BANGALORE: Brigade Group and Rotary Bangalore Midtown recognised and encouraged the achievements of young people in professional, cultural, social or other areas of endeavour with its prestigeous Young Achiever 2011 award.The event was held at Sheraton Bangalore Hotel, Brigade Gateway, on November 11, 2011.Chief guest Harish Hande, a social entrepreneur and Magsaysay Awardee 2011, presented the trophy including citation to the winner Kuldeep Dantewadia with a winsome smile.MR Jaishankar, CMD, Brigade Group, then presented the winner with a cheque for Rs 100,000.Apart from the winner, there were three special mentions.Cash prizes and citations were given to the special mentions — Vishal Kumar Jain, Arundhuti Gupta and Sharmada Balu.Brigade Group and Rotary Bangalore began this initiative way back in 2006, since then the tradition has been on.The award is open to individuals and teams , the only requirements being that applicants have to be between 16 and 28 years of age and a resident of Karnataka.The most important criterion for selection was the applicant’s actual achievement.The selection committee also considered the applicant’s commitment to his or her field of endeavour and evidence of a continual pursuit of excellence. All the applications went through several rounds of strict scrutiny before the final winners were announced.Kuldeep Dantewadia, a 23-year old Bangalore boy started a truly altruistic organisation, The Environment Group, which is involved in Solid Waste Management Solutions, Carbon Footprint and Carbon Management.With his determination to educate young minds on environmental awareness, Kuldeep also started an NGO, —Reap Benefits - India’s first environment portal that grades educational institutions as well as rewards students.He was selected as a social innovator by StartingBloc 2011, Boston.Furthermore, he was an Indian representative at the South Asian Youth Conference held in May 2011.The special mentions too carried a bag of achievements and great heights.Vishal Kumar Jain, 26 who hails from Bellary, Karnataka, is currently a second year student specializing in Marketing and HR at IIM Lucknow.His eye sight started crumbling since childhood, and he lost his entire vision by the time he was in 9th grade, this ultimately forced him to discontinue his studies.Soon he moved to Bangalore where he resumed his formal education and involved himself in several social initiatives.In 2009, he cleared CAT and is perhaps the first visuallychallenged student ever from Karnataka to secure a seat in the IIMs.Apart from overcoming his own disabilities, Vishal has initiated many social projects that helped the visually impaired and the underprivileged. On the other hand, Arundhuti Gupta, strived to empower the lives of underserved urban youth through several mentoring programs through her NGO Mentor Together since 2009.At the age of just 25 she undertakes various projects based on a special curriculum which helps the mentees learn English, develop life and communicational skills.Just two years old, and this organisation has already touched several lives.Sharmada Balu, was honoured for her outstanding performance in the arena of sports.This 18-year old is a promising tennis champion, and is the highest ranked WTA player among juniors.She has also bagged the prestigeous Kempegowda award.
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