Since its inaugural edition held at London in 2010, The Sikh Awards, conceptualized by Mr. Navdeep Singh Bansal has been championing the cause of recognizing the achievements of Sikhs highlighting the successes, energy, drive and passion behind the Sikh community in all sectors. This year, for its 6th edition, the coveted awards night made its maiden entry into India and was held at The Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave, New Delhi. The Award ceremony is aimed at celebrating and recognizing the pivotal contributions made by the Sikh community across various fields like business, charity, education, entertainment, media, professional services, seva (selfless service), and sports. The awards are multicultural and include all faiths as it allows for the wider community to learn about Sikhs and what they are achieving around the world in their chosen field.

Like previous ceremonies, dignitaries from all across the world including UK, India, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia attended this event. The awards night witnessed a mélange of personalities ranging from diplomatic, political, corporate and entertainment circles. Amongst those who were seen supporting the cause were Mr. Navdeep Singh Bansal, Founder, The Sikh Awards; Mr. Raj Babbar, Actor and Politician; Ms. Shahnaz Husain, CEO Shahnaz Herbals Inc.; Sachin Ahuja, Producer, Composer, and a reality show judge; Mr. S Mohinder Singh Sarna, Legendary Music Director; Mr Soli Sorabjee, Former Attonery General of India; Retired Major General Lakhwinder Singh; Mr Robert Christopher ,Chairman of Chris group of companies and  Chairman of the Minority Cell of Congress;  Mr Aslam Sheikh, Director of the Municiple Corporation of Mumbai;  Mr. Bhupender Singh, Marketing Director, Punjab National Bank;  Pervinder Singh Chandhok, CEO Chandok Worldwide- Tehran;  Brigadar Sukhdev Singh, Subha Ranjan Tampi, Head (External Relations) Confederation of Indian Industry; Dr. Guann- Jyh Lee, Executive Director Economic Division; Mr.BS Kakar, M.D of Bristol Group of Hotels; Mr. Agyepal Singh, Chairman of Unique Global; Ms. Pamela Kaur, Trustee of Gurudwara of Johannesburg; Ms. Nareen Chopra; Mr. Prabhjot Singh, Executive Editor, PTC News; Mr. S.S Banga, General Assembly Member (SAARC);  Mr. RS Chadha, Director of Wave Properties; Mr. Kanwaljit Singh, M.D of Motiwala & Sons; Mr. A Muthu- IAS officer of Jharkhand; Mr. Harbinder Singh,  President of Gurudwara of Johannesburg; Ms Indira Kaur Ahluwalia, Advoacte and Entrepreneur; Mr Nick Parker, Head of India and Midldle East at Virgin Atlantic Airways;  Mr David Lelliott, British Deputy High Commissioner, Chandigarh; Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Global Ambassador of World Cancer Care; Dr Parvinder Singh Pasricha, Former Director General of Police, from Maharashtra; Mr. Bal Singh Samra, Managing Director, BBC; Mr Ajinderpal Singh, Entrepreneur from Botswana;  Mr BS Kakar, Mr. Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Philanthropist and Chairman, Berger Paints; Swami Jaataveda, Dr Raghbir Singh Bains, Author, Encyclopaedia of Sikhism; Mr Gurpal Singh Oppal, Partner at Charles Simmons Immigration Solicitors & Charles & Co Solicitors and CEO, Express Immigration pvt Ltd in India; Mr SS Banga, Mr RS Chada, Padmashree Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Founder, Sun Group; Bibi Parkash Kaur, Founder, Unique Home; Designer Sachi Singh of Motiwala & Sons;  Mr Kavanjit Singh Hayre,  Director and shareholder of Hayre Investments & Developments Ltd, Country Construction (UK) Ltd, Sanam Enterprise Ltd, Hayre Developments Ltd, DKH Investments Ltd and DKH Management Ltd.

In previous ceremonies some of the individuals that have received this prestigious award include Jazzy B in 2010, Analjit Singh and Harbhajan Singh in 2011, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal in 2012, Former British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013 and Malvinder Mohan Singh in 2014.

 

These prestigious awards were given to individuals or organizations in each category who have excelled in their specialist fields and those who have delivered their service in an exceptional and innovative way.

The winners of The Sikh Awards 2015 night were: Mr. Kulwant Singh (UK) – Sikhs in Charity Award; Dr. Parvinder Singh Pasricha (India) – Sikhs in Seva Award; Mr. Sundeep Singh Sandhu (UK) – Sikhs in Sports Award; S. Mohinder SinghSarna (USA) – Sikhs in Entertainment Award; Mr. Bal Singh Samra (UK) – Sikhs in Media Award; Dr.Raghbir Singh Bains (Canada) – Sikhs in Education Award; Mr. Karan Singh Bajwa (India) – Sikhs in Profession Award; Mr. Ajinder Pal Singh (Botswana) – Sikhs Entrepreneur Award;Mr. Kuldip Singh Dhingra (India)-  Sikhs Businessman Award and Ms. Indira Kaur Alhuwalia (USA)- Sikhs Business Women Award;Mr. Kavanjit Singh Hayre (UK) – Sikhs People’s Choice Award; and Ms. Prakash Kaur (India) – The Lifetime Achievement Award.

According to Mr. Navdeep Singh Bansal, Founder of The Sikh Awards, ‘I am delighted to host the sixth edition of the Sikh Awards in India, the homeland to Sikhs and Sikhism. As a Sikh, I have taken this responsibility to recognize, honor and celebrate the achievements of the successful, hard-working and ambitious Sikhs of the World. Sikhs, worldwide are not only tirelessly contributing socially, culturally and economically to the society but are also making a difference to people’s lives through philanthropy. I would also like to congratulate all the winners who have proved to be the beacons that shine on our future generation and will encourage them to continue to strive for excellence in their respective fields.’

