India’s Oldest Woman

Kalaripayattu exponent – a

centuries old martial art form

�Practising and teaching Kalaripayattu for more than 68 years

�Teaches students at her school KadathanadanKalari Sangam in Vatakara village, Kerala.

MEENAKSHI AMMA

Others – Martial Art | Female | 76 Yrs | Kerala

� Lovingly addressed as Meenakshi Gurukkal

�Kalaripayattu originated in south-west Kerala, and is said to be the root of Chinese martial arts

Was first taken to Kalari (arena)by her father at the age ofseven, since then has dedicatedher life to it

Inventor of Laxmi ASU machine

who significantly reduced the time

and menial labour required to

weave Pochampalli Silk Sarees

� Reduced the time taken to weave a sari from 4 hrs to 1.5 hrs – freeing up women for higher value chain, more remunerative work

� Impacted 60% of looms engaged in weaving Pochampalli

� Continuously Innovating and scaling up -First machine was made in 1999, mounted on a wooden frame, next year, same was

CHINTAKINDI MALLESHAM

Science and Engineering| Male | 44 Yrs | Telangana

First machine was made in 1999, mounted on a wooden frame, next year, same was changed to steel , further many electronic components have been added thus increasing the functionality and flexibility of design

� Sold machines in Andhra Pradesh & Odisha

School dropout, created ASU to relieve his

mother’s pain

Common man who has dedicated

his life to make India green,

planting over 1 crore trees

� Known as Chetla Ramaiah

(Chettu means Tree)

� On mission to plant trees and bring

back green cover - wherever he sees a

DARIPALLI RAMAIAH

Social Work | Male | 68 Yrs | Telangana

back green cover - wherever he sees a

barren spot, he takes out seeds from

his pocket and plants them

The fight wasn’t alone - wife, Janamma also made significant contribution in planting trees

Common man famous across

Kolkata for being there to rescue

people whenever there is fire, often

putting himself in danger

� Volunteer fire fighter - only person apart

from the fire brigade officials who has

been to almost every fire accident site in

Kolkata in the last 40 years.

� Recognised as a volunteer fire-fighter by

BIPIN GANATRA

Social Work | Male | 59 Yrs | West Bengal

the Kolkata Fire Department

� School dropout, has worked odd jobs all

his life - working for a jute trader, and as

an electrician, fixing meters

After losing his brother to a fire, he decided to devote his

life to helping people caught in fires

Pioneer Doctor in India’s fight

against HIV/AIDS (research,

treatment and awareness) – diagnosed

first AIDS case in India in 1985

� Diagnosed first AIDS case in India in

1985

� Established India’s first AIDS

Resource Group

� Established the Y R Gaitonde Centre

DR. SUNITI SOLOMON

Medicine | Female | 76 Yrs

(posthumous) | Tamil Nadu

� Established the Y R Gaitonde Centre

for AIDS Research and Education -

One of India's first places for

voluntary HIV counselling and testing

Took up the cause of AIDS research at a time when other doctors didn’t

want to talk about it due to the stigma attached

Doctor who provides immediate

medical help to road accident

victims on India’s Highways

� Started the Lifeline Foundation in

Gujarat which has now spread to over

4000km of highways across

Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajasthan and

West Bengal

DR. SUBROTO DAS

Medicine | Male | 51 Yrs | Gujarat

� Teams reach accident spots in less than

40 minutes

� Saved 1,200+ accident victims

Set up the foundation after meeting with

an accident himself and realising the

poor emergency services available to

highway accident victims

91 years old Gynaecologist who

has been treating patients for free

for the past 68 years

� In 68 years of her career, has delivered

1000’s of babies, without any fees in

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

� Physically very weak now due to old

age but continues to serve the poor

DR. BHAKTI YADAV

Medicine | Female | 91 Yrs | Madhya Pradesh

age but continues to serve the poor

with an Iron will

� First woman to hold an MBBS degree

in Indore

Early in her career she refused job in government hospital and joined

Nand Lal Bhandari Maternity Home for wives of poor cloth mill workers.

