Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore celebrated Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotstav in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Iconic Week of 22 – 28 August 2022. Several activities had been planned throughout the week. A day-wise brief report is given below:

• First Day (22-08-2022): Inauguration Function of the DAE Iconic Week Celebration.
• Second Day (23-08-2022): Visit of ITI trainees to RRCAT Light Exploratorium
• Third Day (24-08-2022): A series of events were organized
• Fourth Day (25-08-2022): A series of events were organized
• Fifth Day (26-08-2022): A series of events were organized
• Sixth Day (27-08-2022): A series of events were organized
• Seventh Day (28-08-2022): Camp for screening of Oral cavity using ONCODIAGNOSCOPE

First Day (22-08-2022): Inauguration Function of the DAE Iconic Week Celebration.

The inaugural event at Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore under the DAE Iconic Week celebrations was organized today at RRCAT Convention Centre. Prof. (Dr.) Rohini V. Chowgule, was the Chief Guest of the function who is a renowned expert on Pulmonology and Environmental Medicine, Founder-Director of the Foundation for Environmental Medicine (FEM) and Trustee of Impact India Foundation. Other special guests were, Prof. U. Kamachi Mudali, Vice-Chancellor, VIT Bhopal and former Chairman and Chief Executive, Heavy Water Board, Department of Atomic Energy, Prof. Upinder Dhar, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, and Dr. Shri Krishna Gupta, Former OSD, DAE Secretariat, New Delhi, and former Project Director GCNEP. The function was attended by ~500 invitees including approximately 120 officials from RRCAT and others were faculty members and students from local universities and engineering colleges and other dignitaries.

The function began with a very lucid and impactful presentation by Dr. Shankar V. Nakhe, Director, RRCAT on the contributions of RRCAT in Nation Building through its R & D programs in the field of Lasers, Accelerators, and associated technologies. He mentioned that RRCAT is working with the motto “Photons in the service of mankind through Science and Technology”. He elaborated major contributions of RRCAT in the field of cryogenics, in DAE-CERN collaboration, development of IR-FEL, Indus-1 and 2 National facilities, development of several point-of-care bio-phonics devices such as OncoDiagnoscope and Tuberculoscope, use of Nd:YAG lasers in India's nuclear program, Laser Additive Manufacturing, fibre Bragg grating based sensors etc., to name a few. Finally, he talked about the partnership between industry, public and RRCAT through Incubation Centre to achieve the mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

This was followed by another very interesting talk by Prof. (Dr.) Rohini Chowgule, who presented the journey of Life Line Express: A multi-speciality hospital on train. She elaborated in detail the vision of removing disability from the society, behind starting Life Line Express. The LLE has been serving the less privileged section of the society for the last 31 years. It not only has OPD services for the rural population of India, but has state-of-the art medical facilities onboard. She announced that OncoDiagnoscope, developed at RRCAT, will soon be a part of LLE for screening of breast and cervical cancers.

These talks were followed by a series of three lectures by other eminent personalities in the field of science and technology, and academics. Prof. U. Kamachi Mudali presented the journey of Heavy Water production, an essential and rare material for the success of the Indian Nuclear Energy program. He lauded the visionary leadership of Dr. Homi J. Bhabha who chalked out the three stages Nuclear Power Program of India. This was followed by a presentation by Prof. Upinder Dhar, who connected the economical growth model with the population growth, and how it has deep connection with society and impact on sustainable growth. The last lecture was by Dr. Sri Krishan Gupta, who delved in to the topic of fostering collaborative research through academic institutions. He presented the saga of the Atomic Energy in India, especially the mandates of Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, a relatively new R & D Centre of the DAE.

In the afternoon session in a special meeting a MoU was signed between RRCAT and VIT Bhopal University, Bhopal for fostering the collaborative research.

In the end a vote of thanks was proposed by Shri Purushottam Shrivastava, Director, Proton Accelerator Group, RRCAT, who thanked all who contributed to the success of today's event. Finally the function ended with collective singing of the National Anthem.

RRCAT has been always instrumental to inspire the students and young research aspirants in the field of science and technology. As an endeavour in that direction, the centre has developed a state-of-the-art museum named ‘Light Exploratorium’. In the afternoon of August 22, 2022, the dignitaries including faculty and students were taken around a guided tour of this museum, which has many exhibits and hands-on models to demonstrate the multi-faceted behaviour of light, its properties, and its applications in everyday life as well as in modern day science. The Light Exploratorium was inaugurated last month on 8^th July 2022 by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chancellor, HBNI & Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission & Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India.

