Udaipur: Maharana Mewar Foundation 37th Annual Award Distribution Ceremony – 2019, an integral part of MMCF, held on Sunday the 10th March 2019 at The Manek Chowk, The City Palace, Udaipur. The distribution ceremony starts with the presentation of certificates to students from schools and universities in Udaipur and across the State of Rajasthan. This is followed by the main Ceremony when the international and national awardees gather on the dais to receive their awards from Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chief Guest and ShrijiArvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Chairman and Managing Trustee of Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur.
Convener of the Ceremony Dr. Mayank Gupta said that the international award instituted in 1996 and named after Col. James Tod is to honour a foreign national who has made a lasting contribution through his work of permanent value and understanding of the spirit and values of Udaipur and India is given to Dr. Paul T. Craddock who has had a life-long interest in early technology and science.
The National annual award, Haldighati Award, is given to an individual for work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism. This year the Award is being awarded to Ms. Swati Chaturvedi, freelance reporter for print and broadcast media. She was awarded Press Freedom Award for Courage by Reporters without Borders in 2018; established in 1992. Reporters without Borders (RSF) held its annual Press Freedom Awards in London on 8th November 2018 when the international award for Courage was honoured to Ms. Swati Chaturvedi, the only journalist from India.
Hakim Khan Sur Award is conferred to Mr. Suresh Wadkar in recognition of his distinguished service of permanent value to society by spreading the message of integration and introducing Hindustani Classical Music to thousands of students. He has sung in more than 500 films in 17 languages.
MaharanaUdai Singh Award has been felicitated to Ms. GeetaSeshamani, a senior wildlife conservationist and an animal rights activist. She is the Co-Founder, Secretary of Wildlife SOS, established in 1995. She has been involved in animal welfare and wildlife conservation for over 40 years. Another MaharanaUdai Singh Award goes to Mr. KartickSatyanarayan, an active senior wildlife conservationist and Co-Founder and Chairman of Wildlife SOS. He has been involved in wildlife conservation, welfare & the protection of the natural environment for over 23 years. With their shared commitment, Geeta and Kartick have dedicated themselves to mission ‘Elephant Conservation and Care Center’ created in 2010 at Mathura to rehabilitate severely abused captive elephants in distress. The Centre, India's first specialised hospital, currently houses 20 elephants with 12 females and 8 male elephants.
Another National Award is PannaDhai Award instituted to honour an individual who has rendered selfless service, rising beyond the call of duty and setting an example to society of permanent value through sacrifice, in the face of immense hostility. This is awarded to Mr. SwapanDebbarma and his 9 year old daughter Ms. Suma Debbarma, inhabitants of Dhanchara, Ambassa, Dhalai, Tripura. They are being awarded for their commendable work in the bravery and courage they showed to save thousands of innocent lives. On the 15th June 2018, on a rainy day when they had no food at home, the duo headed out in search of some fish. As they walked along the railway tracks they saw that almost a kilometer of railway track had been derailed due to a huge landslide following heavy rains. Realizing that the damaged track would have led to a serious accident, possibly with the loss of thousands of innocent lives they waited to warn the train driver. After nearly two hours at around 3.30 pm the passenger train Siliguri to Agartala coming from Ambassa approached. Standing at the side of the track, Swappan pulled off his shirt and his young daughter her skirt and they waved frantically to try and stop the train. They then realized the only way of attracting the driver’s attention was to risk their lives and stand in the middle of the tracks and it was then that the driver Mr. Sonu Kumar Mandal saw them and was alerted to the danger and stopped the train.
Maharishi HaritRashi Award is being awarded to Dr. NarottamPujari, who is an authority on Astrologer and Vastu. His pioneering work over the last 21 years includes Karma Kand and JyotishVidhya. Another Maharishi HaritRashi Awardee is Dr. Hemant Krishna Mishra, a well-known name in Sanskrit language and literature. His work has been recognised by the Rajasthan Government and awarded by the ‘Rajasthan Vidwat Award’.
Maharana Mewar Award has been instituted to honour work of permanent value rendered to society, in the field of social service, nation building and character building activities, contributed through educational methods. This year’s award is given to Ms. MaliniAwasthi, Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh for her distinguished service of permanent value to serve society by promoting folk art and living heritage through education and literature. A Padma Shri awardee in 2016; founder of a non-profit organization, ‘Sonchiraiya’ she works to spread awareness of folk art as the intangible heritage from Awadh, Brij, Bundelkhand and Bhojpur districts.
MaharanaKumbha Award is awarded to Prof. GirishNathMathur, Udaipur distinguished for his literary work specifically his work on Mewar that is widely recognised among historians. He is an inspirational mentor for large number of researchers in history. Another MaharanaKumbha Award is awarded to Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh, a philosophical author. His wide spectrum of work covers different areas of Literature, History, Linguistics and the study of poetic structure.
MaharanaSajjan Singh Award is awarded to Mr. JamnaLalKumhar, Molela, Khamnor, Rajsamand who has been a traditional Terracotta Art and Craft artist for the last 42 years.
DagarGharana Award is awarded to UstadMohiBaha’ud-din Dagar an exponent of the RudraVeena. He is listed among the finest instrumentalist the Indian Classical Music who has played for diverse and varied audiences in India and across the world.
RanaPunja Award is awarded to Mr. Jhalam Chand Angari, resident of Shyampura Kala, Jhadol, Udaipur. His significant contribution to the people of Jhadol has been through Van UtthanSangh, formed in 1997 and formally registered in 2000. Van UtthanSansthan is a network of Village Forest Protection Committees (VFPCs), working in conjunction with the Joint Forest Management Policy of the Government. His leadership qualities in bringing people together to improve their quality of living has been widely recognised whilst pursuing village development work in Jhadol.
Aravali Award is awarded for the outstanding achievements in sports and games from Rajasthan. This year’s awardee is Paralympic Mr. Sandeep Singh Maan, a National and International Level Sprinter and Long Jump Paralympics Athlete. He has won 4 Medals at State level tournaments, 26 Medals at National level tournaments and 27 medals at International events. He is one of the few Paralympics Athletes to have won three Asian Para Games in 2010, 2014 and 2018. He was awarded by the Arjuna Award in 2016 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
This year Best Police Station of Rajasthan Award was given to Police Station Makbara, District Kota, Rajasthan.
This year Bhamashah Student Award was given to 18 students, Maharana Raj Singh Student Award to 8 students and MaharanaFateh Singh Student Award to 80 students.
Vote of thanks was given by Mr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Trustee, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur.
