March 13 2016, 16.05 PM IST || Pocket News Alert
Namma Bengaluru Foundation’s flagship initiative – ‘Namma Bengaluru Awards’ aimed at recognizing, honouring and celebrating the efforts of Bengalureans for their unparalleled contributions towards the city, identified and honoured 6 ‘Real’ heroes of Bengaluru. The winners of the six categories are Namma Bengalurean of the Year – Mr. NS Ramakanth, Government Official of the Year- Mrs. Sonia Narang, Media Individual of the Year – Mr. G Manjusainath, Citizen Individual of the Year - Mr. Kishore S Rao, Rising Star of the Year- Mr. Anirudh S Dutt.
The event was presided by Chief Guest – Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) Fali Homi Major and Brand Ambassador Smt. Thara Anooradha, National Award recipient and a politician.
Namma Bengaluru Foundation founded and supported by Rajya Sabha Member Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been hosting Namma Bengaluru Awards since 2009. Operating on the tenets of transparency, Namma Bengaluru Awards nominations are made by the citizens and for the citizens. A total of over 8,000 nominations were received and 33 nominees were shortlisted across 6 categories. The primary focus of this year’s awards was on individual contributions by people from different walks of life who have worked tirelessly for the city.
Talking about the awards, Mr. Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO of Namma Bengaluru Foundation said, “We are delighted with the wonderful nominations we received this year. It has been a difficult task to identify 6 winners out of these many inspiring stories. We thank each nominee and the 33 finalists for their inspiring work and making Bengaluru better”
The nomination process which began on December 2015 was open for a span of one month. The jury, which consisted of eminent and celebrated citizens of Bengaluru, then shortlisted 33 promising names out of the 8,000 nominations received. In an addition this year, the jury interacted with every single nominee, listened to their stories and then decided upon the final winner. What emerged out of those meetings was that: every nominee is a winning story. The entire process was monitored and supervised by renowned audit firm – KPMG.
The panel of jury consisted of 18 jury member- Shri Pradeep Kar, Dr. Anil Menon, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Dr. Ashwini Mahesh, Dr. N.S Mukunda, Shri Murray Culshaw, Prof G.S Siddalingaiah, Shri Jishu Dasgupta, Shri Sajan Poovayya, Smt. Subhashini Vasanth, Shri V. Ravichander, Smt Vasanthi Hariprakash, Shri TR Raghunandan, Smt. Thara Anooradha, Smt Anita Reddy, Shri P.G Bhat, Shri Prakash Belwandi and Shri CN Kumar.
Speaking on the occasion, Air Chief Marshall (Retd.) Fali Homi Major said, “Namma Bengaluru Awards celebrates the exemplary achievements of individuals who have been instrumental in rekindling the passion of creating a Better Bengaluru. It’s a complete honour to be part of such a unique award ceremony that celebrates the true spirit of the city. I congratulate NBF for their gesture and endeavor to recognize the real heroes and their immense contribution to the city.”
Smt. Thara Anooradha, Brand Ambassador said, “It’s a matter of immense pride to be associated with such a noble initiative by NBF. Such honours will have the right impact and create more such heroes who would benefit our city on a larger scale. The recipients of these awards, over the past years, have sparked our imaginations of a better city and have helped transform our understanding of accountability towards change. These awards embody the very spirit of humanity and common good that these exceptional individuals reflect.”
