In Association with BALAJI Foundation “SWADESH CONCLAVE and AWARDS” is an innovative initiative of APN news which started in 2020. SWADESH CONCLAVE is a theme based platform where we ensure a broad based, inclusive and sustainable growth. As such we need to focus on empowering and motivating the underprivileged sections of the society so that they not only come out of poverty but also contribute positively to nation building. That’s how when we celebrate 100 years of independence, India can claim its rightful place at the top of the galaxy of nations. This Conclave has been planned to create a road map of the holistic development of the nation in the next 25 year.
Since its beginning it is covering various aspects of nation-building through open, vibrant, and insightful interaction and panel discussions involving Ministers, domain experts, policymakers, bureaucrats, civil society, and youth.
Keeping pace with us and wishing us well have been performers from across the political spectrum, social, financial, and digital divides. In a ringing endorsement by top judiciary, several union ministers and chief ministers, Legal Luminaries, marvelous artists, incredible writers, journalists, Educationists have graced our platform and our award.
Self Reliant India
Justice Lahoti, a noted jurist, was economical with words and probably the least vocal among recent Chief Justices. He served one of the longest terms as Chief Justice in recent years, retiring from office after 17 months.
In November 2004, Chief Justice Lahoti, broke ground with many of his predecessors who had expressed concern about the growing corruption within the judiciary, by proclaiming that the judiciary in India was 'clean'. This was an astounding statement, especially in the light of frequent exposés in the media about errant judges across the country.
Pandit Birju Maharaj was an Indian dancer, composer, singer and exponent of the Banaras "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers,Known for his perfect rhythm and expressive abhinaya, or gesture language, Birju Maharaj developed a style that blends elements belonging to both his uncles as well as those belonging to his father. He claimed to have inherited the precision of footwork and the play of the face and neck from his father, and the stylized fluidity of movement from his uncles. In addition to delineating episodes from the Radha-Krishna legend, Birju Maharaj innovatively used the dance form to express himself on various non-mythological and social issues. He was especially known as a brilliant choreographer, and he helped popularize dance-dramas.
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, is the president and spiritual head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram, a spiritual institution based in Rishikesh, India. He is also the founder and spiritual head of the Hindu Jain Temple in Pittsburgh
Manoj Sinha is an Indian politician serving as the 2nd & current Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He served as the Minister of State for Communications and Minister of State for Railways in the Government of India.
Frank Islam is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader and thought leader with a special commitment to civic, educational and artistic causes. He currently heads the FI Invest Group a firm that he established after he sold his information technology firm, the QSS Group in 2007.
Frank serves on number boards and advisory councils including the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Brookings Institution. He also serves on various boards and councils at more than half-dozen universities including Johns Hopkins, University, American University, and George Mason University.
Frank has written two well regarded books on the American condition, Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again (2013). Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).
Women Empowerment
Director, National Institute of Virology
Her team handled India's first Covid-19 case; isolated and characterized the SARS-CoV-2 virus; collaborated with pharma companies to conduct studies and clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines.
Para-shooter
A gold in 10m air rifle standing event and a bronze in 50m rifle 3 positions event at Tokyo 2020 makes her the only Indian woman to win multiple Paralympic medals.
Indu Malhotra is a retired judge and senior counsel of the Supreme Court of India. She was the second woman to be designated as Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court. She was the first woman advocate to be elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India directly from the bar
Sharda Sinha is an Indian Maithili language folk-singer. She also sings in Hindi, Bangla, Nagpuri, Magahi and Bhojpuri languages. She is known for her Maithili version of the Chhath Puja themed song "Ho Dinanath". Sinha was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award
Manasi Pradhan is an author and activist for women’s rights in India. She is the originator of the Honour for Women National Campaign, a statewide campaign in India dedicated to ending violence against women.
She started an NGO OYSS Women in 1987. The initial goal was to assist female students in obtaining higher education and developing into future leaders in society. OYSS Women has been holding leadership workshops, education and vocational training camps, legal awareness, and self-defense programmes for hundreds of young women grooming them to be future leaders in their fields. Apart from this, the group engages in a wide range of activities and events and is widely credited with pioneering contributions to women’s empowerment. The group is also the driving force behind the National Campaign for Women’s Honour.
Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
With Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav in the background, we explored the Vision of New India this year. We invited Hon’ble Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of States, and several other eminent speakers to share their Vision of India.
On August 8, 2022 (which was televised on August 15, 2022), we held different sessions and discussed the achievements of the Nation so far and the way forward. Apart from this, we celebrated the essence of true India with our Swadesh Excellence Awards and spectacular Cultural Performances.
The Swadesh Excellence Awards are prestigious awards which are conferred after an eminent selection committee vets nominations from across the world. This year, our selection committee consisted of 9 judges. After receiving the nomination, the Jury decided the final awardees on the basis of their contribution to society.
In 2022, Swadesh Awards were conferred on 30 eminent personalities.
Road, Transport and Highway Minister, Govt. of India
Nitin Jairam Gadkari is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways currently running his tenure for over 8 years.
Union Minister of I & B, Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India.
Anurag Singh Thakur is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. He is the current Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Second Modi ministry. Previously, Thakur served as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by poll as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Union Minister of State(Ind. Charge)Science & Tech
Dr. Jitendra Singh is an Indian physician and politician. He is the Minister of State for the Ministry of Science and Technology and Minister of state ministry of earth science and Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space.
