KOCHI: The Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council (KRLCC) has announced the awards instituted by it for Malayalees from the Latin Catholic community, who have excelled in their respective fields.
Veteran singer Pappukutty Bhagavathar will be honoured with the Gurushreshta Award. He is from the Kochi diocese. Tony Fernandes from the Varappuzha diocese will be honoured with the Samooha Nirmithi Award for his excellence in the field of eye care.
Sippy Pallipuram, writer of children’s literature, belonging to the Kottappuram diocese, has been chosen for the Sahitya award. Chacko Puthenpurackal, a professor at Carmel Giri seminary from the Vijayapuram diocese, will be honoured with the Vaigyanika Sahitya Award.
Journalist Ignatious Gonzalez and music composer Jerry Amal Dev, both from the the Varapuzha diocese, will be honoured with the Media award and the Kalaprathiba Award, respectively. Sister Dr Sussama from the Kollam diocese will be honoured with the Education and Science award.
Sports award will be given away to cricketer Sanju Samson and Samrambhaka Award to K J Tennis. They are from the Thiruvananthapuram and Alapuzha dioceses respectively. Anil Jose from the Neyattinkara dioceses has been selected for the Yuvatha Award.
The awards were decided by a jury consisting of George Onakkur, Cherian Kuniyanthodath, Thanuja Bhattaripad and Preemus Perinjery. The Gurushreshta Award carries a purse of `25,000 and a citation. A cash prize of `20,000 and a citation each will be given away to the rest of the awardees.