AWARDS APRIL 2009

 AWARDS APRIL 2009

• Femina Miss India 2009
  Ekta Chaudhary, 22 year old from Delhi was crowned Miss India Universe.
  Pooja Chopra was chosen Miss India World.
  Shriya Kishore was crowned Miss India Earth.
  
• Goenka awards for 29 journalists
  P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, Karan Thapar, Nidhi Razdan and Neelesh Mishra are among the 29 journalists who were conferred the coveted Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards on Monday.
  
  Mr. Sainath and Mr. Thapar were chosen ‘Journalists of the Year’ in print and broadcast categories by a panel which included Hindustan Times Chairperson and Editorial Director Shobhana Bhartia, filmmaker Shyam Benegal and agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan.
  
  The awards were presented by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan at a function here.
  
  Ms. Razdan of NDTV won the award in the category of reporting from Jammu and Kashmir, while V.K. Sasikumar of CNN-IBN was honoured for his reportage from the North-East.
  
  In the category of ‘Uncovering India Invisible (Print),’ Mr. Neelesh Mishra and Nagendra Sharma of Hindustan Times won the honours. The award in the broadcast category of the same segment went to Mridu Bhandari of CNN-IBN.
  
• Russia has conferred the “Order of Friendship” on the former Tamil Nadu Governor, Bhishma Narain Singh, and International Council for Cultural Relations president Karan Singh. This is one of the highest state decorations of the Russian Federation and is bestowed for significant contribution to the strengthening of friendship and cooperation between nations.
  
• Noted journalist Neerja Choudhury was selected for the prestigious Prem Bhatia Award for her exemplary contribution in the field of political reporting.Senior journalist Gargia Parsai of The Hindu was selected for the award in the category of reporting on environment issue.Ms. Choudhury was selected for the award for “combining social conscience with commitment” to her profession. She fought for social causes and was the first and only Civil Rights correspondent for an Indian newspaper when she was serving The Statesman from 1982 to 1987.
  
• The Dr.Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2009 was awarded to Dr. C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of social Sciences Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
  
• Pritzker Prize, considered one of the highest honors and an equal to the Nobel Prize in Architecture, has been awarded to Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, known for his “crisp look” buildings and his approach to design and the nature of his practice.