INDIANS OF THE YEAR

BALASUBRAMANYA B N (CCI STUDENT....) (44679 Points)

29 January 2009

POLITICAL LEADER OF THE YEAR

Sheila Diksh*t

Sheila Diksh*t has been elected to serve an unprecedented third consecutive term as Chief Minister of Delhi. She is seen as an agent of positive change who has helped make Delhi a much less polluted and liveable city in the last few years. She has been a leading figure in the movement for granting equal rights to women and represented India on the UN Commission on Status of Women for five years.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Abhinav Bindra

The first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games, India's first in 28 years. He has displayed nerves of steel and a dogged determination over the years to attain the highest sporting glory. His gold at the Olympic Games has greatly increased people’s interest in the sport.

BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR

Deepak Parikh

The man behind making HDFC a premier housing finance institution in the country. In 2008, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by FinanceAsia for his contribution towards the banking/financial sector in Asia. Under his chairmanship, HDFC has developed a network of 761 branches and 1,977 automated teller machines in 327 cities in India as of March 31, 2008.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Aamir Khan

Has won the Filmfare Award for the Best Director for Taare Zameen Par, a commercially and critically acclaimed film. Considered one of the best actors in Bollywood, Aamir has been given the label of ‘The Perfectionist’ of Indian Cinema. Walt Disney has bought the home video rights for distribution of an international edition of Taare Zameen Par, the first time an international studio has bought the video rights of an Indian film.

EXTRAORDINARY INDIANS OF THE YEAR

The Moon Team

On November 22nd, 2008, India made history by successfully launching its first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the tenure of its Chairman, G Madhavan Nair, has placed India on the global map. The satellite carries the largest suite of scientific instruments ever to be carried to the moon, 14 in all. At Rs 386 crore, it is the cheapest moon mission of the 21st century - an Indian mission with 14 countries as international partners.

25 YEARS OF PROMOTING INDIAN CULTURE

Kiran Seth of Spic Macay

Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst the Youth (SPICMACAY) established by Kiran Seth, has successfully completed 30 years. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Keshav Smriti Adhyaya in 2008. Seth's organisation has exposed generations of students to Indian culture.

GENNEXT POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR

Omar Abdullah

The 38-year-old scion of Kashmir's 'first family', the Abdullahs, Omar Abdullah became the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on January 5, 2009. In 2000-01, he was nominated as Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum; he led an Indian delegation to World Economic Summit in Rio-de-Janeiro and UN World Conference on Racism in Durban. He was also Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Libya.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

L K Advani

He is a grassroot leader and is credited with having made the BJP a formidable force in Indian politics, through clarity of vision, precise statements and an astute sense of timing. Always in favour of anti-terrorism laws, he abolished Press Censorship and repealed anti-press legislation during his tenure in 1977-1979 as the I&B Minister. BJP has named him as a Prime Ministerial candidate for the party and the National Democratic Alliance for the 2009 general elections.

BEST SONG LYRICS

Prasoon Joshi

Known as the 'Ad Guru of India' within advertising circles, he has created several award winning advertising campaigns for brands like Coca Cola, Happy Dent, Asian Paints and Cadbury's. Amongst the several films and hit Indipop albums for which he has composed lyrics, he won the Best Lyricist Filmfare Award for the films Fanaa (2007) and Taare Zameen Par (2008), the latter being India's official entry to the Oscars 2009. He also won the Star Screen Award for Best Lyricist for the film Hum Tum in 2005.

GLOBAL EXCELLENCE

The Slumdog Millionaire Team

Directed by Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire is a film that captures the rag-to-riches story of Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel), an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai. This year at the Golden Globe Awards, this film created history with A R Rahman becoming the first Indian to win a Golden Globe for the Best Original Score. The film also received Golden Globes for the Best Director Motion Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Picture Drama, amongst others in several other film festivals. Anil Kapoor and Freida Pinto were also part of the Slumdog team.