Kairali Research Awards presented

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan distributed the prestigious Kairali Research Awards at a ceremony held here on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan distributed the prestigious Kairali Research Awards at a ceremony held here on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, he emphasised the pressing need to address the challenges facing the research sector in India, particularly in terms of funding. While developed nations allocate about 3% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) towards research, India spends only a meagre 0.6% of its GDP,” he lamented.

He also expressed concerns over the misuse of research funds, which sometimes are employed to support political ideologies rather than scientific truth.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the declining number of research fellowships and stipends provided by the Centre for research over the last five years.

The Kairali Global Lifetime Achievement Prize for Researchers was awarded to polyglot Chathanath Achuthanunni, scientist P.P. Divakaran and scholar K.P. Mohanan, representing the domains of arts and humanities, science and social science respectively.

Writer B. Rajeevan, theoretical chemist K.L. Sebastian and historian Kesavan Veluthat were chosen for the Kairali Lifetime Achievement Prize for Researchers. The Kairali Gaveshaka Puraskaram for post-doctoral research and the Kairali Gaveshana Puraskaram for teachers undertaking research were also presented on the occasion.

Higher Education Minister R. Bindu presided over the function.