Union External Affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar will be conferred the 27th South Indian Education Society (SIES) Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award on December 21 at the Sabha auditorium, Sion.

The awards are given in four distinct fields of public leadership, community leadership, human endeavour, science and technology, and social leadership with primacy on spiritualism. The awards are named after the late 68th Seer of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi.

The other awardees include Dr R V Ramani from Sankara Eye foundation Dr.l Govindarajan Padmanaban from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and social sector leader Dr R Krishnamurthy Sastrigal.Dr V Shankar, president of SIES, said that in the last 26 years, the awards have been given to more than 100 outstanding persons, including seven foreigners who have espoused the cause of Indian culture in their home countries and beyond, he said.

The awards carry a cash prize of Rs.2.5 lakhs, a brass lamp, citation and a shawl.