Bhubaneswar, November 9: The Odisha Bigyan Academy, under the state Science and Technology Department on Monday organised its Award Investiture Ceremony for the Award Year 2024 at Jayadev Bhawan here.

Science and Technology Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, attended the function as the chief guest and conferred awards on distinguished scientists for their outstanding contributions to science and research.

Five eminent personalities - Dr. Lala Aswini Kumar Singh, Dr. Sudhakar Kar, Prof. Rabindra Kumar Panda, Prof. Prafulla Kumar Mohanty and Prof. Bijay Kumar Mishra - were felicitated as Senior Scientists of Odisha. They received mementoes, citations and uttariyas in recognition of their contributions.

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Dr. Surendra Kumar Biswal received the prestigious Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence, carrying a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a gold-coated silver medallion, memento, certificate, citation and uttariya.

The Samanta Chandra Sekhar Awards for research contributions were presented to Prof. Umakanta Subudhi, Prof. Subhankar Bedanta and Prof. Jagadish Chandra Paul for their research contribution within the state, while Prof. Raghunath Sahoo was recognised for his research contribution outside Odisha. Each award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, along with a gold-coated silver medallion, memento, certificate, citation and uttariya.

The Odisha Young Scientist Awards were conferred on Dr. Chita Ranjan Sahoo, Dr. Rudra Majhi and Dr. Ram Prasad Padhy for their research work within the state, while Dr. Rabindra Mohanty received the award for his work outside the state. Each awardee received Rs. 25,000, a memento, certificate, citation and uttariya.

In the field of popular science literature, Prof. Bhagaban Patra and Dr. Krutibas Nayak received the Prana Krushna Parija Popular Science Book Awards in the General and Children's categories, respectively. Both awardees received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 along with a memento, certificate, citation and uttariya.