Kolkata: The MP Birla Planetarium (MPBP) on Friday conferred the MP Birla Memorial Award on Yashwant Gupta, director of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics at TIFR Pune.Receiving the award, Gupta recounted how a visit to the planetarium in the 1970s acquainted him to the wonders of the universe. The visit had ignited a lifelong passion for the cosmos. It had planted the seeds of curiosity in him.“To now stand on this stage receiving an award named after the man who made such transformative institutions possible is nothing short of poetic and is deeply moving for me… I accept this award not just for myself, but for all who gaze upward and dream and hope that this moment, inspired by MP Birla’s vision, motivates the next generation of youngsters, like the ones who are seated here in the auditorium today, to become leading scientists of tomorrow,” said Gupta.He spoke on his work in the field of radio astronomy. The award function, initially scheduled three months ago, was cancelled after Gupta was unable to reach the city due to the IndiGo Airlines crisis. The biennial award is being held after a six years gap post Covid. The award was instituted in 1993. It was last given to Prof Thanu Padmanabhan in 2019. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, Govind Swarup, K Kasturirangan and APJ Abdul Kalam had also got the award. The award was announced in 2015 and 2017 as the planetarium was being renovated. SK Daga, honorary secretary of MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, said professor Gupta’s contribution to the field embodies the spirit of the award.
