Neq New Delhi, 02 November (H.S.): The Integrated Medical Association (IMA-AYUSH) honoured Ayurvedic practitioners from across the country and media professionals for their outstanding contributions to the field of Ayurveda during its 40th annual celebration and Dhanvantari Jayanti समारोह at the NDMC Convention Centre in Connaught Place, New Delhi, on Monday.

The event featured several prestigious awards recognising excellence in Ayurvedic healthcare, institutional service and media contributions.

Among the recipients of the Dhanvantari Award were Dr. K.K. Sijoria, former Principal of Tibbia College, and Dr. Durga Prasad, Marketing Director of Dabur India Limited.

Under the Sushruta and Charaka Award categories, Dr. Shubham Saini from Jhajjar received the Sushruta Award, while Dr. Veena Himanshu Sharma, Head of Department at the MSM Institute of Ayurveda in Sonipat, was honoured with the Charaka Award.

Dr. Chandrashekhar Bhardwaj received the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his commendable contributions to the organisation.

The Memorial and Appreciation Awards were also presented to several distinguished individuals. The Memorial Awards went to Dr. J.S. Panwar, Dr. Munish Gulati of Delhi, Dr. Hari Shankar Dev Sharma and Dr. Vijender Pal Singhla of Faridabad.

The Appreciation Awards were conferred on Dr. Purushottam Paliwal, Dr. Famiда Kaushar and Dr. Ayesha Parveen. Dr. Paliwal was recognised for having donated blood 86 times. Practitioners from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were also felicitated at the event.

Media professionals who have played a significant role in taking Ayurveda to the wider public were honoured with mementoes. The recipients included Sarjana Sharma, Gaurav Sharma, media in-charge of the Ministry of AYUSH; Ashok Kinkar; Krishna Kumar Tiwari; Meena Kumari Jangid of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); Prahlad Rajput; Ajit Singh; Akshiv Thakur; Himanshu Pandey; Virendra Kumar Gupta; Vishal Mishra; Subhash Chandra; Abhi Singhal; and Gurvinder Singh.

During the programme, the association's National General Secretary, Dr. Raman Khanna, presented its annual report. The Sur Jhankar Group delivered a musical invocation to Lord Ganesha and staged a play titled 'Samudra Manthan'. Women doctors also presented a devotional invocation in praise of Lord Dhanvantari.

The association's annual souvenir was released at the conclusion of the programme. Dr. Love Kumar, Dr. Rajiv Malhotra, Dr. Mohd. Ashad, Dr. Shailesh Dwivedi, Dr. K.K. Singhal and Dr. Jitendra Gaur made significant contributions to its publication as members of the editorial team.

Among those present were Dr. P.K. Prajapati, Director of the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA); Dr. Ramphal Panchal, media in-charge of IMA-AYUSH and Chairman of its Legal Services Committee; Dr. Sushrut Kannaujia, Chairman of the Board of Ethics and Registration of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM); Murli Manohar Pathak, Vice-Chancellor of Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit College; Dr. R.S. Chauhan, patron of the association; Rakesh Thapliyal, president of the National Journalists Association; and Dr. Arun Kataria, Delhi state president.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar