Mary Kom accepted the award from Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami at a lavish ceremony on Thursday night, speaking of her 20-year journey of hard work and devoted her life to boxing.
Mary Kom, India’s first-ever Olympic medalist in women’s boxing, has been named Global Indian Icon of the Year at the annual UK-India Awards in Windsor, south-eastern England. The 40-year-old former Rajya Sabha member accepted the award from Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami at a lavish ceremony on Thursday night, speaking of her 20-year journey of hard work and devoted her life to boxing.
“I’ve been fighting for 20 years, putting in so much effort, hard work in my life, in boxing, it means a lot… making sacrifices for my country, for my family.” “I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart for this recognition,” she remarked.
Shekhar Kapur, the director of Oscar-nominated ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age,’ won a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the area of cinema in both countries at the awards, which were presented by India Global Forum (IGF) as part of UK-India Week.
The Nehru Centre in London, the cultural arm of the Indian High Commission, received the UK-India Award for Significant Contribution to UK-India Relations.
“This is one of the most exciting times to be an Indian in many centuries, and India’s growing economy has caused many others, including many Westerners, to think differently about India.” However, India’s culture will cause many others, including many Westerners, to think differently. And it is our privilege at the Nehru Centre to contribute to the expansion and popularisation of Indian culture in the West,” stated author Amish Tripathi, Director of the Nehru Centre.
The awards, currently in their fifth year, celebrate outstanding contributions of leaders in business, professional services, government, culture, and social impact, emphasising their amazing achievements in enhancing bilateral ties.
“These awards are about celebrating the power of collaboration and the limitless potential that lies within our partnership,” stated IGF founder and chairman Manoj Ladwa.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) UK received the UK-India Award for Business Promotion Organisation of the Year, which spans numerous categories.
Market Entrant of the Year for upstart investing platform CrowdInvest, Consultancy of the Year for SannamS4, Legal Practise of the Year for Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and Financial Services Organisation of the Year for ICICI Bank UK Plc were among the other accolades. Mphasis was voted Technology Company of the Year, and Action Aid UK was selected Social Impact Project of the Year.
The awards were chosen from a shortlist by a jury of industry experts and marked the penultimate event of the six-day UK-India Week, which also included a special reception at 10 Downing Street hosted by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during which he committed to working towards a “truly ambitious” free trade agreement (FTA) with India.
The UK-India relationship spans various categories.
“It’s not just UK-India Week, but a whole Indian summer… over the next few weeks the eyes of the world will be on India. There’s the G20 in New Delhi, I can’t wait to be there,” he said, indicating plans for a visit for the world leader’s summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September.
