Venki Ramakrishnan, Katrina Kaif among those awarded by Priyadarshani Academy

The Priyadarshani global awards is all about recognising personalities from all walks of life, but in the 32nd edition of the awards, there was a large presence of policy-makers and personalities that were inclined towards infrastructure. Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari; and Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu accompanied with other personalities, were stern supporters of the need of infrastructure in the country.

During the awards, Gadkari revealed that Delhi-Jaipur and Jaipur to Katra Express highway work is on. He also said, “Vadodara to Mumbai express highway will start soon.” The cost of these projects is estimated to be Rs 1, 32,000 crore. He stressed that Mumbai-Pune highway days were tough on him. He appreciated Priyadarshani Academy for once presenting him an award for implementing the Mumbai-Pune highway project. Prabhu who is also part of the advisory committee of the awards, praised the academy for recognising talents from all walks of life. The duo represented institutions in the country that is going through a revamp to bring best infrastructure in the country.

The awardee of Priyadarshani global awards for path breaking nobel prize winning work, Venki Ramakrishnan (via video conference) said that education and infrastructure are the need of the day for the country. Education cannot be restricted to limited number of people. “India will have to do a lot in building infrastructure in the country,” said Ramakrishnan.

He said this keeping in mind the lack of infrastructure in education. Meanwhile, Kiran Kumar from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), while accepting the award for outstanding contribution to the development of space science and technology said that ISRO will continue doing activities that would support the growth of the country.

Frank-Jurgen Richter who was awarded for outstanding contribution to global economy spoke about collapsing globalisation.

The evening also saw Bollywood actors Juhi Chawla and Katrina Kaif, take home an award each for their contribution to social causes and the film industry respectively. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta was also awarded by the academy for his contribution to promote dignity of the poor.