List of winners for the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in the fields of science and technology-India News , Firstpost

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.

The winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB prize) for Science and Technology has been announced. The award is given out, each year, to scientists who have shown extraordinary capability and made “outstanding contributions” in the fields of science and technology.

The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) India – the late Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. He is credited with establishing twelve national laboratories and held many positions in the government in independent India. It is only given to Indian scientists working in India. The Director-General announces the winners on 26 September on the CSIR Foundation Day.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.

The SSB prizes are awarded to scientists below 45 years of age for conduction research in one of seven disciplines. The prize includes a citation, a plaque, and a cash award of ₹5,00,000 lakh.

In addition to the recognition and cash prize, CSIR will also grant the winners an honorarium of Rs.15,000 per month. The Prize is bestowed on a person who, in the opinion of CSIR, has made conspicuously important and outstanding contributions to human knowledge and progress – fundamental and applied – in the particular field of endeavour, which is his/her specialization.

Recipients of the award have made accomplishments in applied or fundamental areas in the following disciplines:

• Biological Sciences,
• Chemical Sciences,
• Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences,
• Engineering Sciences,
• Mathematical Sciences,
• Medical Sciences
• Physical Sciences

The winners for the year 2021 are:

Biological Sciences

• Dr Amit Singh, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science
• Dr Arun Kumar Shukla, Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Chemical Sciences

• Dr Kanishka Biswas, International Centre of Materials Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
• Dr T Govindaraju, Bio-organic Chemistry Laboratory, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for
  Advanced Scientific Research

Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences

• Dr Binoy Kumar Saikia, Coal and Energy Research Group, CSIR North East Institute of Science and Technology

Engineering Sciences

• Dr Debdeep Mukhopadhyay, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Mathematical Sciences

• Dr Anish Ghosh, School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
• Dr Saket Saurabh, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Medical Sciences

• Dr Jeemon Panniyammakal, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal lnstitute for Medical Sciences and Technology
• Dr Rohit Srivastava, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Physical Sciences

• Dr Kanak Saha, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics

Some of the few challenges that Naidu presented to CSIR include agricultural research and coming up with new “innovations, techniques and solutions to address the problems faced by farmers.”

Some of the few challenges that Naidu presented to CSIR include agricultural research and making new “innovations, techniques and solutions to address the problems faced by farmers.” He also asked them to look for solutions to cited climate change, drug resistance, pollution, epidemic and pandemic outbreaks.

Naidu said “India was ranked 3rd in the world in terms of research publications” and has made significant contributions to the world of science in space, atomic energy, ocean science, or defence research. Scientists and researchers should consistently work to enhance our position in global scientific research.

“The ultimate aim of science should be to improve people’s lives and make their lives comfortable.”

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh also spoke during the 8p0ht Foundating day. He asked CSIR and all the science departments to explore S&T innovations needed in the next ten years to make India globally competitive.

He said, “We should not restrict our ambition to be best in India but be best in the world as India is blessed with the demographic dividend of youth and they can take up any challenge with the right training and motivation”.

Singh said, “the combined strength of CSIR, DBT, DST and MoES along with other science ministries can indeed transform the entire country in the next 25 years as the entire progress is going to remain heavily Technology dependant. When India turns 100, it should be a global leader ranging from Defence to Economics with strong scientific and technological inputs.”