In a landmark announcement on Wednesday, the central government revealed the names of the recipients for the first-ever 'Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar', a prestigious award recognising excellence in science and technology. Leading the list of honorees is celebrated biochemist Govindarajan Padmanabhan, who has been selected for the first 'Vigyan Ratna Puraskar', the highest individual accolade in this new category. Padmanabhan’s illustrious career in biochemistry has been marked by groundbreaking research and numerous contributions that have advanced the field significantly.
In addition to individual achievements, the awards also recognize collaborative efforts that have propelled India's scientific missions. The scientists and engineers behind the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission have been selected for the 'Vigyan Team Award'. The awards aim to honour individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to India's scientific and technological advancement.
The government on Wednesday announced 33 Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskars, which include 18 Vigyan Yuva Puraskars for young scientists and 13 Vigyan Shri Puraskars and a Vigyan Team award that went to Team Chandrayaan-3. Earlier this year, the government had instituted the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar recognizing outstanding and inspiring scientific, technological and innovation contributions of researchers, technologists and innovators in the field of science, technology and innovation.
List of Vigyan Shri awardees:
- Annapurini Subramanian (Astrophysicist)
- Anandharamakrishnan C (Agriculture scientist)
- Avesh Kumar Tyagi (Atomic Energy)
- Prof. Umesh Varshney (Biological Sciences)
- Prof. Jayant Bhalchandra Udgaonkar (Biological Sciences)
- Prof. Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi (Earth Sciences)
- Prof. Bhim Singh (Engineering Sciences)
- Prof. Adimurthi Adi (Mathematics and Computer Science)
- Prof. Rahul Mukherjee (Mathematics and Computer Science)
- Prof. Dr Sanjay Behari (Medicine)
- Prof. Lakshmanan Muthusamy (Physics)
- Prof. Naba Kumar Mondal (Physics)
- Prof. Rohit Srivastava (Technology and Innovation)
List of Vigyan Yuva awardees
- Krishna Murthy SL (Agricultural Science
- Swarup Kumar Parida (Agricultural Science)
- Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi (Biological Sciences)
- Prof. Aravind Penmatsa (Biological Sciences)
- Vivek Polshettiwar (Chemistry)
- Vishal Rai (Chemistry)
- Roxy Mathew Koll (Earth Sciences)
- Abhilash (Engineering Sciences)
- Radha Krishna Ganti (Engineering Sciences)
- Purabi Saikia (Environmental Science)
- Bappi Paul (Environmental Science)
- Mahesh Ramesh Kakde (Mathematics and Computer Science)
- Jitendra Kumar Sahu (Medicine)
- Pragya Dhruv Yadav (Medicine)
- Urbasi Sinha (Physics)
- Digendranath Swain (Space Science and Technology)
- Prashant Kumar (Space Science and Technology)
- Prabhu Rajagopal (Technology and Innovation)
Awards to be given every year
It should be mentioned here that the awards will be given every year and replace the 300-odd awards that were given by various science departments. President Droupadi Murmu is expected to confer the awards on August 23, the National Space Day, to mark the landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the south pole of the moon.
(With PTI inputs)
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