Congratulations to Dr. Achintya Haldar, who will receive the Hind Ratan ("Jewel of India") award on January 25, 2007 in New Delhi, India.

The Hind Ratan is given yearly to about 30 members of the worldwide Indian diaspora (comprising the catagories of both Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin) by the NRI Welfare Society of India, at a cermony in connection with the yearly "International Congress of Non Resident Indians" (held since 1982) on and around the Indian Republic Day (January 26). 

The Hind Ratan is a very prestigious award and, to quote Dr. Haldar, "This type of recognition may be very rare for a civil engineering professor."