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Science and Technology Ministry withdraws support from Kalinga Prize

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Science and Technology Ministry withdraws support from Kalinga Prize

  • The Science and Technology Ministry has withdrawn its contribution to the prestigious UNESCO Kalinga Prize

Highlights:

  • UNESCO Kalinga Prize is for Popularisation of Science, it is UNESCO’s oldest award, instituted through a donation by Odisha’s former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik way back in 1951.
  • Official sources said the decision to withdraw the Department of Science and Technology’s annual contribution to the award was part of the recent decision to ‘rationalise’ all science awards.
  • The government has, last year, instituted a new set of science awards, called Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, to replace all the earlier awards, including the coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards.
    • The inaugural set of Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskars were announced last week.
  • Former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, however, has protested the government’s decision and written to Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh to ensure that the support is restored.
  • Over the years, it has been a highly coveted prize and has also become a symbol of Odia identity at the international level
  • The Science Ministry has been supporting this award since 2001.
  • The award carries a cash prize of US$ 40,000.
  • The winner also receives a Kalinga Chair established by the DST which also carries a cash component of US$ 5,000.
  • Besides, the winner is invited to travel to India for two to four weeks and interact with scientists and science communicators.
  • Besides DST, the Kalinga Foundation and the state government of Odisha also contribute to the main award money.
  • It is the Science Analysis and Policies Division of the UNESCO which administers this award.
  • The award ceremony is scheduled during the celebration of the World Science Day in Budapest as the guest of UNESCO and India in the alternate years.
  • Past awardees include seven Nobel Prize winners and such luminaries as Bertrand Russel, Louis de Broglie, George Gamow, Arthur Clarke, Fred Hoyle, David Attenborough, Jayant Narlikar, Prof Yash Pal, and Pakistan’s Pervez Hoodbhoy.

Prelims Takeaway

  • Kalinga Prize
  • Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskars

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