Nirupama Rao, former Foreign Secretary and Indian Ambassador-designate to US, has been chosen for this year's Sree Chitra Tirunal award.
Award Committee chairman T P Sreenivasan said in a press release here that the honour was in recognition of Rao's meritorious service in foreign diplomacy.
The award has been instituted by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Trust in memory of the erstwhile ruler of Travancore.
Former recipients of the honour are former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, actor Mohanlal and singer K J Yesudas.