First woman captain of the Indian merchant navy and first woman in the world to receive the IMO Award for exceptional bravery at sea, Radhika Menon got another feather in her illustrious cap in Udaipur, where National Award of Panna Dhai 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 was conferred on her.

Since its inception in 1969, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) has been committed to nurturing centers of excellence in heritage management, fine arts, performing arts, education, ecological management, philanthropy, spirituality and sports.

Among the most important of these is providing recognition of excellence, through appreciation and acknowledgement of the achievement of individuals and their work.

35^th MMFAA 2017

• Maharana Mewar Foundation 35th Annual Awards – 2017
• 47 years serving as an inspiration to mankind by applauding outstanding achievements
• 34 Annual Awards, 4191 Awardees, 1 Vision
• Honouring service of permanent value rendered to society

Maharana Mewar Foundation Annual Scheme of Awards constitutes a major part of the activities of the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF), Udaipur. These Annual Awards were instituted in 1980 – 1981 to recognize college and school students, in Udaipur, for their academic and sporting achievements.

The scope and spectrum of the awards has been steadily widening since 1981, the Annual Awards Ceremony not only applauds students but also honours inter-national and national scholars for their work of permanent value to society.

Many now play a pivotal role contributing to Mewar, India on the world stage. On this occasion, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation honored service of permanent value rendered to society. The ceremony started with the presentation of certificates to students from schools and universities in Udaipur and across the State of Rajasthan.

This was followed by the main ceremony when the awardees gathered on the dais to receive their awards from Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Chairman and Managing Trustee of Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur. Maharana Mewar Foundation 35th Annual Award Distribution Ceremony – 2017 for this year took place on March 5, 2017 at The Manek Chowk, The City Palace, Udaipur.

Announcing the International and National Annual Awards 2017, 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 an understanding of the spirit and values of Udaipur and India. This year the award was given to Professor Sir Angus Deaton, USA.

Professor Sir Angus Deaton is Senior Scholar and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School where he taught for thirty years. He was the 2015 recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel “for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.”

He has studied many aspects of human wellbeing. In his work on poverty he has delved into data to try to improve measures, both for the world as a whole, and for India in particular.

He has worked on health issues in the US, in particular with Anne Case on mortality in midlife, and in India, where he has worked with other researchers to address the needs of healthcare among both adults (in Rajasthan and in rural Udaipur) and children in India.

The National annual award, Haldighati Award, was presented to an individual for work of permanent value that initiates an awakening in society through the medium of journalism, Praveen Swami, is a National Editor for Strategic and International Affairs at The Indian Express.

He writes on regional security and intelligence issues. He is the author of India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: the Covert War in Jammu and Kashmir, 1947-2002, published by Routledge in January, 2007.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Swami is currently working on a series of short stories on the conflict in Kashmir, as well as a book on the jihadist movement in India, both scheduled for publication in 2017.

Hakim Khan Sur Award instituted to honour work of permanent value for the cause of national integration was conferred to  Shailesh Lodha widely recognized as one of the most distinctive and socially accepted poet-actors has made his mark in this complex landscape by integrating the nation and society through various media communications specifically stage and television.

Maharana Udai Singh Award instituted to honour work of permanent value in protecting and enriching the environment, hand-in-hand with future development was awarded to Dr. R. Vasudevan, the DEAN ECA & Professor of Department of Chemistry, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He is a man on a mission to clean India of its plastic waste.  With the aim of changing the way plastic is treated in the country, in 2002 he innovated a technique of making roads using plastic waste.

Soon after he patented the technology, when he could have made his fortune selling the technology to private companies, he chose to share his expertise with the Government of India for free.

The technique was first used to make a road inside the campus of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering. This was just the beginning and soon after it was adopted by many towns and cities in various states across the country: in Kovilpatti, Salem, Wellington, Chennai, Puducherry, Hindpur (Andhra Pradesh), Kolkata, Goa, Shimla, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadakara, Calicut, Kothamangalam, Madurai, Jamshedpur and Kochi.

In Tamil Nadu, the District Rural Development Agency laid 1,200 km of plastic roads in 29 districts across the State. He was awarded with Tech Icon of India, awarded by India Today Group by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd October 2015.