Yuvraj Singh awarded Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh and Pakistani journalist Reema Abassi were awarded the fifth Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Awards along with 24 others.

While Yuvraj's foundation 'YouWeCan' has bagged the award for the "best charity" for its work in the field of cancer awareness, Abassi, who shot to fame with her documentation of temples in Pakistan, won the award for the "best literary personality" of the year for her book "Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience".

Cricketer Virender Sehwag's wife, Aarti Sehwag took away the award for "creating a world class school" for the Sehwag International School, the former's dream project.

Tashi and Nungshi Malik, sisters from Haryana who became the first twins to scale Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world in May 2013, were among the other winners.

The awards instituted by the NGO Pehchan, an initiative by a group of media professionals, were presented by Congress leaders Dr Karan Singh, Manish Tewari, and Oscar Fernandes. Rajya Sabha member KTS Tulsi, classical dancer Nishi Rastogi, Canara Bank CMD Rajiv Kant were among other winners.

The NGO which works for the cause of the girl child and the empowerment of women has instituted the awards in the memory of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and has been giving the awards for the past four years.