Mightier Media is need of the hour: Meira Kumar

KCK International Award Ceremony 2008 held at Taj ; Harinder Baweja and team wins 2nd KCKI award of US$ 11,000 ; Ashok Gehlot praises restrained media; 10 merit award also conferred
Delhi, 31st July:
Media came in for high praise on Friday for its restrained role in times of crisis at the KCK International award ceremony today. The second KCK award for excellence in print journalism was conferred to Harinder Baweja and her team members by Meira Kumar, Speaker, Lok Sabha and Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister, Rajasthan at hotel Taj Palace. Addressing the august gathering attended by the senior politicians, officials, literati and media persons, chief guest of the function Meira Kumar said that incisive reporting of the issues is need of the hour in conflict ridden world and there is need for a silent revolution. Appreciating the efforts of the winning team Kumar said that striving for truth and objectively, journalists ought to rise above the jingoism that may do more harm than good to the nations. Meira Kumar traced her connection with Rajasthan by referring to her student life spent at Vanasthali Vidyapeeth. She said that the stay in Rajasthan was a memorable period of her life.
Speaking from his long experience Gehlot lauded the media for restoring faith in humanity by their objective reportage of critical events. Referring to social initiatives by Patrika group he said that media campaigns contribute to bringing the marginalized people into mainstream. Expressing concern over nadir of social values he highlighted need for national debate.
Talking about the global trends in journalism Gulab Kothari, Chief Editor, Patrika group cautioned the journalists against the ephemeral temptations for fame. He urged the new journalist to pursue free and fearless journalism contributing to positive change in society.
The winning team was given a cash prize of $ 11,ooo with medal and certificate. The award instituted last year in the memory of the founder of Patrika group Karpoor Chandra ‘Kulish’, is given to the team of a daily newspaper to recognize contributions of print journalists upholding the social values with deep sense of respect for the profession. The winning story series ‘Welcome to the Headquarters of Lashkar – e - Tayyeba’ published in the Hindustan Times in December, 08 was selected as the best from among 173 entries received from across the world. Other members of the winning team copy editor Atulendra Nath Chaturvedi and art director Ujma Moshin also received certificate and medal at the function.
A total of 155 Indian and 18 foreign stories from 48 Indian and 11 foreign newspapers, including those of USA, France, Serbia, Mauritius, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan were received as entries for this year award theme ‘Terrorism and Society’. N Ram, Editor in Chief, The Hindu, N Ravichandran, Director, IIM, Indore, Aruna Roy, Social Activist and Gulab Kothari, Chief Editor, Patrika group constituted the jury panel. The HT had been the joint winner of the first KCK International award 2007 last year with Dawn, Pakistan.
Dignitaries at the function
The function was attended by the dignitaries including Murli Manohar Joshi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ramvilas Paswan, Madan Lal Khurana, Sachin Pilot, Mahadev Singh Khandela, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Sheeshram Ola, Madan Lal Khurana, Namonarayan Meena, Bhawani Singh Rajawat, Jyoti Mirdha, Sam Balsara, SK Roongta and others.
10 teams win Merit Award and appreciation
1. India’s Porous Borders ; Hindustan Times , Chandigarh/ New Delhi ; Kanwar Sandhu, Manish Tiwari, Sunita Aron, Arun Joshi, Rahul Karmakar)
2. Is atankwadi ki khata kya thi ; Hindustan, Lucknow; Dayashankar Shukla, Neelmani, Nasiruddin
3. Ab shuru hua operation Ajamgarh ; Amar Ujala, Varanasi ; Tirvijay Singh and Praveer Sharma
4. Atank ka Arthshastra; Dainik Jagran, New Delhi; Anshuman Tiwari, Prashant Mishra, Vishnu Tripathi, Dinesh Chandra, Rajkishore
5. Violence in India is fueled by religious and economic divide; The New York Times, USA; team: Hari Kumar & Heather Timmons
6. Mumbai’s terror makes Mohali bleed; Indian Express, Chandigarh; Nitin Jain, Jasbir Malhi, Kamleshwar Singh
7. Azamgarh : District in discomfort; The Tribune, Chandigarh; Shahira Naim, Dr. Eashwar Anand, Kuldeep Dhiman
8. He loved Hollywood’s cop vs baddies movies Hindustan Times, New Delhi/Kolkata; Rahul Karmakar, Digambar Patowary
9. Lunch Hours, Evening are chosen for terror strikes ; The Tribune, Chandigarh; Prabhjot Singh and team
10. What branches grow in this stony rubbish?; The Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka; Jamila Najimuddin and team