Nirmala Joshi of the first Sisters of the institute to head a foreign mission when she went to Panama. In 1976, Joshi started the contemplative branch of the Missionaries of Charity and remained at its head until 1997, when she was elected to succeed Mother Teresa as Superior General of the institute. The government of India bestowed the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, on Sister Joshi on Republic Day (26 January) 2009 for her services to the nation. Her term as Superior General ended on 25 March 2009, and she was succeeded by German born Sister Mary Prema Pierick. Joshi
Nirmala (film) Nirmala (film) Nirmala is a 1948 Indian Malayalam film directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer and produced by P. J. Cherian. The fourth talkie in Malayalam, "Nirmala" introduced playback singing to Malayalam cinema. The songs were composed by saxophone player P. S. Divakar and E. I. Warrier. Lyrics were by poet G. Sankara Kurup. There were 15 songs in the film, sung by P. Leela, P. K. Raghavan, Sarojini Menon, T. K. Govindarao, Vasudeva Kurup and Vimala B Varma. Govinda Rao and Sarojini Menon, who sang in this film, became the first male and female playback singers in Malayalam. Cherian’s