Pakistan journo honoured at CNN YJA

New Delhi, Dec 15: A journalist from Pakistan has won the 'CNN Journalist Award' at this year's CNN Young Journalist Awards (YJA).

Rubab Karrar from The Herald, Karachi, Pakistan was awarded last night the 'CNN Journalist Award', among the two special awards instituted this year at the CNN Young Journalist Awards in celebration of India and Pakistan's 60th year of independence. Rubab won the award for her story ''Inside the Mosque''.

Sujan Singh from Planman Media, New Delhi won the 'CNN Photo Journalist of the Year', the other special award instituted by the CNN this year, for his pictorial depiction of ''Police comes to the Culprits Rescue''. Shahbaz Khan from Press Trust of India, New Delhi was adjudged as a Runner up for his series of photographs on ''Police Cover Up Prime Accused of Noida Serial Killings''.

Priyanka Pathak Narain from Mint, Mumbai and Anchal Vohra from NDTV 24x7, New Delhi won the title, 'CNN Young Journalist of the Year 2007' in the Print/Online and Television categories respectively at the Awards, given every year to encourage and promote the spirit of journalism and honour the best journalistic talent across India and Pakistan.

Ananya Sengupta, from The Telegraph, Mumbai was adjudged the Runner up in the Print/Online category for her story, ''Heartbreak House'' and Maryiam Pervaiz from Dawn News, Lahore, Pakistan won the Runner up award in the Television category for her television package, ''Chained People''. Both have won a Nokia N Series phone, trophy and citation.

The 'CNN Aspiring Journalist Award' in the Television category was won by Subuhi Khan from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi who won an internship with the CNN-IBN bureau in New Delhi/Mumbai for a month.

Nina Mehta from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai was the winner in the Print category. She won an internship with Outlook bureau in New Delhi/Mumbai for a month.

Jamma Jagannath and Divya Gojer from Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore were adjudged as the Runners up in the Print and Television categories respectively.

Kusum Devi from New Delhi was declared the winner of 'CNN Citizen Journalist Award' for her audio-visual report on the ''Usage of Right to Information Act for her Children's Admission into a Public School''. She was awarded with a trophy, a citation, a digital camera and a cash prize of Rs 20,000.

Dharmesh Shah from Chennai and Puneet Joshi from Bangalore, won the Runner up award for their audio-visual report on ''Carbon Emission from Chennai's Garbage Dumping Grounds'' and ''Traffic Congestion and Excessive Honking in the City with a Creative Twist'' respectively.

Speaking on the occasion, Phillip Turner, CNN New Delhi bureau chief, congratulating the winners, runners up and all those who participated in CNN Young Journalist Award 2007 said, ''the award commemorates the spirit and drive of CNN to uphold journalistic integrity and ethics. I hope the winners will continue to pursue the fundamentals of journalism - fairness, balance and objectivity.'' The CNN YJA awards were instituted in 2003, with the aim to recognise and nurture journalistic talent among young media professionals in the country and promote quality journalism.

In 2004, the CNN YJA was extended to include Pakistan. To coincide with CNN's 25th anniversary in 2005, a special category, 'CNN Camera-person of the Year' Award, was introduced.

In 2006, furthering CNN's commitment to reward promising and aspiring journalists in India, the ''CNN Aspiring Journalist'' Award was introduced for students of journalism and the CNN Citizen Journalist Award was instituted to encourage citizens of India, not being professional journalists, to play an active role in the process of collecting and disseminating news and information on issues that have an impact on society.

UNI