CNBC has been taking an increasing number of off-air initiatives to further strengthen its bonding with its core audience: the business news viewer. Earlier this year (6 July) it organised the Managing India Brainstorm in Mumbai. For the past couple of months it has been plugging its Business Leaders Awards which were organised by CNBC Asia and TNT.

Held for the first time by CNBC Asia and business logistics solutions company TNT and aimed at rewarding excellence in the corporate arena, the awards honour executives and industry leaders for contributions made in their respective spheres.

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According to the channel, more than a thousand nominees were received and the 10 finalists were chosen by a panel headed by economist Lester Thurow. The finalists were chosen based on the roadmap they charted for their respective companies as well as their ability to manage diverse talent in a difficult job market. The theme of the awards, held at Singapore, was 'Reinventing Corporate Asia'.

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Four Indians figured in the final list: ICICI CEO & managing director K.V. Kamath, Infosys head N R Narayana Murthy, Wipro chief Azim Premji and Satyam Computers' B Ramalinga Raju.

Today, the business news channel announced the winners. And ICICI CEO & managing director K V Kamath emerged tops and was named as 'Asian Business Leader of the Year', beating back a host of other candidates from Asia.

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A jubilant Kamath told CNBC India after bagging the award that "the award was for Team ICICI. ICICI is technology-led but the challenge lies in driving it at a healthy pace. We have modern systems with no legacy. We are not afraid to make changes. We have a healthy growth engine in retail and corporate and retail can only grow in the coming year. We don't have any problems which have arisen on account of the merger between ICICI and ICICI Bank. ICICI is 45 years old but the average age is 32 years.. we have the best talent base. "

Other winners of the Asian Business Leader Awards included Mazda Motor Corp president Mark Fields who was named Corporate Citizen of the Year. Singapore-based hotel group Raffles International CEO Richard Helfer walked away with The Innovator of the Year Award, while the prestigious CEOs' Choice Award was bagged by Neptune Orient Lines' CEO Flemming Jacobs.

The awards show sponsored by Citibank and Avaya on CNBC showed at 7 pm and was repeated at 10 pm.

All Pictures courtesy CNBC Asia