Laurels and awards galore for Pune

Once again Punekars made their presence felt in various fields and made the city proud by bagging laurels at national and international levels...

Padma awards
The year started with a bang for Puneites as five eminent citizens were honoured with the Padma awards by the Union government in January.

While former bureaucrat and noted economist Vijay Kelkar got the Padma Vibhushan, noted social worker Shobhana Ranade and eminent medical practitioner late Dr KB Grant were honoured with the Padma Bhushan. Dr Grant passed away in Pune on January 3, a few days before the awards were declared.

Archaeologist, Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar and adventure sportsperson Shital Mahajan were bestowed with the Padma Shri.

President’s & PM’s medals for police officers
Nine police officers from the city bagged the president’s police medal this year. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Ranjeet Dhure, received the president’s medal for distinguished service.

Eight other officers received the president’s medal for meritorious service. They were senior police inspector at Sangvi police station, Shantaram Tayde; police inspector with the Criminal Investigation Department, Ramesh Pandharpur; police inspector with traffic police branch, Sunil Darekar; police inspector with wireless training centre, Suresh Malwadkar; police inspector with anti-corruption branch, Anand Tathe; police inspector with anti-dacoity cell, Satish Govekar; assistant police inspector with anti-corruption branch, Ramesh Barge; and constable with the State Reserve Police Force, Chandu Pacharane.

City policemen were honoured with prime minister’s police medals. Tasgaon deputy superintendent of police, Sangramsinh Nishandar (32), along with three police constables, was chosen for the PM’s police medals for saving the lives of people in flood-ravaged Gondia district on September 15, 2005.

Planet named after Pune girl
It was a rare feat for the city when 20-year-old Hamsa Padmanabhan became the first grand award winner at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and a minor star was named after her.
A Fergusson College graduate, she was one of the two award winners, who were honoured by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Lab.

Lifetime achievement
Veteran actor Mohan Agashe was given the prestigious lifetime achievement award by Akhil Bharatiya Natya Parishad. A psychiatrist by profession, he is known for his plays like Ghashiram Kotwal, Begum Barve and Katkon Trikon.

MoES’ best employee
Prakash Chopade, a draughtsman at the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) weather forecasting department in Pune, was awarded the ministry of earth sciences (MoES) ‘best employee award’ for 2011. Chopade was given the award for developing effective software programmes for preparation of daily weather reports, all-India weather summary and weekly weather forecasts.

Young Scientist Award
Three scientists from the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, Amol Kulkarni, Dattatraya Dethe and Rahul Banerjee, were selected for the Young Scientist Award 2011, instituted by the Council for Industrial and Scientific
Research (CSIR).

National film awards
Student films from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) bagged five national awards in the 58th national film awards.

Arunima Sharma won the Swarna Kamal and prize of Rs1.5 lakh for best direction for Shyam Raat Seher. The film also won the best cinematography award for cameraperson Murli G (Rajat Kamal and prize of Rs50,000). Another FTII student film, Kal 15 August Dukan Band Rahegi, directed by Pratik Vats, won the best short fiction award.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award
Sanjeev Galande, head of the Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), won the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for his study of the evolution of epigenetic mechanisms using multiple model systems.