BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Sambhab Mishra was conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar Award-2023 by President of India Droupadi Murmu for his exceptional achievements in the field of art and culture, in New Delhi on Monday.
The 16-year-old boy from Sikharpur, Cuttack was among 11 other children in the age group of 5 to 18 from different parts of the country who received the award. Each received a medal, Rs 1 lakh cash prize and a certificate from the President and Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
A student of Lajpat Rai Dav Public School at Cuttack, Mishra said, “Getting an award from the President will always be a special feeling.” Mishra has authored three books so far. They are ‘Kalyug Brahmins’, ‘Vijayee Bhaba Bharat ‘ and ‘The Mahabharat-Part-1’ which were published by Kindle and Notionpress.
For the books, he had been applauded by former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and got ‘appreciation’ letters from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
He had received a fellowship of the Prestigious Royal Asiatic Society of London, the highest honour in South Asian Humanities for his contribution to Indian mythology and culture. Mishra is the youngest-ever fellow in the 200 years history of the Asiatic Society. Mishra had also received the Deen Dayal Sparsh Yojana scholarship by the Department Of Posts in 2019 for philately.