OREANDA-NEWS. June 6, 2011. NALCO’s Brand Ambassador and renowned sand sculptor Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik was felicitated by the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil yesterday for his unique achievements in the field of sand sculpture, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. It may be mentioned here that Shri Pattnaik had recently won the 'People's Choice' gold medal at the 3rd World Sand Sculpture Championship, held in Moscow. Shri Pattnaik also presented Smt. Patil the photograph of his sand sculpture for which he won the gold medal. She also congratulated Shri Pattnaik for joining NALCO as its Brand Ambassador.

Earlier Shri Pattnaik was felicitated by Union Cabinet Minister for Culture and Urban Development Kumari Selja, in Delhi, after winning the above prestigious award. Shri Pattnaik is the first Indian sand artist who has achieved more than 20 International awards, participating in 45 international championships all over the world.