~ Witness the achievements of India’s finest luminaries of the year 2015 ~

New Delhi, 10th February 2016: After nine glorious years of honouring individuals & organisations that embody the spirit of excellence, CNN-IBN is all set to celebrate the achievements of 2015 with the iconic Indians who have made a significant contribution to the society and are a source of inspiration to many. CNN-IBN presents the 10th edition of its flagship initiative – ‘Indian of the Year’ (IOTY), which over the years has become one of the biggest and most credible awards in Indian media. The winners will be felicitated at a glittering ceremony to be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 23 February, 2016.

Instituted in 2006, the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year has over the years achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by others in the media industry. The award distinguishes itself by celebrating not only exemplary individuals and their achievements but also the ideas that have inspired India and impacted our lives.

The awards adhere to a transparent and robust selection procedure that includes the IBN Editorial Board drawing up a list of nominees, further leading to the final selection of winners by a Jury comprising a select group of distinguished personalities. This year’s jury panel includes Soli Sarabjee, Former Attorney General of India, Kiran Karnik, Former President of NASSCOM, Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder & CEO of Snapdeal, Harish Salve, Leading Lawyer and Former Solicitor General of India, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Chairman & MD of Biocon, Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC and Leander Paes, Tennis champion.

The carefully selected categories for the awards include Sports, Entertainment, Business, Public Service and Global Indian. Other achievers are awarded under the categories - Special Achievement, Outstanding Achievement and Lifetime Achievement. One individual/organisation will be bestowed with the coveted ‘Indian of the Year’ Award for their stupendous contribution to society. Over the years, the recipients of this prestigious award have included the likes of PM Narendra Modi, NGO Stop Acid Attacks, Vishwanathan Anand, AR Rahman, Team Chandrayan and E. Sreedharan.

Commenting on the announcement of the IOTY Awards - 10th edition , Avinash Kaul, CEO, IBN Network & President, A+E Network | TV18 said, “Indian of the Year is our endeavour to acknowledge achievers, who have been exceptional in their respective fields and the 10th anniversary of our initiative marks a tremendous milestone for CNN-IBN. We are very excited to celebrate this edition and are looking forward to a great show honouring the winners.”

Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-IBN, said, “I take great pride in the fact that CNN-IBN Indian of the Year has seen immense success and acceptance as an institute that has over the years established itself as an exemplary model for Indian media awards. With the 10th edition of the awards, we continue the tradition of appreciating the outstanding contribution of our fellow Indians who have taken India to new heights with their unparalleled determination and have made us proud.”

ABOUT TV18

TV18 Broadcast Limited [BSE: 532800, NSE: TV18BRDCST] (“TV18”) is a part of Network18 Group. Network18 Group is a media and entertainment group with interests in television, internet, films, e-commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its subsidiary, TV18, the group operates news channels such as CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 Prime HD, CNN-IBN and IBN7. TV18 also operates a joint venture with Viacom called Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels such as Colors, Colors HD, Rishtey, MTV India, MTV Indies, Comedy Central, Vh1, Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, the group’s filmed entertainment business. TV18 has also forayed into the Indian factual entertainment space through a joint venture with A+E Networks and operates History TV18. In the regional space, the group operates a Gujarati business news channel – CNBC Bajar, a Marathi general news channel – IBN Lokmat and operates ten regional news channels under the ETV umbrella and five regional entertainment channels under the Colors brand. The group also operates a 24 hour an Indian news channel in English – News18 India, targeting global audiences. TV18 and Viacom18 have formed a strategic joint venture called IndiaCast, a multi-platform 'content asset monetization' entity that drives domestic and international channel distribution, placement services and content syndication for the bouquet of channels from the group and third parties. For more information, log on to www.network18online.com