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
K. S. Narayanaswamy Tamil Nadu in 1968; the National Award of Central Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1968; the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 1977; Sangeetha Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy, Chennai in 1979 and the Swathi Ratna in 1999. Among his disciples, notable ones include Rugmini Gopalakrishnan, Kalyani Sharma, Saraswati Rajagopalan, Trivandrum Venkataraman, Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Geetha Raja, Nirmala Parthasarathy, Jayashree Aravind. Many musicians like M.S. Subbulakshmi and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer have had good association with him and have appreciated his music. K. S. Narayanaswamy K. S. Narayanaswamy, (full name Koduvayur Sivarama Iyer Narayanaswamy; 27 September 1914 –