Attenborough to get Indira Gandhi Peace Prize
NEWDELHI: Renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough will be awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2019, a statement issued by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said on Tuesday. His name was selected by an international jury chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee.
“Few individuals have come to be as identified with the well being of our planet, of all living creatures, and their relationship with human beings, as Sir David,” the Trust said, adding, the prize is awarded to him for a lifetime of doing more to reveal the wonders of the natural world than perhaps any other individual.
“In a lifetime of communicating effectively and evocatively about the natural world, he has become a powerful and persuasive voice on the need to heed warnings of looming ecological disaster, to maintain the Earth’s delicate balance, and to cherish and preserve the natural world,” the Trust said.
Suman Dubey, secretary of the Trust, said Sir David had tirelessly worked to “awaken humankind to the need, to preserve and protect the biodiversity on our planet, to live in a sustainable and harmonious way with all life, and to stop being what he has called: ‘a plague on earth’.”
Sir David’s work has received widespread recognition across the world. Apart from his knighthood, he has received awards from the Royal Geographical Society, UNESCO’S Kalinga Prize, the Micheal Faraday Prize, the Descartes Prize and Fellowship of the Royal Society, and several Emmy and BAFTA awards.
Sir David’s current series with the BBC Natural History Unit — Seven Worlds, One Planet — is broadcast on BBC One on Sunday nights.
On Tuesday, Congress president and Trust chairperson Sonia Gandhi presented the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2018 to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhibased environment thinktank, for its work in environmental education and protection. Former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former vice-president Hamid Ansari attended the function held at Jawahar Bhavan in Delhi.