Padma Awards 2011

The President of India has approved the conferment of Padma Awards-2011. This year the
President has approved 128 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 12 in the
category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise 13 Padma Vibhushan, 31
Padma Bhushan and 84 Padma Shri Awards. There are 31 ladies among the awardees.

 Padma Vibhushan

Sl
State/
No Name Discipline
Domicile
.
1. Dr. (Smt.) Kapila Art - Art Administration
Delhi
Vatsyayan and Promotion.
2. Mrs. Homai Vyarawalla Art - Photography Gujarat
3. Andhra
Shri A Nageshwara Rao Art- Cinema
Pradesh
4. Shri Parasaran Kesava
Public Affairs Delhi
Iyengar
5. Dr. Akhlaq-ur-Rehman
Public Affairs Delhi
Kidwai
6. Shri Vijay Kelkar Public Affairs Delhi
Shri Montek Singh
7. Public Affairs Delhi
Ahluwalia
Andhra
8. Shri Palle Rama Rao Science and Engineering
Pradesh
9. Shri Azim Premji Trade and Industry Karnataka
10. Madhya
Shri Brajesh Mishra Civil Services
Pradesh
11.Prof. (Dr.) Ottaplakkal
Neelakandan Velu Literature and Education Kerala
Kurup
12.Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra Literature and Education Orissa
13.Late Shri L. C. Jain Public Affairs Delhi *

 Padma Bhushan

Sl Name Discipline State/

No Domicile
.
1. Maharashtr
Shri Satyadev Dubey Art - Theatre
a
2. Shri Mohammed Zahur
Maharashtr
Khayyam Hashmi alias Art - Cinema - Music
a
Khayyam
3. Maharashtr
Shri Shashi Kapoor Art - Cinema
a
4. Shri Krishen Khanna Art - Painting Haryana
5. Shri Madavur Vasudevan
Art - Dance - Kathakali Kerala
Nair
6. Maharashtr
Ms. Waheeda Rehman Art - Cinema
a
7. Shri Rudrapatna Krishna
Art - Music-Vocal Karnataka
Shastry Srikantan
8. Ms. Arpita Singh Art - Painting Delhi
9. Dr. Sripathi
Art - Playback Singing,
Panditharadhyula Tamil Nadu
Music Direction & acting
Balasubrahmanyam
10. Art - Classical Dance-
Shri C.V. Chandrasekhar Tamil Nadu
Bharatanatyam
West
11.Shri Dwijen Mukherjee Art
Bengal
12. Maharashtr
Smt. Rajashree Birla Social work
a
13. Maharashtr
Mrs. Shobhana Ranade Social work
a
Dr. Suryanarayanan
14. Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
Ramachandran
15.Shri S.(Kris) Gopalakrishnan Trade and Industry Karnataka
Shri Yogesh Chander West
16. Trade and Industry
Deveshwar Bengal
Maharashtr
17.Ms. Chanda Kochhar Trade and Industry
a
Trade and Industry- Andhra
18.Dr. K. Anji Reddy
Pharmacy Pradesh
19.Shri Analjit Singh Trade and Industry Delhi
20.Shri Rajendra Singh Pawar Trade and Industry Haryana
Dr. Gunapati Venkata Andhra
21. Trade and Industry
Krishna Reddy Pradesh
22.Shri Ajai Chowdhary Trade and Industry Delhi
23.Shri Surendra Singh Civil Services Delhi
24. Madhya
Shri M. N .Buch Civil Services
Pradesh
 25.Shri Shyam Saran Civil Services Delhi
26.Shri Thayil Jacob Sony
Literature and Education Karnataka
George
27.Dr. Ramdas Madhava Pai Literature and Education Karnataka
28. West
Shri Sankha Ghosh Literature and Education
Bengal
29.Late Shri K. Raghavan
Medicine - Ayurveda. Kerala*
Thirumulpad
30.Late Dr. Keki Byramjee Maharashtr
Medicine - Cardiology
Grant a*
31.Late Shri Dashrath Patel Art Gujarat *

