Software Technology Parks of India, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Government of India on “Last Mile Connectivity for Broad Band Services”

TECHNICAL SERVICES

Analytical Services

Analytical Services Central F Facility acility Laboratories The broad scope of Central Facility Laboratories (CFL) is to develop techniques to feed the analytical needs of researchers, scholars and various industries in the adjoining area. Many projects running in the Institute are laboratory oriented and quite often need high quality analytical data. At present CFL has got facilities and capabilities to determine about 45 elements including 14 rare earths in different types of matrices like rocks, minerals, soils, plants, and water samples with very good accuracy and precision. During this year a total number of four thousand four hundred and thirty seven samples were analyzed by CFL thus increasing the output by about 54% in comparison to last year. Out of these two thousand four hundred sixty six samples were from the Institute scientists and scholars and rest from outsideorganizations/industries.

Laboratory	WIHG Users	Outside Usrs	Total
RF	732	706	1438
XRD	514	298	812
SEM	902	357	1259
ICP-MS/AAS	318	610	928
TOTAL SAMPLES ANALYZED 4437

Among the various instruments available in CFL, XRF found the maximum use (33%) followed by SEM (28%), ICPMS/AAS (21%) and XRD (18%).

Photography Section

During the reporting year around 50 rolls of colour negative, 6 rolls of colour transparency, 10 rolls of normal speed black and white negative and 30 rolls of slow speed black and white negative films were used by the Institute scientists and research scholars. Processing of 50 rolls of colour negative and 6 rolls of colour transparency films were arranged from the market. Besides this about 30 CD’s and 500 digital prints were also got made from the market. The WIHG laboratory exposed around 25 film rolls (black and white and colour), processed around 40 rolls of black and white film (mostly slow speed with photomicrographs) and made around 1000 prints of assorted size. The laboratory also arranged for the photographic coverage of most of the functions organized in the Institute during the year.

Drawing Section

The Drawing Section catered to the cartographic needs of the Institute scientists as well as the sponsored projects. During the year the Drawing Section provided 63 geological/structural/ Geomorphological maps, 12 lithologs and 19 crosssections to the scientists of the Institute. The Section also prepared 32, posters/charts, 18, geochemical diagrams, 20, fossil diagrams and various other jobs pertaining to line diagrams, labels/captions (both b/w and colored), writing
work on photo plates and ammonia prints of different sizes.

Sample Preparation Lab

The Sample Processing Laboratory provided thin/polished sections to the requirements of the Institute scientists. During the year laboratory provided 2133 thin and polished sections to various users for carrying out microscopic, fluid inclusion and EPMA studies.

MUSEUM

The Institute Museum is the major axis of education and continues to create a center of attention to the students and general public not only from the far-flung corners of India but also from overseas. Museum as usual remained the main centre of attraction for the national and international visitors. Students in large groups from different schools, universities, colleges and other Institutions visited the Museum; guided tours were provided to them. Also during the year, visitors from Canada, South Africa, Austria, Holland, USA, UAE, U.K, Germany, Australia, England, Japan, Nepal, France, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Poland, Moscow, Ireland, Italy, Israel and Austria visited the Museum.

The Museum observed open days on National Technology Day (11 May, 2005), Foundation Day (29 June, 2005), Founders Day (23 October, 2005) and National Science Day (28 February, 2006). Like the previous years enormous number of students and general public visited the museum on these occasions. The print media gave a wide coverage of the various functions organized during these open days. Science quiz and essay competition were organized during the Science Week celebrations. Students from various schools of Doon valley participated in the quiz competition. Prizes were distributed to the outstanding students who stood first, second and third in the merit both in quiz and essay competition. Two consolation prizes, each were also given for Hindi essay and for science quiz competition.

School children visiting Museum on National Science Day

LIBRARY

The library of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is one of the best libraries in the field of earth sciences in the northern part of the country. It is a medium size specialized library consisting of books, monographs, journals and seminar/conference proceedings on earth sciences with special reference to Himalayan geology. A large number of national and international scientific core journals in the field of earth sciences are subscribed in the library which is not available in any other Library in the region. The library subscribes to 132 journals, out of which 52 are Indian and 80 are foreign. The library received 12 titles of journals as gratis. During the period of this report the library acquired a total number of 263 books, while 28 books were received as gratis. In addition, 134 books in Hindi were purchased. The library has a good collection of Hindi books to promote Hindi language in the staff of the Institute.

