Sis Ram Ola to confer National Mineral Awards on 23 geoscientists

New Delhi, Feb 12 (UNI) Minister of Mines Sis Ram Ola will present the National Mineral Awards for the year 2005 at a special ceremony organised by his ministry here on Wednesday.

The National Mineral Awards are given annually by the ministry of mines for outstanding contributions in various disciplines like mineral discovery and exploration including coal, lignite, coal bed methane, oil, natural gas, gas hydrates and groundwater mining technology.

This year, 23 eminent geoscientists, mining engineers and technologists would be conferred the National Mineral Award for the year 2005 while one geoscientist will be conferred the award 2003, an official statement said here today.

Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy will be the guest of honour at the function.

Secretary in the ministry of mines is the Chairman of the Award Making Authority, which is responsible for making final selection of the awardees, the statement added.

During last four decades, many changes have taken place which have enhanced the popularity of the scheme, resulting in new mineral finds, development of innovative metallurgical processes, mining techniques and fundamental and applied research.

As a result of modifications in regulations during the current year, the scheme now covers broadly 16 earth science related disciplines. Different awards under the scheme involves award money of up to three lakh rupees, a certificate and a citation.

UNI