Why in news?

• Indian-origin astronomer Professor Srinivas R Kulkarni will be honored with the prestigious Shaw Prize by America.
• Professor Kulkarni has discovered millisecond pulsars, gamma ray bursts, supernovae and other celestial bodies. He will be awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy for these unprecedented discoveries. Srinivas R Kulkarni is Professor in the Department of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology.

These scientists will receive Shaw Award:

• Apart from Professor Kulkarni, American scientists Swee Le Thein and Stuart Orkin will be awarded the Shaw Prize in the fields of biology and medicine and scientist Peter Sarnak in mathematical sciences.

Unprecedented discovery by Professor Kulkarni:

• The Shaw Prize Foundation said, ‘Professor Kulkarni has made brilliant discoveries in astronomy. His understanding of the sky has brought a new revolution in the field of astronomy. The Palomar Transient Factory was conceptualized and built under the leadership of Professor Kulkarni and his successor Zwicky.
• The Palomar Transient Factory was an astronomical survey.
• Professor Kulkarni did his MS from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in 1978. After this he did his PhD from the University of California in 1983. Professor Kulkarni was also the Director of Caltech Law School from 2006 to 2018.