BIS #2059 PRIYADARSHNI ACADEMY HONORS EIGHT GLOBAL AWARDEES

Fr. Joaquim Fernandes sdb
MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 : Mr. Nanik Rupani, Chairman of Priyadarshni Academy, and Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, Chairman of Priyadarshni Academy’s Global Awards Advisory Committee and former Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, honored eight Global Awardees at the Academy’s Twenty-Sixth Anniversary Global Awards function held at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai on September 19, 2010.
The award function was graced by Hon. Chief Minister Shri Ashok Chavan as the Chief Guest. Mr. Deepak Parekh, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Mr. Niraj Bajaj and Mr. Nana Chudasama were the Guests of Honor.
Established in 1984, Priyadarshni Academy is a non-profit, socio-cultural and educational organization which functions with the motto of rendering service to humanity. The Academy’s flagship program is it’s Global Awards which acknowledges the outstanding contributions of dignitaries around the world to varied spheres of human activity. This year, the Global Awards Advisory Committee focused on inclusiveness & growth which impact the lives of people aroundthe world. The disciplines encompassed innovation, energy, technology, human rights, corporate leadership, education, Indian culture, and cinema.
 
The award function acknowledged the following dignitaries:
 
The Academy’s First Ramakrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of Human Rights to Mr. Martin Luther King, III, President & CEO, King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, for his continued quest for equality and justice for all people around the world through measures which are rooted in the tenets of nonviolent conflict resolution, and for bringing together through his Second Generation Global Peace Initiative, heirs of twentieth century peace makers to address some of the world’s most compelling crises, including Darfur, the Middle East and Burma.
 
The Harish Mahindra Memorial Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to Corporate Leadership to Mr. A. M. Naik, Chairman & Managing Director Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai, India for his global vision, missionary zeal, and unique leadership which enabled L&T, expand its horizons beyond domestic frontiers and blossom into a truly international conglomerate in the manufacturing domain; and for bringing recognition to L&T’s Heavy Engineering Division as one of the top five manufacturing units in the world.
  
The Smita Patil Memorial Award for Best Actor to Ms. Vidya Balan Film Actor, Mumbai, India for her outstanding contribution to cinema within a very short span of time, from her performance in her debut film to essaying a wide variety of roles in successive films, for obtaining critical and commercial success; and for achieving selection of one of her films as India’s official entry to the Oscar awards.
   
The Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of Grass Roots Innovation to Prof. Anil Gupta, Executive Vice-Chair, National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad, India, for pioneering and championing the grass roots innovation movement in India, and for establishing and leading the game changing Honey Bee Network and National Innovation Foundation, which created a new paradigm by building on the rich knowledge of poor people.

The Academy’s Twenty-Sixth Anniversary Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Sustainable Energy Infrastructure to Mr. Ole Johansson, President & CEO, Wartsila NSD Corporation, Helsinki, Finland, for developing energy infrastructure in a sustainable and energy efficient manner.

The Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Nuclear Technology to Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Mumbai, India, for his leadership in the field of nuclear technology including safety related research, development of new state-of the-art technologies leading to the assertion of India’s nuclear sovereignty, masterminding the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and for his ongoing efforts to make India fully self-reliant in energy through the use of indigenous thorium resources.

The Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of Indian Business and Culture Abroad to Mr. Yoshihiro Nishida Vice Chairman,Yokohama India Centre, Japan, for helping establish an organization in Japan, which, through mutual cooperation, has been promoting the expansion of business, cultural, and educational relations between India and Japan.
The Academy’s Twenty–Sixth Anniversary Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Promotion of Education to Mr. Raul Diez Canseco Terry, Director, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru & former Vice President of Peru, for spending more than forty years of his life in building a comprehensive educational system and organization in Peru for school, college and university students, as well as many other institutions in the country; for bringing about eighty-five agreements with international universities and institutions; and for his path-breaking contributions to fighting poverty through education.

During this year Fr. Maschio’s Scholarship for B.Ed. was given to Ms. Karki Tara, Bombay Teachers Training College, Ms. Akhani Shweta Prashant, Bombay Teachers Training College, Mr. Bhand Sharad Pandurang, Govt. of Maharashtra Secondary Training College, Ms. Andrea J. S. Lobo, Guru Nanak College of Edu. and Research and Ms. Annie Frankey Dias, St. Xavier’s Institute of Education.