CM honours 39 persons under seven categories
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa salutes after hoisting the national flag on the ramparts of Fort St George. (Photo: N. Sampath)
Chennai: A 30-year old woman driver of a heavy cargo truck, Jothimani, was conferred the Tamil Nadu government’s Kalpana Chawla Award for Courage and Daring Enterprise for 2015 by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday.
Jayalalithaa also gave away the first Dr Abdul Kalam award to Isro woman scientist N. Valarmathi. It comprises an eight gram gold medal, Rs 5 lakh cheque and a citation. The annual award is for a person from Tamil Nadu striving for scientific advancement, humanities or students welfare.
Valarmathi was conferred the award as she was responsible for India’s first indigenously developed Radar Imaging Satellite Risat-1, launched in 2012. Valarmathi said that by honouring her, Tamil Nadu government has honoured Isro. “I dedicate the award to Isro, I thank the government for the award,” she said.
Jayalalithaa honoured the awardee Jothimani Gowthaman. The award carries a cheque for Rs 5 lakh, a gold coated medal worth Rs 5,000 and a citation. On being asked what challenges she faced in a male dominated field, she said, “what challenges? I don’t see any challenges, things are going on normally.”
The Chief Minister gave away awards instituted under seven categories to 39 persons, including social activist P. Simmachandran.
Local administration minister S.P. Velumani, Chennai Mayor Saidai S. Duraisamy and corporation Commissioner Vikram Kapur received awards for maintenance of Amma canteens. Later in the day, Governor K. Rosaiah hosted the customary ‘At Home’ reception. Though the Chief Minister did not make it to the Raj Bhavan, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai, Assembly speaker P. Dhanapal, Justices P. N. Prakash and S. Vaidyanathan, judges of Madras high court and Mayor Saidai Duraisamy attended. Collectors hoisted the national flag in all the 32 districts.
GIM to get Rs 1 lakh crore investment for Tamil Nadu
Institution of Abdul Kalam award in the name of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the highlight of the Independence Day celebrations at Fort St George.
After unfurling the tricolour, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa gave away the award to project director, Indian Space Research Organisation, N.Valarmathi. She also distributed bravery and meritorious awards to uniformed service personnel.
The Chief Minister also announced an increase in pension of freedom fighters from Rs 10,000 to Rs 11,000 and special pension for descendants of freedom fighters Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Maruthu brothers, Muthuramalinga Vijaya Ragunatha Sethupathi and the grandson of V. O. Chidambaranar.
Jayalalithaa said Tamil Nadu was heading towards development and emphasised that it will get Rs 1 lakh crore investment during the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM) next month. In the last four years, the state had been witnessing development in all sectors. Today, Tamil Nadu was free from power cuts. Several social welfare schemes had benefited the public improving their quality of life. Free education up to class 12 and distribution of free laptops had helped students across the state.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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