Paris attack: Science a good mechanism for coexistence, says Narayana Murthy

Bengaluru: Advocating coexistence, IT czar N R Narayana Murthy Monday said science is a "good" mechanism for cooperation among people of different opinions.

"At the end of the day we want this to be a world where peace, humanity, trust, cooperation among people of different opinions prevail. Certainly there is no doubt about it and science is a good mechanism for us to make it happen," he said to a query related to the terror attacks on Paris.

He said that "it makes even more sense why we should focus on science, engineering, technology and social sciences because that's the only way that we can make this a better world."

Asked whether he is advocating coexistence, he said "absolutely".

Murthy was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised to announce winners of the Infosys Prize-2015.

To a question about the role of science in building an equitable society, he said there was no doubt that advancement of scientific research would indeed make India and the world a better place.

"We will have to recognize more and more people who have done excellent work in scientific research and that I believe will ensure that this becomes a better world; as we have seen in the past, thanks to the scientific research, thanks to the advancement of technology this world has become a better world for all of us," Murthy said.

"The difference between the poor and the rich has been reduced; access to health care, education, nutrition has indeed become better for the poorer people, thanks to the advancement of Science and Technology," he added.

The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) today announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2015 across six categories: Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

This year's winners include an ex-army officer, a monk and a philosopher. The prize for each category consists of a purse of Rs 65 lakh, a 22 carat gold medallion and a citation certificate.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 13, 2016, in Delhi, where President Pranab Mukherjee, will felicitate the winners.

The winners Infosys Prize 2015 are Prof Umesh Waghmare in Engineering and Computer Science, Prof Jonardon Ganeri in Humanities, Dr Amit Sharma in Life Sciences, Prof Mahan Maharaj in Mathematical Sciences, Prof G Ravindra Kumar in Physical Sciences, and Dr Srinath Raghavan in Social Sciences.

Winners of the Infosys Prize 2015 were evaluated by a jury panel comprising esteemed scientists and professors from around the world.

The Jury chairs of the six categories are: Prof

Pradeep K Khosla (University of California, San Diego) for Engineering and Computer Science; Prof Amartya Sen (Harvard University) for Humanities; Dr Inder Verma (Salk Institute of Biological Sciences) for Life Sciences; Prof Srinivasa S R Varadhan (New York University) for Mathematical Sciences; Prof Shrinivas Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology) for Physical Sciences; and Prof Kaushik Basu (World Bank) for Social Sciences.

This year's Infosys prize in Engineering and Computer Science has gone to Prof Umesh Waghmare, Professor-Theoretical Sciences Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, for innovative use of first-principles theories and modeling in insightful investigations of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specific properties of certain materials like topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene.

Prof Jonardon Ganeri, Global Network Visiting Professor of Philosophy, New York University got the award in Humanities category for originality in interpreting and scrutinizing analytical Indian Philosophy.

Dr Amit Sharma, Group Leader, Structural and Computational Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi, was awarded in the Life Sciences category for his pioneering contributions towards deciphering the molecular structure at the atomic level of key proteins involved in biology of pathogenesis of the malarial parasite.

Infosys prize in Mathematical Sciences went to Prof Mahan Maharaj, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math in Howrah, for contributions to geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology and complex geometry.

Prof G Ravindra Kumar, Professor in the Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, got the award in the Physical Sciences category for his pioneering experimental contributions to the physics of high intensity laser matter interactions.

Prize in the Social Sciences category went to Srinath Raghavan, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, for his outstanding research that synthesizes military history, international politics and strategic analysis into powerful and imaginative perspectives on India in global context.