Padma Shri Prof Sood interacts with students of journalism

Bhilai, Apr 04: Veteran Nuclear Physicist Prof Prakash Chandra Sood, a recipient of the Padma Shri award, interacted with the students of Journalism and Mass Communication Department of St Thomas College. Prof Sood had recently received the Padma Shri from the President Draupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for his prolonged service and contributions in the respective field of literature and education. The students of the Journalism Department had the opportunity to ask questions and learn from Prof Sood’s exceptional knowledge and experience in his residence.
College Administrator Father Dr Joshi Varghese and Principal Dr MG Roymon extended his best wishes to the students for this special and rare interaction. On behalf of the college family, HOD Incharge Dr Reema Dewangan gifted a sandalwood plant to Dr Sood and Usha Sood and draped them with a shawl as a mark of respect.
Assistant Professor and Journalist Md Zakir Hussian gave a brief introduction of the remarkable life of Prof Sood. At 94 years of age and after 70 years of teaching nuclear physics, Prof Sood still continues to have the spirit of teaching as he eagerly answered the questions of the students. On the key question asked by the students regarding the possible impact of nuclear energy on climate change, Prof Sood said that “No fossil materials are used in the production of nuclear energy and its production also does not emit green house gases, as such there is no need to be concerned of climate change due to nuclear energy.” He recalled that prior to independence, even reference books of nuclear physics were rare in the country and the guidance of his teachers when he incidentally applied for the American Fellowship and pursued his further education abroad. Prof. Sood also told the students about the many personalities he was associated with, Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam and Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. He also narrated the story behind setting up India’s first computer lab during 1978-80 while he was the head of the Physics Department at BHU. He said that today our country is self-sufficient in the field of atomic energy because efforts were started for this since the country’s independence. During this conversation, Prof Sood’s son-in-law and retired CGM from SAIL Corporate Office, New Delhi, Rakesh Kumar also shared his experiences of the warm reception their family received during the Padma Shri Award ceremony.
Towards the end, Assistant Professor Amitabh Sharma expressed his gratitude to Prof Sood. In making this interaction successful, Assistant Professor Chhavi Kiran Sahu, Yashraj Yadav along with Aditya S Kumar, Kanishk Mishra, Kiran Mai Jadav, Shrishti Dubey, Sengel Tirkey, Alwin P Sunil and Pranjal Tiwari made special contributions.