Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

Before the creation of this award, the Arjuna award was given for outstanding performance in the field of adventure. Ten individual and one team Arjuna awards were given in the years 1965 to 1986 in the field of either mountaineering or adventure sports. The first and only team Arjuna award to date was presented in 1965 to the twenty mountaineers of the successful Indian Everest expedition of 1965. and three adventurers in 1986 were awarded the Arjuna award. Since its inception, it has been considered on par with Arjuna awards matching the same cash prize money. commemorating the golden jubilee of his first scaling of Everest. The award statuette was redesigned in 2009, measuring in height and weighing nearly . It is made of bronze and polished to highlight the age of Tenzing Norgay along with the ice axe he used when climbing Everest. , the award comprises "a bronze statuette of Tenzing Norgay, certificate, blazer with silken tie/saree, and a cash prize of ." ==Nominations==

The nominations for the award are filled through an online application form. The provision for giving away award posthumously exists however no award can be given to the same person in the same category more than once. The application has to be either recommended by the Youth or Sports Department of the State Governments or by recognized adventure institutes representing the specific category in which application is made. The application can also be recommended by the Adventure Promotion Cell of various Indian Armed Forces, Indo-Tibetan Border Police or other paramilitary forces. All the serving personnel in the Armed Forces: Army, Navy and Air Force have to be recommended directly through their Directorate or adventure cells. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports can also seek nominations from different organizations and nominate on its own. The nominations in a particular year are accepted till 20 June. The recognized institutes in the land adventure category are Indian Mountaineering Foundation, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, in the water (sea) adventure category is National Institute of Water Sports and in the air adventure category is Aero Club of India. ==Selection process==

All the nominations are sent to the three umbrella bodies in their respective categories: Indian Mountaineering Foundation for land, National Institute of Water Sports for water, and Aero Club of India for air. These bodies verify the achievements of the applicants and confirm from their official records, within a month of the receipt of the nominations. The achievements of the last three calendar years are taken into account for all the categories except for lifetime achievement. The valid nominations are vetted and scrutinized by the selection committee constituted by the Government. This five member committee consists of a chairperson, usually the Secretary of Youth Affairs, Joint Secretary of Youth Affairs and one representative from each of three categories: land, water (sea) and air. The recommendations of the selection committee are submitted to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval. The provision is usually just for one award in each category but the Ministry with the approval of the Minister may increase the awardees in a particular year. The recipients are selected by a committee and are honoured for their "excellent performance, outstanding qualities of leadership, sense of adventure discipline and continuous achievement in one particular field of adventure viz. Land, Air or Water (Sea)" over the last three years. The lifetime achievement award is bestowed to recipients who "besides individual excellence have devoted themselves to the cause of promotion of adventure." ==Recipients==

receiving lifetime achievement award in 2009 Broadly the awards in the land adventure category have been given to mountaineering, in the water adventure category to open water swimming and sailing, and in the air adventure category to skydiving. The exceptions include caving, cross-country skiing including Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole, hang gliding, microlight aviation including businessman Vijaypat Singhania, the pilot of world record-setting flight from the UK to India, and white water rafting. with members of Navika Sagar Parikrama leaving Cape Town Usually, the award is conferred upon three to six people in a year, a few exceptions have been made in the years 1994, 1995, 2017 and 2019, when more than six recipients were awarded in a year. In its initial year, twenty-two awards were presented, the highest so far for a single year. Nineteen of these awards were given to the 1993 Indo-Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition led by Bachendri Pal. In 2017, ten awards were presented, out of which six were given to the members of Navika Sagar Parikrama (circumnavigation of the globe). They were an all women Indian Navy officers sailing team for the circumnavigation of the globe, on board the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel Tarini (pictured), led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi. Arunima Sinha (awarded in 2014) Twins Tashi and Nungshi Malik (awarded in 2015) Anshu Jamsenpa (awarded in 2017) In the field of sailing, Dilip Donde (awarded in 2010) Abhilash Tomy (awarded in 2012) In the field of skydiving, Rachel Thomas (awarded in 1994) The award for lifetime achievement for year 2023 was awarded to Umesh Zirpe, for leading eight successful expeditions to eight 8000 m high mountains and for dedicating his life for mountaineering. ==Controversies==

The initial publication on 21 August 2020 of the 2019 awardees list had the name of mountaineer Narender Singh Yadav in the category of land adventure. His name in the list of awardees created controversy in the mountaineering circles in India and abroad. On 23 August, the Katmandu-based daily Kantipur published the photo that Singh had submitted to the authorities in Nepal as proof of reaching the Everest summit in 2016. The article explained how the photo in question was morphed. Several mountaineers pointed out the inaccuracies in the photo including the oxygen mask not having a pipe, no reflections on his sunglasses, flags he carried being still despite the high winds, no headlamps on his head and him wearing a helmet which is not worn by climbers on their summit day. His team leader Naba Kumar Phukon, rescue team member Lakhpa Sherpa and senior mountaineer Debashis Biswas attested to the fact that Singh never made it to the top of Everest and had to be helped down after getting stranded at the Balcony at 8,400 m (27,600 ft). Tenzing Norgay's son Jamling Norgay took up the matter and raised the issue with Indian Mountaineering Foundation. Soon after that, the Sports Ministry opened a probe into the claims, withholding the award on 28 August and in the list of awardees attending next day's ceremony, Singh's name was omitted. Jamling Norgay and Bachendri Pal expressed displeasure that such a person was even considered for the award in the first place. Jamling further noted that the awards should not be simply awarded to the Everest climbers, but to those who inspire other adventure seekers by scaling new peaks, exploring new routes and promoting adventure in general. ==Explanatory notes==