SOCIETY OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTS (INDIA) (1930 – 2011) 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Goals and activities of SBC(I) 2. Rules and Bye-laws of SBC(I) 3. Past Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers (with tenure) 4. “Reminiscences on the development of the Society of Biological Chemists (India): a personal perspective” by Prof. N. Appaji Rao 5. “Growth of Biochemistry in India” by Prof. G. Padmanaban 6. Current office bearers 7. Current Executive Committee Members 8. Office staff 9. Past meeting venues of SBC(I) 10. SBC(I) awards, criteria and procedure for applying 11. SBC(I) awardees 12. Current list of life members with address 13. Acknowledgments 2 GOALS AND ACTIVITIES OF SBC(I) To meet a long felt need of scientists working in the discipline of biological chemistry " The Society Of Biological Chemists (India)" was founded in 1930, with its Head Quarters at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. It was registered under the Societies Act in the then princely state of Mysore and the memorandum of registration was signed by the late Profs. V. Subramanian, V. N. Patwardhan and C. V. Natarajan, who were leading personalities in the scientific firmament during that period. The Society played a crucial role during the Second World War by advising the Government on the utilization of indigenous biomaterials as food substitutes, drugs and tonics, on the industrial and agricultural waste utilization and on management of water resources. The other areas of vital interest to the Society in the early years were nutrition, proteins, enzymes, applied microbiology, preventive medicines and the development of high quality proteins from indigenous plant sources. PROGRESS OVER THE YEARS The original objectives of the Society were to coordinate the work of biological chemists in different parts of India; to hold meetings and symposia for discussions on important topics of scientific and technical interest and for presentation of original papers; to publish Annual Reviews of Biochemical and Allied Research (carried out in India), and monographs on special topics in biological chemistry; and to publish a journal when sufficient funds become available. A journal was started in 1961, thanks to the untiring efforts of the late Profs. P. S. Sarma, A. Krishnamurthy, A. N. Radhakrishnan, L. K. Ramachandran, D. P. Burma, T. Ramasarma and several other members of the Society. This journal was originally published as the Indian Journal of Biochemistry but is now appearing as Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics at present. The Journal celebrated its Silver jubilee in 1988, and on this occasion, with the enthusiastic support of many members of our society, an excellent issue of the journal was brought out. Another effort of the Society which 3 met with some success was the establishment of the Biochemical Unit at the V.P. Chest Institute at the University of Delhi to overcome the shortage and circumvent the difficulties involved in procuring biochemicals from abroad. This laboratory established by CSIR at the initiative of the Society has strived against many odds and has achieved many successes. A major activity of the Society has been to hold symposia and annual meetings. The Society has sponsored large number of symposia, seminars and workshops in which both National and International scientists have participated. Recently, however the symposia activity is mostly confined to the Annual Meetings. The Society took the initiative of establishing links among biochemists working in various laboratories in Asia and Oceania. The Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biochemists was the culmination of the efforts spearheaded by SBC(I) and Biochemical societies of Japan and Australian. In addition, the membership of FAOBMB at present includes societies from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Hongkong, NewZealand, Singapore and Hawaii. MEMBERSHIP The membership of the Society from a modest beginning of less than 100 members in 1930 as been growing steadily. In 2006 the total membership of the Society stands at 2,900 of which 1700 are life members. An important feature of the composition of members is that students form the major group. NEWS LETTER Using the news Letter as a medium for dissemination of information, the Society has been able to coordinate the work of biological chemists in different parts of India. In addition, various meetings, symposia and awards are announced through this news letter. The news letter features articles and reports on topics of scientific & technical interest. The additional feature of the news Letter includes history and activities of institutes engaged in biological research in India, a news bulletin board listing the Society activities, articles on science policy and material and products reviews. WEB PAGE The Society has a web page (www.iisc.ernet.in/sbci) through which various information and activities of the Society can be accessed. AWARDS 