Stressing the need for encouraging women, who excelled in various fields, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu congratulated The New Indian Express Group for presenting Devi Awards to women every year.
Venkaiah Naidu presented Devi Awards of The New Indian Express Group to 10 women achievers for their dynamism and innovation at a colourful function here on Monday.
This is the second edition of Devi Awards in Hyderabad. There was an air of festivity, an exchange of new ideas, thoughts and expressions and a platform for intellectual debate at the second edition of The New Indian Express Devi awards in Hyderabad on Monday.
The event was buzzing with people as eminent personalities from across the city came out in numbers to show their appreciation and support towards the 10 women from the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, who were awarded for their outstanding work, dynamism, innovation and excellence.
The awards were given away by the union minister for Information and Broadcasting and Urban development M Venkaiah Naidu.
Despite rough weather, Hyderabadis beat the rain to arrive on time and listened with rapt attention to the inspirational stories of these brave women, who battled all odds to make a difference in their respective fields.
As eminent doctors, artistes, writers, politicians and entrepreneurs came together to celebrate women and their fight towards excellence in a largely male-dominated society, the impact their stories had on the attentive audience was telling.
Speaking after presenting the Devi awards, Venkaiah Naidu congratulated The New Indian Express for recognising and encouraging women achievers. He said TNIE had a rich culture nurtured by its founder Ramnath Goenka.
“Goenka is the lion of Indian journalism. We have to get inspiration from him. Goenka proved that pen is more powerful than gun,” Venkaiah Naidu said.
“Presenting awards to women by the New Indian Express is noble work,” Venkaiah Naidu said.
He said women had always given high respect in the country. “We call our nation as Mother India (Bharata Maatha),” Venkaiah Naidu said.
Naidu recalled that Nightingale of India Sarojini Naidu, who was from Hyderabad, was president of Congress and recently PV Sindhu from Hyderabad won Olympic medal. The Union Minister, however, lamented that the sex ratio in the country was decreased from 2001 to 2011. “Sex ratio is healthier in South than the North India,” he added. That was why Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched “Beti Bachao — Beti Padhao” programme, which was now focus in the country, Naidu added. Venkaiah Naidu complimented The New Indian Express for selecting the common women who struggled hard to achieve success. The New Indian Express Editor GS Vasu said that like film industry, journalism too was male dominated. He hoped that more women should come into journalism. TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla said “Devi Awards” were given to those who rendered selfless service to society. The word “Devi” is a secular word and has nothing to do with religion, he added.