The All India Conference of Intellectuals (AICOI), New Delhi has conferred the prestigious Intellectuals' Award "The great son of the soil" upon Dr Lalji Singh, director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for his outstanding contributions in Science and Technology particularly for the Development of a universal probe for DNA Fingerprinting technology.

Ever since the Kerala High Court upheld the verdict of the lower Court accepting the DNA Fingerprinting as infallible evidence, many sensational cases including Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Naina Sahni (Tandoor) murder case, the Beant Singh (the late Punjab Chief Minister) murder case, case of the Premananda Ashram in Tamil Nadu, and a host of several other cases numbering over 500 were solved using this technology. Dr Lalji Singh, as an Officer on Special Duty, established the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) at Hyderabad under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi.

Dr Singh and his colleagues recently developed a novel DNA-based approach which, without knowing the history of a forensic sample, can establish whether a drop of blood or tiny piece of flesh tissue belongs to human or animal, and if animal which species it belongs to.

He made valuable contribution towards the field of DNA-based molecular diagnostics. Currently, Dr Singh has been responsible for establishing collaborations with several biotechnological, pharmaceutical and information technology firms in order to meet the challenges posed by the post-genomic era.

The "the Great Son of the Soil" Award was established by the All India Conference of Intellectuals (AICOI), a non-government organization established in 1981 by a group of Supreme Court Judges and Lawyers and other eminent people from India.

The award consists of a shawl, a memento and a citation.