The 11th Red and White Bravery Awards for Haryana and Punjab were presented in Chandigarh last week. The award winners from Punjab are Amar Nath and Ishwinder Singh, Kavita Singh, B Bedi and Sat Paul Bansal.

The award winners from Haryana are Dr Jagdeep Agarwal and the late Dharambir Singh for physical bravery and Sheela Devi for social acts of courage.

The awards are presented in two categories - physical bravery and social acts of courage. In each category winners are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals along with cash awards and certificates. Each award includes a medal, shawl, certificate and cash.

Presenting the awards, Punjab public works and election minister Pratap Singh Bajwa said, "These awards bring into limelight those courageous people whose bravery otherwise go unnoticed. I congratulate the winners for showing their selflessness and compassion when the need arose."

He added, "Normalcy returned to Punjab, which was once militancy affected, because of bravery of many an unsung hero. And I hope these bravery awards winners will also prove to be torch-bearers for the generations to come."

The awards, instituted by Godfrey Phillips India Ltd in 1990, honour men and women who have displayed exemplary acts of courage under adverse circumstances.

Awards for Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal have been already given.