 Padma Shri

Sl Name Discipline State/ Domicile

No
.
1. Ms. Neelam Mansingh
Art - Theatre Chandigarh
Chowdhry
2. Shri Makar Dhwaja
Art- Chhau Dance Jharkhand
Darogha
3. Shri Shaji Neelakantan
Art – Film Direction Kerala
Karun
4. Shri Girish Kasaravalli Art - Film making Karnataka
5. Ms. Tabassum Hashmi
Art - Cinema Maharashtra
Khan alias Tabu
6. Shri Jivya Soma Mase Art - Warli Painting Maharashtra
7. Guru (Ms.) M.K. Art - Dance-
Tamil Nadu
Saroja Bharatnatyam
8. Shri Jayaram
Art - Cinema Tamil Nadu
Subramaniam
9. Pandit Ajoy Art - Music-Indian
West Bengal
Chakraborty Classical Vocal
10.Smt. Mahasundari Art - Mithilia/
Bihar
Devi Madhubani Painting.
11.Shri Gajam
Art - Handloom Weaving Andhra Pradesh
Govardhana
12.Ms. Sunayana
Art - Dance - Kathak Maharashtra
Hazarilal
13. Art - Carnatic Vocal
Shri S.R. Janakiraman Tamil Nadu
Music
14.Shri Peruvanam Art - Chenda Melam- Kerala
 Kuttan Marar Drum concert
15.Smt. Kalamandalam
Art - Dance -
Kshemavathy Kerala
Mohiniattam
Pavithran
16.Shri Dadi Dorab
Art - Puppetry Delhi
Pudumjee
17.Shri Khangembam Art - Traditional Music
Manipur
Mangi Singh of Manipur (Pena)
18.Shri Prahlad Singh
Art - Folk Music Madhya Pradesh
Tipaniya
19.Smt. Usha Uthup Art - Music. West Bengal
20.Smt. Kajol Art- Cinema Maharashtra
21.Shri Irfan Khan Art- Cinema Maharashtra
22.Shri Mamraj Agrawal Social work West Bengal
23.Shri Jockin Arputham Social work Maharashtra
24.Ms. Nomita Chandy Social work Karnataka
25.Ms. Sheela Patel Social work Maharashtra
26.Ms. Anita Reddy Social work Karnataka
27.Shri Kanubhai
Social work Gujarat
Hasmukhbhai Tailor
28.Shri Anant Darshan
Public Affairs Karnataka
Shankar
29.Prof. M. Annamalai Science and Engineering Karnataka
Dr. Mahesh Haribhai Science and Engineering
30. Gujarat
Mehta - Agricultural Science
Shri Coimbatore
31.Narayana Rao Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
Raghavendran
Dr. (Mrs.) Suman
32. Science and Engineering Delhi
Sahai
Science and Engineering
33.Prof.(Dr.) E.A. Siddiq Andhra Pradesh
- Agricultural Science
Shri Gopalan Nair Science and Engineering
34. Kerala
Shankar - Architecture
Shri Mecca Rafeeque
35. Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Ahmed
Shri Kailasam
36. Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu
Raghavendra Rao
37.Shri Narayan Singh
Civil Services Andhra Pradesh
Bhati
38.Shri P K Sen Civil Services Bihar
39. Sports - Adventure
Ms. Shital Mahajan Maharashtra
Sports- Para Jumping
40.Ms. Nameirakpam
Sports - Weightlifting Manipur
Kunjarani Devi
41.Shri Sushil Kumar Sports - Wrestling Delhi
42.Shri Vangipurapu
Sports - Cricket Andhra Pradesh
