Zee News honours bravehearts with Ananya Samman

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
To mark the triumph of the 'human spirit' of ordinary men and women, who have done extraordinary things and gone beyond the realm of personal well-being to save and protect the lives of others, Zee News has honoured them with Ananya Samman.

The initiative is aimed at paying tribute to the outstanding deeds of bravery and selfless sacrifice performed by India's real heroes against terrorism. The on air episode will be telecast on December 26, 2008 at 8:00 pm onwards on Zee News and few other network channels.

Zee News Ananya Samman felicitated the individuals and the families of NSG commandos; the Mumbai fire service; CST announcer Vishnu Zende; the Indian Army; RPF personnel Julu Yadav, Sandeep Khiratkar and Kiran Bhosale; assistant sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble; joint commissioner of police, Hemant Karkare; additional commissioner of police, Ashok Kamte; inspector Vijay Salaskar; constable Arun Jadhav; major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, constable Gajendra Singh; team Taj; team Oberoi; critical care specialist Dr Mursalin Shaikh; inspector MC Sharma; DTC bus driver Kuldeep Singh; parliament house attack victims; captain Devi Sharan of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which was hijacked at Kandahar; and former chief of intelligence bureau, AK Doval, among others.

Barun Das, CEO, Zee News, said, "Furthering Zee News' spirit of 'Zara Sochiye', Zee News Ananya Samman is the much-needed acknowledgement and recognition of the selfless sacrifice of human beings. It aims to honour all those individuals who did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives or have contributed towards the citizenry's well-being. We are thankful to all the august honourees, together with other special guests and personalities from all walks of life, for joining us in this cause."

The event witnessed a league of distinguished people, including, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former vice-president of India; Lal Krishna Advani, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha; Murli Manohar Joshi; Rajnath Singh, president, BJP; political secretary to the Congress president, Ahmed Patel; Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs; cabinet ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Dr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Kapil Sibbal, Vyalar Ravi; Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav; Pawan Kumar Bansal; Lok Sabha MPs Deependra Hooda and Sachin Pilot; and TV personality Ashok Chakradhar, among many others.