Pranab to present Visitor’s Award to UoH

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) will be presented the Visitor’s Award for the ‘Best University’. The award would be handed over by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 4. The President will also handover ‘Visitor’s Awards’ for Central Universities in the categories of ‘Innovation’ and ‘Research’ for this year.

This function will coincide with the third ‘Conference of Vice Chancellors of Central Universities’ scheduled to be held on February 4 and 5. UoH will receive a citation and a trophy while winners of Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ and ‘Research’ will receive a citation and cash award of Rs 1 lakh. The President had announced these awards at the Vice-Chancellors’ Conference last year with the aim of promoting healthy competition among Central Universities and motivating them to adopt best practices from across the world.

For selecting the winners, online applications were invited from all Central Universities for each category. A selection committee comprising of Omita Paul, secretary to the President as Chairperson and Secretary, Department of Higher Education, MHRD; Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Chairman, UGC; Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons of National Innovation Foundation; Director-General, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Director IIT Delhi as members chose the winners of the Awards.

Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ will be given to Prof. Vijay K Chaudhary and Dr Amita Gupta of University of Delhi who have invented ‘TB Confirm’, a rapid diagnostic test for Tuberculosis. The Visitor’s Award for ‘Research’ will be presented to Cosmology and Astrophysics Research Group, Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia for path breaking research carried out in the field of Astrophysics and Cosmology.