The winners of the prestigious 19th annual Asian Achievers Awards were revealed in another glamorous ceremony on Friday 6th September at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, on Park Lane. Winners include, BBC News Economics Editor, Faisal Islam for Achievement in Media, Arts & Culture; Woman of the Year, Neeta Patel, CEO of New Entrepreneurs Foundation; and Harjit Singh Bhania, head coach of the men’s GB wheelchair basketball team for Sports Personality of the Year. The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award went to philanthropist business tycoon, Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources, while London Deputy Mayor, Rajesh Agrawal received the Editor’s Award for Public Services.
Hosts, actor Nitin Ganatra and Nisha Parmar, semi-finalist of BBC’s Masterchef UK, were joined by business tycoons, entrepreneurs and dignitaries, including Jeffery Archer, whose skilful auctioneering helped to raise a staggering £150,000 for this year’s chosen charity Yuva Unstoppable, a youth movement in India that works towards educating underprivileged children.
CB Patel, Publisher/Editor, ABPL Group and Chairman, Asian Achievers Awards said:“This year our theme is inclusivity. As you know inclusivity is not just about diversity, but about being inclusive of everyone. That’s why we have so many shortlisted candidates this year from the LGBTQ community. Today historically, it also completes one year of decriminalisation of homosexuality in India - a step in the right direction under the leadership of our Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Societal exclusion, identity seclusion and isolation from the society are still the stark realities faced by many individuals, and for Asians it’s even harder. So, our job as always, is to set an example, not only through our publications of Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar, but especially through today’s Asian Achievers Awards - campaigning for individual liberation and rewarding people for striving so hard against any odds.
"And in our effort to do so, I must thank the inputs from all our readers and supporters for nominating such outstanding candidates and our independent panel of judges who did their job so brilliantly. I would like to congratulate all the winners of our 19th annual Asian Achievers Awards. Their remarkable contributions to society and community have had a profound impact and I take great pride in highlighting their accomplishments.”
The Asian Achievers Awards sponsors include EY, Starling Bank and Edwardian Hotels, with Colors TV on board as Media Partner.
ASIAN ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2019 WINNERS
Winner | Category |
Onkardeep Singh MBE | Achievement in Community Services |
Faisal Islam | Achievement in Media, Arts & Culture |
Vipul Vadera | Businessperson of the Year |
Kush Kanodia | Entrepreneur of the Year |
Krishna Omkar | Professional of the Year |
Harjit Singh Bhania | Sports Personality of the Year |
Hafsa Qureshi | Uniformed, Civil and Public Services |
Neeta Patel | Woman of the Year |
Anil Agarwal | Lifetime Achievement Award |
Rajesh Agrawal, London Deputy Mayor | Editor’s Award for Public Services |
Dr. Nilesh U Patel MD | Editor’s Award for Contribution to Thoracic Surgery |
Pradip Dhamecha | Editor’s Choice Award for Community service, Philanthropy and Entrepreneurship |