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MUMBAI:
In celebrating 60 years of our nation's independence, IBN 7 &
CNN-IBN have initiated 'Real Heroes' - an effort to recognise, acknowledge
and celebrate India's unsung heroes who have shown great courage
and perseverance in silently and selflessly contributing to the
betterment of society. Journalists from the two channels travelled
the length and breadth of the country to discover these people and
join them in their cause to get a first-hand feel of what exactly
they do and how they do it. The month long initiative airs every
Saturday 1:30 pm (with a repeat on Sunday 11:30 am & 6:30 pm)
on CNN-IBN and 4:30 pm on IBN 7
Real
Heroes involved first, the IBN editorial identifying six unsung
heroes from four zones across India - South, North, East and West,
which is followed closely by an on-air announcement of their names
and accomplishments through editorial stories, vignettes and weekend
specials and finally all 24 heroes shall be honoured and felicitated
at a grand event with a trophy, cheque and sponsorship entitlements
from 'bank partners' to sustain their cause.
The
twenty four heroes identified from the country are:
North
1. Rajpal Singh, Trainer and International Shooter, Air Rifle -
He has been mentoring international shooters from Johadi, a small
village in U.P., for over a decade now and has produced more than
20 such champion shooters. He has also helped villagers and youth
wean away from crime by channelling their energies towards excelling
in the sport.
2. Sonam Wangchuk, Educationalist - By introducing educational reforms
in government-run schools, she is encouraging communities to reinforce
the cultural identity of minority ethnic groups that live along
the northern border of India.
3. Dr. Anil Joshi, Mill Manager - He has set up water mills in the
foothills of Dehradun to generate renewable energy and in-turn provided
electricity to more than 1000 villages in the Himalayan region with
the help of a simple technology innovation. He has also revived
a 7th Century grain-milling apparatus to produce electricity.
4. J.P. Darbal, Environmentalist - He has saved more than 90,000
trees from being cute in the Tehri-Garhwal region. He is now working
with various organisations to help the government formulate guidelines
for laying down transmission lines in the Himalayan sub-region.
5. Sharad Sharma, Comic Creator - With World Comics India, the organization
he started, Sharad has pioneered a cheap and easy medium for poor
people to communicate meaningfully on issues that are neglected
by the conventional media. While the urban elite dominate public
media, the grinding day-to-day concerns of millions are rarely heard.
Layers of discrimination and abuse heaped on huge numbers of people
keep their problems out of sight and out of mind, yet these are
the people and problems of India.
6. Chewang Norphel, Water Harvester - He is a retired civil engineer
who builds glacier in Leh. He and his colleagues at the Leh Nutirtion
Project have, till date, built 10 artificial glaciers to preserve
and ensure water supply in the region.
South
7.
Renny George, Activist - An ex-convict based out of Bangalore, Renny
runs a school and home for children of prisoners.
8. Sunita Krishnan, Activist - Sunita heads an anti-trafficking
group based from Hyderabad, rescuing women from brothels. She has
also institutionalised an anti-trafficking cell within police stations.
9. Krishnan, Former Chef - A former five-star hotel chef from Madurai
who provides three free meals a day to about 200 destitute and homeless
people.
10. Thomas Master, Coach - He is a 61-year old athletics coach from
Kottayam who has been a mentor to many of Kerela's star athletes
- from Anju Bobby George to Shiny Wilson.
11. Prabhakar, Banker - He left a job in the U.S. to start a micro-credit
initiative in Kollangode/Palakad. Here loans are given without collateral
to women with each one paying back her loan successfully.
12. Ahmed Khan, Recycler - Based out of Bangalore, Ahmed uses plastic
in road construction, thereby reducing the ecological impact of
plastic and making better roads.
East
13.
Dharanidhar Boro, Wildlife Conservationist - He has dedicated his
life to saving the one-horned Rhino at Kaziranga.
14. Marykom, Boxer - This internationally acclaimed champion boxer
from Manipur, though not widely known in the country, runs a small
training school for aspiring boxers.
15. Ashish, Banker - He collects money to run a medicine bank for
the poor.
16. Deep Joshi, Activist - He takes IIT graduates to rural areas
to work for the under-privileged.
17. Abhay Anand, Teacher - This teacher from Bihar coaches kids
for the IIT JEE. He takes on about 30 kids, almost all of whom make
it through the tough entrance exam.
18. Swapan Mukhopadhay, Social Activist - He houses, feeds and educates
over 40 destitute kids. In teaching these children to make films,
he has gone on to create many award-winning filmmakers out of them.
West
19.
Dr. Subroto Das, Doctor - Originally started in Gujarat, this doctor
works to saves lives of accident victims on highways. His organisation
is now going national.
20. Armaine Mody - In the fight for literacy, sometimes small and
unlikely things can become tools of empowerment. For Armanine, it
was the bi-cycle. She is responsible for more than 450 girls getting
an education, all because she cared enough to give them a ride.
21. Nishta Desai, Activist - She works hard to stop paedophilia
and child abuse in Goa.
22. Samvardhan Mandal, Doctor - He gave up his chemical business
to go back to his village and start a training academy to coach
future marathon runners.
23. Sushma Iyengar, Activist - She is a woman who has spent a large
part of her life re-developing villages in Gujarat.
24. Haneefbhai, Social Worker - As a social worker in Ahmedabad,
Haneefbhai is working towards bringing about communal harmony.
A week
is dedicated to each of the four zones wherein the twenty-four heroes
individually and systematically profiled and their works chronicled
through numerous short-stories on the newswheel followed by a half-hour
special episode summarising each zone on both IBN 7 and CNN-IBN.
While
it's easy to remember, recall and admire all those who have been
popularised through history, literature and the media for their
contribution to the development of the country, how often does one
remember members of the common citizenry, who are not well-known,
yet have dedicated their lives to helping others and achieving the
extraordinary? 'Real Heroes' is exactly such an initiative
'Real
Heroes' celebrates the triumph of human spirit and in particular
those who have gone beyond the realm of personal well-being and
worked for the well-being of others. A real hero is an ordinary
man or woman who dedicated himself/herself to doing extraordinary
things!
Speaking
on the initiative, Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN and
IBN 7 said, "Real Heroes is our way of saluting all those previously
unknown men and women who, in their own ways have made a difference.
It's about time their efforts were recognised and appreciated and
they felicitated as the 'real heroes' of Independent India."
"The
concept of 'Real Heroes' is one that is bound to appeal to all our
viewers nation-wide. In addition to proving lucrative to our advertising
partners, the property also provides excellent visibility to those
opting as 'bank partners' and sponsoring the 24 heroes." Said,
Sanjay Dua, National Sales Head, CNN-IBN and IBN 7.
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