Prez confers Jawaharlal Nehru Award on Maathai

New Delhi, Mar 22: President A P J Abdul Kalam today conferred the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for 2005 on Kenyan Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Muta Maathai for her outstanding contribution to the movement for environment conservation.

Prof Maathai, who is the first African woman to receive the award, joins the select group of Jawaharlal Nehru Awardees including Martin Luther King (Jr.), Mother Teresa, Mrs Indira Gandhi and Dr Nelson Mandela.

The solemn 30-minute ceremony at the majestic Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, was attended by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and several other senior Ministers and officials and foreign dignitaries.

Prof Maathai, who was described as the ''iconic leader'' in the movement for environment protection in the African continent and the world, said she was ''deeply humbled'' at being chosen to join the select group for the Award.

She said she had drawn inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru throughout her life for working for human rights and development of people.

The two leaders, she said, had paved the way upon which India had walked and was now continuing to play a leading role in the world.

UNI