Bhubaneswar, 03/01/2016: National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), the Navratna CPSE, under Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India, has announced the list of awardees for Nalco Smiles Award, Nalco Kharavela Awards and Nalco Kalidas Awards for the year 2016. This is the first time the aluminium major has instituted such awards. Besides cash awards, the winners shall be honoured with citations and scrolls of honour.

Nalco Smiles Award shall be conferred on Dr. Sruti Mohapatra, Founder of Swabhiman, for her outstanding contributions towards the rehabilitation of differently-abled children and spreading sunshine among them. She shall receive a purse of Rs. 1 lakh. Nalco Kharavela Award for Odissi exponent and Guru par excellence shall be received by Padma Shri Dr. Ileana Citaristi, for her significant contributions in promoting Odissi Dance. This award also carries a purse of Rs. 1 lakh. On the other hand, Nalco Kharavela Award for significant achievements in Odissi Dance, both in India and abroad, shall be handed over to Shri Saswat Ranjan Joshi. He will receive a cash prize of Rs.50,000/-.

These three awards will be given away during the 36th Foundation Day Celebrations of Nalco on 7th January in Bhubaneswar, by Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Steel & Mines, in presence of Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Shri Balvinder Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India. Members of Parliament Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani, Shri Tathagata Satpathy, Shri Nagendra Kumar Pradhan, and Shri Jhina Hikaka shall also grace the occasion.

Besides, two more awards shall be given away on the preceding day. Prof. Harekrishna Satapathy, VC, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati and Prof. Gangadhar Panda, VC, Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, Puri have been selected for Nalco Kalidas Awards, for their significant contributions in the field of teaching and propagating Sanskrit. The awards carry a sum of Rs.50,000/- for each recipient. Both the awardees shall receive the awards during the 15th Edition of Nalco Foundation Day Lecture Series on 6th January. Shri K.V. Chowdary, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Govt. of India, shall hand over these awards, in presence of Shri Aditya Prasad Padhi, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Odisha.

Shri Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, Nalco, has congratulated all the winners of Nalco Awards 2016 and has informed that the Navratna Company, as responsible corporate citizen, will take many more steps to promote social service, art & culture.