New York: Two Indians are among 13 Asians to have been nominated for the inaugural Asia Game Changer Awards for making a "positive contribution to the future of Asia". The awards, instituted by leading educational and cultural organisation Asia Society, will be given at a special event on October 16. Pawan Sinha, Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and Madhav Chavan, Co-Founder and CEO of the Pratham Charitable Trust have been nominated for the Asia Game Changer Awards along with 11 other pioneers, including Chairman of the Alibaba Group Jack Ma, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Oscar-winning Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. While Sinha has been nominated for his "truly visionary approach to treating India's blind", Chavan will be honoured "for bringing the gift of literacy to millions of Indians."
"The awards are designed to fill a glaring gap—a lack of recognition of people who are truly transforming ideas into action and improving lives in Asia. Our inaugural honourees represent an extraordinary range of geography and achievement," said Asia Society President Josette Sheeran yesterday. "What they share in common are vision, passion and proven impact, wherever and however they happen to be changing the world," he said. In 2003, Sinha founded Project Prakash that has conducted eye-care camps in remote and under-served regions of India and that now provides free eye-health screenings to all children, and identify and treat those whose blindness is treatable "The first thing that prompted me was seeing those children, and then seeing the numbers.
The humanitarian goal was just so evident," Sinha said. Chavan, a chemical engineer, founded Pratham in 1995 and the trust partnered with UNICEF and authorities in Mumbai to reach slum children and teenage dropouts, becoming the country's largest non-governmental education provider for deprived children. "I believe in people...I trust them to do the right thing and the amazing thing is that when you trust people, they don't let you down. Plus, it gets the job done," Chavan said. Nominations for the inaugural class of Asia Game Changers were solicited from the Asia Society global network, which then embarked on a three-month process of feedback and voting that resulted in the final 2014 Asia Game Changers. Among the other nominees are Founder of Shigeru Ban Architects in Japan Shigeru Ban, Minister and Senior Advisor to the Indonesian President Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Professor at Shanghai Normal University Zhang Minxuan and Moby Group Chairman Saad Mohseni of Afghanistan.
