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Britain confers awards to Gujarati achievers

Baroness Shriti Vadera was crowned Asian of the year at a star-studded awards ceremony in London on Monday evening.

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LONDON: Baroness Shriti Vadera was crowned Asian of the year at a star-studded awards ceremony in London on Monday evening.

The Gujarati economist, who has been called Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s ‘representative on earth,’ was given the Hammer Award at the GG2 Leadership and Diversity Awards at a glittering dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane.

Vadera, now the senior-most Indian in the Brown Cabinet after she was promoted from close aide to minister for the Department of International Development, was given the award by chief guest Sarah Brown, wife of the Prime Minister.

Around 1,000 guests belonging to the who’s who of British Asians were invited to the annual gala awards held at The Great Room organised by the Asian Media and Marketing Group which publishes the Garvi Gujarat newspaper aimed at the British Gujaratis.

“Awards and honours are a great way of publicly recognising achievements of individuals. The accolade provides a sense of satisfaction that personal effort has been acknowledged and appreciated,” said Kalpesh Solanki, managing editor of AMG.

Salman Amin, president and CEO of PepsiCo UK and Ireland won the Man of the Year Award. Amin is one of the few Asians to head a blue chip corporation in Britain.

The Woman of the Year Award went to Chitra Bharucha, vice chairman of the BBC Trust. Bharucha, a former consultant by profession, is the first woman to head the BBC.

Angad Paul, son of Lord Swraj Paul and CEO of the family’s Caparo was given the Entrepreneur of the year Award. The 37-year-old took over the helm of Caparo from Lord Paul in 2004 and since then the turnover of the company has increased by 35 per cent and the company has acquired 22 new UK businesses.

Earlier in the evening Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi spoke to BBC newsreader George Alagiah about the new wave of interest in the ideals of the Father of the Nation. He spoke of how Bapu always embraced diversity and felt it was essential for a healthy and a peaceful society.

Other community based awards were also handed out at the event that went on well into the night.

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