Engineer who has built more than

100 low cost and eco-friendly

suspension bridges connecting

remote villages across India

� Has built 100+ bridges across Karnataka, Kerala & Andhra Pradesh

� Improved connectivity aiding the development of villages

� His bridge building technology costs 1/10th of conventional steel bridge

Reduced building time to 3 months

GIRISH BHARADWAJ

Social Work | Male | 66 Yrs | Karnataka

� Reduced building time to 3 months whereas conventional steel bridges take 3 years

� Bridges are eco friendly & safe

Engineering graduate on failing to get a Job devoted

himself to build bridges

Rescued and rehabilitated 12,000

sex trafficking victims and

prevented over 45,000 from

being trafficked

� Social activist and founder of Maiti

Nepal (Maiti means mother's home)

� Operates rehabilitation home in

Kathmandu, transit homes at the Indo-

Nepal border towns, preventative

ANURADHA KOIRALA

Social Work | Female | 67 Yrs | Nepal

Nepal border towns, preventative

homes in the countryside, and an

academy in Kathmandu

Belongs to a middle class Nepalese Family and has herself suffered for years

A tea garden worker who

converted his bike into an

ambulance offering free 24×7

ambulance service

� Runs the 24X7 service in Dhalabarivillage of West Bengal’s Jalpaiguridistrict

� Transports the poor to the district hospital on his bike, often providing first aid as well

� He has single handedly saved over 3,000

KARIMUL HAQUE

Social Work | Male | 52 Yrs | West Bengal

� He has single handedly saved over 3,000 lives on his mission

� His bike has become the only lifeline for 20 villages in and around Dhalabari

Could not save his mother because she did not have a

vehicle, so devoted his life to the cause

Sanitation Pioneer who dedicated

himself to Swacchh Bharat

Mission 50 Yrs ago, making Dehu

village ODF

� Convinced the villagers of Dehu (Pune) to build toilets in 1960 - The entire village had moved from open defecation to building their own latrines in 2004

� Introduced low-cost sanitation alternatives over the past 50 years

DR. MAPUSKAR

Social Work | Male | 88 Yrs

(Posthumous) | Maharashtra

alternatives over the past 50 years

� Developed - Decentralised On-Site Integrated Waste Management (DOSIWAM) and implemented in 25 sites across the country

First Job was in village Dehu which had no toilets – he excavated a simple trench toilet for himself out of used

medicine cartons. One toilet done and the next step was to start a revolution

Resurrected 160 km long river Kali Bein in Punjab by mobilizing local

volunteers and developing the Seechewal Model of underground

sewerage system.

� Mobilized volunteers and raised funds from locals and created public awareness amongst local people to not dispose sewage into the river - Led to a clean riverbed, restoring of natural springs and causing the river to fill up once again

� Seechewal Model of underground sewerage is being considered for replication on other rivers across the country

� Hailed as Rastewale baba (one who makes paths),

BALBIR SINGH SEECHEWAL

Social Work | Male | 51 Yrs | Punjab

� Hailed as Rastewale baba (one who makes paths), Sadakanwale baba (one who lays roads), Beinwalebaba (one who cleaned Kali Bein River), eco baba (one who works for environment) and railwaywale baba (one who cleaned the railway station)

In 2000 Seechewal got into the holy river and started cleaning it on his own,

the locals joined him later to support the initiative. By 2008 the river was

thriving.

