National Metallurgists' Day celebrated in Jamshedpur
November 15, 2006

Each year, November 14, the birthday of India's first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, is a notable day in the calendar of the metallurgical industry of India. On this day, the National Metallurgists' Day (NMD) is celebrated. The NMD celebrations this year began in Jamshedpur under the joint auspices of the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM) and Tata Steel on November 13 and continued on November 14.

Dr Akhilesh Das, minister of state for steel, government of India, was the chief guest and Dr R A Mashelkar, director general, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was the guest of honour in the opening ceremony. Both these luminaries delivered thought provoking addresses in which the future of the Indian economy, and particularly that of the steel industry, was discussed in detail. The hon'ble minister said that Jamshedpur was like a holy pilgrimage for metallurgists from across the world, and it was apt that the NMD celebrations this year were being held in the Steel City. Dr Mashlekar emphasised that, eventually, India will emerge as a global leader riding on its youth capital.

Around 900 delegates and guests attended the opening ceremony, in which B Muthuraman, managing director of Tata Steel and the president of IIM, delivered the presidential address touching upon the role of the younger generation in shaping the future of Indian industry. He went on to highlight how IIM would play its role in involving the younger generation of technologists, including those who are still studying in engineering colleges. Muthuraman spoke on the role and relevance of steel industry for India's future and identified few key issues and challenges for the industry, such as technology and research, indigenous design capabilities, raw materials security and infrastructure, specially the availability of land.

NMD Awards
The opening ceremony also included the distribution of several steel ministry and IIM awards to individuals as well as organisations. The life-time achievement award was bestowed upon Prof CV Sundaram. The platinum medal, the highest award at IIM, was presented to V Gujral. Many other metallurgical professionals, including school and college students, received awards, all of which were in the form of a scroll of honour and sums of money.

In the post-lunch session at the Tata Auditorium, the major award winners of the forenoon session made short responses. The Dayaswarup Memorial Lecture and the NP Gandhi Memorial Lecture were delivered by Dr Amit Chatterjee and Prof SP Mehrotra, respectively.

IIM Diamond Jubilee
In view of the fact that 2006 is IIM's diamond jubilee year, a special Diamond Jubilee session was held in which five senior dignitaries connected with the metallurgical profession in industry / research / education reminisced about their association with IIM and their professional organisations. Dr PL Agarwal, Dr VS Arunachalam, Prof P Rama Rao, Prof EG Ramachandran and AC Wadhawan enumerated their experiences in this session.

Like on November 13, the day ended by the delegates enjoying the dance performance by Tanushree Shankar and her troupe at the BOC Pavilion.

National Metallurgists' Day awards 2006
The following awards were presented at the National Metallurgists' Day held at Jamshedpur:

1. Lifetime Achievement Award: Prof. C. V. Sundaram , former director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam.

2. National Metallurgist Award: Prof. K. A. Natarajan, honorary professor & Raja Ramanna Fellow, Dept of Materials Engineering, IISC, Bangalore.

3. Metallurgist Of The Year Award: Dr. P. V. Sivaprasad, scientific officer, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. Shri P. K. Ghorui, general manager (BPF - CCP), JSW Steel Ltd., Vidyanagar & Shri D. Mazumdar, general manager (BPF - CCP), JSW Steel Ltd. Shri M. Narayana Rao, chairman and managing director, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd., Hyderabad. Dr. N. K. Mukhopadhyay, Reader, Dept. of Metallurgy, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi & Dr. Amitava Maitra, Scientist - F, National Metallurgical Lab., Jamshedpur. Dr. Rakesh Kumar, scientist, E-II, Metal Extraction & Forming Division, NML, Jamshedpur.

4. Young Metallurgist of the Year Award: Dr. T. K. Rout, Researcher, Tata Steel. Shri J. P. Nayak, deputy general manager (O), Hindalco Industries Limited, Hirakud. Shri Bikash Ch Majhi, scientific officer - E, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.

5. National Sustainability Awards:

Iron & Steel Integrated Steel Plants:
1st Prize: Tata Steel, Jamshedpur.
2nd Prize: Jindal South West Steel, Vidyanagar.

Secondary Steel / Alloy Steel Plants:
1st Prize: Salem Steel, SAIL, Salem.
2nd Prize: Kalyani- Carpenter Special Steels Ltd, Pune.

6. IIM Non- ferrous Best Performance Award:

Large Integrated Production Organisation:
1st Prize: Sterlite industries, Tuticorin.

7. IIM Platinum Medal: Shri Vikrant Gujral, vice chairman and CEO, Jindal Steel & Power Limited, New Delhi.

8. Tata Gold Medal: Shri U. K. Chaturvedi, vice president (Long Products), Tata Steel, Jamshedpur.

9. G D Birla Gold Medal: Prof A. H. Chokshi, professor, Dept. of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

10. Hindustan Zinc Gold Medal: Shri Jeyakumar Janakraj, Sr vice president, Chanderiya Lead Zinc Smelter, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.

11. O P Jindal Gold Medal: Shri Bharat Lal, general manager ( Quality), Bhilai Steel Plant, SAIL, Bhilai.

12. SMS DEMAG Excellence Award (Gold Medal): Shri Gopalkrishnan Shankar, general manager (Steel), RINL, Vishakhapattanam.

13. NALCO Gold Medal: Dr. T. R. Ramachandran, Emeritus Scientist, Nonferrous Materials Technology Development Centre, Hyderabad and Former Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research & Design Centre, Nagpur.

14. MECON Award: Shri A.K. Paul, Dy general manager & Shri S. Thirumalai Selvan, manager, Process Engineering, RDCIS, SAIL, Ranchi.

15. Bralco Gold Medal: Dr. S. Asokan, Chief - Titania Business, Tata Steel, Chennai.

16. ESSAR Gold Medal: Dr. Sujay Kumar Dutta, Reader, Dept. of Metallurgical Engineering, M.S. University, Baroda.

17. SAIL Gold Medal: Shri P. K. Ghosh, Dept of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, IIT, Roorkee.

18. SAIL Gold Medal: Shri P. K. Ghosh, Dept of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, IIT, Roorkee.

19. Dr. A. K. Bose Gold Medal: Shri Rajdeep Sarkar, Scientist, EMG, Defence Metallurgical Research Lab, Hyderabad.

20. Sir Padamji Ginwala Gold Medal: Shri Rakesh Ranjan Sinha of IIM Jamshedpur Chapter.

21. Vidya Bharati Prize: Shri J. Karthik, Dept of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, IIT Chennai.

22. IIM Students' Prize: Shri A. K. Singh, , Dept of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

23. Prof Brahm Prakash Memorial Quiz Award:

Winners: Shriman Tamanud Modak & Shriman Souporno Ghosh of Don Bosco School Kolkata.
Runners up: Shriman R. Dhushyanth & Shriman Atul Jee Rai of Delhi Public School, Bhillai.

24. Steel Eighties Award: Shri Nirmal Kumar Ghosh, Deputy General Manager, Coal Carbonisation Lab & Assistant General, Coal Carbonisation Tech., RDCIS, SAIL, Ranchi.