In the next one week (22^nd - 28^th August 2022) several outreach activities including lectures and videos for science popularisation, quizzes, blood donation camp and health awareness camps are going to be organized by the scientists of RRCAT at different universities, colleges and schools in-and-around Indore. In addition, students from several schools of Indore have been invited to visit Light Exploratorium and learn about light, its properties and applications in different spheres of life.

Second Day (23-08-2022): Visit of ITI trainees to RRCAT Light Exploratorium

RRCAT’s motto is “Photons in the Service of Nation” and true to its motto, RRCAT has always inspired the students and young researchers to learn about sources, behaviours and applications of photons (light particles). As an endeavour in that direction, the centre has developed a state-of-the-art museum named ‘Light Exploratorium’.

In the afternoon of August 23, 2022, a group of thirty ITI trainees were taken around a guided tour of the Light Exploratorium. These trainees could learn from the exhibits and hands-on models about the wave and particle behaviour of light, its properties, and its applications in everyday life as well as in modern day science. The Light Exploratorium was inaugurated last month on 8^th July 2022 by Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chancellor, HBNI & Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission & Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India.

Third Day (24-08-2022): A series of events were organized, their details follow:

1. RRCAT organized a one-day “Interaction Meeting on Fostering RRCAT-Industry Partnership with Technology Transfer & Incubation” was organized at convention Centre RRCAT, Indore. The objective of this interaction meeting was to familiarize the industries with DAE & RRCAT activities and new initiatives towards technology transfer and incubation. Seventy representatives from various start-ups and different industrial sector working on various domains including automobile, metal-processing, manufacturing, food processing, advanced instrumentations, electrical power supply, solar products, farming, jewellery, software development, participated the meeting.

During the inauguration address, Dr. Shankar V Nakhe, Director RRCAT described the recent developments leading to special emphasis on technology transfer and incubation for self-reliance and employment generation through partnership with industries using DAE technologies and expertise. He invited industries to explore the possibilities to work together to deliver right product at right place at right time. Shri Shrikrishna Gupta, Raja Ramanna Fellow presented an overview of DAE contributions for the nation building in various domains of life. The special contributions of RRCAT in the field of lasers, accelerators and associated technologies through R&D programmes were highlighted by Shri G. Mundra, Director, Technology Development and Support Group, RRCAT. Dr. C P Paul, Convener Incubation Centre-RRCAT introduced the participants about the DAE Technology Transfer & Incubation Framework. Dr. Paul also spoke about the various partnership opportunities available to the industries through the incubation centre to achieve the mission of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. During open interaction session, the participants actively discussed various issues pertaining to special promotion to start-ups, exclusive licencing of technologies, the effect of irritated food products, and compact energy storage devices.

The participants also visited various indigenously developed facility for vacuum brazing facility, Liquid Nitrogen based Refrigeration (SHIVAY), laser additive manufacturing, laser cutting and welding, and synchrotron radiation source (Indus-2). This was the first interaction meeting with industries through incubation centre to foster strong and long-term relationship to utilize the DAE technology and expertise. Many promising technology transfer and incubation proposals from these industries are expected in near future for the development of commercially viable products.

2. A team of 3 scientists visited Shri Vaishnav Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya where approximately 120 students and 20 faculty members were made aware of “Contributions of DAE and RRCAT in Nation Building” and various career opportunities in DAE through a talk. A talk on “Light in Disease Diagnosis” discussing the basic principles of light matter interaction and how these phenomena help in diagnosis of diseases with special mention of latest contributions of RRCAT in this field that includes development of OncoDiagnoScope and techniques like Nano-trap enhanced Raman Spectroscopy was delivered. Another talk on “Light based therapeutics: the new frontiers in disease management” where various facets of light based therapy being pursued at RRCAT such as anti tumor photodynamic therapy, antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, photobiomodulation therapy, antiviral photodynamic therapy and UV-C based inactivation of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 was delivered. The specifically highlight of the talk was the point of care devices being developed for nasal, oral, wound and acne photodisinfection in partnership with Dr. Care and Cure , New Delhi under the RRCAT-Incubation programme. The talks invited good interest from participants. Faculties have shown keen interest to work on light based therapy and light stimulation in particular. Quiz based on these talks was conducted and around 25 students were given prize. A memento was also presented to the Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof. Upinder Dhar.

3. More than 50 students and 4 teachers from two local schools namely Bal Vinay Mandir, Indore and Government Higher Secondary School Rajendra Nagar, Indore visited the Light Exploratorium. These students played with various hands-on models and saw exhibits to learn the properties and applications of light in modern life as well as frontline research.