In 2013 the UK Prime Minister the Rt Hon. David Cameron was the recipient of The Special Recognition Award for the several “firsts” he had instigated between the UK and the Sikh community in India. He was the first serving UK Prime Minister to pay his respect at the Darbar Sahib (The Golden Temple, India) and also laid a wreath and signed a book of condolence at the memorial site in Jallianwala Bagh Gardens, in Amritsar. He also commenced the annual Sikh traditional festival of Baisakhi, which has been celebrated annually at 10 Downing Street since 2011.

In a special message for this year’s awards night, Mr. David Cameron stated, “I am delighted to send my very best wi­shes to everyone at this year’s Sikh Awa­rds in India. This is a celebration of the enormous ­contribution Sikhs make in India and aro­und the world. Tonight we recognize an incredible wea­lth of talent – whether that’s in busine­sses, sports, entertainment, education, ­professional services or charity. The award winners and nominees this ev­ening will undoubtedly inspire many in I­ndia, in Britain and around the world to­ follow in their footsteps. Our ties with India have remained clos­e throughout history and continue to go ­from strength to strength – through coop­eration and trade, and of course through­ the one-and-a-half million Indians who ­do so much to make Britain the country i­t is today, bringing our two countries ­closer. He further added, “I’ve made a personal commitment to str­engthening UK-India relations because I ­believe we can be one of the great partn­erships of the 21st century and that is ­why I have visited India three times in ­the last five years. Later on this year, I look forward to ­welcoming Prime Minister Modi to the Uni­ted Kingdom where we will have the oppor­tunity to further strengthen our relatio­nship with India. So let me congratulate the organizers ­and volunteers for bringing these awards­ together and I wish everyone involved -­ and all tonight’s winners – a wonderful­ evening.”

The Sikh Awards 2015 Winners:

SIKHS IN CHARITY – Mr. KULWANT SINGH (UK)

Kulwant Singh is the Global Ambassador of World Cancer Care a charity that has raised the awareness of cancer amongst the Punjabi community around the world and in particular Punjab, the cancer capital of the world.

SIKHS IN EDUCATION – DR RAGHBIR SINGH BAINS (CANADA)

Raghbir Singh is a world known author of the first of its own kind ‘Encyclopaedia of Sikhism’ on multimedia technology released by the Honourable Prime Minister in the Parliament House of Canada.

SIKHS IN ENTERTAINMENT – S MOHINDER SINGH SARNA (USA)

Soulful and legendary music director Mohinder Singh is among the last remaining maestros who gave us unforgettable melodies through Bollywood movies in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. His first film was ‘Neeli’ (1950).

SIKHS IN MEDIA –MR BAL SINGH SAMRA (UK)

Bal Singh Samra is a senior media executive with twenty years of experience and is now operating at the highest level in his field. He holds a number of roles in executive and non-executive capacities. Bal took up his most recent role as Managing Director of BBC Television in July 2014.

SIKHS IN SPORTS –MR SUNDEEP SINGH SANDHU (UK)

Sundeep Singh is the captain of the UK Kabaddi team and has played many cups, leagues and Kabaddi World Cups. Under his captaincy, his team ‘United Singhs’ won its first World Kabaddi League Cup. He was the top stopper in the 2015 World Kabaddi League, successfully completing 154 stops.

SIKHS IN SEVA – DR PARVINDER SINGH PASRICHA (INDIA)

Dr.Parvinder Singh Pasricha is a former Director General of Police, from Maharashtra. He is a recipient of two awards from the President of India, who recognised his vision and commitment. Dr. Parvinder Singh was entrusted with the responsibility of redeveloping Takhat Sri Hazur Sahib for commemorating the 300 years of Gur-ta-Gaddi.

SIKHS PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – MR KAVANJIT SINGH HAYRE (UK)

Kavanjit Singh, aged 25 is the Director and shareholder of Hayre Investments & Developments Ltd, Country Construction (UK) Ltd, Sanam Enterprise Ltd, Hayre Developments Ltd, DKH Investments Ltd and DKH Management Ltd, which are all under the umbrella of the Hayre Group.

SIKHS IN PROFESSION – MR KARAN SINGH BAJWA (INDIA)

Karan Bajwa has 27 years of experience in Telecommunications and IT in the Asia Pacific region. Currently, he is the Managing Director for Microsoft India, he has also worked for organisations like Cisco and IBM.

SIKHS IN BUSINESS – ENTREPRENUER – MR AJINDER PAL SINGH (BOTSWANA)

Ajinder Pal Singh is a prominent businessman based in Botswana. His business empire spreads across education, construction, tourism, airline, manufacturing and agriculture industries.

SIKHS IN BUSINESS – BUSINESS WOMEN – MS INDIRA KAUR AHLUWALIA (USA)

Indira Kaur, an advocate and entrepreneur, built her career on enabling equality systemically on the strength of individual differences. In 2002, she established Development & Training Services, Inc.

SIKHS IN BUSINESS – BUSINESS MAN – MR. KULDIP SINGH DHINGRA (INDIA)

Kuldip Singh is an Indian entrepreneur, philanthropist and chairman of Berger Paints since 1991. He was born in 1947 in a business family. Berger Paints India, is the country’s second-largest paint maker, The Company currently has a net worth of $2.5billon.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – BIBI PRAKASH KAUR JI (INDIA)

Bibi Parkash Kaur Ji was left on the street as an abandoned girl child 56 years ago. She has been brought up in unknown homes and has gone through some very difficult days during her childhood. She was later blessed with the support of local community and she founded ‘Unique Home’ where children are welcomed without any discrimination of religion, caste and creed.