New Delhi, 16th December, 2011: CNN-IBN India's most awarded English News Channel presents the prestigious CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2011. Celebrated as the most credible awards in the country, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2011 honoured Ambassadors of Brand India in a grand ceremony held in New Delhi today. The guests of Honour to present these prestigious awards were Mr Soli Sorabji - Former Attorney General of India, Sir Mark Tully, Justice J.S. Verma - Former Chief Justice of India, Mr Krishnamachari Srikkanth - Former Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Major General Lacchaman Singh Lehl, Commodore Vijay Jerath - Vir Chakra and Mr. Brij V Mahalingam of 16 Madras in New Delhi today. The Grand Finale of the award ceremony will be telecast on Dec 24th @ 9:30 PM along with a repeat telecast on 25th Dec @ 11:30 AM on CNN-IBN.

Anna Hazare was felicitated as the Indian of the Year 2011 in the presence of the creme-la-creme of society. The award ceremony will be telecast on CNN-IBN on 24th December from 9:30 PM onwards.

Eminent personalities who were felicitated in 6th edition of the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year awards 2011 for their respective contributions across different categories are :

Politics category
Mamata Banerjee: For achieving what was once considered unthinkable in West Bengal - ending a three decade rule of the Left Front.

Sports category
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: For arguably being India's best cricket captain ever and winning the World Cup after a 28 year gap.

Business category
Dilip S. Shanghvi: For converting distressed assets into value in a way that made Sun into the most valuable pharmaceuticals company in India.

Entertainment category
Team KBC and Amitabh Bachchan: For redefining the genre of reality television and an outstanding presentation style.

Public Service category
Anna Hazare and team: For leading an unprecedented uprising against corruption and changing the nature of political discourse in India.

Special Achievement award
Yuvraj Singh: For decisively raising the bar of sporting achievement and winning the cricket World Cup for India through his sterling man-of-the-series performance.

Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network: For outstanding work in providing economic help to the women of Manipur who undergo trauma because of violence in the conflict-hit state.

Ronjan Sodhi: For creating history by becoming the first Indian ever to defend a World Cup title in double trap shooting.

Outstanding Achievement award
Dr K J Yesudas: For being India's Celestial Singer, having recorded over 50,000 songs in a five decade career.

Lifetime Achievement award
Dr Verghese Kurien: For being the father of White Revolution and dedicating his life in putting India's dairy industry on the world map.

CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2011
Anna Hazare: For showing his strong determination and non violent protest against corruption and introducing the Lokpal bill which aims to eradicate corruption in the country.

Speaking on this special occasion, Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7 & IBN-Lokmat, said, "CNN-IBN Indian of the Year is an earnest effort to appreciate the tasks undertaken by these gifted luminaries and their allegiance in making India shine. They have been effective instruments of change in bringing India into the new age. We congratulate all the winners for their extraordinary contribution to the country."

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The Network18 Group is one of India's leading media companies with interests in television, internet, filmed entertainment, e-commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its holding in 'TV18 Broadcast Ltd.' [BSE: 532800, NSE: ibn18], the group operates India's leading television broadcasting and distribution assets. This includes India's leading business news channels - CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, India's premier general news channels - CNN-IBN and IBN7, and IBN-Lokmat, a leading Marathi regional news channel in partnership with the Lokmat group. 'TV18 Broadcast' also operates a joint venture with Viacom, called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of India's market leading entertainment channels - Colors, MTV, VH1 and Nick - and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group's filmed entertainment business. In a pioneering foray into television distribution, the group has established a strategic alliance with Sun Group, SUN18, the first truly Pan-India distribution company and slated to be one of the biggest distribution entities in the market. The group has also recently announced a move into the Indian factual entertainment space through AETN18, a joint venture with A+E Networks (formerly A&E Television Networks) which operates acclaimed global brands like History, Bio, Crime & Investigation Network and Lifetime. Through 'Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.' [BSE: 532798, NSE: Network18], the group operates its digital, publishing and e-commerce assets including one of India's largest internet players Web18 which houses the country's leading web content properties such as moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, in.com andfirstpost.com. 'Network18' also operates India's leading ecommerce properties - HomeShop18 and bookmyshow.com, and Forbes India, the nation's first local edition of a foreign news magazine title and the world's most influential business brand, in collaboration with Forbes Media. In addition, through 'Network18', the group operates Newswire18, one of India's leading real time financial information and news terminal services, and Infomedia18, the country's leading player in the special interest publishing space as well as E18, the group's full spectrum event management venture and Sport18, its sports management and marketing venture. 'Network18' holds a controlling interest in 'TV18 Broadcast' and investments in Yatra, DEN Networks and other Capital18 portfolio companies. For more information, log on to www.network18online.com.

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