'Diamond' awards for 5 achievers on basis of TOI reports

The Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha, a Mumbai-based charitable trust, is celebrating its diamond jubilee this year. On To mark the occasion, it will confer seven 'Diamond Awards' on people "who by dint of devotion to duty and exceptional commitment to the field of pursuit have added to the goodness reservoirs of our ancient land. Most of them have been unseen, unsung but have gone about their work, despite hardships inflicted upon them by the system".In a letter to TOI, trust president V Shankar said five of the seven awardees have been selected on the basis of TOI reports.
This year,The awards will be given out the to Bangalore's T Mahadeva, Kerala's M C Suresh, Kolkata's Manohar Aich, Assam's Jadav Payeng, Rajasthan's Nemi Bhagat Baba, E Sreedharan and Pune' Horizon (NGO) in the following categories: 'dignity to human body', 'honesty and probity', 'healthy mind, body and longevity', 'folk art', 'environment' and 'nation building'.
For 30 years, Mahadeva has given a dignified burial to nearly 78,000 unclaimed bodies. ('Mahadeva will ensure you rest in peace', dated December 12, 2009 in TOI Crest by Asha Rai.)
Nemi Bhagat Baba (108) plays a rare wind instrument called 'algoza'. ('The old man and his algoza', Sunday Times, October 30, 2011 by Meenakshi Sinha).
Payeng took 30 years to single-handedly convert a 550-acre barren sandbar in the Brahmaputra into a green forest. ('The man who made a forest', Sunday Times, April 1, 2012 by Manimugdha S Sharma ).
Aich is the world's oldest Mr Universe at 100. Even at this age, he continues to be a model of health. ('But what do you eat, Mr Aich?', Sunday Times, March 25, 2012, by Manimugdha S Sharma).
Horizon, an NGO by ex-Army men, has swept minefields across the world. ('Mr Rao is all mine', Sunday Times, March 4, 2012, by Manimugdha S Sharma).
The awards will be presented by former President A P J Abdul Kalam at a function to be held at Shanmukhananda Theatre in Mumbai on July 17. Each award carries a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh, a citation, a trophy, and a lamp.