On the occasion of IEEE PES Day Celebration on 22nd April 2019, IEEE Student Branch Chapter IIT Mandi in collaboration with IEEE PES-IAS Delhi Section conducted an expert talk on “Solving Mystery of Bijli Mahadav” on 22nd April 2019. The talk was given by Prof. Ravindra Arora Life Fellow, IEEE and the author of the book titled “High Voltage Insulation Engineering” published by IEEE Press.

Dr. Ravindra Arora obtained his Doctor- Ingenieur degree in Electrical Engineering from Technical University, Dresden, Germany in 1973. He completed B.Sc. (Engg.) from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi, India in 1965. Dr. Arora worked as member of the faculty with Dept. of Elect. Engg. at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur from 1974 to 2008 before joining Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon in Jan 2009 where he continued till Nov. 2011. He has also worked with Power Cables Industry in India and Germany for three years. He edited the book, “The Lightning Phenomenon”, published by NAM S&T Center, New Delhi in 2009. An advance level undergraduate web-course on ‘High Voltage Engineering’, was developed by him under the scheme of NPTEL of MHRD. He has also been Vice-Chairman of GATE Examination.

The talk was of interest to the audience since the mystery solved by Prof. Arora was an age-old myth which was being followed by the locals of Himachal Pradesh. Finally, the talk gave them the technical lightening as a reason behind the myth. The audience applauded the concept and showed willingness to visit the actual site.

The special invitee to the events were the IEEE PES Ambassadors viz. Rajesh Pindoriya and Adil Usman. The speakers highlighted the significant progress of the IEEE PES Society in the past few years. Rajesh highlighted the progress of the IEEE SB Chapter of IIT Mandi while Adil summarized the overall activity of IEEE PES Chapters across the IEEE Delhi Section.

The importance of being the PES Young Professional Member was stressed by Adil Usman, who is also an IEEE PES YP Representative from India. The talk was attended by almost hundred students including faculty members. The free PES membership was given to the attendees. Finally, Vote of Thanks was given by Piyush Anand, IEEE SB Chapter Chair.

The event was followed by the Cake Cutting celebrating the 2nd IEEE PES Day.

Rajesh M. Pindoriya
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India
IEEE SB Chapter IIT Mandi