Venkata Sai Laxman
43.Shri Gagan Narang Sports - Shooting Andhra Pradesh
44.Smt. Krishna Poonia Sports - Discus Throw Rajasthan
45.Shri Harbhajan Singh Sports - Mountaineering Punjab
46.Dr. Pukhraj Bafna Medicine - Padeatrics Chhattisgarh
47.Prof. Mansoor Hasan Medicine- Cardiology Uttar Pradesh
48.Dr. Shyama Prasad
Medicine - Orthopaedic Delhi
Mandal
49.Prof. (Dr.) Sivapatham Medicine -
Tamil Nadu
Vittal Endocrinology
50.Prof. (Dr.) Madanur Medicine -
Tamil Nadu
Ahmed Ali Gastroenterology
51. Medicine - Obstetrics
Dr. Indira Hinduja Maharashtra
and Gynaecology.
52.Dr. Jose Chacko Medicine - Cardio-
Kerala
Periappuram Thoracic Surgery.
53.Prof. (Dr.) A.
Medicine - Neurosurgery Kerala
Marthanda Pillai
54.Shri Mahim Bora Literature and Education Assam
55.Prof. (Dr.) Pullella Literature and Education-
Andhra Pradesh
Srirama Chandrudu Sanskrit
56.Dr. Pravin Darji Literature and Education Gujarat
57.Dr. Chandra Prakash
Literature and Education Rajasthan
Deval
58.Shri Balraj Komal Literature and Education Delhi
59.Mrs. Rajni Kumar Literature and Education Delhi
60.Dr. Devanooru
Literature and Education Karnataka
Mahadeva
61.Shri Barun Mazumder Literature and Education West Bengal
62.Dr. Avvai Natarajan Literature and Education Tamil Nadu
63.Shri Bhalchandra Literature and Education Himachal Pradesh
 Nemade
64. Jammu and
Prof. Riyaz Punjabi Literature and Education
Kashmir
65.Prof. Koneru
Literature and Education Andhra Pradesh
Ramakrishna Rao
66.Ms. Buangi Sailo Literature and Education Mizoram
67.Prof. Devi Dutt
Literature and Education Uttarakhand
Sharma
68.Shri Nilamber Dev Jammu and
Literature and Education
Sharma Kashmir
Ms. Urvashi Butalia # Literature and Education Delhi
69.
Ms. Ritu Menon # Literature and Education Delhi
70.Prof. Krishna Kumar Literature and Education Delhi
71.Shri Deviprasad
Literature and Education Uttar Pradesh
Dwivedi
72. Arunachal
Ms. Mamang Dai Literature and Education
Pradesh
73.Dr. Om Prakash Others - Heritage
Uttar Pradesh
Agrawal Conservation
74.Prof. Madhukar
Others - Archeology Maharashtra
Keshav Dhavalikar
75.Ms. Shanti Teresa Andaman &
Others-Nursing
Lakra Nicobar
Others - Handicrafts
76.Smt. Gulshan Nanda Delhi
promotion
77.Dr. Azad Moopen Social work UAE *
Public Affairs -Legal United Kingdom
78.Prof. Upendra Baxi
Affairs *
79.Dr. Mani Lal Bhaumik Science and Engineering USA *
80.Dr. Subra Suresh Science and Engineering USA *
Prof. Karl Harrington
81. Literature and Education USA *
Potter
82.Prof. Martha Chen Social work USA *
83.Shri Satpal Khattar Trade and Industry Singapore *
84.Shri Granville Austin Literature and Education USA *

