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Digambara Patra is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the American University of Beirut.
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Education
Digambara earned a PhD degree in Chemistry working with Professor A. K. Mishra at Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Subsequently, he spent in University of Basel, Switzerland, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany and Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan for his postdoctoral studies before joining American University of Beirut. He is a recipient of Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Research
With Professor A. K. Mishra at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Digambara discovered that Synchronous Fluorescence Scan are the easy, fast and sensitive approach to determine adulteration of petroleum fuel which itself is a serious problem in South Asia. They attributed that the presence of extensive inner filter effects and resonance energy transfer in petroleum fuels are the major causes of the distinctive characteristics of these spectra in adulterated samples. Together both the authors later on developed total synchronous fluorescence scan spectra to understand petroleum products and showed that total synchronous fluorescence scan profile is different from excitation emission matrix fluorescence. Digambara along with his collaborator Dr. Rohit Kumar Rana at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology designed a new type of microcapsule-embedded fluorescent molecule that has the potential to measure hydrogen ion concentration in cells under physiological conditions and also to estimate ammonia concentration in environmental samples.
View on Educational and Infrastructure Development
Over the years, Digambara along with a group of Indian educationists in abroad have been critical over the "regional imbalances" in education in India, which triggered political debate in India. Subsequently, National Institute of Science Education and Research was established in Bhubaneswar and Indian Government established Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and Central Universities across Indian states to overcome regional imbalances. When Indian policy makers are largely focussed to build national institutions in metro and cities, Digambara has been recently advocating the development of higher education in rural part of Indian and establishing rural university, IIT and other national universities in semi-urban and rural India. He has been a strong critic of recent establishment of higher educational institutions such as national universities, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Management, etc. in state capitals, metro and trier II cities of India and emphasizes that such institutions should rather be built in semi-urban rural clusters of India to reduce gap between rich cities and underdeveloped region of India. Despite his advocacy for higher educational institution in semi-urban area, Dr Patra was vocal in protesting when Odisha Government decided to establish Central University of Orissa at Koraput. In his protest against the move, Dr Patra filed a Public Interest Litigation in Supreme Court of India against State Govt. of India and central Government of India, which the court registered but later on closed the case citing no violation of legality was found. He continued his protest saying he was not against establishing Central University of Orissa at Koraput rather than due to fact that the state Government took a decision against Kalahandi based on political agenda and consideration at the last movement. He contested along with many other local groups with evidences that the argument by Odisha state Government about non availability of land for establishing a Central University in Kalahandi was false. Later on his petition to Prime Minister of India was forwarded to Ministry Human Resource Development (MHRD) in 2008 for appropriate action, MHRD subsequently said based on letter of Sri Bikram Keshari Deo, then Member of Parliament of Kalahandi, the ministry could consider to establish a branch of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak in Kalahandi.
Among few Non-resident Indian, Digambara, is of opinion that railway infrastructure development is one of the keys to success and can bring economic prosperity to such a backward region arguing for establishing railway factory in place like Kalahandi. In the railway budget 2010-11, one of the railway Wagon Factories was proposed in Bhubaneswar/Kalahandi, but Dr Patra exposed the state Government when it sent a proposal for railway Wagon Factory in Ganjam citing non-availability of railway land in Kalahandi, Digambara criticized the move saying the proposed land in Ganjam was not railway land too. He questioned the motive behind Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's stand when in 2009 Naveen Patnaik wrote to former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav emphasizing the need to improve the rail network in the KBK region and establishment of a rail coach factory in a backward area of Orissa-hinting to locate in one of the KBK districts. Later on Kalahandi MP Bhakta Charan Das took the issue to the Parliament of India, thus making central Govt. included a Wagon Maintenance Workshop in Kalahandi in 2013-14 railway budget. Dr Patra has been mobilizing to develop railway infrastructure and other social development in rural India, specially in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP etc. from where Indian railway makes most-profit but invest little in railway infrastructure development and establishing railway factories. Despite ECOR being one of the most profit making zones of Indian railways, he has charged railway ministry being unfair to Odisha and Chhattisgarh since decades, whereas many loss-making projects in Bihar and West Bengal were given favourable approval due to influence of former railway ministers. He cites major railway development and factories were approved in Raebareli, Amethi, Chapra, etc. only due to favoritism of powerful political leaders rather than due to actual source of raw materials like coal or iron supply for railway’s own requirements,for instance, he compares site in Kalahandi of Odisha, located at the close junction of three India's public sector steel plants in Bhilai, Rourkela and Visakhapatnam, close to Mahanadi Coal Limited's coal blocks in Angul and Jharsuguda as well as nearer to National alumina supplier (NALCO), is ideal location to get raw materials supply for Indian railway to establish railway coach and manufacturing factory against the site selected in Raebareli or Chhapra where no coal, alumina or iron is available in its close proximity. He appealed to established railway university in Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. Poor connectivity of train and railway network in tribal pocket of India has been another his concern. The 56 km Lanjigarh road-Junagarh line of Lanjigarh road-Amaguda route took 25 years to get completed. However, surveyed Junagarh-Ambaguda portion of this route has not yet been approved which will bring railway connection to tribal dominated Nabarangur district.