Jayant Narlikar awarded with lifetime achievement by Astronomical Society of India

Astronomer, founding director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, and former president of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI) Jayant Narlikar received the inaugural ASI Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement award on Thursday. Even though the award was announced at the 41st meeting of the ASI held at IIT Indore earlier this year, Narlikar was unable to travel to accept it. Thursday in Pune, the president of the ASI, Dipankar Banerjee, presented the award to Narlikar.

As part of its golden jubilee celebrations in 2022, the Astronomical Society of India (ASI) established the Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement Award to honour eminent Indian astronomers for their contributions to Astronomy and Astrophysics in India over the course of their careers. The award is named after Govind Swarup (1929-2020), who is regarded as the father of Indian radio astronomy, according to an IUCAA press release.

Banerjee in his statement to the media said, “Though their domains of work differed widely, both Prof Swarup and Prof Narlikar remained deeply committed to the growth of astronomy and astrophysics in the country by building exemplary institutions and devoting enormous efforts towards training the younger generations. They both continue to serve as illustrious role models for generations to come. It is an honour for me to hand over the award to our beloved teacher, Jayant.”