In a scintillating ceremony hosted by the Namma Bengaluru Awards Trust, the 10th Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) for 2019 were given to six Bangaloreans who through their exceptional contribution endeavored to make the IT City of India a place to live.
The awards were first launched a decade ago in 2009 by the Member of Parliament, Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
NBA Shortlisted 28 Candidates For Nominations
In the last decade, the Namma Bengaluru Awards have nominated 25 lakh contributors and awarded honor to 87 unsung heroes from 261 finalists. This year too, the awards committee finalized 28 members for nominations belonging to different categories and chose six candidates as the winner.
The theme for this year was how Awakened, Aware, Active, Determined, and Informed Bangaloreans can create a change in the city.
Apart from the extraordinaire winners of this year, the recipients of the past nine years also were present to mark the 10th year celebration of NBA. Honorable Justice (Retd) M N Venkatachalliah presided the award ceremony as the Chief Guest.
Recipients Of Namma Bengaluru Awards 2019
The recipients of the 10th NBA include:
- Udaya Kumar- History and stone inscription enthusiast for Citizen Individual of the Year
- Rohith B R, Deputy Chief of Bureau, Times of India – Media Person of the Year
- Ravindra Kumar N, Karnataka Forest Department for Government – Official of the Year
- Rajesh Babu and Victoria Joslin D’Souza, co-founders of Swachha Eco Solutions – Social Entrepreneur of the Year
- Meghana Murthy, Founder, Smitam – Rising Star of the Year
The prestigious Namma Bengalurean of the Year honor went to Ashok Kamath of Akshara Foundation for bringing a massive change in the education system of Karnataka and Bangalore as a whole.
Kamath partnered with the state Education Department to start the Ganitha Kalika Andolana (GKA) or Learn Math Movement for making the education of mathematics fun for kids who otherwise are scared of it.
Kamath and his organization have also developed Building Blocks, an app available on Android phones for making simple math problems great fun so that children can easily grasp them.
Apart from these awards, the Namma Bengaluru Awards Trust also felicitated some more organizations and individuals as Champions of Namma Bengaluru.
They have been selected for their exceptional demonstration of passion and compassion. Recipients of this award include:
Charlie’s Animal Rescue Centre (CARE) – Sudha Narayana and group’s animal rescue center that shelters animals. Started by providing shelter to 10 cats and dogs now the home has 200 animals including dogs, cats, rabbits, cattle, and guinea pigs.
Sangeeta Halimani – A Yelahanka Police Station constable for demonstrating heart touching humanely act by breastfeeding and comforting a day-old baby found on the streets.
Uday Kumar, Shiva Kumar, Chetan Kumar BM, and Prajwal HK – They saved the lives of two Surya Kiran pilots who during training for the AERO India show in February 2019 crashed
According to the Managing Trustee of Namma Bengaluru Awards Trust, Suresh NR, “All of the 28 finalists are winners for their excellent work in their respective fields. The jury had a tough time and multiple rounds of discussion were conducted to decide on the awardees. We thank the citizens of Bengaluru for nominating such wonderful people who are an inspiration to all of us.”
