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Pokhran scientists bag first DRDO awards

The 'Shakti' team that carried out the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests and people who contributed to the Agni and Prithvi missile systems were among a large number of scientists and technicians who were today given the first Defence Research and Development Organisation awards by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Teams of five members each from the Department of Atomic Energy and the DRDO shared the award of Rs one million for path-breaking research for the 'Shakti' programme.

Prof S Bimalkhedkar and his team of scientists from ASIEO, Bangalore, DERL, Hyderabad, and ADE, Bangalore won the award for performance excellence for 'Project Tempest' which will enhance the electronic warfare capabilities of frontline fighter aircraft.

They shared the award with V K Saraswat (project director, DRDO) and his team from DRDL, RCI, ARDE, R and DE (Engrs) who made significant contributions for the development of the Prithvi missile system.

Prof Bharti Bhat and Prof S K Kaul of the Centre for Applied Research, IIT (Delhi) and Prof T K Ghoshal and his team from Jadhavpur University, Calcutta shared the academy excellence award which carries Rs one million.

The Rs one million defence technology absorption award went to Bharat Electronics, Hyderabad and Walchandnagar Industries Limited.

The Andhra Cardiology Associates, CARE Foundation (Hyderabad) and DMRL were given the defence technology spin-off award for developing cardiovascular stents used to open blocked arteries.

The Agni awards for excellence in self-reliance for 1998 have gone to Dr Haridwar Singh and his team from the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune), Air Marshal S Krishnaswamy of the DRDO, M Natarajan and team from the CVRDE and G K Shivanandan and his team from the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory.

The 1999 Agni awards were presented to Avinash Chander and his team from RCI, V B Ghorpade and team (R and DE (E), Pune), Rajaram Nagappa and team (DRDL, VSSC, LDSC) and S C Narang and team (ITR and CCE (MW), Balasore).

The best performance awards went to Suresh G Joshi (HEMRL, Pune), Krishan Murali Lal (DEAL, Dehradun), P G Kulkarni (VRDE, Ahmedabad), Vivek Hanmantrao Made (R and DE (E), Pune), B Mathiazhagan (ASIEO, Bangalore), V Murugesan (ADE, Bangalore), Koduri Dakshina Murthy (DRDL, Hyderabad), V M Sashidharan (ERDE, Bangalore), M V Sorte (Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness, Pune), Anil Kumar Shrivastava (Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory, Chandigarh), S Sukumaran (Centre for Airborne Systems, Bangalore), Madan Thakur (SSPL, Delhi), Naresh Kumar Thakur (Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment, Ramgarh) and M S Thengde (ARDE, Pune).

The Rs 100,000 scientist of the year award was given to G Athithan (Anra group, Hyderabad), A M Datar (ARDE, Pune), Anand Kumar Kapoor (DRDL, Hyderabad), Dr J Narayana Das (NPOL, Cochin), Dr Christopher Sargunaraj (ERDE, Bangalore), Ashok Sen (DEAL, Dehradun), K Sudhakar (NSTL, Visakhapatnam) and D Venkateswarlu (ASIEO, Bangalore).

Young scientist awards were given to Dr Samir Kamat (DMRL, Hyderabad), Krishan Lal (DEAL, Dehradun), Dr A K Mishra (INMAS, Delhi), M V Ramesh Kumar (ARDE, Pune), G Sateesh Reddy (Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad) and P K Sinha (DRDL, Hyderabad).

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