Four MPs honoured with 'Sansad Ratna Award 2012'

Prime Point Foundation, Chennai every year honours the top performing Parliamentarians during April / May for their performance till the end of Part I of Budget Session of that year.  

3rd Annual Awards function was held at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras on Saturday the 14th April 2012, to honour the following four MPs with 'Sansad Ratna Award'. Details of the individual performance is given in our earlier posting.

1.  Mr Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Shiv Sena MP from Amravati, Maharashtra 

2. Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, BJP MP from Chandrapur, Maharastra

3. Mr S S Ramasubbu, Cong MP from Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu

Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi presents the award to Mr S S Ramasubbu MP. K. Srinivasan (left), Mr Era Sezhiyan (centre) and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy (right) looking on

4.  Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal, BJP MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan

Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi presents the award to Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal MP. K. Srinivasan (left), Mr Era Sezhiyan (centre) and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy (right) looking on

The Sansad Ratna Awards-2012 were presented by Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Former Governor of West Bengal (grand son of Mahatma Gandhi), in the presence of Mr Era Sezhiyan, veteran Parliamentarian and Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthy, Director of IIT-M.

Mr Anandrao Adsul and Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir could not be physically be present to receive the Awards.  However they interacted with the audience through 'mobile' from their place.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had given an exclusive message for this function, which was recorded on 10th April 2012.  This video was screened for the benefit of the audience.  In his message, Dr Abdul Kalam suggested the politicians to become 'role models' by undertaking 'inspiring action'.  He said, that would further inspire the youth to take up politics and governance.  His message is separately published in the next posting.

After presenting the Awards, Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi , in his inspiring and poetic speech, appealed to every one not to slander the Parliament.  He said, it would amount to slandering ourselves.  He also quoted that there were various acts enacted by the Parliament to prevent dowry, untouchability, etc.  Still, the society violated such acts and followed their own practises.   His inspiring speech and the full text is published separately.  

A National Seminar on 'Youth in Politics and Governance - Challenges and Opportunities' was held earlier with Mr S S Ramasubbu MP, Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal MP and Mr R Bhagwan Singh, Executive Editor of Deccan Chronicle as panelists.  This panel discussed encouraged the educated and service minded youth to enter into politics to take forward the wheels of the nation.  

There was another panel discussion in the evening to discuss the 'Role of Civil Society'. Ms Jothimani (Cong), Ms Vanati Srinivasan (BJP), Ms Revathy (CPM), Ms Ajitha Karthikeyan (Political journalist) and Ms Bhavana Upadyaya (Social activist) as panelists.  This panel discussed the various issues that are preventing the youth to enter into politics.

The purpose of this seminar is to discourage the 'cynical' attitude of the society against 'politics as an institution' and to  applaud good politicians, who are running the country.   

Please see the photo stream.

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Dr Y S Rajan honoured with Padma Sri Award

Dr Y S Rajan, co-author of the book 'India 2020' along with Dr Abdul Kalam was honoured by Indian President Her Excellency Pratibha Patil on 4th April 2012 at Rashtrapathi Bhavan with Padmasri Award.  

Dr Rajan has authored several books.  He is now the Honorary Distinguished Professor at ISRO, Bangalore.  He is one of the well known scientists, who has closely worked with Dr Abdul Kalam.

The Citation of the Award is given below:

YAGNASWAMI  SUNDARA  RAJAN

Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan is currently Honorary Distinguished Professor in Department of Space (DOS), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He has made major contributions to various aspects of management of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) over the past four decades.  

2. His contribution in areas like STI administration, institution building, diplomacy, strategic studies, environmental technologies and natural resources management has been widely recognized. Y.S.Rajan is a powerful communicator, both oratorical and written. He interacts with students and youth all over India to help them orient towards the new processes of an STI based economy. He has authored several books of prose and poetry. He  has equal felicity in English and Tamil.

3. Born on April 10, 1943, Y.S. Rajan received his Masters degree in Physics from the University of Bombay in 1964.  He joined the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad as a Research Scholar to work with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s team.    Beginning as a developmental engineer, he went on to hold several important positions in ISRO/DOS, Scientific Secretary, ISRO being one of them.   His strategic inputs to Prof. Satish Dhawan, the then Chairman, ISRO, integrating different perspectives from the internal and external systems that ISRO had to deal with, were strategic to the overall management and in giving direction to the nascent space programme of the seventies and eighties.  He was thus, a key figure who played a very important role in the emergence of ISRO as a major space power.  His work at ISRO was recognised internationally and he was elected as Member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) (1986), among the first few Indians then.  Recently as Chief Mentor ISRO Strategy Group, he was instrumental in bringing out a unique report (2011) for taking ISRO into the future. 

4. At the peak of his career in ISRO, Y.S. Rajan made a shift in his career and began addressing various national issues and problems.    He was the first Executive Director (ED) of newly created Technology Information and Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), since (1988-2002).    Rajan not only transferred best practices and knowledge from the space system but also pioneered new approaches to deal with the even more complex problems facing India for which  technology could offer solutions.  His role at TIFAC in the production of the Vision 2020 documents set a new trend in the country.  These and a number of other  initiatives taken by him at TIFAC in areas such as Intellectual Property Rights, Home Grown Technologies, Technology Missions and support for Indian entrepreneurships, represented new ways to deal with the many problems Indian society faced.  TIFAC became world renown.  

5. The popular and path breaking book, India Vision 2020 by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam with Y.S.Rajan is the outcome of his work at TIFAC.  His work at TIFAC and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) created technology consciousness in Indian Industry and to bring technology to their forefront of priorities as well as to show them how to pursue technology for business success.  His footprints in multidisciplinary applications of science and engineering can be seen in many parts of India, be it Mobile Diagnostic Clinic at Uttarakhand, TIFAC-Centers of Relevance and Excellence (CORE’s) at hitherto left out institutions, with farmers in Bihar, the early work for the Nalanda University, earth quake shelters in Gujarat, animal husbandry, composites materials or sugar technology, to name a few among the many.

6. As a Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Technical University (PTU) and Scientific Adviser, to Punjab Chief Minister, a position equivalent in rank to a Minister of State (2002-2004), he initiated a number of new institutional innovations which have now borne fruit.   The awards and distinctions he has received include Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (1998);  Fellow of World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) (2010); Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) from Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun, Rajasthan (2005) in appreciation of his belief in and hope for human life, values and potential and his own creative contribution towards its evolution. 

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