The press note from Namma Bengaluru Foundation states:
The winners of the prestigious Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) for 2013 will be announced on 15 March, 2014, at Freedom Park, Bangalore. We invite you to be a part of the award function, to applaud and help celebrate our true heroes. Each one of the award winners is a crusader, fighting for justice and saving our city from vested interest.
Anna Hazare, who has been spearheading the anti-corruption movement, will be the guest of honor at the awards, stressing our singular vision of breaking the nexus between unethical, dishonest, and illegal forces and the importance for the citizens to come together to safeguard our city. Doreswamy and Golden Star Ganesh will also be present to honour the extraordinary people of our city.
Over the last five years, the awards instated by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) have grown. In 2009, Bangalore’s citizens nominated 4,000 individuals and organizations for selflessly serving our city. For this, the fifth edition of the awards, we received more than 71,000 nominations. These are the spirited heroes that merit recognition and deserve our ultimate respect.
The awards are the direct result of the vision of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation whose central effort has been to reclaim our city by exposing the nexus of various vested interests. As a coalition between civil societies, the foundation leads the Bengaluru Residents Association Confederation Ensemble (BRACE) and other city-based organizations. These citizen-led organizations are the voice of the city. Their focus on creating an inclusive decision-making process is the only effective and proven way forward in reclaiming and safeguarding our city.
As part of its mission, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation is committed to supporting and facilitating RWAs and citizens who are determined to challenge vested interests and have demanded accountability and transparency from their government. Through its many city and citizen-focused activism and advocacy initiatives, NBF has facilitated and empowered citizen groups to challenge institutional irregularities including filing and winning numerous PILs.
The awards validate NBF’s commitment, with each nominee being a perfect example of individual, selfless effort happening to safeguard Bangalore’s future. Previous winners of the awards include private individuals, social entrepreneurs, government employees, media and sports personalities and elected representatives. This year, a 23-member jury comprising prominent Bangaloreans from business, media, civil service, justice and law, social entrepreneurship, urban planning, medicine, arts, sport and representatives of resident associations have helped pick the winners. The awards will be given in 9 categories that include Citizen, Youth, Government Employee, Government Organization, Citizens’ Group, Social Entrepreneurship, Media Professional/ House and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP and Founder Trustee of Namma Bengaluru Foundation says: “Ours is a beautiful city and home to many millions from all cultures and places. While we are grappling with the challenges of vested interests exploiting our city, there is also the other side of our city – a city of many Do-ers who have made it their life’s work to serve the city and its people – as organizations, individuals or public servants. These are the real heroes of our city, something to remember especially at a time when we will be bombarded with speeches, visions and claims by electoral aspirants. Congratulations to the winners, finalists of the Namma Bengaluru Awards 2014 and to the 71,000 citizens who sent in their nominations. Congratulations to the Jury headed by Justice N. Santosh Hegde and consisting of Bangalore’s best! These awards are a tribute to the spirit of service and commitment to the city that is alive and vibrant in the citizens, who are also determined to stand up/fight vested interests and claim their space in the fight to determine the future of our city.”
True to its motto of celebrating heroes and their achievements, this years awards night will see performances by legendary Singer Usha Uthup and Stephen Devassy. A prominent highlight of the awards is also the coming together of the legendary music director Rajan Nagendra and the eminent poet Prof. G S Siddalingaiah.
The award function will be accompanied by the launch of a crowd-sourced song that has been set to music by prominent musician Prakash Sontake. The song has a special youth focus. As a next step in its mission to fight vested interest, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation will create special youth cells, enabling them to carry on with the work of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation.
