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A seven member Jury comprising distinguished personalities today unanimously recommended that the Sir Syed Ahmad Khan International Award – 2009 in the field of Life Science be awarded jointly to Prof. Obaid Siddiqi and Prof. Syed Zahoor Qasim. This prestigious international award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs with citation and plaque. The Award will be conferred on the above personalities on the Sir Syed Day on October 17, 2009 in the Commemorative meeting at AMU, Aligarh. Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy will be the Chief Guest in the Commemoration Function. AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis said that in line with the prestigious academic awards and literary organizations such as Nobel, Pulitzer and Gyanpeeth, the Aligarh Muslim University instituted an International Award in the name of its illustrious founder last year. Prof. Azis said that the AMU has constituted a Committee comprising Prof. N.K. Ganguly, former Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, Prof. Panjab Singh, former Director General of ICAR, Prof. G.P. Talwar, Director, Talwar Research Foundation, New Delhi, Prof. Syed E. Husnain, Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad, Padma Shri Prof. Syed Zillur Rahman, President, Ibne-Sina Academy, Aligarh and Prof. Prof. V.K. Abdul Jaleel, Registrar of the Aligarh Muslim University as its Convener. The Aligarh Muslim University invited nomination from individuals and Universities, Research Centres, Government and non-Government organizations of international repute. The Committee after extensive deliberations and thorough evaluation of the works submitted by the nominees unanimously recommended the names of Prof. Obaid Siddiqi and Prof. Syed Zahoor Qasim for this year’s illustrious international award. Prof. Obaid Siddiqi is an eminent scientist and his research interest includes Molecular Biology, Behaviour Genetics and Neurobiology. He was awarded the highest second civilian award Padma Bhushan in 1984 and conferred upon honorary degrees by eight Universities of international repute. Prof. Zahoor Qasim has brought laurel to the nation by successfully leading a team of scientists in the “Fist Indian Expedition to Antarctica” in 1981. He was instrumental in the creation of the Ministry of Environment. Earlier he served as Member of the Planning Commission. In recognition of his work he was awarded honorary degrees by a number of Universities. Dr. Qasim was the first Indian Marine Scientist to be invited by the Inter-Governmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO to deliver the Anton Brunn Memorial Lecture.
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