Hello! and USK Foundation presents URJA Awards 2017

Pune, January 17, 2017: Hello!, world’s leading royal and celebrity news brand in association with URJA Awards 2017 celebrated the achievements and contributions of dignitaries who left a mark of their own, across diverse fields . The third edition of the awards witnessed eminent personalities from different walks of life, from entertainment, sports, business and education coming together to commemorate accomplishments of each other.  Chief guest  Rajashree Birla along with Amruta Fadnavis, Usha Kakde and Sanjay Kakde lit the ceremonial lamp at the event on January 16 at Hyatt Regency.  The night was graced by personalities like Naseeruddin Shah, Raveena Tandon, her highness Radhika Raje Gaekwad, Chetan Bhagat among others.

 

Divided into 14 categories, actor Naseeruddin Shah was felicitated for Excellence in Cinema whereas Raveena Tandon won the award for Bollywood category. Author Chetan Bhagat bagged the literature award and Pt Shivkumar Sharma was awarded for his immense contribution to music. USK Foundation known for its women empowerment initiatives presented the honor in women empowerment category to Ananya Birla, a successful entrepreneur turned pop star. The evergreen actor Dharmendra was felicitated with Cinematic Legend award whereas Rajashree Birla was awarded with Lifetime achievement trophy. Apart from that Ajinkya Arun Firodia, Matyr Saurabh Farate, Anuradha Desai, Prarthna Thombre, Vishwajeet Kadam, Dr. Pervez Grant and her highness Radhika Raje Gaekwad were awarded in Business & Industry, Bravery, Social Service, Sports, Education, Medicine and Indian Culture & Heritage awards category respectively.

 

Dr. Usha Kakade Founder & President USK Foundation and Vice Chairperson Sanjay Kakade Group said, “Today it gives me an immense sense of pride by stepping into third year of URJA awards I would like to make a mention of out media partner Hello! for their unending support in making this event what it is today. With our close association with the magazine brand we have reached new heights and created many milestones in terms of our reach in the society. It is our endeavor to acknowledge and honour the individuals who have made selfless contribution towards upliftment of the society and have extended their endless support to various causes with an aim to make our society a better place to live! In order to acknowledge the efforts we here at USK Foundation present URJA awards.”

 

Commenting on the association, Ruchika Mehta, Editor, Hello! Magazine India said, “Hello! has always been at the forefront of admiring excellence, irrespective of the field. Our association with URJA Awards aims to celebrate the contributions of such personalities in their respective industry. This is our first association with USK foundation and we look forward for many more where we can join hands with them and support the same cause in which we both believe in.”

 

Hosted by Ms. Yogini Gandhy, the awards night was organized by Usha Kakade, wife of Rajya Shabha MP Mr. Sanjay Kakade.