4 In order to recognize the meritorious and significant contributions made by the members of the Society on the development of biological sciences in the country, the Society has instituted the following awards: M. Sreenivasaya memorial award (1972); P. S. Sarma memorial award (1973); A. Krishnamurthy award (1976); M. Shadaksharaswamy lecture award (1982); P. B. Rama Rao memorial award (1983); P. A. Kurup lecture award (1991); Best Poster award; B. S. Narasinga Rao best poster award (1992); C. R. Krishna Murti award (1995); I. S. Bhatia award (2000); and the A. N. Bhaduri award (2006). The recipients of these awards have been listed in this book. In order to encourage young scientists, especially the student members of the Society, as well as to popularize Indian Journals, the Society instituted the A. Krishnamurthy award for the best paper published in an Indian Journal and B.S. Narasinga Rao best poster award for the papers presented at the Annual meetings of the Society. The Society has instituted a “Financial support for research” scheme to support young research workers to carry out short term training/research activities in well established laboratories/institutions in India. The branches of the Society are located all over India. To start a branch, there should be at least 20 members and the local members shall authorize one of them to act as a Convenor. It is clear that the effort of the branches in conducting branch activities have helped in SBC(I)‟s growth. Year after year, many branches have organized several meetings and workshops. It has been the Society‟s policy to support such activities to the extent possible. Each year, the major activity of the Society is to hold its annual scientific meeting. The venues of the annual meetings are enclosed. These annual meetings have attracted large number of leading scientists from all over India. The Society has been able to successfully maintain an intense scientific activity at these meetings. The major event in Society‟s history was the 16th IUBMB Congress in 1994 and the 10th FAOBMB Congress 2003. In short, the Society has grown over the years to be a giant among the professional societies of India. Leading scientists from different areas of Biological Sciences have put in enormous efforts in shaping and strengthening of the Society to its present stature. The above article was complied from: (i)Biochemical Review Vol L - 1980 ; (ii)16th IUBMB Souvenir ; (iii)SBC(I) News Letter Vol- 71. 5 RULES AND BYE- LAWS SOCIETY OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTS (INDIA) RULES I. The Society shall be known as the SOCIETY OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTS (INDIA) with Headquarters at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012. It shall be a non-profit organisation and is registered under the Mysore Societies Registration Act No. 3 of 1904 (Registration No. 1595/57-58). II. The object of the Society shall be the advancement of knowledge in the field of Biological Chemistry. The Society shall serve as a medium for the co-ordination of the activities of Biological Chemists and shall for this purpose, a) arrange scientific meetings either under the exclusive auspices of the Society or jointly with others; b) publish reviews, journal, abstracts of the scientific meetings in India and monographs. c) support scientists attending and presenting a paper in an International Congress or FAOBMB meeting. d) provide financial support for research scheme to support young research workers to carry out short term training activities. e) provide travel fellowships to students to attend International meetings. III. Office- bearers of the Society : One President, three Secretaries and one Treasurer shall be the office-bearers of the Society. a) The president shall hold office for two years. b) The Secretaries and the Treasurer shall hold office for three years and are eligible for re-election. c) No person shall be eligible to be an office-bearer of the Society unless he has been a member during the two preceding years. 6 IV. The business of the Society shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of the office-bearers, three elected Vice-Presidents, members of the Editorial board and in addition, not more than thirty elected members of the Committee. a) The three Vice-Presidents shall hold office for two years and shall be eligible for re-election. One of the Vice-Presidents shall be resident at the Headquarters, when the President is not from Bangalore. b) The elected members of the committee shall comprise at least one member elected from each branch (Convenor) but not more than three from any branch. They shall hold office for three years and are eligible for re-election. c) No person is eligible to be a member of the Committee unless he has been a member of the Society in the previous year. BYE- LAWS 1. Membership A) Honorary Members: The Committee may recommend to the General Body, the election of scientists of eminence in India and abroad as Honorary Members of the Society.