MAXICAN SCIENTIST GOES FOR UNESCO KALINGA AWARD

MAXICAN SCIENTIST GOES FOR UNESCO KALINGA AWARD 19/12/2011

ODISHA: Rene Raul Drucker Colin of Mexico was on Saturday named as the winner of the prestigious Unesco Kalinga Prize for the year 2011 for his contribution to popularise science among common men, according to an announcement made by the Kalinga Foundation Trust (KFT).

Dr Drucker Colin will receive the Unesco Kalinga Prize 2011 for his contribution to popularise science among common men, KFT president B C Patnaik.

The winner of the Unesco Kalinga Prize gets a cash award of USD 20,000, Unesco Albert Einstein Silver Medal and a citation.

The winner also gets the award of Kalinga Chair introduced by the Centre to mark the 50th anniversary of Kalinga Prize.

The holder of the Kalinga Chair travels to India for a period of two to four weeks as a guest of government of India and delivers talks on popularisation of science at different educational institutions. Kalinga Chair also carries a token honorarium of USD 5,000.

The Unesco Kalinga Prize to be conferred at a special function is scheduled to be held here on January 3, 2012.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to present the prize here, Patnaik said, adding that the Kalinga Prize was set up by Biju Patnaik in the year 1952 as part of promoting pularisation of science among common people.

The prize was renamed as Unesco Kalinga Prize in 2009.

So far, 66 eminent scientists from 23 countries, including 5 Indians, have received the prize.

Seven Nobel Laureates have also been bestowed with the Kalinga Prize, Patnaik said.

Besides chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Union minister for science and technology and earth science Vilasrao Deshmukh and Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal will attend the function.

The Odisha chief minister congratulated Colin after his name was announced as the winner of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize, 2011.

This will be the first occasion that the UNESCO Kalinga Prize will be presented in the state, said KFT chairman B C Patnaik.

Earlier, the prize was being given either in Delhi or Paris, he said.

SIDDHARTHA SHANKAR MISHRA
BUREAU CHIEF, THESE DAYS,
ODISHA