New Delhi: BloombergUTV, India?s premier business news channel, presented the FINANCIAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2012 to honour the extraordinary Financial Leaders and Visionaries of India?s Financial Sector. The Hon?ble Finance Minister, Shri. Pranab Mukherjee and a host of other dignitaries from the industry presented the awards to winners.

The Financial Leadership Awards were bestowed on 20 corporates across Banking, Equity, Currency, Commodity, Insurance and Mutual Fund sectors. This year, BloombergUTV has instituted two new awards viz., ?Woman Leader of the Year? and ?Life Time Achievement Award? to recognise and honour the achievements and contribution of individuals from the sector.

Deepak Lamba, Business Head ? BloombergUTV, speaking on the occasion said, ?It is an honour and privilege for BloombergUTV that Shri. Mukherjee consented to grace the Financial Leadership Awards this evening. I would like to extend hearty congratulations to all the winners. This is the second consecutive year that Shri. Mukherjee joined us to honour and recognise the visionaries and achievers of the Indian Financial Sector, which is a testimony to the fact that these Awards are held in high esteem by all the stakeholders of the Indian financial sector.?

Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman ? HDFC has guided and nurtured the growth of HDFC to the conglomerate that it is today and was aptly honoured with the ?Life Time Achievement Award?. Ms. Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO ? Axis Bank was awarded the ?Woman Leader of the Year? award.

In the Banking Category, Axis Bank bagged the ?Fastest Growing Bank? award; Bank of Baroda won the ?Best PSU Bank? award; Karur Vyasa Bank won the ?Best Private Sector Bank; and Standard Chartered Bank won the ?Best Foreign Bank? award.

In the Insurance Category, HDFC Standard Life Insurance bagged the Life Insurer of the Year award; United India Insurance Co. Ltd. bagged the General Insurance of the Year - Public Sector and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. won the ?General Insurance of the Year - Private Sector? awards.

In the Mutual Funds category, HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. won the ?Best Mutual Fund ? Equity? award and Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. Ltd. won the ?Best Mutual Fund ? Debt? award.

In the Broking Category, Religare Commodities Ltd. was awarded the ?Best Commodity Broker?; Nirmal Bang Commodities Pvt. Ltd. won the ?Best Emerging Commodity Broker? award; Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd. bagged the ?Best Equity Broker? award and SMC Global Securities Ltd. won the ?Best Currency Broker? award.

The Jury Panel comprised of well-known and highly respected personalities from the Indian Financial sector. The jury members were Ashok Wadhwa (Group CEO - Ambit Holdings), Keki Mistry (Vice Chairman & CEO - HDFC Ltd.), Shardul Shroff (Managing Partner - Amarchand Mangaldas), Ridham Desai (MD & Co-Head - Morgan Stanley), G N Bajpai (Former Chairman ? SEBI), Dr. Janmejaya Sinha (Chairman - Asia Pacific ? BCG), Shailesh Haribhakti (Exec Chairman & Managing Partner - BDO Consulting), Amarjit Chopra (President ? ICAI), Tamal Bandopadhyay (Dy. Managing Editor ? MINT), Kaushal Aggarwal (MD - Avendus Capital), Dr. Chiragra Chakrabarty (Director - Financial Advisory, Deloitte), Karthik Srinivasan (Co-Head - Financial Sector, ICRA) and L Shivakumar (Sr. Group VP & Head - Western Region ? ICRA)

The BloombergUTV Financial Leadership Awards were presented by MCX and powered by Sonata with ICRA as the Knowledge Partner, Taj Lands End as the Hospitality Partner and DSN as the OOH Partner. The detailed list of winners is annexed along with.

Mumbai: Maharashtra has had a special place in the history of progressive India. It has produced leaders who have made a great contribution to the development of the country in all walks of life. Be it politics, music, sports, films, literature, theatre, fashion, business, social service, farming, journalism or medicine, Maharashtrians have scripted many of India?s grand success stories.

In this fame-obsessed time, there are people doing phenomenal work without any expectation of recognition. There are people who have contributed to the society and served their respective fields with the devotion that can inspire many. They have been appreciated well now its time to give due recognition them, now its time to honor them!

A man who collects money in the local trains to build a school. A coach who helps kids succeed at the international level in the forgotten game of Kabaddi. A police constable who lost his arm while diffusing a bomb. These are the real heroes of our society showing real courage in everyday life. We take it upon ourselves to honour these unsung heroes who, with their undying dedication and passion, are making this world a better place.

Zee 24 Taas, the first 24-hour Marathi news channel takes great pride in felicitating these real heroes of Maharashtra. Zee 24 Taas Ananya Sanman is a unique platform which gives due recognition to these real heroes who have considerably contributed in their sphere of work. People who have done great deal of work in their fields but still go un-recognized and stayed away from limelight.

In its first year, Ananya Sanman 2008 honored the Marathi achievers from various fields who achieved fame in their respective arena of work.

In the second & third year, Ananya Sanman 2009 & Ananya Sanman 2010 honored the un-sung heroes from various fields who have done in-comparable work in their respective sphere.

The fourth edition is also a continued effort for carrying forward the tradition of "Sanman" and honoring the extraordinary. There are seven different categories that have been chosen to honor unsung heroes. These categories are; Entertainment, Sports, Farming, Education, Environment, Social Service and Bravery.

The recipients of these honors will be felicitated by the hands of veterans of those respective fields.

The concluding part to this ceremonious occasion sees a life time achievement honor to a legendary person with a stature.

The previous editions have witnessed the presence of eminent personalities from politics, business, culture & sports. Hon?ble Chief Minister & Dy. Chief Minister were the chief guests for the ceremony in respective years.

Zee 24 Taas Ananya Sanman 2011 is being hosted in association with Loksatta. Tata Sumo Gold, LIC of India, Axis Bank, Ideal e-live, and Rambandhu Masale are the associate sponsors whereas TJSB Bank is the official banker.