Hyderabad, Oct 19 (IANS) World renowned statistician C.R. Rao Tuesday received the India Science Prize in recognition of his outstanding work in statistics from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Singh presented the award to Rao, his friend, at the inaugural ceremony of the 21st general meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, formerly known as Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

India Science Prize, which carries a reward of Rs.25 lakh and a 200-gram gold medal, was presented on behalf of the Indian National Science Academy.

It is the highest professional recognition that the country offers to outstanding Indian scientist for the work done in India.

Manmohan Singh himself received the Special TWAS gold medal from TWAS president Jacob Palis for his outstanding contribution in economics.

The TWAS described him as an expert and practitioner of the science of economics and a keen supporter of science who is promoting collaboration in the field with the rest of the world.

Arvind Gupta of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, received the TWAS regional centre award for Central and South Asia for popularising science.

Gupta was honoured for efforts in the last 30 years to popularise science and technology among students and general public.

M.K. Bhan, secretary, department of biotechnology, and Iranian scientist Habib Firouzabadi were presented TWAS medals 2010.

TWAS prizes were also given to 14 outstanding scientists, including P.P. Majumdar and S.K. Ghosh of India.

Mohammed A. Hasan, executive director of TWAS, was presented special certificate of appreciation for his distinguished services over the last 25 years.