Following is the text of the Statement by Shri S. Jaipal Reddy, the Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences on the decision to confer the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Professor C. N. R. Rao:

 “I am happy that Prime Minister has announced the decision to confer the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Professor C. N. R. Rao.

All of us are very proud of this extraordinary man and his extraordinary achievements. Professor Rao has headed the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister for the past decade. 

In this role and in several such roles, through the past half century and his career, Professor Rao has led the transformation of Indian Science. Many of our country’s science policies and new institutions owe much to his insight and leadership.

His decade of leadership of the Indian Institute of Science made that great Institute greater. His founding and nurturing of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research has shown how one can start from scratch and create a center that is comparable to the best in the world.

Professor Rao is one of the world’s leading chemists and has broken through many barriers in structural chemistry and materials science. His research, his teaching and his successes against great odds have inspired generations.

            Every academy in the world has recognized him and he has been conferred major science awards internationally. The Royal Society conferred the Royal Medal, its highest honour in 2009 and its Hughes Medal for Physical Sciences in 2000. There is a huge list of other high recognitions. The entire country, I am sure, all our scientists colleagues, my Ministry and I join in congratulating and saluting this great Indian and great world-scientist.”

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ST/SK/JS