BENGALURU: The Infosys Prize 2016 were presented to six scientists for their work in various fields in the city on Saturday.
Nobel laureate and recipient of Padma Vibhushan Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was the chief guest while another Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna recipient Prof Amartya Sen, was also present.
Former CEO of Infosys and trustee of Infosys Science Foundation S D Shibulal delivered the opening address. He said the awards were aimed to “restore the romance of research.”
The recipients of the award for 2016 are Prof V Kumaran, Prof Sunil Amrith, Prof Gagandeep Kang, Prof Akshay Venkatesh, Dr Anil Bhardwaj and Prof Kaivan Munshi. The works of each recipient was introduced to the audience by respective jury chairs. The award includes prize money of Rs 65 lakh, a gold medal and a citation.
After the awards were given away, former Infosys CEO and foundation trustee N R Narayana Murthy spoke about Dr ‘Venky’ Ramakrishnan and described him as someone “the whole world could look up to.”
Dr Ramakrishnan spoke about the importance of recognition for scientists, the phenomenon of basic science leading to ground-breaking inventions and discoveries and the importance of science to a country’s economy. He said a nation’s wealth was more a measure of its scientific prowess than the amount of natural resources it had, and exemplified Japan and Singapore in this regard.
He termed the Indian government’s aim to become among the top three nations in science by 2030 to be very ambitious, but said it could be done by showing a sustained commitment to science. He also questioned the lack of investment in science by private entities in the country, contrasting it with the scenario abroad where private investment is twice the investment by the government.