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India
Justice Venkatachaliah served as the 25th Chief Justice of India from February 12, 1993 to October 24, 1994
Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah began his general practice of law in 1951. He became a permanent judge of the Karnataka High Court on November 6, 1975 and was later elevated as the judge of the Supreme Court on October 5, 1987. He became the Chief Justice of India on February 12, 1993. He served in office for almost 2 years, retiring on October 24, 1994.
Justice Venkatachaliah also served as the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of India from November 26, 1996 to October 24, 1999.
Spiritual guide, Social reformer, Educationist, Author and Speaker
Sri M’s transformational journey, from a young boy to a living yogi is a fascinating story symbolised by single-minded discipline and dedication. At the age of 9, his spiritual transformation was initiated by his future Master, Babaji. In 1998, he started his teachings, eventually becoming part of the The Satsang Foundation. Sri M was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 2020, for distinguished service of high order in spirituality.
Member Secretary, IGNCA
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Joshi is currently the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, BrahMos Aerospace and is a Senior Defence Scientist of DRDO. His pioneering contributions as Technology Advisor to Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Head, Programme Office (Missiles & Strategic Systems), sustained R&D contributions and techno-managerial leadership has exponentially strengthened multiple technology domains, international collaborations and flow of learning across organizational boundaries to promote indigenous developments in defence and aerospace. His versatile contributions paved the way for export of BrahMos System to friendly nations.
Deputy CEO, BrahMos Aerospace & Senior Scientist at DRDO
Dr Sanjeev Kumar Joshi is currently the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, BrahMos Aerospace and is a Senior Defence Scientist of DRDO. His pioneering contributions as Technology Advisor to Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Head, Programme Office (Missiles & Strategic Systems), sustained R&D contributions and techno-managerial leadership has exponentially strengthened multiple technology domains, international collaborations and flow of learning across organizational boundaries to promote indigenous developments in defence and aerospace sector. His versatile contributions paved the way for export of BrahMos System to friendly nations.
Instituted in 2020, SWADESH Award salutes people, projects and institutions that go the extra mile to make India a better nation. SWADESH Award winners include the mighty and the ordinary alike. They receive this award for their extraordinary achievements in contributing to society. The SWADESH Award covers the best efforts in digital, financial and social inclusion. It encompasses the best of governance, inclusive growth, excellence in technology and applications, change management, corporate leadership, corporate governance, citizen services delivery, capacity building, empowerment and other such softer issues that get normally lost in the glamour and the glitz of industry-sponsored or advertising focused jamborees.
SWADESH Award not only acknowledges exceptional achievers—organizations and individuals—but also spurs inspirational guidance and motivational leadership.
These will be selected based on specific criteria. These awards will not only recognize outstanding contributions made by the awardees but also inspire many others to follow their example and work towards bringing about positive transformations.
The finely honed process within built checks and balances is the biggest differentiator for SWADESH Award. Nominees fill in exhaustive documentation to support their achievements. The biggest purpose that this documentation serves is the creating of a knowledge repository on what changed and how. This then can also serve as an institutional memory.
1Each nomination goes through extensive scrutiny and checks for completion and veracity.
2The process takes into account views of people who benefit from such projects, peers who are working on similar projects, and several domain experts from across the country.
3The most useful outcome of the Swadesh Award process is that it gives a benchmark that compares performance across sectors.
4We draw our jury from domain experts who have spent decades in their areas of specialization, and they invest time in a face-to-face evaluation of each short-listed nomination. This takes a humongous effort that spreads over multiple sessions and days.
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“SWADESH CONCLAVE and AWARDS” is an initiative of APN news which started in 2020. This is the 3rd edition of this prestigious award. Since its beginning, it is covering various aspects of nation-building through open, vibrant, insightful interaction and panel discussions.
One can attend this event by invitation only.
Yes, you can nominate the person/s or institution/s for the award via this form – https://forms.gle/mP1WhuYzvhVvn6PQA
For the SWADESH Award, we draw our Jury from domain experts who have spent decades in their areas of specialisation, and they invest time in a face-to-face evaluation of each nomination. This year the selection committee will consist of 9 Judges.
The SWADESH Award will be confer at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on Monday, August 8, 2022.
Vision of New India in the background of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
This year we are exploring the Vision of New India in the background of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. In 2022, we invite the Hon’ble Vice President, Union Ministers, State Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers and Eminent Speakers to share their Vision of India.
The finely honed process within built checks and balances is the biggest differentiator for SWADESH Award. Nominees (Individuals/Institutions) fill in exhaustive documentation to support their achievements and contribution to society.
Hon’ble Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers – Nitin Gadkari, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hardeep Singh Puri, Giriraj Singh, Minister of State – Prahlad Singh Patel, B L Verma, Ramdas Athawale, Anupriya Patel and other eminent personalities will attend the Conclave.
Former CJI RC Lahoti, Jammu & Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha, Late Pandit Birju Maharaj, philanthropist Frank Islam, Parmarth Niketan Ashram head Swami Chidanand Saraswati, National Institute of Virology Director Dr Priya Abraham, Justice Indu Malhotra, Maithili folk-singer Sharda Sinha and India’s star Para-shooter Avani Lekhara among those who received this prestigious award.
