DD, AIR, NDTV win Commonwealth Broadcasting Awards

New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Doordarshan and All India Radio along with BBC and NDTV have bagged major honours in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association's Awards for 2008 at a ceremony in Nassau, Bahmas.

Doordarshan won the CBA-World Bank Award for Programmes on Development issues for its feature 'God's Own Crop' which is about the success story of a group of women farmers who have shown that food sovereignty of agrarain communities was the need of the hour.

The award was received by Mr Emani Krishna Rao, senior correspondent, Doordarshan Hyderabad.

All India Radio was chosen for the CBA-UNESCO Award for Science Reporting and Programming for 'The Drops that Counts'--an unusual musical feature for children that deals with the general science of the universe.

The award was handed over to Mr Padmanalochan Das, Programme executive AIR, Sambalpur. The programme was originlly produced in Oriya language and was titled ' Kemiti Rakhiba Bundae Pani.' NDTV reporter Sutpa Deb won the CBA-Thomson Foundation Journalist of the Year Award, while former head of Radio Australia Jean Gabriel Manguy was chosen for Elizabeth R Award for Exceptional Contribution to Public Service Broadcasting.

The CBA-Rolls Royace Award for Exceptional News Feature has been awarded to BBC for its programme 'India's Silk Slave' that uncovers the disturbing evidence of a form of slavery hapening today in the silk industry in the southern India.

SBS Australia bagged the CBA-Amnesty International Award for a Human Rights programme for its feature 'Race for the Beach'-- a programme dealing with the struggle of a 'hijab' wearing Muslim girl and 20 other young Muslims to become surf lifesavers at Sydney's Cornulla beaches in the wake of the anti-Muslim race riots in Australia.

The CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering has been won by the NDTV again.

The awards were given away at a function yesterday.

UNI NAZ SB AS1716