Awards For Indian Mavens

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>Dr Vandana Shiva, an eminent Indian environmental philosopher and activist, was conferred the Fukuoka prize 2012 on 23 July' 2012 that included a citation and prize money of about Rs 33 lakh, in New Delhi &nbsp;for her remarkable work in the field of science, technology and ecology. The other dignitaries present at the occasion were Takashima Soichiro, mayor of Fukuoka City, Japan; Akitaka Saiki, ambassador of Japan in India and Dr Ashis Nandy, social and cultural critic, who had received the Fukuoka Prize in 2007.<br><br>Shiva is an Indian environmental philosopher who has made a great contribution to the earth and to humanity as a female Asian intellectual.&nbsp; Legendary sitar virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam are some of the leading figures from various fields who were earlier presented the award.</p> <table style="width: 100px;" border="0" cellspacing="6" cellpadding="6" align="right"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/July/Prof-K-S-Valdiya_th.jpg" width="155" height="155"><br></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong>Proffesor K S Valdiya</strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><br>The Gujar Mal Modi Science Foundation, on the other hand, has declared Khadg S. Valdiya and Ajay K. Sood as the recipients of the award for Innovative Science &amp; Technology 2012 for their outstanding contributions in the field of Himalayan geology, neotectonics and environmental geology, and physics. Home minister P. Chidambaram will be the chief guest and present a cash prize of Rs 2,01,000, a scroll of honour and a silver shield to the professors on August 7, &nbsp;2012.<br><br></p> <table style="width: 100px;" border="0" cellspacing="6" cellpadding="6" align="left"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/July/Prof-A-K-Sood_th.jpg" width="155" height="155"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #808080;"><strong>Proffessor A K Sood</strong></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Valdiya, born in eastern Myanmar is a professor of geodynamics at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre, Bangalore and is internationally recognized for his work in the fields of geology and environmental science. He has served as a member of the Science Advisory Committee to the Cabinet. He is a Fellow of three national science academies of India, the Third World Academy of Sciences, the Geological Society of America and the Geological Society of Nepal. His fundamental studies and research on the Uttarakhand Himalayas serve as a template and a guide for interpreting the structural architecture of the entire Himalayas.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Sood, is currently the president of the Indian Academy of Sciences and also serving various advisory bodies of the Government of India including the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Science Advisory Committee to the Union Cabinet and the Nanomission of DST. He served at the Indira Gandhi Research Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, before being invited to join the Indian Institute of Science in 1988, where he now holds the CSIR Bhatnagar Fellowship.<br><br>The Gujar Mal Modi Innovative Science and Technology Award was instituted in 1988 in the memory of one of the great industrialists of India, late Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi.&nbsp;</p>