ISRO chairman gives VSR awards to four scientists

The awards were given to the scientists at a function held at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) here on the birth Anniversary of Dr Vikram Sarabhai.

Speaking on the occasion, Radhakrishnan said that ISRO was working on ASTROSAT, India's Astronomy satellite, which would facilitate study of a range of astrophysical objects and would infuse young minds to explore the world of astronomy.

The recipient of the award included Professor Jayram Chengaluar from National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune for his significant contribution in Radio Astrophysics, particularly toward understanding dark matter in dwarf galaxies and characteristics of the interstellar medium using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope.

Dr Prakash Chauhan from the city based Space Application Centre, received the award for his original contributions toward development of ocean colour algorithms from space-borne data for oceanographic applications.

Professor Abhay Karandikar from the IIT, Mumbai, was awarded for his contribution to wireless technology and standards, particularly for 4G Wireless Technology.

While Professor K Sridharan from IIT, Chennai was selected for his important contribution to computational geometric aspects of robotic path finding and defining measures for interpretation of pairs of objects.

Dr A K Patra from the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki (Andhra Pradesh) was given the PRL Award for his contribution toward understanding the coupling between middle atmosphere and lower theromsphere processes and elucidating the role of gravity waves in neutral atmosphere dynamics.

The Vikram Sarabhai Awards were instituted from funds provided by Pujya Shri Mota of Hari Om Ashram Nadiad, and the PRL award from the Aruna Lal Endowment Fund established by Prof Devendra Lal, Honorary Fellow and former Director of PRL.