Hyderabad: Scientific Society holds 20th virtual oration

Hyderabad: "Every child is a born scientist. They want to know everything about everything," said Anil Kutty, a retired bureaucrat and president of Dr KV Rao Scientific Society (KVRSS), while addressing the Virtual 20th Annual Oration of KVRSS. The virtual oration cum anniversary fete of Society was held on Tuesday.

A function is held every year to celebrate excellence in science by school students and researchers. An e-book on the 20 years journey of the KVRSS was also unveiled on the occasion. The theme of the oration was 'Design and Development of Catalysts for Green and Economical Processes for Chemical Industry' to commemorate centenary celebrations of Dr KV Rao, an eminent scientist who worked with Geological Survey of India.

Speaking on the occasion, Mannepalli Lakshmi Kantham, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, said the Indian chemical industry accounts for 3% of the global chemical industry. The size of the Indian chemical Industry is $ 130 billion. It is the 6th largest in the world and 3rd in Asia. It accounts for 3% of the global Chemical industry.

Dr Lakshmi Kantham, who has more than 260 research publications and 43 US patents to her credit, said the chemical industry in India contributes 3% of the country's GDP. The industry in India produces nearly 70,000 types of commercial products over a wide range of categories ranging from cosmetics and toiletries to plastics and pesticides.

Dr KV Ratna, Secretary of Dr KVRSS, said 2020 has been very special to them. It not only happens to be the 20 years of KVRSS but also the centenary year of Dr KV Rao in whose memory this society was formed.

Electronic Arts (EA) Hyderabad came forward to support the development of an Innovation Centre for supporting students to take their projects to a bigger scale. The centre is being developed at KVRSS office. They are in the process of selecting projects to be funded and mentored.

Dr Anil Kumar Kutty, a retired IAS officer and president of Dr KV Rao Scientific Society, Dr K. Ramamurthy, Dr K V Rao, Dr Ratna, Secretary of Dr KVRSS, Dr Sridhar Rao, and several participated in the virtual meet.