The Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize is the oldest award of ICMR, instituted in 1953 by the Late Major General Amir Chand for significant research contributions in Biomedical Sciences. The prize for 2001 is being presented to Dr O.N. Nagi, Dean, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. Dr Nagi receives the prize for his work on "Development of arthroplasty, modifications in its techniques". Prof Nagi has been a leading orthopaedic surgeon for more than 30 years and has contributed extensively to the field of orthopaedic surgery especially arthroplasty. He has innovated new techniques to make it suitable for patients where previous surgeries had altered the anatomy of the joints. He has also defined a new technique of Girdlestone arthroplasty to give reasonable mobility to totally disabled poor patients who cannot afford replacement surgery. His contribution in this field led to his nomination as Honorary Consultant for Indian Army and is also the only Asian to be selected as a Test Surgeon for new hip prosthesis using latest PEEK technology. He has more than 200 publications in scientific journals and few chapters in text books of orthopaedics. He has been a visiting scientist to several institutes both within India and abroad.

The Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize is the oldest award of ICMR, instituted in 1953 by the Late Major General Amir Chand for significant research contributions in biomedical sciences. The prize for 2001 is being presented to Late Prof Subhash Raghuvir Naik, Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow. Dr Naik receives the prize for his work on "Gastroenterology (hepatitis)" Late Prof S.R. Naik had been actively engaged in the field of gastroenterology for more than 30 years as an academician and researcher. His outstanding contributions have been in the field of viral hepatitis, amoebiasis and chronic liver disease. His research included epidemiological, clinical, experimental and molecular biology studies. Contributions made by Prof Naik had a significant impact on the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Dr Naik had been the recipient of many awards, orations and fellowships of prestigious scientific bodies. He was fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences and National Academy of Sciences. He had published more than 250 papers in both national and international journals of repute.

The Amrut Mody Unichem Prize was instituted by Unichem Laboratories in 1985. This prize is to be awarded to a scientist for outstanding work carried out in the fields of Cardiology and Neurology, and Gastroenterology in alternate years. The prize for 1999 in the field of Gastroenterology is being presented to Dr.Y. K. Chawla, Professor, Department of Hepatology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh for his outstanding contributions in the field of Ectopic varices in portal hypertension. Portal hypertension has been the main area of interest of Dr. Chawla during the past 17 years. He has been looking at unusual sites where varices may develop in a patient with portal hypertension which may present as a clinical emergency. Analysis of splenoportovenography in patients with noncirrhotic portal hypertension demonstrated 9_percent spontaneous shunts in portal venous thrombosis and 10_percent in noncirrhotic portal fibrosis cases. He also showed that 94_percent of patients with portal venous thrombosis had anorectal varices compared to 56_percent patients with cirrhosis. Recently he has also demonstrated that patients with cirrhosis of liver and paraumbilical vein are associated with a lower incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleed and a higher incidence of hepatic encephalopathy. The observations have significant impact on the management and prognosis of portal hypertension.

The Smt. Swaran Kanta Dingley Oration Award was instituted in 1984 by the late ShriH.B.Dingley in memory of his wife to be awarded to a scientist for significant contributions in the field of Reproductive Biology. This award is being given in alternate years since 1993. The award for 1999 is being presented to Dr. Siddhartha Majumdar, Professor and Head, Department of Experimental Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh for his outstanding contributions in spermatozoal membrane and sperm motility. Dr. Majumdar has been working in the field of Reproductive Biology for the last two decades and his major research has been in male infertility. His studies have shown that a high prevalence of azoospermia is usually associated with severely impaired sperm characteristics. Varicocele and male accessory gland infection are rarely associated with azoospermia, but usually with moderate degree of impairment of semen quality and reduced concentration of motile sperms. Dr. Majumdar has further investigated the cell signaling system in spermatozoal membrane which is necessary for spermatozoal motility. These investigations have been done particularly in males with infertility of unknown origin. This knowledge could be used for the development of a male contraceptive.

The JALMA Trust Fund Oration Award was instituted with funds donated by the Japan Leprosy Mission for Asia to commemorate the Mission's work on leprosy in India. This award is given to an eminent scientist for significant achievements in the field of Leprosy. The Award for 1999 is being presented to Dr.Vishwa Mohan Katoch, Deputy Director (Senior Grade), Central JALMA Institute for Leprosy (ICMR), Agra for research in Leprosy i.e. for his outstanding contributions in the Development and application of alternate viability methods for leprosy. Dr. Katoch has spent more than 20 years in developing technologies for improving the diagnosis, assessment of viability, DNA fingerprinting method for molecular epidemiology of mycobacterial infections especially leprosy and mechanisms of drug resistance. These techniques have been found useful for monitoring the therapeutic responses of patients with multibacilliary leprosy and for drug screening.