'NDTV Indian of the Year Award'; Kalam, PM, Sania among nominees

New Delhi, Jan 14 (UNI) The eagerly awaited 'NDTV Indian of the Year award', nominees for which include distinguished figures like former President APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and film actor Shahrukh Khan, will be presented here on January 17, with leading personalities and opinonmakers of the country attending the event.

Among the nominees are also Leader of Opposition L K Advani, UP Chief Minister Mayawati, Dr R K Pachauri, Azim Premji, Mukesh Ambani, Sania Mirza and M S Dhoni.

Previous winners of the awards have been Ratan Tata, Sonia Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan.

To widen the scope, for the first time this year, the awards have been divided into seven categories.

The nominations are: -Leader: APJ Abdul Kalam; Prakash Karat; Manmohan Singh; L K Advani and Mayawati.

-Sports: Vishwanathan Anand; M S Dhoni; Biachung Bhutia and Sania Mirza -Cinema: Shahrukh Khan; Rajnikanth; Shilpa Shetty; "CHAK DE" girls and Himesh Reshammiya -Global Indian: Indira Nooyi; Arun Sarin; R K Pachauri and Mira Nair -Business: Tulsi Tanti; Kumaramangalam Birla; K P Singh; Azim Premji and Mukesh Ambani -Music:Vishal&Shekhar; Sukhwinder Singh; Pritam&Metro band; Sunidhi Chauhan and A R Rehman -Unsung Heroes: Irom Sharmila; Auto Raja and Indian Soldiers.

The jury comprises eminent personalities such as Sir Mark Tully (former BBC South Asia correspondent and Indophile), Kiran Karnik (President, National Association of Software and Services Companies), Shobha De (Author and Columnist), Shyam Benegal (Director, Dadasaheb Phalke award winner) and Shekhar Gupta (Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express).

Besides, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (former captain of the Indian cricket team), Ramachandra Guha (social, environmental and cricket historian, academician and biographer), Justice JS Verma (former Chief Justice of India), Justice Leila Seth (first woman to become Chief Justice of a state High Court), and former Chairman of ISRO Dr K Kasturirangan, (Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore)are also on the jury.

''The award is a salute to people who have helped build Brand India while excelling in their field of expertise, Dr Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV said.

Prominent among those who would attend the event are Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer, Chief Justice of India K Balakrishnan, Union Civil Aviation Minister Mr Praful Patel, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora.

UNI NAZ AKJ BST2018