Divyang farmer, who singlehandedly

transformed drought hit border dist.

into the largest producer of

pomegranate in the country

� Farmer from village-Sarkari Golia, Deesa Taluka (Dist. Banaskantha)

� Started experimenting with pomegranate cultivation in 2005

� Adopted different technologies to produce high quality pomegranate fruits which were disease / pest free - 100% drip irrigation (saving water, electricity), organic fertilizers (like cow urine and mulching), mulching, mechanised mini tractor, interculturing

GENABHAI DARGABHAI PATEL

Others – Agriculture | Male | 52 Yrs | Gujarat

mulching, mechanised mini tractor, interculturingspraying and transportation

� Diffused knowledge to others - introducing the produce, guiding local adoption of technology and even absorbing financial risk

Undertook transfer of knowledge and spread of

scientific farming techniques at personal cost

Captain of the Indian Blind Cricket

Team who led India to victory in the

first T20 World Cup in 2012 and ODI

World Cup in 2014

� Best batsmen in blind cricket today -

32 centuries in a career span of 13 yrs

� All rounder cricketer who has played

63 matches across all formats

SHEKHAR NAIK

Sports | Male | 30 Yrs | Karnataka

Comes from a background of poverty and extreme hardships, lost both of his parents by the

age of 12

Founder of edX - an online

platform that brings courses from

the likes of MIT and Harvard to

all at no cost

� edX is among the best MOOCs in the world - known for its Quality

� Built on the principle that quality education should be accessible to all at no cost

ANANT AGARWAL

Literature and Education |

Male | 51 Yrs | USA

� The course is available in English, Hindi among other languages and has students from over 162 countries

Left his job as an established professor at

MIT for the cause

Paralympic high jumper who

won Gold in Rio 2016

Paralympics (T42 High Jump)

� Gold - Rio 2016 Paralympics (T42 High Jump)

� 3rd gold by an Indian in history of Paralympic Games (after MuralikantPetkar + Devendra Jhajharia (2))

� Donated part of his prize money received from government to school for

MARIYAPPAN THANGAVELU

Sports – Athletics | Male | 21 Yrs | Tamil Nadu

received from government to school for improvement of sports facilitySuffered permanent disability in right leg when was run over by drunk bus driver while walking to school

Father abandoned the family early on, and his mother raised

him as a single mother, carrying bricks as a labourer

First Indian Gymnast to make

India proud at world stage by

coming fourth in Artistic

Gymnastics (Rio Olympics 2016)

� Finished fourth in Artistic Gymnastics (Rio Olympics 2016) - Best-ever performance by an Indian gymnast in the Olympics history

� 5th women in gymnastic history to land Produnova Vault

� Participated in Commonwealth Games,

DIPA KARMAKAR

Sports – Gymnastics | Female | 23 Yrs | Tripura

� Participated in Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, International Championships

� Fought all odds in spite of belonging to remote Tripura to make India proud

Her trainings began on DIY apparatus made from second-

hand parts of a discarded scooter

Nightingale of the Halakki

Vokkaliga tribes – an indigenous

folk singer who has conributed for

58 yrs

� Singer and performer of Tribal Folk

Music for 58 yrs

� Social Activist: Led a protest against

the sale of liquor in Badigeri haadi

(hamlet)

SUKRI BOMMAGOWDA

Art – Singer | Female | xx | Karnartaka

(hamlet)

� Preserver of cultural heritage:

Singing songs to save their culture

from disappearing

Has a song for every event, be it birth, marriage, sending the bride to the fields, agricultural operations like

weeding and transplantation, festivals or rituals

Singer of Odisha’s most popular

recorded song (Rangabati) and top

exponent of Kosli - Samabalpuri

� Top exponent of Kosli – Sambalpuri

: 1000+ songs, top exponent of Kosli /

Sambalpuri

JITENDRA HARIPAL

Art – Music | Male | 64 Yrs | Odisha

Dropped out of school, no formal music training - worked as a construction labourer and

did other odd jobs

Writer activist from Assam known

for her contribution to Children

and Women Literature

� Editor, Publisher & Proprietor of the

only women magazine in the north-

east since 1970 (Orani )

� Social Reformist - Worked for women

empowerment

ELI AHMAD

Literature and Education |

Female | 81 Yrs | Assam

empowerment

� Established 1st Assam Film Institute,

in the NE Region

Wrote 'Ami Abhinoy Kora Nai' a drama based on physically handicapped children, child labour and child education