Dubai born NRI - Simran Vedvyas Makes Every Moment Count Change through her work & action recognized

Dubai, UAE, July 15, 2017:  NRI of the Year Awards - A Prestigious Award for Global Indians #YouDeserve
Times Now, ICICI Bank and GIIS presented; the fourth edition of the prestigious NRI of the Year Awards 2017 at Hotel Grand Hyatt Mumbai, felicitating select Global Indians with India's most distinctive global awards. This award recognized the deserving spirit of those globetrotting Indians who have made a change by their work and action reaching the pinnacles of success globally by rising every day.

From more than twenty five thousand nominations in various coveted award categories including the field of Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy, Academics, Arts and Business Professionals and a new category of ‘start ups’ twenty-three non-resident Indians received the honour. The entire process of the awards right from the nominations to choosing the winners had a five-tier evaluation process managed by Ernst & Young and the eminent jury participation.

Dubai born Non Resident Indian (NRI) teenager Simran Vedvyas bagged the NRI of the Year Award 2017 in the Academics Category. She is the youngest Emirates Women of the year - Young Achiever for the region and believes that ‘Youth are the Future Champions’.

“Simran is persuasive, ambitious, dependable, an achiever who thoroughly enjoys executing anything with a big impact.”

An Indian by origin, resident of Dubai -United Arab Emirates since birth, Simran is currently pursuing her undergraduate Honors Degree at the University of Toronto, Canada for a successful future. Simran, at 18 has reached out, influenced & benefitted thousands to serve humanity & environment beyond boundaries. She finds herself continuously self-motivated to ‘dreaming large and achieving big’. As a responsible global youth citizen, Simran, has remarkably led over 75 successful youth engagement campaigns through her youth group SynergY- including ‘Green Space New Life’ that witnessed 3,000 trees planted at landfills across UAE, & ‘Convoy to Feed’ that distributed food supplies to nearly 4,000 workers at various landfills. She holds the record of winning ‘Six highest National Academic distinctions’ received in consecutive years including thrice winning the Sheikh Hamdan Award and also thrice the Sharjah Education Award. She has been recognized at home & abroad for her academic & humanitarian achievements. At 12, chosen as the youngest from the region to carry the Olympic Flame at the London Olympics in 2012, she moved forward with her social & environmental work & never looked back. Success for her lies in the belief that at the end of the day her actions have a positive effect on those around her.

The other award recipients in the Academic category from various regions are Suresh Bhargava, Abhinav Singla, Shinjini Kundu and Rhys Concessao. Ronald Colaco, from Middle East was recognised for his philanthropic endeavours. The Global Icon Award was given to K Radhakrishnan, Former Chairperson Indian Space Research Organisation. The Global Indian Award for Science, 2017 was awarded to to Dr. M_Annadurai -Director ISRO. The Special Jury Award 2017 was given to V Ramachandran, Asst. Professor of Psychology UC San Diego. Pankaj Advani received the Global Indian Awards for Sports, 2017. British-Indian musician and multi-instrumentalist Dhanonday Shrivastav, who overcame blindness from 8 months old to become one of the world’s leading sitar players was recognised in Art and Culture Category.

The Global India Impact Award was bagged by the team of record breaking and the biggest blockbuster movie of all times Bahubali and it’s team of writer Mr. V Vijay Prasad and celebrity actress Tamaannah Bhatia.

The evening was graced by glamorous presenter Sophie Choudry and the famous Indian actor and model Karan Tacker. Manushi Chhillar (Femina Miss India 2017), Sana Dua (1st runner-up) and Priyanka Kumari (2nd runner up) were also present. The stunning performances form Terence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company mesmerised the audience at the event.

About Simran Vedvyas, winner NRI of the year award 2017
“Simran is persuasive, ambitious, dependable, an achiever who thoroughly enjoys executing anything with a big impact.”

An Indian by origin, resident of Dubai -United Arab Emirates since birth, Simran is currently pursuing her undergraduate Honors Degree at the University of Toronto, Canada for a successful future. Simran, at 18 has reached out, influenced & benefitted thousands to serve humanity & environment beyond boundaries. She finds herself continuously self-motivated to ‘dreaming large and achieving big’. As a responsible global youth citizen, Simran, has remarkably led over 75 successful youth engagement campaigns through her youth group SynergY- including ‘Green Space New Life’ that witnessed 3,000 trees planted at landfills across UAE, & ‘Convoy to Feed’ that distributed food supplies to nearly 4,000 workers at various landfills. She holds the record of winning ‘Six highest National Academic distinctions’ received in consecutive years including thrice winning the Sheikh Hamdan Award and also thrice the Sharjah Education Award. She has been recognized at home & abroad for her academic & humanitarian achievements. She is the youngest Emirates Women of the Year –Young Achiever.

At 12, chosen as the youngest from the region to carry the Olympic Flame at the London Olympics in 2012, she moved forward with her social & environmental work & never looked back. Success for her lies in the belief that at the end of the day her actions have a positive effect on those around her.

About the Award:
As a part of India’s leading media conglomerate, TIMES Network, comprising of India’s #1 English News Channel Times Now is broadcast in over 100 + countries and serves over 100mn + South Asians globally.

Times Now is India's Most Distinctive Awards for the Global Indians. This prestigious award brings to fore the proud achievements of NRIs, bringing them to the world platform. The awards are open to any NRI, OCI or a PIO who has stayed in USA, Canada, UK, UAE, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand & Singapore for a stipulated amount of time and has made a mark in his/her respective field. Global Indians from the field of Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy, Academics, Arts and Business Professionals and a new category of ‘start ups’ receive the honour. The other prominent awards include India’s Global Icon and The Special Jury Award. The entire process of the awards right from the nominations to choosing the winners has a five tier evaluation process managed by Ernst & Young.

The last 3 editions of the awards have garnered tremendous response and have witnessed a high quality turnout. Celebrities, business professionals and entrepreneurs from all walks of life have graced the previous events. From Amitabh Bachchan winning the Global Indian Icon of the Year in the first season to Shahrukh Khan wining in the second, the event witness many prominent faces coming together for the splendid grand finale in Mumbai. With several new initiatives, the 4thseason moved the awards a notch higher.

Eminent jury for 2017:
This award is judged by an eminent jury, each of whose members, are accomplished individuals and thoughtfully chosen, those whom everyone unanimously looks up to including Kumar Ketkar- Indian Senior Journalist, Bachi Karkaria- Senior Journalist, Times Of India Columnist And Critically Acclaimed Author, Amish Tripathi- renowned Indian Author, Prasoon Joshi- CEO of McCann World Group India & Lyricist, and Satish Maneshinde- Senior Advocate