Indian Prime Minister presents 3 gold medals to Anas and co

Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his team members won the top prize and took home the $11,000 prize money.

The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh presented three gold medals, certificates and a cash prize of US$11,000 to Ghana's ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for winning India's most prestigious prize in Journalism.

At a grand ceremony at the Taj Palace in New Delhi, the Prime Minister conferred the Karpoor Chandra Kulish (KCK) International Award for Excellence in Print Journalism to Anas Aremeyaw Anas and two of his team members from The New Crusading GUIDE. The team won the top prize with two stories titled “Undercover: inside Ghana's Madhouse” and “Undercover: inside the Chinese Sex Mafia”.

The Indian Prime Minster commended the winning team for meeting the Award's criteria of “contributing to impacting the lives and meeting the aspirations of common people and focusing on inclusiveness of the marginalized and the disadvantaged”.

“I congratulate the team from The New Crusading Guide from Africa to receive the 3rd KC Kulish award today. This is a matter of pleasure that this international award of Rajasthan Patrika is being received by African journalists. We have special space in our hearts for African brothers and sisters and shall remain so. I believe that through these initiatives the ties between the countries shall strengthen further”, he stated.

He noted that “the media has a crucial role in democracy and should strive for stability and mitigating tension in the society”. He encouraged the Indian media to help preserve the values, culture and identity of the nation without falling for the trend of paid news and sensational journalism.

He further paid tribute to the founder of the Patrika Group, Karpoor Chandra Kulish, who was described as “not only an inimitable genius, a profound spiritualist and a brilliant journalist but also one of the most well known visionaries of his time”.

BL Joshi, Governor of UP, who presided over the ceremony said that Kulishji was a rare combination of a great determination and a man of vision, fired with the zeal of a missionary to bring enlightenment and knowledge to the people of Rajasthan – not particularly known for progressivism at that period of time, through serving them objective news, information and comments on contemporary events. For this, he chose to plant the sapling of a Hindi newspaper which, over the years, has grown into a mighty oak. He congratulated the winners for their commitment and missionary zeal they exhibited through their work, for which the award has been acclaimed for.

Gulab Kothari, Chief Editor, Rajasthan Patrika group in his speech said: 'On account of the diversity of language and culture in India, the mass communication system has not developed traditionally. The regional newspapers had to see many ups and downs on account of the language.' He said that the Rajasthan Patrika passed through many challenges and has withstood temptations and threats. It also became a victim of many governments but it has steadfastly stuck to the ideal cherished by late Shri Karpoor Chandra Kulish founder of Rajasthan Patrika.

The Award, which was under the theme 'Inclusive Development', received 187 entries from across the globe. The jury panel for the award included Gloria Brown Anderson of The New York Times, S. Gurumurthy, journalist, Yoginder K Alagh, Chairman, IRMA, and Gulab Kothari, Editor-in- Chief, Patrika group.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Mary Fianko Akuffo and Selase Kove-Seyram - the team of journalists from The New Crusading Guide, Accra, Ghana emerged winners for their investigative story campaigns titled 'Undercover inside Ghana's Madhouse & Undercover inside the Chinese Sex Mafia'. Seven other journalists were given merit awards for their entries.

Raising the Ghanaian Flag High
The Ghanaian national flag was raised high at the Taj Palace in New Delhi, India as The New Crusading GUIDE team ascended the dais to claim the win Prize of India's prestigious Award for Excellence in Print Journalism. The three team members received a standing ovation from the dignitaries at the ceremony, who extended notes of congratulations for the feat accomplished through the media.

Ghanaian High Commissioner to India, Robert Tachie-Menson, who was among the dignitaries at the Taj Place, expressed delight at the occasion and noted with national pride, the global impact and contribution being made by The New Crusading GUIDE through the power of the media. He congratulated the team members and stressed the need for more of such stories to facilitate national development.

Harold Agyeman, Head of Chancery of the Ghanaian High Commission in India, also joined the team at the ceremony. He indicated that feats such as the one accomplished by the team are significant in strengthening international relations towards national development.

Other dignitaries at the ceremony included Chief Minister of MP, Shivraj Singh Chauha, Ex CM Rajastham, Vasundhara Raje, Cenral minister Ambika Soni, CP Joshi, Sachin Pilot, NN Meena and other dignitaries were present at the ceremony.

The winning team also had an opportunity to meet the Indian Press at the Patrika Media Group Headquarters in Rajasthan. There was an exchange of ideas on how journalism can be used to drive social change. The Indian press commended the team, particularly the leader Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for the courageous spirit which birthed the award-winning stories. Editor in Chief and Publisher of the Patrika Media Group, Gulab Kothari maintained that the two stories were “great” and “showed the degree of excellence pursued by the team”.

He expressed the hope that relations between Africa and India would be greatly enhanced through collaboration in such enterprises as developmental journalism.