Rahul Gandhi and Aishwarya Rai awarded as Youth Icons...

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and Aishwarya Rai along with others were honoured as the Youth Icons during inaugural Videocon India Youth Icon Awards in a grand evening hosted by Wizcraft International Entertainment at Hotel Leela Kepinski, Gurgaon.

A salutation to the undying spirit of the human endeavor to continuously excel, the awards aim to recognize & reward individual excellence and exemplary achievement in the genres of Business, Sports, Entertainment, Media, Social Welfare and Justice, Technology, The Arts, Politics and Entertainment, culminating with the Icon of The Year Award.

The winners of first Videocon India Youth Icon Awards are; Priyanka Chopra (Entertainment Icon of the year - female), Hrithik Roshan (Entertainment Icon of the year - male), Abhinav Bindra (Sports), Sachin Bhatia (Technology), Chetan Bhagat (Arts), Ajay Bijli (Entrepreneurship - Private), Barkha Dutt (Media), Rahul Bose (Social Justice) and Omar Abdullah (Politics). There were four other awards also given out; Global Face of the Year - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Icon of the Year - Rahul Gandhi, Fashion Icon of the year - Deepika Padukone and Community icon of the year - PUKAR & Community.

Apart from these awards certain others were recognised for their crusade against corruption in the system. These were Late Jayram, Late Sh. Kameshwar Yadav, Late Yogendra Pandey, Late Satyendra Dubey, Late B.S. Manjunathan. Their families were called on stage and recognised by Nafisa Ali with a Shawl. During the programme actress Dia Mirza and singer Mohit Chauhan entertained the guests, the fashion show by renowned designer Manish Malhotra was another attraction of the evening. On this occasion Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Abhinav Bindra, Rahul Bose, Barkha Dutt, Ajay Bijli, Chetan Bhagat, Sachin Bhatia, R. Madhavan, Irrfan Khan, Siyali Bhagat, Usha Uthup, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ajay Jadeja, Nafisa Ali, Priya Dutt, Pradeep Dhoot, Sabbas Joseph and many others were present. Hussain & Mini Mathur were the comperes.

On this occasion talking about Videocon's association with the Videocon India Youth Icon Awards (VIYIA), Mr. Pradeep Dhoot, President, Videocon Industries Ltd said, "Videocon as a brand today believes in change, we look forward to be a part of any form of change that is refreshing, entertaining and progressing. VIYIA is a platform that acknowledges the drivers of change "The Youth Leaders and Motivators of today" who are greatly responsible for all the positive transformations around us. Videocon India Youth Icon Awards is a platform to identify and honour young Indians who can be emulated for their varied contribution and exemplary merit across various fields, having made a positive imprint on our society.

They are young achievers and can serve as icons for the youth of our country. On introducing this unique awards property, Mr. Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International shared, "We believe that the Youth will take us forward into the next century. It is essential that their Icons be those with determination, courage and aspiration. Instituting the Videocon India Youth Icon Awards is a step in that direction. It's an endeavor to identify and honor such commendable Individuals.