Eleven scientists selected for Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award
New Delhi, Sept 26: Eleven scientists have been selected for this year's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for their outstanding contribution to various disciplines of science. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General T Ramasami made the announcement during the CSIR foundation day celebration here during which some young scientists were felicitated. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, given in seven different disciplines by the Department of Science and Technology, comprises a citation, a plaque and cash prize of Rs two lakh. For biological sciences, the award will be shared by Dr Upinder Singh Bhalla of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Kanpur and Dr Narayanaswamy Srinivasan of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The award for chemical sciences is being given to Dr Amlendu Chandra, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Dr A Ajayaghosh, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. For earth, atmosphere, ocean and planetary sciences, the award has gone to Dr Anil Bhardwaj of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The award for engineering sciences is being shared by Dr Rama Govindarajan of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore and Dr Budaraju Srinivasa Murthy of Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. For mathematical and medical sciences, the award has gone to Dr B V Rajarama Bhat of Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore and Dr Pundi Narasimhan Rangarajan, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The award for physical sciences is being shared by Dr Yashwant Gupta, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Pune and Dr Pinaki Majumdar, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad. Automobile company Mahindra and Mahindra has been selected for the prestigious CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology award for development and commercialisation of the SUV 'Scorpio'. The award carries a cash prize of Rs ten lakh, a shield and a citation. Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal also gave away the CSIR young scientist award, 2007 to five young scientists. The award carries a citation, plaque and a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The awardees will also receive a grant of Rs ten lakh for pursuing a research project independently in a span of five years. Speaking on the occasion, Prof M S Swaminathan said it would be useful if CSIR establishes a staff college where scientists can get exposed to methods of combining science and technology with humanism and ethics

Dr Rangarajan, IISc bags Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award in medical sciences

Dr Rangarajan, IISc bags Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award in medical sciences Saturday, October 06, 2007 08:00 IST Our Bureau, Bangalore Dr Pundi Narasimhan Rangarajan, associate professor, department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has won this year's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award instituted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is one of the five recipients from Bangalore among the 11 scientists. Dr Rangaranjan who is a doctorate in molecular biology with a specialization in gene expression and infectious diseases has been engaged in the research of DNA vaccine for rabies, Hepatitis-B and Japanese Encephalitis. The DNA rabies vaccines was an institute-industry initiative between IISc and the Indian Immunologicals, Hyderabad. The latter funded Rs 50 lakh annually from 1998 to 2007 for the veterinary vaccine development project. The novel DNA vaccine formulation consisting of DNA vaccine and an inactivated virus were combined to provide the adequate potency s against a cell culture variant. The product received patents from Europe, China, Canada, South Africa and India. A paper was also published in the Human Genome Therapy Journal in 2001. The pre-clinical toxicology study of the DNA rabies vaccine took place under the department of Biotechnology grant. The product is awaiting regulatory clearances. The vaccine has worked well in both mice and cattle. The associate professor of the biochemistry department, IISc was also engaged in the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine 'Elovac') with the Indian Immunologicals, Hyderabad and ''Bevac' with Biological Evans. The research on Japanese Encephalitis was purely out of academic interest and now Dr Rangarajan and his team of students are studying the gene expression changes of the virus in the brain mouse brain. Dr Rangarajan attributes his success to the guidance and support from Prof. G Padmanabhan, scientist emeritus and former director IISc and Dr V A Srinivasan, research director, Indian Immunologicals Limited. There has also been significant contribution by a team of students at the IISc who have also been perseverant in their research efforts, he added