Sunderlal Bahuguna was an Indian environmentalist and Chipko movement leader. The idea of the Chipko movement was suggested by his wife Vimla Bahuguna and him. He fought for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas, first as a member of the Chipko movement in the 1970s, and later spearheaded the anti-Tehri Dam movement from the 1980s to early 2004. He was one of the early environmentalists of India, and later he and others associated with the Chipko movement and started taking up wider environmental issues, such as being opposed to large dams.
Kumaoni is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by over two million people of the Kumaon region of the state of Uttarakhand in northern India and parts of Doti region in Western Nepal. As per 1961 survey there were 1,030,254 Kumaoni speakers in India. The number of speakers increased to 2.2 million in 2011.
Govind Chandra Pande was a well-known Indian scholar, philosopher and historian of the Vedic and the Buddhist periods. He served as professor of ancient history and vice-chancellor at Jaipur and Allahabad universities. He was also the chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla for several years, the Chairman of Allahabad Museum Society and the Chairman of Central Tibetan Society, Sarnath Varanasi.
Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi, better known as Vagish Shastri, was an Indian Sanskrit grammarian, linguist, tantra and yogi. In 2018, Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri for his work in the field of literature and education.
The Garhwali people are an Indian ethnolinguistic group native to the Garhwal, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, who speak Garhwali, an Indo-Aryan language.
Dalip Kaur Tiwana was one of the foremost novelists and short-story writers of contemporary Punjabi literature. She won awards, both regional and national, and was a widely translated author. She retired as Professor of Punjabi, and Dean, from Punjabi University, Patiala. She is widely credited as a tour-de-force in the creation of the contemporary literature in the Punjabi language.
Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra is a Sanskrit author, poet, lyricist, playwright and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi.
Mahamahopadhyaya is an honorific title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India. Prior to 1947, the title was bestowed by the British Raj, and before them, by the kings of ancient India. In ancient India, a scholar that wrote works based on topics related to the shastras was granted the title Mahopadhyaya. The title Mahamahopadhyaya was bestowed on the best amongst the Mahopadhyaya scholars.
Rama Kant Shukla was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi languages. The Government of India honoured him, in 2013, by awarding him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of literature.
Deviprasad Dwivedi is an Indian writer and teacher, known for his scholarship in Sanskrit literature. The Government of India honoured Sharma in 2011, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of the Padma Shri and followed it up with Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in 2017.
Vijay Sharma is an Indian painter and art historian, known for his expertise in the Pahari school of miniature painting. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Vijay Dutt Shridhar is an Indian journalist, writer and the founder of Madhav Sapre Museum of Newspapers and Research Institute. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Gyan Chaturvedi is an Indian writer and satirist in Hindi language, known for his satirical novels, Baramasi and Narak Yathra. He was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Chandra Prakash Vohra is an Indian geologist, glaciologist and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli.On May 24 th 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest,. He was the first Indian civilian to scale the peak a feat he accomplished on 24 May 1965. A winner of the Arjuna Award (1965), and the National Mineral Award, Vohra was honoured by the Government of India in 1965, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award,. He is the 4th Indian man and 19th man in world that climbed Mount Everest.
Aditya Narayan Purohit is an Indian scientist and professor who has mainly worked on ecophysiology of tree species and physiology of high altitude medicinal plants. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University and director of the university's High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Center. He was also the Director of Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development from 1990 to 1995.
Leeladhar Jagudi is an Indian teacher, journalist and poet of Hindi literature. He is the author of several poetry anthologies including Natak Jari Hai and Shankha Mukhi Shikharon Par and is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, for his 1997 anthology, Anubhav Ke Aakash Mein Chand. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Hindi literature.
Kunwar Singh Negi was an Indian braille editor and social worker. He has transliterated 300 books into braille. His major works include Bhagwan Buddh Ka Updesh and Hazrat Mohammed Ki Vani, both being about teachings of Gautam Buddha and Muhammad. He was presented with Indian civilian awards Padma Shri in 1981 and later with Padma Bhushan in 1990.
Vikram Chandra Thakur is a geologist whose work focuses on the regional geology, tectonics and earthquake geology of the Himalaya.
Puru Dadheech is a Kathak dancer. He is a choreographer and educator of Indian classical dance, and is known for his pioneering work in the field of Kathak. At the oldest Kathak department which was formed in 1956 at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya Public University located in Khairagarh, Puru Dadheech instated the first Kathak syllabus in 1961. He is the holder of the first Doctorate in Kathak Classical Dance and emphasizes the relevance of Shastras in the Kathak repertoire. He was awarded Padma Shri, the 4th highest civilian award of India He is currently serving as the Director of the world's first dedicated Kathak research Centre at the Sri Sri University, Cuttack called Sri Sri Centre for Advanced Research in Kathak.
Gautam Sharma "Vyathit", is a folklorist, playwright, and poet from Himachal Pradesh, India. He is also known as Gautam Chand Sharma "Vyathit" or just Gautam Vyathit. He is noted for his literary works in Dogri and Hindi, as well as for his various efforts to preserve and nurture the endangered folk arts of Himachal Pradesh, especially those of the Kangra region. Vyathit was the joint recipient of the 2007 Sahitya Akademi Award for his contributions to Himachali languages and literature. 'Vyathit', Gautam Sharma's pen-name in Hindi, means 'pained', or 'distressed'.
