Chandigarh, October 14 - Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal while announcing the names of Dr. Bhim Singh from India and Dr. Aaesha Alnuaimi from United Arab Emirates for the prestigious Kalpana Chawla Haryana Solar Awards said that their contribution in the field of solar energy will always remain a source of inspiration for the scientists. These awardees will be given a reward amount of 24.40 lakh each.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the 3rd Conference of International Solar Alliance organized through video conferencing at Haryana Bhavan in New Delhi today.

The Chief Minister said that the Kalpana Chawla Haryana Solar Award has been instituted by Haryana Government in the everlasting memory of Astronaut Kalpana Chawla, which will not only encourage the scientists all over the globe to work in the field of solar energy but will also strengthen the movement of Government’s ambitious programme 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' which aims at saving the girl child and empowering them with education.

The Chief Minister said that on March 17, 1962, Kalpana Chawla was born in Karnal. She had completed her earlier schooling from Karnal and B.tech in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in 1982.

In the same year she moved to the United States and obtained a M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1984.Thereafter she obtained second M.S. degree in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering in 1988, informed the Chief Minister.

He said that Kalpana Chawla had joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1996. She was the first Indian - American astronaut and first Indian woman in space. In 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003.

Mr. Manohar Lal said that it is a matter of great pride for us that the headquarters of International Solar Alliance is situated in Gurugram.

The Haryana government had signed an MoU with the International Solar Alliance for the establishment of the Kalpana Chawla Haryana Solar Awards. An overall corpus fund of Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for these awards, said the Chief Minister.

It is pertinent to mention that Dr. Bhim Singh is working as Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and Dr. Aaesha Alnuaimi working as Director, Solar Innovation Centre at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority in UAE have been selected for the Kalpana Chawla Haryana Solar Award.

Dr. Hanif Qureshi, DG, New and Renewable Energy Department was also present in the programme.