Centre announces winners of Bhatnagar Prize after a year’s delay
The Hindu
The winners of the 2022 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize awarded for Science and Technology were announced on Spetember 11, 2023.
The winners of the 2022 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize awarded for Science and Technology were announced on Spetember 11, 2023, a year after the prize was scrapped by the Centre unexpectedly.
The award honours the scientific achievements of researchers (under the age of 45) working in India. Named after the eminent scientist and the founder and first Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, the annual prize is typically announced on his birthday, September 26. However, last year the government released a statement stating that most of the existing awards will be scrapped, including those instituted through private endowments. In its place, a few high-stature awards will be introduced.
The surprise announcement took place during the launch event of the ‘One Week One Lab’ programme, hosted by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR). During this event, N Kalaiselvi, the director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), revealed the names of the recipients of the Bhatnagar Prize. The announcement was made in the presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Vice President of CSIR, in New Delhi.
The award comes with a cash prize of ₹5 lakh. For 2022, 12 recipients have been awarded the prize spanning across seven scientific disciplines: