Mr. Vinay Bhanawat conferred with Special Award 2013 - Maharana Mewar Foundation 32nd Annual Awards 2013
Mr. Vinay Bhanawat, born on 09 February 1957 at Bathera Kalan, Udaipur.
Mr. Bhanawat is a businessman with a passion for collecting Currency Notes, he broke the world record of Mr. Mohammed Farooq of Dubai and became the World Record India Award Holder 2012 for collecting 86067 Indian Currency Banknotes of Rs. 10 ending with serial number 786. The total value of his collection is Rs. 8,60,670/- collected from notes from February, 2008 to September, 2012.
He has collected 129 sets of 9 notes each of 100000 to 900000 number and 24 sets of 89 notes each of 111111 to 999999 in what he names his fancy numbers currency collection. The value of his collection is Rs 1,13,610/-and for this he was declared the World’s biggest fancy number collector by Unique World Records in 2012.
Bhanawat was declared as World’s biggest collector of Banknotes by Unique World Records in 2012.
He has also acquired a silver coin of Maharana Pratap issued by the Government of Malta who produced only 100 coins of 1 kg each in 2004.
He is Founder and President of Mewar Philately Society, Udaipur.
He has been honoured by the Department of Post, Government of India several times with
‘Large Silver Medal’ at National Philatelic Exhibition ‘INPEX – EMPIREPEX 2001’;
Bronze Medal at 9th in 2003; 10th in 2003; 11th in 2007; 12th in 2010 ‘RAJPEX’ Rajasthan State Philatelic Exhibitions;
Silver Medal at 1st District Level Philatelic Exhibition ‘UDAIPEX 2000’;
1st position at 2nd District Level Philatelic Exhibition ‘UDAIPEX 2005’;
Mr. Bhanawat was appointed as a Member of Board of Juries by Department of Post, Government of India at Postage Stamp Design Competition for the year 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.
He was felicitated by District Administration on Republic Day 2002.
He was honoured by Society For Environmental Education and Research, India (SEERI) for the Best Environment Exhibition of Stamp in India – 2004.
In 2001, he played a key role in establishing Philately Bureau at Udaipur under Department of Post, GOI as a result of which people of Udaipur, Mewar had the opportunity of collecting commemorative stamps.
He was also honored by The Honourable Chief Minister of Pondicherry, Mr. Thiru. N. Rangaswamy, at a felicitation ceremony organized by Assist World Record Research Foundation held on 15th October 2012 for having the largest number of currency notes ending with ‘786’.
Vinay Bhanawat has chalked up several records through his passion for currency note collecting and has recently been registered in the Limca Book of Records too by collecting the most Indian Currency Notes with their serial number ending with 786. He has been building his collection for the past 40 years.
Bhanawat’s collection has been felicitated many times, and to showcase it in public, his son is building a gallery of his father’s collection at their house.
Mr. Chaman Singh Chauhan conferred with Special Award 2013 - Maharana Mewar Foundation 32nd Annual Awards 2013
While most of us may feel absolutely repulsed and scared of snakes, Mr. Chaman Singh Chauhan, a well-known snake catcher of Udaipur has been working for the Wild Animal Rescue Centre and finds the reptile lovable and one of the most beautiful creatures in the world! He believes the life of a snake is as important as a human being. Over the last decade, he has dedicated his life to rescuing thousands of poisonous reptiles including 25000 Rattle Snakes. Rescue calls every minute is the normal schedule for Chaman Singh and once he entered a 100 feet deep well to rescue a snake.
Chaman Singh has always had a deep interest in wild life since childhood; as a result, he lost his concentration to study and only completed his schooling up to 10th class. Over the past decade, Chaman has worked with a number of animal rescue organization including the Animal Aid Society and Forest Department. He has travelled to remote and inaccessible places to save wild animals and has undertaken a specialized training of 7 days in Snake Catching from Snehal Patel at Baroda.
‘I could hardly concentrate on books. I used to bunk school to take care of stray dogs and other animals whom I found to be suffering and provided them with primary treatment’, said Chaman Singh.
He has never been bitten by any of the reptiles he has rescued and has said avoidance is due to an individual’s catching style. Holding a snake with soft hands will keep the catcher away from the venom.
Chaman Singh has always advocated the importance of educating people about the behavior of the venomous reptiles and the “do’s” and “don’ts” of how to handle a snake found in the locality. In the rainy season he solves more than 20 cases in a day, whilst the number of complaints reduces to around 4 a day in other seasons. As well as teaching people in the community he has also taught his family members how to catch a snake without getting bitten.
Like many talented individuals, Chaman Singh has had to face problems to make Snake Catching his career. His father Late Mohan Singh Chauhan wanted him to study and find a steady conventional job. Adhering to his father’s wishes, he tried almost every job available to him but failed to perform well. The future plans of Chaman include opening an animal rescue hospital in the city, so as to save lives of accidentally injured animals. At present, there is no such hospital across the state resulting in the death of wild life.
He is commonly known as the ‘Snake Shyam’ of Northern India. He is always available for any call for the rescue of animals.
Chaman Singh was awarded by Udaipur Municipal Council, Udaipur; Forest Department, Udaipur; District Administration 2007; and from several institutions at District level.