NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday congratulated India-born scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan for winning the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and said it was a matter of great pride for the country and also a tribute to India’s educational system and the teaching community.

In a statement issued here, the prime minister said: “I warmly congratulate you on the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009. This high honour is just and due recognition of your exceptional scientific achievements in your chosen field of study.”

The work done by you and the other prize winners in furthering the scientific understanding of one of life’s core processes has major applications in the field of medical science and drug development, the prime minister noted.

It is a matter of great pride for India that a brilliant scientist, who has gained the highest international recognition, should have done most of his education in India.”

It is a tribute to the educational system in our country and the dedication of the teaching community that we are able to nurture such international excellence in the sciences, he said.

The prime minister said the work Ramakrishnan has done to extend the frontiers of molecular biology “will be an inspiration to thousands of Indian scientists, researchers and technologists, who strive to follow in your footsteps”.

I wish you all the very best in your future endeavours and hope that you will continue to make outstanding contributions to the scientific progress of humankind, he added.

Ramakrishnan, now a US citizen and associated with MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Britain, was named for the $1.42 million award along with American Thomas A. Steitz and Israeli Ada E. Yonath for their “studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”.