International Year of Chemistry 2011

The International year of Chemistry 2011 celebrates all of the achievements of chemistry and its
contributions to the well-being of humankind. The Year hopes to promote the appreciation of
chemistry in meeting world needs and the future development of chemistry.

The year 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of
Chemical Societies, as well as the year Madame Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize – which
celebrates the contributions of women to science.

What Do People Do?

People are invited to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry in 2011 by recognizing the
achievements of chemistry throughout history and its contributions to the humankind. The Year
will give a global boost to chemical science, and hopefully increase the interest in chemistry
among young people. It aims to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world
needs and people around the world are invited to participate in activities and events that promote
the International Year of Chemistry.

Activities for the International Year of Chemistry include:

 Events that emphasize chemistry as a creative science essential for sustainability and
improvements to our way of life.
 Experiments to explore how chemical research is critical for solving our global problems
involving food, water, health, energy, and more.
 Activities that engages young people with scientific disciplines and generates enthusiasm
for the creative future of chemistry.

Organizations such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are coordinating
events in countries such as (but not exclusive to) France, Puerto Rico, India, and the United
States to promote the International Year of Chemistry in 2011. These events include conferences,
workshops, expositions, festivals, as well as educational activities.

Background

Chemistry is the science of matter and the changes it undergoes, concerned with the composition,
behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical
reactions. Chemistry is vital to our understanding of the world and the cosmos, especially
molecular transformations are important to the production of food, medicines, fuel, and countless
manufactured and extracted products.

In partnership with the UN, the Year will make educational contributions in the areas of health
and environment, for the goals of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
The activities during the International Year of Chemistry will emphasize the importance of
chemistry in helping to sustain the natural resource base for life.
The International Year of Chemistry will celebrate the art and science of chemistry, and its
essential contributions to knowledge, to environmental protection and to economic development.

Symbols

The official name and slogan for this event is the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) -
“Chemistry – our life, our future.” Logos, posters, business cards, and other promotional items
for the event feature the official slogan, the event’s official name, and an image that shows three
layered squares colored red, orange and blue, to represent chemical elements on the periodic
table. The top square is labeled with the letter “C” and labeled “2011 CHEMISTRY”.

RBI releases Malegam Committee Report on microfinance

The Reserve Bank of India today released on its website the Report of the RBI Sub-Committee
of its Central Board of Directors to study Issues and concerns in the micro finance institutions
(MFI) Sector.

The Sub-Committee has recommended creation of a separate category of NBFCs operating in the
microfinance sector to be designated as NBFC-MFIs. To qualify as a NBFC-MFI, the Sub-
Committee has stated that the NBFC should be “a company which provides financial services
pre-dominantly to low-income borrowers, with loans of small amounts, for short-terms, on
unsecured basis, mainly for income-generating activities, with repayment schedules which are
more frequent than those normally stipulated by commercial banks” and which further satisfies
the regulations specified in that behalf.

The Sub-Committee has also recommended some additional qualifications for NBFC to be
classified as NBFC-MFI. These are:
a. The NBFC-MFI will hold not less than 90% of its total assets (other than cash and bank
balances and money market instruments) in the form of qualifying assets.

b. There are limits of an annual family income of Rs.50,000 and an individual ceiling on loans to
a single borrower of Rs.25,000

c. Not less than 75% of the loans given by the MFI should be for income-generating purposes.

d. There is a restriction on the other services to be provided by the MFI which has to be in
accordance with the type of service and the maximum percentage of total income as may be
prescribed.

The Sub-Committee has recommended that bank lending to NBFCs which qualify as NBFC-
MFIs will be entitled to “priority lending” status. With regard to the interest chargeable to the
borrower, the Sub-Committee has recommended an average “margin cap” of 10 per cent for
MFIs having a loan portfolio of Rs. 100 crore and of 12 per cent for smaller MFIs and a cap of
24% for interest on individual loans. It has also proposed that, in the interest of transparency, an
MFI can levy only three charges, namely, (a) processing fee (b) interest and (c) insurance charge.

The Sub-committee has made a number of recommendations to mitigate the problems of

multiple-lending, over borrowing, ghost borrowers and coercive methods of recovery. These
include :

a. A borrower can be a member of only one Self-Help Group (SHG) or a Joint Liability Group
(JLG)

b. Not more than two MFIs can lend to a single borrower

c. There should be a minimum period of moratorium between the disbursement of loan and the
commencement of recovery

d. The tenure of the loan must vary with its amount

e. A Credit Information Bureau has to be established

f. The primary responsibility for avoidance of coercive methods of recovery must lie with the
MFI and its management

g. The Reserve Bank must prepare a draft Customer Protection Code to be adopted by all MFIs

h. There must be grievance redressal procedures and establishment of ombudsmen

i. All MFIs must observe a specified Code of Corporate Governance

For monitoring compliance with regulations, the Sub-Committee has proposed a four-pillar
approach with the responsibility being shared by (a) MFI (b) industry associations (c) banks and
(d) the Reserve Bank.

