As part of the National Science Day celebrations, the first Sastra-CNR Rao Award was presented to Suresh Das, Director, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram and Sourav Pal, Director, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, on Friday at Sastra University.
Presenting the award, M R Satya Narayana Rao, Professor, Chromatin Biology Laboratory of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) said Prof C N Rao, who was presented with Bharat Ratna recently, is a living legend of Indian science.
In his acceptance speech, Suresh Das said it was a great honour to receive the Sastra-CNR Rao award on the National Science day. India needs a lot of people who believe in the power of science and technology.
Sourav Pal, in his speech, said that any award in the name of CNR Rao brings great honour. He recalled the days when he was the student of Rao at IIT Kanpur.
The Sastra-CNR Rao Award was instituted by Sastra University in December, 2013 to recognise outstanding contribution to Chemistry and Materials Science, the two areas in which Prof CNR Rao’s contribution had been phenomenal.
Meanwhile, renowned Harikatha exponent Vishakha Hari has been appointed Honorary Professor of Arts and Culture at the Department of Oriental Studies, at Sastra University. S Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean, Planning and Development of the University, handed over the formal appointment letter to her on Friday.