V.C. PADMANABHAN MEMORIAL AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE, 2016

From 2002 onwards, every year in the month of June, Manappuram has been commemorating its founder, my father late V.C. Padmanabhan. In the initial years, the programme involved a lecture delivered by an eminent personality drawn from business, government or the academic world.

Over the years, we have had stalwarts like Prof. Debashis Chatterjee (Director, IIM-K), Dr. V.A. Joseph (MD and CEO, South Indian Bank Ltd., Thrissur), Shri. P.C. Cyriac, IAS – Rtd. (Chairman, Federal Bank Ltd., Aluva) and Shri V.K. Mathews (MD, IBS Software Services Pvt. Ltd.) to deliver the lecture before a select, invited audience. This year’s lecture was delivered by Shri P.N. Vasudevan, MD of Equitas Holdings Ltd., the man behind Equitas Microfinance who spoke on the topic of “Microfinance and Poverty Alleviation”.

Later, in 2010, we instituted the annual V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards for Excellence to honour distinguished personalities for their outstanding contributions to society. Over the last six years, these awards have acquired prestige and become an important event in the calendar. Prominent personalities who have accepted the awards in previous years include Dr. E. Sreedharan (MD, Delhi Metro), Shri Vinod Rai (Former CAG), Shri M. Damodaran (Former Chairman, SEBI), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (renowned musician) and Shri Adoor Gopalakrishnan (internationally acclaimed film director).

This year’s awards carried a cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs and a bronze plaque.  Prominent winners for 2016 included the eminent Malayalam novelist and screenplay writer Padma Bhushan M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the noted environmentalist Padma Shri Dr. Sunita Narain, and former Union Minister and Member of Parliament Prof. K.V. Thomas.

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