UP governor to get SIES National Eminence Award

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik will be among four prominent personalities to be conferred with the 17th SIES National Eminence Award for 2014, an organizer said Thursday.

Beside Naik, Indian music composer Ilaiyaraaja, secretary of the department of science and technology K. Vijayaraghavan and spiritual orator C. Koteswara Rao shall be honoured at a function here Saturday.

The annual award is part of the ongoing Kanchi Mahaswami festival which will end Dec 14 at Shanmukhananda Hall. It shall be presented by Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal.

The awards were instituted by the South Indian Education Society (SIES) in 1998 in the memory of late seer of Kanchi, Chandrasekarendra Saraswati who died in 1994 at the age of 100, said SIES president V. Shankar.

Each year, outstanding citizens are conferred with the awards who have made noteworthy contributions in the field of community and public leadership, science and technology and social work.

Each award carries a cash prize of Rs.250,000, a citation, an ornamental lamp and a scroll, he said.

Among the 56 personalities honoured so far include former presidents S.D. Sharma and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, scientists R. Chidambaram and Jayant Narlikar, film personalities Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Carnatic vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi, play-back singer Lata Mangeshkar, Verghese Kurien, father of milk revolution and others.