New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS): President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday presented the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2024, at an award ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Gantantra Mandap.

This is the first time that the government is providing Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (National Award for Scientists) to acknowledge and mark their contribution to nation-building.

In the first edition of Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar today, a total of thirty-three awards were presented to distinguished and eminent scientists in four categories - Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva, and Vigyan Team.

The Vigyan Ratna Award was given to the scientists who have made lifetime contributions in any field of Science and Technology. Those who received this award included Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan, a pioneer of molecular biology and biotechnology research in India.

The Vigyan Shri Awards, given to the scientists having made distinguished contributions in the Science and Technology field, were presented to 13 scientists for their path-breaking research in their respective domains.

The Vigyan Yuva-SSB award was given to recognise scientists who made exceptional contributions in any field of science and technology. These awards were given to 18 scientists for their significant contribution in the areas spanning from the study of the warming of the Indian Ocean and its consequences, to the development of indigenous 5G base stations and communication and precision tests of quantum mechanics.

The Vigyan Team Award was given to a team of 3 or more scientists for making ground-breaking research contributions in any field of science and technology.

This was given to the team of Chandrayaan-3 for the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander, near the south pole of the moon.

The successful completion of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is one of the greatest scientific achievements in the nation and represents contributions in different areas of technology by the team of scientists in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).