The catalog of CD-ROMs available in the library has been compiled. The reprint collection of the library was reorganized. A new database named ‘Rprint’ consists of 1287 bibliographic records of reprints available in the reprint collection of the library. The Himalayan Geology Database (HIMGEO) has been updated and the web interface software named GenIsis is installed to provide web based access on intranet (LAN) to this database. The library incorporates a reprographic cell which serves as a central facility for photocopying and cyclostyling. A large number of photocopies of articles from journals/monographs were provided to the scientists of the Institute. The photocopying and cyclostyling facility was also provided to the administrative and technical sections of the Institute.

PUBLICATION & DOCUMENTATION

The Publication & Documentation section is involved in bringing out the regular journal on “Himalayan Geology” and publishing Hindi magazine, annual report yearly, etc. During the year the Section has published the Himalayan Geology vols. 26(2) 2005 and Vol. 27(1) 2006, Hindi magazine Ashmika vol. 11 and Annual Report of the Institute for the year 2004-05 both in Hindi and English. Books entitled “Earthquakes Laboratory Practice”, “National Programme on Seismicity: Highlights and Achievements” and an Abstract Volume for the seminar on “Sedimentary Basins of Himalaya: Challenges for the Future (IAS 2005)” organized by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology were also brought out during the year. Apart from this various jobs such as printing of the J.B. Auden Lecture, Prof. Naha Memorial Lecture and D.N. Wadia Honour Lecture, Circular for the seminar on Sedimentary Basins of Himalaya: Challenges for the Future (IAS 2005)”, invitation cards for the seminars/workshops, certificates for celebration of Foundation Day and National Science Day were also brought out by the Section during the year. Additionally, services for scanning and colour printing of maps, diagrams, figures as requisitioned by the Institute scientists were provided by the Publication & Documentation Section.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE INSTITUTE

Dr. H.K. Gupta, Secretary, Department of Ocean Development, Mahasagar Bhavan, Block-12,C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003.

Dr. R.S. Tolia, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttaranchal.

Sh. M. Ramachandran, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttaranchal.

Prof. C. Leelanandam, Emeritus Professor, Osmania University.

Dr. Madhav Karki, DDG, ICIMOD, Nepal.

Dr. M.K. Virk, DIG, BSF, Jammu.

Sh. M.K. Rajadan, DIG, BSF.

Sh. Balbir Singh, DIG, BSF.

Sh. B.K. Dey, IPS, Director, BSF Academy.

Sh. J.P. Mohla, DIG, BSF.

Maj. Gen. D. Mukherjee, NDC.

Dr. Ragnar Stefansson and Ms. Steinann Jakobsdotir, Iceland Meterological Department, Iceland.

Prof. Nibir Mandal, Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Dr. Valeri Gitis, Institute for Information Transmission Problems RAS, Moscow.

Dr. Alexey Lyubushin, Institute of the Physics of the Earth, Moscow.

Dr. Vineet Kumar Gupta, Consultant Psychiatrists, Dehra Dun.

Prof. Somnath Dasgupta, Department of Sciences, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Dr. Joy Routh, Stockholm University.

Dr. Jagdish Bahadur, Ex. Director, DST. New Delhi

Dr. Harsh Gupta, Secretary, Department of Ocean Development,
Government of India,delivered the J.B. Auden Memorial Lecture
at the Institute on April 8, 2005.

STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF HINDI

During the year under report, efforts for progressive use of Hindi were continued. The scientists and staff of the Institute were time and again apprised with the various orders and constitutional provisions of official Language Act to increase awareness for progressive use of Hindi in day-today work. Various incentive schemes for encouraging progressive use of Hindi were implemented. General orders, circulars and notices were issued in Hindi as well as in English. On the occasion of the Foundation Day of the Institute on 29 June 2005, the Hindi Magazine ‘Ashmika” Volume 11 was released. A scientist of the Intitute , Dr. P.S. Negi was conferred a prize for his article in Hindi entitled, “Jalwayu pariwartan evam uske viswavyapi prabhaw-ek vegyanic vishleshan” under a scheme for promoting scientific writing in Hindi.

Hindi fortnight was celebrated from 14 September 2005 to 29 September 2005, during which various competitions like poetry, essay and debate were organized. Professor V.K.S. Dave from I.I.T., Roorkee delivered a lecture entitled, “Rashtra Vigyan Evam Bhasha” on 15.9.2006 to inspire the staff for progressive use of Hindi in their work. The Annual Report of the Institute for the year 2004-2005 was translated in Hindi and published in bilingual form. On the occasion of the National Science Day week, a Hindi Essay competition was organized for the students of various schools of Dehra dun. The title of the Hindi Essay was “Himalayee Paryavaran-Samasyayein Evam Samadhan”.

Dr. R.S. Tolia, Chief Secretary, Uttaranchal Government releasing
the WIHG Hindi Magazine ‘Ashmika’