Manmohan Singh CNN-IBN Indian of Year

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was an occasion to honour individuals whose significant contribution in their respective fields have, in some way, helped strengthen society, enhancing in the process the stock of ''Brand India'' on the Global arena.

Achievers from different walks of life in India, from politics to business to sports to entertainment to public service to NRIs, were last honoured at the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year awards, seeking to laud the achievements of Indian icons in the above fields who have, through their pathbreaking initiatives and achievements given India a sense of pride on the Global scene.

At an event which saw participation from celebrities from all walks of life, including Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Union Ministers Praful Patel and Anand Sharma, Samajwadi party Leader Amar Singh, Indian Express Editor Shekhar Gupta, mediapersons Nalini Singh, Dilip Padgaonkar and many others, were lauded for their monumental achievements in their respective disciplines.

Indian icons like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Industralist Ratan Tata (who made Indian proud by his successful takeover of Anglo-Dutch steel firm Corus), Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh (whose exceptional peformance in the recent European tour has made him the highest seeded Indian golfer in the World), were also present on the occasion.

Other included: NRI Indra Nooyi (who revently became the first Indian woman to become the CEO of US company Pepsoco) filmmaker Raj Kumar Hirani (whose advocacy of Gandhian philosophy in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' brought Gandhism back in focus), Arvind Kejriwal (whose crusade for the Right To Information Act led to the act being finally passed in 2005) and Industrialist Lakshmi Mittal.

In the presence of the august gathering, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was honoured as the 'CNN-IBN Indian of the Year', emerging a clear winner from among the list of Indian icons in various fields, for ''adding stature to the Prime Minister's Office'' through his silent strength of character, personal integrity and modesty.

''Dr Manmohan Singh has demonstrated his resolute statesmanship in successful handling of the recent Indo-US nuclear deal. He has also proved to be an efficient coalition manager and carried along all his partners despite divergent opinions on important issues,'' the citation said.

Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee awarded the winners of the different categories. Of the winners, only Jeev Milkha Singh, filmmaker Raj Kumar Hirani and Arvind Kejriwal were present in person to receive their awards.

A special jury prize was awarded to industrialist Lakshmi N Mittal ''for being an entrepreneur who showed the world how an Indian could hold a multi-billion empire and in this process becoming the undisputed style tycoon''.

Receiving the award from Mr Chatterjee, Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh said, ''It is great to receive the award. I only hope I can do justice to this honour bestowed on me by continuing to make India proud in future also.'' Also present on the occasion were Jeev's father and renowned sportsperson Milkha Singh.

''I never wanted Jeev to go into sports. In fact, my wife and I had decided that we would make Jeev anything but not a sportsperson.

But destiny willed other way. Now, I have told him that he should strive to be world's number one golfer,'' Milkha Singh said.

For Director Rajkumar Hirani, whose 'Lage Raho Munnabai' gave Indians a ''food for thought'' with its delving on the continuing relevance of 'Gandhigiri' in the modern context, recieving the award was a proud moment.

''I am still wondering why I got this award. I have only made a film which I believed in,'' Mr Hirani said in all humility.

On the impact the film had made over the Indian psyche, Mr Hirani said, ''There was a belief that Gandhian ideology did not work. But in many parts of India, there has been a revival of Gandhian philosophy. I earlier thought cinema could not create social change.

But after seeing the impact of the film on Indian society, I have realised I was wrong.'' Speaking on the occasion, Rajdeep Sardesia of CNN-IBN said,'' The insitution of awards arose from the need to have an award that defined the country and represented the profile of a new 'rising India' on the global scene. '' The process of selecting the nominees in various categories saw a jury, headed by eminent Jurist Soli Sorabjee, generating a list of prospective nominees in each of the six categories together with the TV 18 editorial team.

Therafter, a public opinion poll was conducted and simultaneously opinion of an Electoral college comprising 100 eminent Indians was sought to choose winners in each category.

Both the electoral college and the Indian public were assigned 50 per cent of the vote weightage in determining winners from within each category. The even saw an enthralling performance by the music director trio of Shankar, Ehsan and Loy to songs of films from 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho'.

UNI