Padma awards for two

Among those featuring in this year’s Republic Day honors list on January 26 are Dr Noshir M. Shroff with the Padma Bhushan for medicine and Anu Aga who received the Padma Shri for social work.

Shroff, a Delhi-based ophthalmic surgeon born in 1951 is medical director of the Shroff Eye Centre and head of the cataract department of Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, Daryaganj, started by his grandfather and later run by his late father Dr Minoo Shroff, also an ophthalmologist. Appointed honorary ophthalmic surgeon to the President of India in 1997, Shroff specializes in intraocular and refractive surgery. A pioneer in the field of intraocular lens implantation surgery having performed his first implant surgery in 1982, he has completed over 13,000 implant procedures. He was also one of the first in the country to start phaco­emulsification (sutureless cataract surgery) in 1992. Shroff has been performing keratorefractive surgeries for the last two years, as per his profile on the doctor.ndtv website.

Born in Bombay in 1942, Anu Aga began her industry career in the Poona-based company Thermax in 1985 and was in charge of its human resources functions from 1991 to 1996. After her husband Rohinton Aga passed away, she took over as executive chairperson of the Thermax Group in February 1996, and two years later became its non-executive chairperson, notes Wikipedia. As chairperson, Aga facilitated four major turnaround initiatives at Thermax: reconstitution of the board, shedding of non-core activities, rightsizing of operations and increased focus on the customer. She was also instrumental in creating a high performance culture at Thermax, especially at the senior levels.

In October 2004, she chose to retire as chairperson to concentrate on social welfare activities. She is keenly involved in the causes of communal harmony and human rights, especially women and children. She also supports various organizations that promote education, in particular the underprivileged children from slums. With the help of a Bombay based NGO (nongovernmental organization) called Akanksha, 16 centers have been opened in Poona for slum children.