4. RRCAT scientists visited two schools in rural area namely Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Mhowgaon, Mhow and Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Mhow. They were accompanied by a team of doctors from RRCAT Dispensary, a dentist, an optometrician and their support staff. A memento and gift (a 100x70cm laminated and framed periodic table) were presented to the principals Mr. Shailendra Zope and Mr. Pradeep Trivedi of the two schools respectively. The students were given a short presentation about scientists of India and a presentation on various scientific activities being carried out by DAE in general and RRCAT in particular. They were also shown a short movie on the achievements of DAE. The quiz for students was also conducted followed by gifts and refreshment to the participants (around 95-100 students in each school). A health screen camp for oral hygiene, vision and general health check-up was also carried out by the doctors and medical staff. The event was concluded by collective singing of the National Anthem.

Fourth Day (25-08-2022): A series of events were organized, their details follow:

1. An outreach event in the form of popular talks was organized at Oriental University (OU), Indore. It was attended by approximately 270 UG and PG students including research scholars, and 30 faculty members. The first talk on “Contributions of DAE and RRCAT in Nation Building” which also covered various career opportunities in DAE was very much appreciated by the audience. The second and third talks were on ‘Light in Disease Diagnosis’ and ‘RF technologies for particle accelerator RF systems’ respectively. In the end of talk series, a HBNI PhD gave seminar on ‘Laser cooling, trapping and manipulation of 87Rb atoms’. Finally a quiz was arranged on the questions arising from various talks and token prizes were given. The event highlighted the activities of the DAE and RRCAT in several areas of science and technology. A Memento with logo of AKAM, DAE and RRCAT was presented to Mr. Dhruv Ghai, Pro Vice Chancellor, OU.

2. Another outreach event was organized at Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS), Indore. Two technical talks were organised, where one of the talk covered contributions of “Department of Atomic Energy & Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore in Nation Building” and the second talk covered “Indian contributions to International Mega Science Projects: Opportunities for Indian industries and students to participate”. Quiz session was also arranged and winning students were distributed prizes. Overwhelming response was received from about 125 students and 15 faculty members attended the program

3. Scientists from RRCAT visited the Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya and discussed with students about the “Contributions of Department of Atomic Energy & Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore in Nation Building”. They also showed a movie on applications of lasers nuclear reactors. This was followed by a talk on Atom Trap on Chip Scale. At the end there was a quiz and token prize distribution. The Head, Department of Instrumentation Dr. Ratnesh Gupta was presented a memento with logo of AKAM, DAE and RRCAT on behalf of RRCAT.

4. Four teams of 7-8 RRCAT scientists each visited four schools in rural area namely Cantonment Board Girls Higher Secondary School, Mhow (Principal: Mr. Vishal Srivas), Govt. Excellence Higher Secondary School, Mhow (Principal: Mr. N. K. Verma), Govt H.S. School, Pigdamber (Principal: Sh Shiv Kumar Prajapathi ), and Govt Girls H S School, Rajendra Nagar, Indore (Principal: Sh Anita Chauhan). A total of 56, 75, 38 and 45 students respectively attended the program of azadi ka amrit mahotsav. Our scientists were accompanied by a team of doctors from RRCAT Dispensary, a dentist, an optometrician and their support staff. A memento and gift (a 100x70cm laminated and framed periodic table) were presented to the school principals. The students were given a short presentation about scientists of India and a presentation on various scientific activities being carried out by DAE in general and RRCAT in particular. They were also shown a short movie on the achievements of DAE. The quiz for students was also conducted followed by gifts and refreshment to the participants (around 95-100 students in each school). A health screen camp for oral hygiene, vision and general health check-up was also carried out by the doctors and medical staff. The event was concluded by collective singing of the National Anthem.

5. A team of 5 scientists visited the Mount Litera Zee School in Indore city where talks were delivered to the students about various technologies developed by DAE and RRCAT, and their societal applications. More than 150 students were present during the talk. A short movie was also shown to the students about the DAE activities. Students were shown a presentation about the Indian scientist and their contribution. At the end of interaction session, a scientific quiz was organized for the students and prizes in the form of notebooks and pens were distributed to them. One memento was also presented to the school principal Shri Shyam Agrawal and staff on behalf of RRCAT, Indore.

