Brief  Resume of

Dr Narender K. Sehgal

 

Dr  Sehgal is presently Chairman of the National Organizing Committee of YSA-2004. YSA refers to 2004, the year that has been designated by the Government of India as the “Year of Scientific Awareness ”.

Among others, Dr Sehgal is also associated  with  the Cambridge School, NOIDA, as Chairmain of its Managing Committee.

   

               Widely known and recognised as the architect of India’s internationally acclaimed Science Popularisation Programme, Dr Sehgal retired (in November 2000) as Adviser to the Government of India in the Department of  Science and Technology.

 

                He conceived, formulated and  coordinated implementation of countrywide projects and programmes, which have become major and pioneering milestones in the field of  Science Communication: the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha of 1987; the annual  National Children’s Science Congress  (held since 1993); the radio serials  “VigyanVidhi” and   “Manav Ka Vikas” (Human Evolution) -- done in 16 Indian languages  and broadcast respectively during 1989-90 and 1991-94 simultaneously from over    90    stations  of    All    India  Radio (AIR),   with  over  100,000   registered  listeners    in       the 10-14 year age  group spread all over the country;  television serials  “Kyon Aur Kaise” (12 parts) and “Kudratnama” (27 parts) to name only a few.

 

                He was instrumental  in having the National Science Day (February 28) instituted in the country, and in the formation of the All India People’s Science  Network (26 voluntary organisations) in 1988, and the NCSTC Network (over 36 voluntary as well as governmental organisations) in 1990, that have been  spearheading the people’s science movement in India.

 

                Dr Sehgal was  the founder editor  (as well as printer and publisher) of the quarterly “Scientific Opinion” during 1972-76 and  also an invited contributor during that period to the international popular science  weekly “Nature” (published from London).

 

                Dr Sehgal was also the  chief editor of  the bilingual (Hindi and English) monthly newsletters “NCSTC Communications” (1988 till November 2000) and “Dream-2047” (from its inception in 1998 till November 2000) respectively of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) and Vigyan Prasar. The monthly editorials in these two journals were very widely acclaimed and elicited a large volume of appreciative mail every month from all over the country.

 

                Dr  Sehgal has  contributed  invited  articles to  a  large number of magazines and newspapers  all over the country, both in Hindi and English. For his popular science writings, he was  also awarded one of the inaugural Fellowships of the Indian Science Writers’ Association in 1993.

 

                Dr Sehgal has given innumerable talks and has been interviewed on AIR from its different Kendras all over India on numerous occasions. In addition, he has appeared on, and has been interviewed on almost all television channels in India, over the years, especially in connection with occasions such as those of the total  solar eclipses of 1995 and 1999 and also during  incidents such as the ones relating to the “Ganesha drinking milk” and Ramar Pillai’s so called herbal petrol “hoax”.

 

                Dr Sehgal, over the years,  has also  delivered  many a memorial lecture, inaugural address  and convocation address. He has also chaired sessions at national and international seminars, symposia and conferences on science communication.

 

                During the course of his work as Science Communicator and Head of NCSTC and Vigyan Prasar, Dr Sehgal has had to work closely with academic and research institutions, universities, colleges and a large number of voluntary agencies, state governments, non-governmental organisations as well as  international agencies such as  UNESCO. He has travelled extensively inside and outside the country during the course of his work.

 

                Dr Sehgal was instrumental in the setting up of Vigyan Prasar’s homepage on the internet  way back in 1996 and was also the founder editor of India’s first online popular science magazine ComCom on that site -- both still going strong and doing well (http://www.vigyanprasar.com).

 

                Recipient of a number of national honours and  awards, Dr Sehgal was also winner of UNESCO’s 1991 Kalinga Prize for Science Popularisation (jointly with a Romanian, Radu Iftimovici) -- the only  international award available in this field.

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 ACADEMIC  AND  RESEARCH  BACKGROUND

 

Dr Narender K. Sehgal, born on 7 November 1940 in Lahore (now in Pakistan), has  had a brilliant academic career  capped with a 1969 PhD in particle physics from the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

 

              He had won an open Punjab University merit scholarship on the basis of his performance in the Matriculation examination (1956). He secured  one of the only 10 merit certificates in the BSc (1960) examination of the Punjab University.

 

                He successfully completed the one-year post-graduate course of the Atomic Energy Establishment’s (now known as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre’s) Training School in August 1961 (4th Batch) in physics and was thereafter appointed as Scientific Officer (Gazetted Class I post) in the Theoretical Reactor Physics  Division of  BARC.  He worked  there for two years before leaving in September 1963 to do his Master’s and PhD degrees  in USA.

 

                Dr Sehgal has done research in theoretical reactor physics and particle physics, before he left it all to bring out the quarterly  “Scientific Opinion” from Jalandhar in August 1972. He did that  for four years during 1972-76 and brought  out 16 issues.

 

                He taught physics at the Somali National University in Magadiscio, Somalia (E. Africa), where he was  Professor of physics for two years during 1976-78, before returning to India to join the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of  ISRO in Ahmedabad as Visiting  Scientist. Dr Sehgal was at SAC during 1978-1981 end.

 

                In February 1982, Dr Sehgal  joined the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India to lead NCSTC and  later Vigyan Prasar, and where he remained till his retirement in November 2000 .

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Most  recent talks:  

 

(i)  Was a Keynote-Speaker at the Beijing International Forum on Scientific literacy (2004) held in Beijing during 29-31 July 2004.

 

(ii) Was interviewed on All India Radio, Delhi, in connection with their series on “2004, the Year of Scientific Awareness” on 16 April 2004, for broadcast on 20 April 2004.

 

(iii) Chaired a Session  during a Seminar on “Hindi Mein Bal Vigyan Lekhan” and spoke on the same subject  at  National Bal Bhavan, New Delhi, on 25 March 2004.

 

 

Most recent popular writings:

 

(i) “Iraq Par Akraman aur Sanchar Madhyam”  in the 14-21 April 2003 issue of  the weekly “Avtaar Kesri”, published from Jalandhar City, Punjab.

 

(ii) “Itihaas Rachaa ja Rahaa Hai Iraq Mein” in the 23-30 June 2003 issue of the weekly “Avtaar Kesri” published from Jalandhar City, Punjab.

 

(iii) “Iraq Par Akraman Ka Auchitya?” in the 21-28 April 2003 issue of the weekly “Avtaar Kesri” published from Jalandhar City , Punjab

 

(iv)  “Our System of Evaluation: A Bigger Culprit” , an invited article to be published in the Education Journal to be brought out soon by the “Society for Advancement of Education” which runs a chain of Cambridge Schools in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. (Sent in April 2004).

                                                                                                                                             (Version: G/10/2004)