Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan and retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer M Madan Gopal, who headed the National Education Policy (NEP) taskforce in Karnataka, are among the 67 winners of the Kannada Rajyotsava award this year. The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a gold medal and a citation, will be distributed on November 1, the state formation day.
Sivan headed the ISRO from January 2018 to January 2022 and Chandrayaan-2 was launched during his tenure.
Gopal landed in a soup in July this year after one of the position papers on the NEP claimed that the Pythagoras theorem and Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity were rooted in ancient India. In an interview, he justified the same saying that there were a lot of discussions on Google and Quora on the matter.
This is the first time that the Karnataka government formed an expert committee to identify achievers from various fields for the awards given on November 1. Previously, the selection was made from a list of applicants. There has been criticism from some sections that awards are given to those with affiliations to the BJP and right-wing groups.
For instance, the winner in the film category, Avinash, is known to be associated with the BJP as his wife Malavika Avinash is a party spokesperson in the state.
The prize, which is usually conferred to those from various sectors such as folk arts, sports and social work, was also awarded to a sanitation worker Mallamma Hoovinahadagali this year.
The full list of awardees:
Overall
Subbarama Sheety
Vidwan Gopal Krishna Sharma
Soligara Madamma
Armed services
Subedar BK Kumaraswamy
Journalism
HR Srisha
GM Shirahatti
Science and Technology
K Sivan
Dr DR Balooragi
Agriculture
Ganesh Thimmaiah
Chandrashekar Narayanapura
Environment
Salumarada Ninganna
Pourakarmika
Mallamma Hoovinahadagali
Administration
Dr LM Manjunath
Madan Gopal
Non-resident Kannadigas
Devidas Shetty
Arvind Patil
Krishnamurthy Manja
Rajukumar
Medicine
Dr HS Mohan
Dr Basavanthappa
Social service
Dr Ravi Shetty
C Kariyappa
MS Kori Shettar
D Madegowda
Balbir Singh
Commerce
BV Naidu
Jayaram Banan
J Srinivas
Theatre
Thippanna Helavar
Lalithabai Chennadasar
Gurunath Hugar
Prabhakar Joshi
Srisaila Huddar
Music
Narayana M
Ananathacharya Balacharya
Anjinappa Satpaadi
Anantha Kulkarni
Folk art
Sahademappa Eerappa Nadiger
Gudda Panara
Kamalamma Soolagitthi
Savithri Pujar
Rachaiah Salimath
Maheshwaragowda Lingadahalli
Sculpture
Parashuram Pawar
Hanumanthappa Balappa Hukkeri
Painting
Sannarangappa Chitrakaar
Films
Dattanna
Avinash
TV
Sihi Kahi Chandru
Yakshagana
MA Nayak
Subramanya Dhareshwar
Sarapadi Ashok Shetty
Bayalata
Adavayya Hiremath
Shankarappa Mallappa Horapete
H Pandurangappa
Literature
Shankar Chachadi
Krishnegowda
Ashokbabu Neelagar
Aa Ra Mitra
Ramakrishna Marathe
Education
Koti Rangappa
MG Nagaraj
Sports
Dattatreya Govind Kulkarni
Raghavendra Anvekar
Judiciary
Venkatachalapathy
Nanjundareddy
Dance
Kamalaakshaacharya