6. A vaccination camp for administering COVID-19 precautionary / booster doses was arranged at Main Gate of RRCAT Residential Colony, Indore for the neighbourhood villagers, shopkeepers, contract workers engaged by Contractors of RRCAT, maid servants working in RRCAT residential colony and the passers-by. During this vaccination campaign, precautionary / booster doses of Covishield and Covaxin have been administered to more than 900 persons comprising residents of nearby localities/areas/villages outside RRCAT Residential Colony/contract workers and some CHSS beneficiaries. A huge response is received from the residents outside RRCAT (non-CHSS beneficiaries) which shows successful organization of camp for the benefit of society.

7. More than 50 students and 4 teachers from two local schools namely Atri Devi Government School, Indore and Madhav Vidyapeeth, Indore visited the Light Exploratorium. These students played with various open-air hands-on models and indoor exhibits and learnt the properties and applications of light in modern life as well as frontline research.

Fifth Day (26-08-2022): A series of events were organized, their details follow:

On 26th August 2022, the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore organized a series of events under the DAE Iconic Week celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The details of the events follow:

1. A full day interaction meeting was organised at RRCAT to introduce farmers to the liquid nitrogen based refrigerated transportation technology developed at RRCAT and named as Sheetal Vahak Yantra (SHIVAY). The meeting was attended by Farmers from Rau, Rangwasa and Pigdamber along with Shri Moti Singh Patel, Chairman, Sanchi Dugdh Sangh, some representatives/entrepreneurs from industry, professors from SGSITS Indore and VIT Bhopal. Shri Prashant Khare, Head CDCA section, Shri Purushottam Shrivastava, Director PAG and Dr. S. V. Nakhe, Director RRCAT discussed with the attendees the applications of this technology in the field of refrigerated transport of fruits, vegetables, pharmaceuticals and other perishables. This technology uses liquid nitrogen to maintain desired temperature and can cater up-to minus 40°C temperature. This technology has been tailor made for Indian conditions and is aimed at solving issues like high maintenance due to rough roads, which are faced by conventional refrigerated truck (reefer) operators. Utility to deploy this technology was also discussed during the meeting. Working prototype of SHIVAY, which is a 20 feet long full truck size system was demonstrated.

2. Around 50 students and 4 teachers from two local schools namely Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School, Bijalpur and Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School, Bijalpur visited the Light Exploratorium and learnt about properties and applications of light in modern life as well as frontline research.

3. Three teams of 5-6 scientists each visited Medicaps University, Indore, IPS Academy (an engineering college), Indore and Holkar Science College (HSC), Indore. The common talk on DAE and RRCAT’s contributions in nation building was delivered in all three places. In Medicaps Univ., talks on “Creation of matter at extreme conditions using ultra-short high intensity lasers”, “Materials Joining Technologies at RRCAT” and "Optical and X-ray Techniques for Investigating Device-resistant Properties of Laser and Detector Materials" was delivered to a gathering of 120 students and faculty. In the IPS Academy other talks were on radiation shielding using concrete and Investigations of optoelectronic properties in III-V semiconductor material system and approximately 150 students and faculty attended it. The second talk in HSC was on “Light based therapeutics: the new frontiers in disease management” where various facets of light based therapy being pursued at RRCAT and the point of care devices being developed for nasal, oral, wound and acne photo-disinfection in partnership with Dr. Care and Cure, New Delhi under the RRCAT-Incubation programme were discussed. The talks were followed by quiz and a pen as token prize which has AKAM logo on it.

4. Two teams of scientists, accompanied with RRCAT Medical Centre doctors, a dentist, an optometrician and their support staff visited the Tirath Bai Kalachand Higher Secondary School, Indore (Principal: Amit Trivedi) and Govt. Higher Secondary School, Gawali Palasiya, Mhow (Principal: Smt. Vandana Saxena) to familiarize students about Indian scientists and also about DAE and RRCAT technologies and encourage them towards pursuing science career. Laminated and framed periodic tables of elements as well as a memento were presented to School on behalf of RRCAT. Also, students were distributed snacks, and copies with AKAM/DAE/RRCAT logo and biography of Indian scientists. A quiz was also organised with AKAM logo on a pen as token prizes. The event was attended by 75 and 80 students respectively. A health screen camp for oral hygiene, vision and general health check-up will also be carried out by the doctors and medical staff.

