Maharana Mewar Foundation 36th Annual Awards – 2018
(MMFAA 2018)
Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation
48 years serving as an inspiration to mankind by applauding outstanding achievements
35 Annual Awards 4289 Awardees 1 Vision
Honouring service of permanent value rendered to society
21.02.2018
Udaipur
Since it was established in 1969 Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) has
been committed to nurturing centres of excellence in heritage management, fine arts, the
performing arts, education, ecological management, philanthropy, spirituality and sports.
Amongst the most important of these is providing recognition of excellence, through
appreciation and acknowledgement of the achievement of individuals and their work.
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 recognise 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 international 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 is honoring service of
permanent value rendered to society. The 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 awardees gather 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 36th Annual Award Distribution Ceremony – 2018 for this year
will take place on Sunday, 11h March 2018 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 is given to Professor John Stratton Hawley.
Professor John Stratton Hawley is Claire Tow Professor of Religion at Barnard College,
Columbia University. He has written or edited some twenty books on Hinduism, India’s bhakti
traditions, and the comparative study of religion. Professor Hawley’s recent work on the
beautifully illustrated Maharana Amar Singh II Sursagar, painted in the royal atelier at Mewar,
lies at the heart of a new hundred-page- long chapter that appears in the revised, expanded
edition of his thematic study Surdas: Poet, Singer, Saint. This book, featuring upwards of thirty
color plates, was launched by Primus Books at the India International Centre on January 8,
2018. All of Hawley’s writing on Surdas is indebted in one way or another to manuscript work
he has undertaken in Udaipur, Rajasthan. This work stretches way back to the 1970’s and
was crucially assisted by Dr. Brajmohan Jawaliya.
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, Ms. Suhasini
Haidar is the Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu, one of India’s oldest and most respected
National dailies (www.thehindu.com), regularly writing on Foreign policy issues. Over the
course of her 20 year reporting career, she has covered the most challenging stories and
conflicts from the most diverse regions including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Libya, Lebanon and
Syria. In India she has covered the foreign affairs beat for over a decade. During her time
reporting from the heart of conflict zones, she was injured in 2000 while in Kashmir when a
car, booby-trapped with a gas cylinder packed with explosives in its boot, exploded.
Dr. E. Sreedharan, The Metro Man, came into the spotlight when he restored the 26 spans of
Pamban Railway Bridge, which had been washed away by tidal waves on the 22 nd December
1963 in a record time of 46 days. On his retirement, he headed the Konkan Railway
Corporation Ltd. as its CMD and executed the 760 km long Konkan Railway from Mumbai to
Mangalore in an incredibly short period of seven years. On completion of Konkan Railway he
was selected to head the prestigious Delhi Metro as its Managing Director. 180 kms of Delhi
Metro was commissioned by the time he stepped down in December 2011. His pioneering
contribution to the Delhi Metro and to the spread of Metro revolution in the country earned him
the nick name ‘Metro Man’. Maharana Mewar Foundation National Annual Award Hakim Khan
Sur Award – 2018 is awarded to Dr. E. Sreedharan in recognition of his distinguished service
of permanent value to society physically integrating millions throughout India.
Maharana Udai Singh Award instituted to honour work of permanent value in protecting and
enriching the environment, hand-in- hand with future development is awarded to Mr.
Gafarbhai Qureshi, farmer from Ramdechi, Talala, Gir Somnath District of Gujarat. He used
traditional farming methods on several plantations before meeting Prof. Anil Gupta from the
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad who initiated the idea of a ‘Shodh Yatra’ ( A
journey in search of knowledge) . He has travelled through nearly 19 states; completed 40
Shodh Yatras. He has studied 6 crore of plants and planted 5200 varieties of plants in the
nursery ‘Qureshi Baug’ over the last 20 years. Now he is starting to look for Hakims and
Gardeners during his Yatras who are over the age of 90 and has made it a point to meet
retired agri-scientists from various Universities to gain more knowledge from them. He has
trained nearly 10,000 farmers and a number of students. Almost 1 lakh visitors visit his
MMFAA 2018/ NATIONAL NEWS – 3 –
nursery every year. He treats the workforce at his nursery as part of his extended family taking
care of their food, clothing and even education of their children.
Another National Award is 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. This is
awarded to Mr. Salim Gafur Sheikh and Mr. Harsh Desai. It is the story of a courageous bus
driver from Gujarat, Mr. Salim Gafur Sheikh and the unsung hero of the Amarnath Yatra terror
attack, Mr. Harsh Desai, son of the bus owner, who between them saved 52 Amarnath
pilgrims from a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 10 th July 2017. On the first Monday of
the month of Shraavana, Hindu civilian pilgrims were on the way from Amarnath Temple when
they were attacked by terrorists. It was due to the remarkable courage and presence of mind
shown by Salim and Harsh that many lives were saved in the attack. Mr. Sheikh, the driver of
the 56 seater bus from Valsad, Gujarat was carrying 60 pilgrims from Srinagar to Jammu, he
showed extraordinary bravery when a group of terrorists surrounded the bus and started firing
indiscriminately around 08.20 pm near Batengoo in Kashmir's Anantnag District. He continued
to drive at full speed for more than 2 kms, with a flat tyre, in pitch darkness through a hail of
bullets. He only applied brakes to the bus after reaching a military camp, from the site where
they were ambushed, saving 52 pilgrims who were still in the bus. As Mr. Sheikh ducked to
save himself, three bullets hit Mr. Desai, who was sitting by his side. Though Mr. Desai
collapsed he pressed Mr. Sheikh to keep on driving to the safe camp despite the sound of
gunfire.
For more detail, please contact:
The Convener
Maharana Mewar Foundation 36 th Annual Awards – 2018
Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation
The City Palace, Udaipur 313 001, Rajasthan, India
T: +91 294 241 9021 – 29 F: 241 9020
E: [email protected]
W: www.eternalmewar.in