Bhubaneswar, Dec. 17: The prestigious “Unesco — Kalinga Prize” — 2011 will be awarded to the eminent scientist of Mexico, Dr Rene Raul Drucker, for his contribution to popularise science.

Dr Drucker was the president of Mexican Academy of Sciences during 2000-01. He worked in the field of brain chemistry and functions, mechanism of sleep, neural transmission, brain physiology and neuro hormones. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik today sent a congratulatory message to Dr Drucker.

The Unesco — Kalinga Prize will complete 60 years in 2012. In order to commemorate it, the Unesco has chalked out an ambitious plan to celebrate the event in Bhubaneswar concurrently with the 99th Indian Science Congress from January 3 to January 7, 2012.

Earlier known as “Kalinga Prize”, the award was instituted by late Biju Patnaik in 1952, to promote science among the common people. A reception committee has been formed to celebrate this occasion. Since 2009, the prize was renamed as “Unesco — Kalinga Prize” and has become biennial instead of annual since then.

The prize winners were selected by the director general, Unesco, on the recommendation of an international jury. So far, 66 scientists from 23 countries have received the prizes that includes five Indians. The prize carries a cash award of $20,000.

Chairman of the reception committee, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra said: “Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will give the award to the eminent scientist on January 3 in Bhubaneswar.”

Chairman of the Kalinga Foundation Trust Bhabani Charan Pattanayak said 15 living Unesco Kalinga laureates from different countries including the prize winner for the year 2011, will be attending the event, including the inaugural and technical seminars.

Naveen Patnaik, Union minister for science and technology Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union minister of HRD and communication Kapil Sibal are likely to attend the inaugural session on January 4. Director general of Unesco will also attend the event.