A Times Group service, Remit2India, ranked the world’s #1 online money transfer
A Times Group service, Remit2India, ranked the world’s #1 online money transfer portal for non-resident Indians (NRIs) by AC Nielsen, celebrates half a million satisfied customers and ten years in the business in 2011. To mark this milestone, The Times Group is organizing the first-ever The Light of India Awards ceremony at New York City’s iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on April 22, 2011,to recognize exemplary achievement by the non-resident Indians in the fields of business leadership, corporate leadership, political leadership, science and technology, journalism and literature, and arts and entertainment.
“NRIs have always been one of the reasons for which India has been shining,” says Avijit Nanda, President of TimesofMoney. “Having catered to this community with our Remit2India service, it is only logical for us to create a platform to recognize these shining lights. What is even more unique is that for the first time this community is being recognized by a combination of a distinguished Jury and, most importantly, by the very members of this community – the NRIs.”
“We are extremely delighted to be a part of this commendable endeavour” says Anil Kumar Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director Amrapali Group. “It’s great to see Indians succeeding across the globe and getting recognized through this initiative. It also fits in perfectly with our philosophy of ‘Developing India,’ as NRIs are key contributors to our nation’s success & development.”
Based on a unique rating system, an esteemed panel of jury members will select ONE nominee who becomes the proud recipient of “Jury Award.” ALL the nominees below will be listed on the event’s web site (www.lightofindiaawards.com), where Indians from all over the world will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite nominee in each category. The nominee with the highest number of votes will be the recipient of “The People’s Choice Award” (technically, there could be two different people awarded in each category, given this system).
And the nominees are… (drum roll please!)
Recognition in Corporate Leadership
- Ajay Banga: President & Chief Operating Officer – MasterCard
- Arun Sarin: Senior Advisor – KKR
- Dinesh Keskar: Vice President Boeing International Trading
- Francisco D’Souza: Chief Executive Officer – Cognizant technologies
- Vikram Pandit: Chief Executive Officer – Citigroup
Recognition in Business Leadership
- Vinod Khosla: Chief Executive Officer – Khosla Ventures
- Naveen Jain: Founder – InfoSpace and Intelius
- Mukesh Majmudar: President & Chief Executive Officer – Star Hotels
- Promod Sharma: President & Chief Executive Officer – Criterion Systems
Recognition in Political Leadership
- Bobby Jindal: Governor of Lousiana
- Swati Dandekar: IOWA State Senator
- Dr. Ruby Dhalla: Member of Canadian House of Commons
- Ameya Pawar: Alderman – Chicago City
Recognition in Science & Technology
- Vivek Kundra: Federal Chief Information Officer
- Vinod Dham: Chief Executive Officer – Silicon Spice Inc.
- Narasimha Chari: Chief Technology Officer, Founder and Chief Architect – Tropos Networks
- Shiladitya Sengupta: Assistant Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences and Technology
Recognition in Journalism & Literature
- Jhumpa Lahiri: Writer & Novelist
- Vikram Seth: Poet, Novelist, Travel Writer, Children’s writer, Biographer & Memoirist
- Salman Rushdie: Writer & Novelist
- M G Vassanji: Canadian Novelist & Editor
- Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni: Writer & Novelist
Recognition in Arts & Entertainment
- Sunil Nayar: TV Writer & Producer, a Producer of CSI: Miami
- Mira Nair: Film Director & Producer
- Russell Peters: Stand-up Comedian
- Meera Syal: Comedienne, Singer, Producer & Actress
- Sanjeev Bhaskar: Comedian, Actor & Broadcaster
- Jury members include:
- Javed Akhtar: Hindi/Urdu Poet and Lyricist and Screenwriter
- Shabana Azmi: Indian actress and Social Activist
- Pranay Gupte: International Journalist and Author
- Prasoon Joshi: Executive Chairman McCann World Group India
- Sulajja Firodia Motwani: Managing Director Kinetic Motors India
- Priya Paul: Chairperson Apeejay The Park Hotels
- Mahesh Dattani: Indian Director, Playwright & Actor
- Madhu Trehan: Veteran journalist
- Shiv Khera – Author, Educator, Business Consultant and successful Entrepreneur
Northeast U.S. Advisory Board for Light of India Awards:
- Jaswant Lalwani: Corcoran Real Estate Group
- Sundaram Tagore: Gallery Owner and Documentary Filmmaker
- Aroon Shivdasani: Executive Director Indo-American Arts Council (Chairperson)
- Amrita Singh: Accessories and Fashion Designer
- Manjula Kumar: Program Manager Smithsonian
A simultaneous campaign on radio, television, print, and online media is being rolled out. The awards are brought to you by The Amrapali Group, along with other key partners including Sony Entertainment Television, Asia as the Exclusive Television Partner, The Indian Express as Print Partner, Radio Desi Beat, Hum Desi Radio, Radio Fundoo and EBC Radio as Radio Partners, Etihad Airways as the International Airline Partner, TimesofIndia.com as the online partner, Comcast and Goa Tourism as Associate Sponsors.
Log on to www.lightofindiaawards.com for more details.
Photo Credit: Freelance US Media