Hyderabad :
Eminent Indian scientist Prof Seyed E Hasnain has bagged the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Germany. He served as the founder-director of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and vice-chancellor of University of Hyderabad.
The award has conferred on Prof Hasnain in recognition of his contribution to Indo-German relations. The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany was instituted in 1951 by Federal President Theodor Heuss. It is the only honour that is awarded in all fields of endeavour and is the highest tribute the Federal Republic of Germany can pay to individuals for services to the nation.
German Ambassador to India, H E Michael Steiner, conferred the prestigious ‘Bundesverdienstkreuz’ on Prof. Seyed Hasnain at the German Embassy in India, says a statement from the University of Hyderabad on Thursday. Prof. Hasnain is a renowned microbiologist especially acclaimed for his path-breaking research on tuberculosis. He paved the way for the office of the German Research Foundation in India, which is one of the key forums for scientific cooperation between Germany and India. During his stay at the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin and the University of Wurzburg, he produced remarkable research results in microbiology.
Prof. Hasnain has almost all major Indian Science Awards to his credit: GD Birla Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, FICCI Award, J.C. Bose National Fellow Award, Ranbaxy Research Award, Goyal Award, Bhasin Award and several others. He is the first Indian elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and one of the youngest to be elected Fellow of TWAS, Trieste, Italy. Internationally, Prof. Hasnain is a recipient of the prestigious Humboldt Research Prize, awarded by the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation, Germany; as well as the very exclusive Robert Koch Fellowship, of the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Syed Akbar, TNN / March 13th, 2014