While reviewing the proposed Micro Finance (Development and Regulation) Bill 2010, the Sub-
Committee has recommended that entities governed by the proposed Act should not be allowed
to do business of providing thrift services. It has also suggested that NBFC-MFIs should be
exempted from the State Money Lending Acts and also that if the recommendations of the Sub-
Committee are accepted, the need for the Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation
of Money Lending) Act will not survive.

The Sub-Committee has cautioned that while recognising the need to protect borrowers, it is also
necessary to recognise that if the recovery culture is adversely affected and the free flow of funds
in the system interrupted, the ultimate sufferers will be the borrowers themselves as the flow of
fresh funds to the microfinance sector will inevitably be reduced.

The Reserve Bank of India in October 2010 set up a Sub-Committee of its Central Board of
Directors to study the issues and concerns in microfinance sector, under the Chairmanship of
Shri Y H Malegam, a senior member on the Reserve Bank’s Central Board of Directors. Other
members of the Sub-Committee included Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla, Dr. K C Chakrabarty,
Deputy Governor, Smt. Shashi Rajagopalan and Prof. U R Rao. Shri V K Sharma, Executive
Director, Reserve Bank of India was the Member Secretary to the Sub-Committee.

Samalkot on Obama’s strategic map

United States President Barack Obama had gained some notoriety for his administration’s
sometimes strident views on jobs moving from “Buffalo to Bangalore.” Now the President’s
oratory has given birth to a new and more positive sound bite in the realm of strategic
geography: “Samalkot to Schenectady”

At a speech in Schenectady, New York, this week Mr. Obama mentioned the small Andhra
Pradesh town and industrial complex venue no fewer than five times.

And unlike the references to American jobs getting “Bangalored,” a regular feature of the Obama
speeches of 2010, the President struck an optimistic note on the role of U.S.-India commercial
relations in spurring domestic job creation.

Speaking about his November 2010 visit to India at a plant of electric goods major General
Electric Mr. Obama said, “Part of the reason I wanted to come to this plant is because this plant
is what that trip was all about.”

He went on to explain that during that visit U.S. businesses were able to reach agreements on
exporting over $10 billion in goods and services to India, and that was, according to him,
expected to lead to 50,000 jobs created in the U.S.
Mr. Obama supplied some details of the Samalkot-GE deal in particular, noting that “As part of
the deal we struck in India, GE is going sell advanced turbines -- the ones you guys make -- to
generate power at a plant in Samalkot, India.”

He quipped, “Most of you hadn’t heard of Samalkot but now you need to know about it, because
you’re going to be selling to Samalkot, India.”

“That new business halfway around the world is going to help support more than 1,200
manufacturing jobs and more than 400 engineering jobs right here in this community -- because
of that sale,” he added, to loud applause.

More broadly this and other recent speeches by Obama administration officials appear to point to
a renewed emphasis on U.S. exports and job creation, said to be a top policy priority for 2011.
This was a point that Mr. Obama further underscored in his Schenectady speech, when he said,
the Samalkot agreement was a “perfect example of why promoting exports is so important.”

Mobile Number Portability

Now Keep Your Number, Change Your Telecom Service Provider

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today flagged off nation-wide Mobile Number Portability, a
service that allows subscribers to change service provider while retaining the number.

This would benefit over 700 million subscribers, both in GSM and CDMA categories in the
country.

The new policy would force the operators to shift focus from acquiring new subscribers to
retaining the existing ones.

All that a customer needs to do for changing his telecom operator is pay a maximum of Rs 19.
He/she will get a new service provider within seven working days as per the guidelines of
regulator TRAI.

“Till now, operators were competing to acquire new subscribers. But launch of MNP will force
them to offer innovative and quality services to retain their subscribers,” Singh said .

The Prime Minister marked the launch of the service by making a call to Telecom Minister Kapil
Sibal who was seated next to him.

MNP services were first launched in Haryana in November last year and according to industry
estimates, less than one per cent subscribers opted for changing their operators.