Several young scientists were awarded today on the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day. Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences gave away the awards in a function in New Delhi. Following is the list of awardees:

The award in the Biological Sciences has been given to Dr. Beena Pillai of the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, Delhi. Dr. Pillai is one of the first young investigators in the country who has successfully applied microarray technology in gene expression profiling in different system. This would eventually help in understanding human diseases.

The award in Chemical Sciences has been given to Dr. Subhash Ghosh of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad for his contribution in the total synthesis of biologically active natural products. Dr Melepurath Deepa of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi has also been awarded in this category for her significant contribution in developing electrochromic films and devices.

The award in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences has been given to Dr Sinai Khandeparker Lidita Dilip of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa for her studies to elucidate the interactions between chemical signals transmitted by bacteria and settling larve of fouling organism in marine environment. Her researches led to the detection of fungoid microorganism in natural biofilm. Dr. Simanchal Padhy of the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad has also been awarded in this category for his significant contributions in seismic anisotropic structures and attenuation of body waves in relation to understanding geological complexities.

The award in Engineering Sciences has been awarded to Dr. Ranjan Kumar Sahu of the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur for development of magnetoresistive materials. Dr. Satyajit Vishnu Shukla of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram has also been awarded in this category for development for hydrogen sensors and separation techniques.

The award in Physical Sciences has been awarded to Dr. Pankaj Poddar of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune for his excellent work on biosynthesis of magnetic and ferroelectric nanoparticles.

Shri Kapil Sibal also gave away the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Invention Award 2007 for school children. Neha Lalit Sharma, a 10th class student of Fr Agnel Multipurpose School,Vashi, Navi Mumbai and Shikhar Bhandari, a 11th class student of B.V. B. Mehta Vidyalaya, K.G. Marg, New Delhi received the awards. Neha has invented herbal formulation to control Brown dog tick and Shikhar’s invention relates to modified two wheeler useful as electrical generator, water pump, air compressor and crop threshing unit.

Source: Press Information Bureau
Date: 26 September, 2008