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  • Nehru, Tendulkar, Gavaskar in History TV18, CNN IBN's 50 great Indians list

    Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 04

    MUMBAI: History TV18 and CNN IBN have announced the names of 50 nominees for the channels? local initiative ?The Greatest Indian?. The list, being released for a nationwide poll, contains iconic Indians like Jawaharalal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. The names have had the maximum impact on the nation since independence.

    The list focusses on the greatest Indians who have shaped the nation in the last 64 years. Of 50 nominees, 15 have received the Bharat Ratna, 13 have played a role in the freedom struggle while 6 are women. Among the 31 super achievers, Pt. Ravi Shankar (92), M S Swaminathan (87) and A B Vajpayee (88) are the senior most, while Sachin Tendulkar (39) is the youngest.

    The initiative is based on the series featured on BBC called ?The Greatest Briton?, and is set to trigger a national debate on who is the Greatest Indian after Mahatma Gandhi. Launched in 2002 in the UK, the initiative reached out to millions of viewers and broke significant viewership records there. An astounding 21 countries have successfully adopted this format since then, and it now promises to create history here in India too.

    IBN18 Network editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai said, ?We believe that this is a one-of-a-kind initiative in the life of a nation that should both excite and educate. I?m sure this series will trigger an enthusiastic debate in homes, offices & public places around the country. Just from the jury discussions and internal debates in the news room, I?ve got a real sense of how passionately people feel about the initiative. We hope that the series will continue to provoke debate and encourage people to cast their vote for the Greatest Indian.?

    A+E Networks TV18 president Ajay Chacko said, ?History TV18?s attempt has been to create interest across generations in the subject in an informal and entertaining way. This partnership with CNN IBN enables HISTORY TV18 to bring forth the inspiring figures over the years, after the Mahatma, who have had the maximum impact on the country?s present and future. While the jury and nationwide polls will ultimately lead to the search for that one individual whose contribution to India has been overwhelmingly acknowledged as the most enduring, it also gives us Indians a chance to be aware of the contributions of many other great individuals from diverse fields.?

    CNN-IBN at Network18 CEO Dilip Venkatraman said, ?At CNN IBN, we have always believed in celebrating India with its unmatched spirit- its will to survive, succeed and thrive against all odds. What better way to be a part of this path-breaking initiative to find out who the Greatest Indian is. An initiative such as this is all the more relevant today, with challenges our country faces, as it would be an interesting reflection of the mood of the nation.?

    BBC Worldwide Productions India GM, creative head Myleeta Aga said, ?BBC Worldwide is thrilled to be partnering with History TV18 to bring this format to the Indian audience. We have no doubt that the interest and debate around identifying the ?greatest Indian since Independence?will make the series a huge success in India as well."

    The jury consists of a panel of 28 epeople like UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani; The Indian Express Group Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta and author and Member, Lok Sabha- Shashi Tharoor and jurist Harish Salve among others.

    The entire process is being audited by Grant Thornton. Along with the nationwide poll, equal weightage will be given to the jury?s selection as well as a separate market research poll conducted by The Nielsen Company. This process will be followed in both phases of the initiative, the first being to arrive at a shortlist of the top 10 ?Greats? and the second, the selection of the ?Greatest Indian?. The shortlist of top 10 ?Greats? is slated to be revealed on 1st July after which the second round of voting begins.

    The initiative will culminate with the announcement of the Greatest Indian in a glittering ceremony to be telecast around Independence Day this year.

    As part of the nationwide poll, viewers can cast they?re vote by visiting the website TheGreatestIndian.in or giving a missed call to a unique number assigned to their nominee of choice.

    These are the 50 nominees for the Greatest Indian

     

    Political Leaders
    Arts And Social Leaders
    Movie Related
    1.Atal Bihari Vajpayee 12. Baba Amte 24. Amitabh Bachchan
    2. Dr. B. R Ambedkar 13. Mother Teresa 25. Raj Kapoor
    3. Indira Gandhi 14. Ela Bhatt 26. Rajinikanth
    4. Jawaharlal Nehru 15. Vinoba Bhave 27. Satyajit Ray
    5. Jayaprakash Narayan 16. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay 28. Lata Mangeshkar
    6. Kanshi Ram 17. Pt. Ravi Shankar 29. A. R. Rahman
    7. Vallabhbhai Patel 18. M S Subbulakshmi 30. Kishore Kumar
    8. Dr. Rammanohar Lohia 19. M. F. Husain 31. Dilip Kumar
    9. Rajagopalachari 20. Bismillah Khan 32. Dev Anand
    10. Sam Manekshaw 21. RK Narayan 33. Mohammad Rafi
    11. APJ Abdul Kalam 22. R K Laxman  
      23. B. K. S. Iyengar  

     

     

     

    Entrepreneurs and Idea Leaders
    Sports and Administrators
    34. Homi Bhabha 45. Sachin Tendulkar
    35. Dhirubhai Ambani 46. Kapil Dev
    36. Verghese Kurien 47. Sunil Gavaskar
    37. Ghanshyam Das Birla 48. Dhyan Chand
    38. J. R. D. Tata 49. Viswanathan Anand
    39. N R Narayanamurthy 50. Milkha Singh
    40. Vikram Sarabhai  
    41. M.S. Swaminathan  
    42. Ramnath Goenka  
    43. Amartya Sen  
    44. Dr. E. Sreedharan
    Image
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