Six get Namma Bengaluru Awards for city improvement

Six citizens received the Namma Bengaluru Awards on Sunday, the flagship award of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation which recognises contributions towards the betterment of the city.

In its eighth edition, Dr T V Ramachandra, a professor at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), was named the ‘Namma Bengalurean of the Year’. Dr Ramachandra has published over 252 research papers in international and national journals and he has also set up a Bioremediation model at Jakkur Lake.

Jagannatha Rao, deputy conservator of  forests and lakes with the BBMP received the award in the Government Official of the Year category. He received the award for his work on protecting the city’s lakes by putting up fences, removing encroachments and educating citizens.

Geetha Menon was awarded in the Citizen Individual of the Year category. Menon is the founder of Stree Jagruti Samiti, which supports domestic workers by fighting for their rights and employment benefits.

The Rising Star of the Year award was presented to Harshil Mittal, a software engineer who started the initiative ‘Let’s Spread Love’ in 2015, to provide food to underprivileged children and senior citizens in the city.

Jasmeen Patheja received the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award for her community art project titled ‘Blank Noise’ which aims to change public attitude towards eve-teasing.

The Media Individual of the Year went to Dhanya Rajendran, founder of The News Minute, a digital news platform which focuses on reportage from the five southern states.