New Delhi: Mahan Maharaj, a senior researcher at the Howrah-based Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda University, was among 11 scientists selected today for the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, India's highest science award. Maharaj and Palash Kumar of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata received the prize in the Mathematical Science category.
Amit Prakash Sharma of the Delhi-based International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and Rajan Sankaranarayanan of the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad received the prizes in the Biological Sciences category.
The prizes were announced at the CSIR Foundation Day ceremony by CSIR Director General Samir Brahmachari in the presence of Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Balasubramanian Sundaram of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore and Garikapati Narahari Sastry of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology at Hyderabad were the awardees in the Chemical Sciences field.
While Shiraz Minwalla of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai got the award in Physical Sciences category, K Narayanaswamy Balaji of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore was the awardee in Medical Sciences field. Sirshendu De of IIT Kharagpur and Upadrasta Ramamurty of IISc were the recipients of the prize in Engineering field. Shankar Doraiswamy of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa got the award in the Earth Sciences category.
The award, given to a scientist upto 45 years age, carries a purse of Rs five lakh. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will give away the awards at a later date. (PTI)