Login With Google
Magsaysay Awards
Why it is in news?
- Sonam Wangchuk, a 51-year-old educational reformer from Ladakh widely regarded as the inspiration for Aamir Khan’s character, Phunsuk Wangdu in the film ‘3 Idiots’, is one of two Indians named for the 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Awards.
- The other is Bharat Vatwani, a psychiatrist who works for mentally ill street people in Mumbai.
- Wangchuk and Vatwani are among six winners of the award, which “celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia.”
- The others are Youk Chhang from Cambodia, Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor, Howard Dee from the Philippines and Vo Thi Hoang Yen from Vietnam.
Ladakh movement
- Wangchuk was a 19-year-old engineering student at the National Institute of Technology in Srinagar, when he took up tutoring.
- He helped unprepared students pass the national college matriculation exams.
- In 1988, after earning his engineering degree, Wangchuk founded the Students’ Education and Cultural Movement of Ladakh to coach Ladakhi students, 95% of whom used to fail the government exams.
- In 1994, with him in the lead, Operation New Hope was launched to consolidate the programme.
- Vatwani was recognised for “his tremendous courage and healing compassion” in embracing mentally-afflicted destitute people.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
- The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.
- The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government.
- The award is internationally-recognized as Asia's Nobel Prize counterpart and is the highest award given to Asian individuals and organizations.
Source
The Hindu