The event at Freedom Park is open to the public on the 15th of March between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. To know more on the awards visit Namma Bengaluru Awards www.nammabengaluruawards.org
Saturday, 15 March, 2014, 6:00 pm onwards
Freedom Park, Ramachandra Rd, Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore
For Further Information contact:
Mahalakshmi, Director- Namma Bengaluru Foundation
Mobile: 9481488020/ 9591985289
Email: nbf@namma-bengaluru.org/ mahalakshmi.p@namma-bengaluru.org
FINALISTS FOR THE NAMMA BENGALURU AWARDS 2013
CATEGORY I – CITIZEN – INDIVIDUAL
- Fr. Antony Sebastian – Founder – ECHO; Rebuilding lives of the Juveniles
- Sr. Celia – Reaching out to distressed women
- S R Hiremath – Fighting to save the public spaces being encroached
- Jasmeen Patheja – Founder – Blank Noise; Creatively mobilizing citizens to tackle sexual violence
- Dr. S. Kalyanasundaram- Chief Executive of the Richmond Fellowship Society and Founder – ASHA , a home that offers rehabilitation facilities to persons with severe mental illness
- Kathyayini Chamraj- Executive Trustee –Civic; Actively fighting for citizens’ participation law in the city
- G Manohar Row – Founder of Many NGOs in the city
- Nalini Shekhar – Co – founder of Hasiru Dala; Working with the waste picker communities and striving for main stream inclusion
- Dr Padmini R – Trustee- Child Rights Trust and CIVIC Bangalore; Working for child rights in all its aspects
- Vani Murthy – Member -Solid Waste Management Round Table; A prolific backyard composter who ensures no waste from her home every finds itself in the landfills
- Venkata Subba Rao – Lake Crusader
CATEGORY II – CITIZEN – YOUTH
- Akhil Mohan – A Young ambassador for renewable energy usage in the city
- Eshwar Mahadevan, V Subhash Chandra and Amruth Charmana – Founders of Good Hearted Soul that focuses on Organ Donation in the city
- Nishchal Nadhamuni – Founder- School Works which is an online platform donors that around the world can use to make contributions to government schools in Bengaluru
- Pranav Raghav Sood – A passionate environmentalist at heart who works on renewable energy sources in the city
- Rahul Prasad – Founder – Juvenile Cares that works with Child Rights
- Shubhendu Sharma – Founder – Afforest that is helping bring back forest cover in the city
- Sujit Lalwani – Founder – Inspiration Unlimited that works with students and enables them to volunteer for social causes in the city
CATEGORY III – CITIZENS GROUP
- Akshara Foundation
- Association for Promoting Social Action
- Association of People with Disability
- Bangalore Political Action Committee
- B. Narayanapura Residents Welfare Association
- Citizen Action Forum
- CUPA
- Koramangala 3rd block welfare association
- Margadarshi – Association for the physically challenged
- Praja-RAAG
- Save Subramanyapura Uttarahalli lakes
- Spastic Society of Karnataka
- Whitefield Rising
- The Ugly Indians
CATEGORY IV – CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
- Biocon
- Canara Bank
- ELCIA
- Infosys
- Micro Labs Limited
- Narayana Hrudayalaya
- Robert Bosch
- Wipro
CATEGORY V – GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
- Ashok Dalwai- Deputy Director General, UIDAI
- Balegowda – Police Inspector, Kamakshipalaya Police Station
- T R Nagamani – Principal, Chunchaghatta Government School
- Raghavendra Auradkar – Commissioner of Police
- T Rangappa – Police Inspector, Ashok Nagar Police Station
- S I Shivappa – Police Sub Inspector, Parappana Agrahara Police Quarters
- M N Vidyashankar – Retired Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Karnataka
CATEGORY VI – GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
- Bangalore City Police
- Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Committee
- Bangalore One
- BBMP School – Srirampura
- ISRO
- Sakala
- UIDAI
CATEGORY VII – MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS
- Citizen Matters
- News 9
- Prajavani
- The Hindu
- TV9
CATEGORY VIII – MEDIA PROFESSIONALS
- Dr. Asha Benkappa – Columnist, Deccan Herald
- Bansy Kalappa – Special Correspondent in NEWS9
- Hariprasad – Anchor, TV9
- Hemanth Kashyap – Chief Reporter, News 9
- Haseeb -Ur- Rahman – Anchor, TV9
- Kushala – Assistant Editor, Bangalore Mirror
- Manjusainath – Senior Journalist , Deccan Herald
- Navya P K – Ex- Senior Journalist, Citizen Matters
- Priyanka – Radio Jockey, Radio Active
CATEGORY IX – SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
- Embrace Innovations
- Harish Hande
- LabourNet
- Poonam Bir Kasturi
- Rang De