5. A quiz & extempore competition were arranged at the Multi-Purpose Hall, Rangwasa Gram Panchayat, Rangwasa, Indore. Arounds 300 students of five schools viz. Government Girls Secondary School, Govt. Boys Secondary School, Jyoti Convent School, Youth Perfect Academy and Shri Imiya Patidar High School gathered at multi-purpose hall of gram panchayat and participated enthusiastically wherein various information pertaining to DAE, RRCAT, Indian Freedom Movement, Indian freedom fighters, achievement of the country during last 75 glorious years of Independence and general information about science and technology and its application for societal use were shared with the school children.

6. A health check-up camp for the residents of Rangwasa and nearby village was arranged in association with the Choithram Hospital & Research Centre, Indore / RRCAT medical Centre which attended by more than 150 persons for health check. Sanitary pads were distributed to the women of Rangwasa villages.

Sixth Day (27-08-2022): A series of events were organized, their details follow:

On 27th August 2022, the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore organized a series of events under the DAE Iconic Week celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The details of the events follow:

1. A blood donation camp was organised in collaboration with Blood Bank of MY Hospital, Indore at RRCAT Medical Centre on 27-08-2022 from 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM. A total of 105 units of blood were donated for the noble cause by the volunteers which includes RRCAT staff and their family members, TSOs and HBNI PhD students.

2. A “General Health Awareness Seminar” was organised at RRCAT Convention Centre from 10:00 AM to 02:00 PM. The seminar was chaired by Dr. S. V. Nakhe, Director, RRCAT. Prof. (Dr.) Sanjay Dixit, CEO & Dean MGM Medical College, Indore was the Chief Guest and Dr. Jayant Sahsrbuddhe, National Organising Secretary, Vigyan Bharti was the Guest of Honour. The first session started with a talk on “Indian Freedom Struggle and Science” by Dr. Sahsrbuddhe, where he elaborated how Indian scientists carried out their “satyagrah” against British Rule while pursuing science. The talk was very much appreciated by the audience. This talk was followed by a very informative talk by Prof. Dixit, where he highlighted various aspects of wellness. In the later part of seminar series there were two parallel sessions, one was for the mixed (gender) audience on Cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes and Ophthalmology. The talks in this session were delivered by Prof. Mahendra chourasia, Prof. Dharmendra Jhawar and Prof. Heena Bhandari respectively of MGM Medical College. The session was attended by around 200 persons including many outsiders. There was active participation of audience in learning how to manage these diseases. The second parallel session was specifically an all women seminar, where there were talks on Gynaecology and Obstetrics by Prof. Sumitra Yadav and Breast and Cervical Cancer by Prof. Preeti Jain, both from MGM Medical College. The post-lecture interactive session was a grand success. This session was attended by around 250 ladies including many outsiders.

3. Three teams of scientists visited Bal Vinay Mandir School, Indore (an excellence school of Government of MP), Govt. Boys HS School, Bijalpur, Indore and Govt. Girls HS School, Bijalpur, Indore to familiarize students about Indian scientists and also about DAE and RRCAT technologies and encourage them towards science. Laminated and framed periodic table of elements as well as a memento was presented to all there schools on behalf of RRCAT. A health screen camp for oral hygiene, vision and general health check-up was also be carried out by the doctors and medical staff of RRCAT Medical Centre and panel hospitals.

4. Around 25 students accompanied by two teachers from MP Police Public School, Indore visited the Light Exploratorium to learn about properties and applications of light in modern life as well as frontline research.

Seventh Day (28-08-2022): Camp for screening of Oral cavity using ONCODIAGNOSCOPE

On the last day of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Iconic Week celebration under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav a free one-day oral cancer screening camp was organized at Index Hospital on Aug 28, 2022 by RRCAT in association with Index Institute of Dental Sciences, Indore. The camp was intended for screening of oral cavity of the population residing in nearby villages/ rural areas using the photonics based compact and portable cancer screening device “ONCODIAGNOSCOPE”, developed at RRCAT. A team of scientists from RRCAT led by Dr. Shovan K. Majumder, Head, Laser Biomedical Applications Division and Co-Chairman, Public Outreach Committee, RRCAT along with several doctors from the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Index Institute of Dental Sciences (IIDS) led by Dr. Rajiv Shrivastava conducted the camp. Dr. Rajiv Shrivastava and Dr. Himanshu Singh, Dr. Ranjan Mani Tripathi from IIDS and Dr. Ashish Parmar from Geeta Bhavan Hospital, Indore along with a team of other doctors and medical personnel from IIDS were actively involved in examining and screening the participating individuals. An overwhelming response was received from the local population and over 150 individuals were examined of their oral cavities using ONCODIAGNOSCOPE. The doctors very much appreciated this portable device and said that this would be very much useful in screening of oral cancer.