Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 25: Chewang Norphel and Dr Bettina Sharda Baumer from Jammu & Kashmir, L K Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Bill Gates are among 104 Padma awardees for this year as the Government of India announced one of the highest civilian awards on eve of Republic Day.
Chewang Norphel and Dr Bettina Sharda Baumer have been chosen for Padma Shri award for their distinguished services in their respective fields.
Chewang Norphel, popularly known as Ladakh’s Glacier man, makes artificial glaciers in winter so that villagers can get water in summer for their fields. His innovation came from the fact that water in the mountain streams generally goes waste in winters, because no crops are possible in that season.
The artificial glacier is an intricate network of water channels and dams along the upper slope of the Valley at the altitudes ranging from 140 feet and above. The glacier run off is stored at different altitudes above the village during the 5-6 winter months where there are no agricultural activities. These glaciers are low cost and require only local labour.
Norphel’s technology has been a boon for many of the villages in addressing the acute water scarcity for agriculture and other human needs.
Dr Bettina Sharda Baumer, has authored and edited books on Indian philosophy, art, aesthetics and spirituality with special focus on texts of Kashmir Shaivism. A disciple of Swami Lakshman Joo, she has translated the Vijnana Bhairav into German as well as English and taught it a number of times in Europe and India. Living and working in Varanasi, she is currently a visiting Professor in Religious Studies at the University of Salzburg, Austria.
L K Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, thespian Dilip Kumar, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, eminent lawyer K K Venugopal, D Veerendra Heggade of the famous Dharmasthala Jain temple in Karnataka, eminent nuclear scientist M R Srinivasan and Aga Khan were chosen for Padma Vibhushan.
Former CEC N Gopalaswami, Microsoft chief Bill Gates and his wife Melinda were selected for Padma Bhushan.
This list comprises nine Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awardees. 17 of them were women and equal number were in the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and four posthumous awardees.
Former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, journalists Rajat Sharma and Swapan Dasgupta, eminent lawyer Harish Salve, cardiologist Ashok Seth, Indian-American mathematician Manjul Bhargava were also in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees. Hindi journalist Ram Bahadur Rai has been chosen for Padma Shri. Hindu religious leader Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya (Padma Vibhushan), Swami Satyamitranand Giri (Padma Bhushan), both from Uttar Pradesh, Shivakumara Swami of Karnataka (Padma Bhushan) and Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maharaja of Portugal (Padma Shri) and former NCERT Director J S Rajput (Padma Shri) also figure in today’s list.
Late Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin has been chosen for Padma Shri.
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