Bansi Kaul was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Some of his notable plays included Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir, and Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka. He was a designer and associate show director for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987 Khajuraho Festival.
The Ashoka Chakra is India's highest peacetime military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action, or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and is awarded for the "most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel.
Muzaffar Hussain Baig is an Indian politician. He was the former Deputy Chief Minister of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. On Republic Day of 2020 he received India's third highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan.
Pandit Bhajan Sopori was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument.
H. R. Keshava Murthy was an Indian gamaka exponent and guru. He was honoured with Shantala Natya Sri Award by the Government of Karnataka in 1998 and Padma Shri in 2022 by the Government of India in the field of arts.
Amitabh Mattoo is one of India's leading thinkers and writers on Modern and Contemporary History, Political science, International relations. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009. He is a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and honorary professor of international relations at the University of Melbourne. Mattoo is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and was recently elected unanimously as its Deputy Chair. He was the founding CEO of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne and served as chairman of the governing board of Miranda House, University of Delhi, the highest-ranked women's college in India, and served as Chair of Kirori Mal College earlier He has also been a member of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. In 2002, he was the youngest person to be appointed as vice chancellor of a public university in independent India. Mattoo's advice on policy matters has been sought across political parties and across governments, including by Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh. Until 19 June 2018, he served as Advisor to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, with the status of a Cabinet Minister. Following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, he has offered a political roadmap for securing the future of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been a persistent advocate of multiculturalism and of reconciliation between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims.
Shameema Dev Azad is an Indian singer from Jammu and Kashmir. She is married to Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Balwant Thakur is an Indian theatre personality and scholar, known for bringing Dogri theatre to international notice. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of theatre.
Rajendra Tiku, is an Indian sculptor and art teacher known for his outdoor stone sculptures. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of art.
Jitendra Udhampuri is an Indian writer of Dogri, Hindi and Urdu literature. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1981. The Government of India honored him in 2010, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Gopal Purushottam Phadke was an Indian sports coach from Pune, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. He was a specialist coach of kho kho, a sports of Indian origin as well as of other sports disciplines such as swimming, Mallakhamb and Kabbaddi. After securing a diploma in engineering, he worked at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), but left the company to take up sports coaching as a full-time job. He was reported to have provided coaching to physically handicapped children in swimming using a custom built tank constructed at his own expense and is credited with efforts in popularising the sport in other countries such as Australia. He was involved with Arya Krida Dharak Mandal, an organization which promoted kho kho and other sports and was a member of the advisory committees of All India Radio, Doordarshan and the selection committee of Dronacharya award. He died on 20 October 2009 at his residence in Pune, succumbing to liver cirrhosis. He received the Dronacharya Award, the highest Indian award for sports coaching, in 2000, the only coach from the sport of kho kho to receive the award. A former vice president of the All India Association of Dronacharya Awardees, Phadke was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 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 fourth Indian man and nineteenth man in world that climbed Mount Everest.
Mehmooda Ahmed Ali Shah (1920-2014), also known as Miss Mehmooda, was an Indian educationist, social activist and the principal of Government College for Women, M.A. Road Srinagar. She was a close friend of Indira Gandhi and is reported to have worked for creating awareness among the women of Kashmir about the importance of education and for their social empowerment. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for her contributions to Indian education.
Tsering Landol is an Indian gynecologist and one of the pioneers of women's health in the Ladakh Union Territory of India. She served at the Sonam Norboo Memorial Government Hospital, Leh and is also associated with other educational institutions. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, and Padma Bhusan in 2020 for her contributions to Indian medicine, making her one of the few woman recipients of the award from Jammu and Kashmir and the first Ladakhi woman doctor to receive the honour. She is also featured on the 'Wall of Fame' which features those who have exhibited excellence throughout their career or existence have exemplified glory and greatness. The Wall recognizes those individuals and teams which have attained high achievement and/or made a significant contribution to society. Landol is featured in The Song Collector, a documentary film on the life of the renowned Ladakhi folk musician, Morup Namgyal. She was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India in the year 2020.
Meenakshi Amma Gurukkal is an Indian martial artist known as a practitioner and teacher of Kalaripayattu, the traditional martial arts form of Kerala, India. In 2017, she received Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.
Popular sports in Jammu and Kashmir include cricket, football and winter sports along with sports like golf, water sports, Ice stock sport and adventure sports. The National Winter Games have been held in Gulmarg in 1996, 2004 and 2009. The first Khelo India Winter Games were held in February and March 2020 in Leh and Gulmarg. Jammu and Kashmir won the most gold medals while the Indian Army team came second with 8 gold medals. The second edition of the winter games were also held successfully in Gulmarg in 2020 with Jammu and Kashmir coming first and Karnataka second.
Narsingh Dev Jamwal is an Indian writer and playwright from Jammu, who has authored 48 books, including Sanjhi Dharti Bakhle Mahnu (novel), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978. He received India's fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri (2019) for his contribution in the field of literature and education.
Vishwamurti Shastri is a Sanskrit scholar with knowledge of Vedic literature and related subjects. He served as a principal of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Jammu. He was appointed to Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in 2019. He is director of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Gurukul, Katra. He also serves as the chairman of J&K Dharmarth Trust Advisory Committee.
