This a listing on my felings about my treks in the mountains and the kind of people who I have met there. The experience is a very spiritual one and it has been great going up into the mountains again and again... The Sunrises and Sun sets are breath taking!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

THE NATION SALUTES THEM - 133 personalities conferred Padma awards


The country's high est civilian award -- Bharat Ratna -- has been conferred on noted 86-year-old vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.
Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar, noted environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, first Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, cricket captain M S Dhoni and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are among 133 personailties honoured with Padma awards this year. PADMA VIBHUSHAN Kakodkar, who was actively involved in bringing the IndoUS civil nuclear deal to fruition and 82-year-old Bahuguna, popular for his Chipko movement to save trees, were among the 10 distinguished persons to get Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second highest civilian award. The other recipients included ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair, the man behind the historic unmanned Moon mission 'Chandrayaan', Sister Nirmala of Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charities and First Chancellor of Sweden-based World Maritime University Chandrika Prasad Srivastava. Historian D P Chattopadhyaya, Jasbir Singh Bajaj (Punjab) and Purushotam Lal (UP, both medicine), former Governor and noted civil servant Govind Narain and industrialist A S Ganguly(Maharashtra) were the other Padma Vibhushan awardees. PADMA BHUSHAN Shooter Abhinav Bindra, Information Technology and National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda, economist Isher Judge Ahulwalia and Editor-in-Chief of Indian Express Shekhar Gupta were among the 30 eminent personalities awarded Padma Bhushan. PADMA SHRI Among the 93 persons chosen for Padma Shri were Team India captain M S Dhoni, spinner Harbhajan Singh, singer Udit Narayan Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, world billiards champion Pankaj Advani, R K Krishna Kumar of the Taj Group of Hotels and veteran broadcaster Ameen Sayani . PTI