Science Journalist Pallava Bagla Wins India’s Top S&T Communications Prize

Pallava Bagla, a veteran contributor to Science and other publications, has won the top prize awarded by the Indian government for S&T communications in the print media for his body of stories and photographs since 2000.

The award, newly established by India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, is the highest award of its kind in the South Asian nation. Bagla received the honor on 27 February, the eve of India’s National Science Day, at a New Delhi gathering of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication.

“I’m delighted that Pallava has received this award. He is a dogged reporter with a wealth of contacts—and a great photographer. The recognition is well deserved,” said Science’s news editor Colin Norman.

“I am extremely happy that my efforts have been recognized by my government, which is more often than not on the receiving end of my highly critical but balanced reports,” Bagla said. “Even though the award comes to me as an individual, it is really thanks to the team effort of all our esteemed colleagues at Science, which makes it possible for reporters like me to doggedly and independently continue toiling in the field.”

Among the work that won Bagla the National Award for Outstanding Effort in Science & Technology Communication in Print Medium was a December 2004 story in Science Now about the discovery of a new monkey species along India’s northeastern border with China—the Arunachal macaque. It was the first new monkey species discovered in a century.

In October 2001, Bagla was the first journalist to write about India’s development of bio-weapons defense capabilities. More recently, in the 10 February issue of Science, he interviewed Anil Kakodkar, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India, who detailed the high-stakes, high-tension nuclear negotiations with the United States.

Bagla has been a regular contributor to Science since 1994. He also is a regular contributor to The Indian Express, the nation’s leading daily newspaper, and his work has appeared in an array of international publications—Time, New Scientist, The Economist and National Geographic, among others. In addition, he also is a photographer for Corbis, the world’s largest photo agency.

Bagla’s work previously was honored by the United Nations-sponsored Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. He was awarded the science writing fellowship at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass., in 1994. In 2004, he became a Fellow of the Leadership in Environment and Development organization.

Edward W. Lempinen

1 March 2006