Katrina KaifThe inaugural edition of the India Youth Icon Awards, a Wiz craft initiative in association with Sahara India Media will be presented at an exclusive ceremony on the 25th of September, 2009 at the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon.

A salutation to the undying spirit of the human endeavor to continuously excel, the awards aim to recognize & reward individual excellence and exemplary achievement in the genres of Business, Sports, Entertainment, Media, Social Welfare and Justice, Technology, The Arts, Politics and Entertainment, culminating with the Icon of The Year Award.

The nominees are as follows;

Entertainment

  • Priyanka Chopra
  • Hrithik Roshan
  • Farhan Akhtar
  • Katrina Kaif

Sports

  • Abhinav Bindra (Shooting)
  • Vijender Singh (Boxing)
  • Saina Nehwal (Badminton)
  • M.S. Dhoni (Cricket), Ritwik Bhattacharya (Squash),
  • Pankaj Advani (Billiards)

Technology

  • Alok Kejriwal (Chief Executive Officer & Founder/Chairman, Games 2 Win/C2W Companies)
  • Neeraj Roy (Founder, Hungama.com)
  • Anupam Mittal (CEO, Shaadi.com)
  • Sachin Bhatia (Founder & CEO, Makemytrip.com)
  • Rohit Sharma (CEO, Zapak.com)

Arts

  • Chetan Bhagat (Author)
  • Namita Devidayal (Author)
  • Arzan Khambatta (Sculptor)
  • Shafi Quraishy (Artist)
  • Vikram Bawa (Photographer)
  • Tarun Khiwal (Photographer)

Entrepreneurship (Private)

  • Ajay Bijli (Chairman & Managing Director, PVR Cinemas Ltd.)
  • Alok Kejriwal (Chief Executive Officer & Founder/Chairman, Games 2 Win/C2W Companies)
  • Raaja Kanwar (Managing Director, UFO Moviez)
  • Neeraj Roy (Managing Director & CEO, Hungama.com)
  • Sanjay Nayak (CEO & MD, Tejas Networks India Ltd.)

Media

  • Rajdeep Sardesai (Editor-in-chief, IBN Network 18)
  • Harinder Baweja (Editor, Investigations – Tehelka)
  • Barkha Dutt (Group Editor, English News – NDTV)
  • Udayan Mukherjee (Indian TV news anchor and editor, CNBC TV 18)
  • Tarun Tejpal (CEO, Tehelka)
  • Sanjay Gupta (Editor, Dainik Jagran)

Social Justice and Welfare

  • Vikram Akula (Founder and CEO, SKS Micro Finance Pvt. Ltd.)
  • Ambalal Panchal Hiralal, (Social Activist, Community)
  • Mamta Ranka (Social Activist, Community)
  • Shehnaaz (Social Activist, Pukar)
  • Chandrakant Uttekar (Social Activist, Pukar)
  • Rahul Bose (Founder, the Foundation), Arbind Singh (Founder, Nidan)

Politics

  • Sachin Pilot
  • Agatha Sangma
  • Priya Dutt
  • Omar Abdullah
  • Milind Deora

The nominees are decided by a panel of illustrious seniors from different walks of life. On the eminent panel is IPS Officer

  • Dr. Kiran Bedi
  • Famed journalist Mr. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta,
  • Filmmaker Shyam Benegal,
  • Tennis Ace Leander Paes
  • Renowned Cardiologist Dr. Naresh Trehan
  • Actor & Social Activist Shabana Azmi
  • Renowned singer Ms. Usha Uthup
  • Chairman – Videocon Industries Limited Mr. Venugopal Dhoot.

According to Ace Tennis player Leander Paes – The Youth Icon is someone that people can look up to. The way that I have actually looked at these Awards is the wonderful precedence it has that actually gives direction to the youth. We have talked about different categories like Entertainment, Business, Sport, etc..

Longevity in one’s profession speaks of an Icon. Renowned director Shyam Benegal also shares his views – Icon is a term of veneration. We make our everyday ideals, our heroes who participate in various human endeavours, our Iconic figures. We have tried to nominate people who have already garnered an Iconic status for the youth of our country.

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