Winning ways

“I guess the significance of awards changes as you grow older,” he says. Mashelkar,who is currently in the US to attend a meeting of the Microsoft International Research Advisory Board,says that the award came as a pleasant surprise to him. “I received an SMS from a friend informind me about it. Of course,it is a big honour. Given the fact that the awards began only last year and that it was first conferred upon Babasaheb Purandare. Following in his footsteps is a huge honour,” he says.

The award has been instated by the Lokmanya Multistate Co-operative Society and carries a prize amount of five lakh and fifty one rupees and a citation. It will be given out on May 10,at the hands of Dr Anil Gokhale. “My friends used to tell me that before I retired I used to work 24/7,and now after my retirement I am working 25/7! I guess that is one reason as to why the award has come my way. I want to work 26/7 to serve the people of my country better.”

Astronomical heights: Narlikar

Dr Jayant Narlikar,director of the Inter University centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA),has been chosen for the Maharashtra Bhushan award this year. Narlikar,whose work in advancing the theory of gravity and the propagation of the Steady State Theory has been well documented,was instrumental in setting up IUCAA. Speaking about his achievemnet,Naresh Dadhich,emeritus professor at IUCAA,says,“The award was in the waiting for a long time and he truly deserves it. Having been associated with him for over 40 years,I have seen him work calmly towards achieving all his targets and also encouraging all his colleagues to give work their very best.”