NEWS

Following day, the participants moved the environment of deposition, litho- 2. Paliwal, B. S., J. Geol. Soc. India, 1998, to Sam, Jaisalmer. On the way they saw facies, structural set-up and microbial 52(1), 81–86. Pokaran Boulder Bed (PBB), considered life in the basin. Palaeontological data 3. Kumar, S. and Pandey, S. K., Curr. Sci., to be the base of MSG. Chauhan et al.5 need support from sedimentological in- 2008, 94, 1081–1085. and Bhatt et al.6 have discussed its origin puts. New macrofossil morpho-forms, 4. Kumar, S. and Pandey, S. K., J. Asian Earth Sci., 2010, 38, 77–85. and lithostratigraphic position. The ori- some of which are enigmatic, can give 5. Chauhan, D. S., Mathur, K. M. and Ram, gin of PBB, i.e. whether it is glacial important clues regarding early multicel- N., J. Geol. Soc. India, 2001, 58(5), 425– deposit or not, is being debated. Partici- lular organisms and their evolution. Fel- 433. pants were unanimous that there is no sic volcanic unit of Chhoti Khatu could 6. Bhatt, D. K., Prasad, S., Jain, R. L. and evidence to consider PBB as a glacial be significant and provide precise age Mathur, A. K., J. Geol. Soc. India, 2005, boulder bed. constraint for the basin. 65, 301–308. During the return journey to Jodhpur All participants appreciated the infor- participants saw the Malani Igneous mative, elegantly prepared field guide Suite in Baukan Section. The valedictory book and the meticulous planning of the session was held at Jodhpur. The oil in- field trip by the scientists from BSIP. S. K. Pandey* and Bandana Dimri, dustry was interested in the sequence Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, stratigraphic framework of the MSG ba- 1. Raghav, K. S., De, C. and Jain, R. L., 53 University Road, Lucknow 226 007, sin which will be helpful to understand Indian Min., 2005, 59, 23–30. India. *e-mail: [email protected]

Indian Physics Association Awards

The Indian Physics Association Awards significant contributions in the areas of bai), for his significant contributions in 2012 were recently presented by M. K. hydrogen storage in nanomaterials and in the field of magnetism particularly in- Sanyal (President, Indian Physics Asso- the fields of non-crystallized solids. The volving neutron scattering. The award is ciation) at a function organized on 11 award carries a citation, gold medal and given for outstanding contributions in April 2014 at the Multipurpose Hall, cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. terms of innovative experimental tech- BARC Training School Hostel, Anushak- The Buti Foundation Award for 2012 niques or innovative instrumentation. tinagar, Mumbai. was given jointly to Aditi Sen De The award consists of a citation and a R. D. Birla Memorial Award 2012 was (Harish-Chandra Research Institute, cash prize of Rs 100,000. awarded jointly to T. V. Ramakrishnan Allahabad) for contributions to quantum Earlier awardees include, the Nobel (Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Ban- information, quantum optics and founda- Laureates Prof. Abdus Salam and Prof. galore) and Ajay Sood (IISc). Ramakrish- tions of quantum mechanics and V. K. S. Chandrasekhar among others are Prof. nan has made pioneering contributions in Chandrasekar (Bharathidasan University, A. Salam, Prof. B. V. Sreekantan, Prof. the theory of freezing of liquids and in Tiruchirappalli) for the understanding of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Prof. R. the localization of electrons due to disor- the fundamental aspects of nonlinear dy- Ramanna, Prof. Govind Swarup, Prof. der. Sood has researched in the areas of namics and complex systems. The award Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar, Dr. P. Raman spectroscopy and soft matter is given for outstanding contributions in K. Iyengar, Prof. R. Chidambaram, Prof. physics. The award is given once in two the area of theoretical applied physics, G. S. Agarwal, Prof. J. V. Narlikar, Prof. years for excellence in pure physics and astrophysics and biophysics. It carries a Ashoke Sen, Prof. Bikash Sinha and carries a citation, gold medal and cash citation, a gold medal and a cash prize of Prof. P. K. Kaw. prize of Rs 50,000. Rs 25,000. M. M. Chugani Memorial Award for The first P. K. Iyengar Memorial Parul R. Sheth, E-705/706 Kalp Nagri, excellence in applied physics for 2012 Award for excellence in experimental Vaishali Nagar, Mulund (West), Mumbai was awarded to O. N. Srivastava (Bana- physics was awarded to S. M. Yusuf 400 080, India. ras Hindu University, Varanasi) for his (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mum- e-mail: [email protected]

170 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 107, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2014