Four academics to receive Visitor's Award from Prez

President Ram Nath Kovind will present the Visitor's Award for research in the fields of basic and applied science, humanities, arts and social science during a meeting of vice chancellors of central universities at the Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow, a statement from the President's office said.

He will also present the Visitor's Award for technology development, it said.

The Visitor's Award for research in the field of basic and applied science will be jointly presented to two academics -- Sanjay K Jain of Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, and Ashis Kumar Mukherjee of Tezpur University, Assam, it said.

The Visitor's Award for research in the field of humanities, arts and social science will be presented to Pramod K Nayar, University of Hyderabad, Telangana, and the award for technology development will be presented to Ashwani Pareek of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, it added.

Jain is being given the award for "his contribution to the development of a drug delivery system using folic acid conjugated liposomes containing oxaliplatin for targeted delivery of colon tumours. This has the potential to reduce toxicity, dosage, regimen and cost of cancer treatment," it said.

Mukherjee is being awarded for his research "leading to clarity on the molecular complexity and toxicity of the components of the snake venom from different locales of India. This too has likely utility as a new drug for treatment," the statement said.

Nayar is being honoured for "his research and publications particularly covering the important areas of poetry for the underprivileged, memoirs and fiction, the Bhopal gas tragedy and other episodes," it said.

Pareek will be bestowed with the honour "for developing Stress Tolerant Rice of the Next Generation (STRONG). This has the potential to enhance farm incomes."