NDTV announced the winners of the fourth year of the Indian of the Year awards at a ceremony graced by Home Minister P Chidambaram as guest of honour and attended by celebrities and luminaries from all walks of life, including Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Sheila Dixit, Omar Abdullah, LK Advani, Praful Patel, Kavita Karkare and Sushma Swaraj amongst others.

The winners of NDTV Indian of The year 2008 are:

Mumbai Bravehearts were awarded the Indian of the Year 2008. And the other recipients are…
Shiela Dixit honoured with Leader of the Year award.
Abhinav Bindra received the Sportsperson of the Year award.
Aamir Khan honoured with Entertainer of the Year award.
Deepak Parekh honoured with Businessleader of the Year award.
Kiran Seith awarded for 25 years of promoting Indian culture
Unsung Hero of the Year went to G Madhavan Nair and the ISRO moon team.

Special recognition was also conferred upon Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister J&K, he was named GenNext Politician of the Year 2008. The cast and crew of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ got the Global Excellence of the Year award. Prasoon Joshi was awarded for lyrics of the song ‘Maa’ from the film ‘Taare Zameen Par’.

‘The Mumbai Bravehearts’ honoured with the NDTV Indian of the Year 2008 were: ASI Tukaram G. Omble, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, ACP Ashok Kamte, Hawaldar Gajendra Singh, announcer CST Vishnu Zende, ticket collector Sushil Kumar Sharma, NSG Director General JK Dutta along with his NSG commandos and management and staff of Hotel Oberoi, Hotel Trident and Hotel Taj.

Dr Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV, said: “India is hit by terrible slowdown and government seems to be in a denial mode. Government needs to take immediate and big steps to revive the economic growth.” Dedicating the awards night to the recent Mumbai attacks, he added: “Terrorists want to destroy peace and are waiting for us to retaliate. The only way to defeat their purpose is by spreading the message of peace and defeating terrorism by peace in this land of Gandhi.”

Receiving the Indian of the Year award for his martyred son, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s father said: “Our loss, because Sandeep was the only child, is no greater than anyone else’s who loses a child. So why say I have lost my only child. My son’s soul would be very happy if 50 per cent of the J&K people can be rehabilitated. I have complete faith in Indian forces to protect us and strongly disagree with those who doubt the competency of our forces.”

Congratulating NDTV for turning 20 this year, Home Minister P Chidambaram said: “Our main objective at present should be to improve our level of preparedness and determination to respond swiftly against terrorism. I request the people of our country, including government, to change their attitude to fight against any odds and at the same time be a civilised society.” Commenting on the recent Satyam episode, Chidambaram said: “Satyam is a case of fraud and not a collapse unlike what has happened in other countries. No bank or NBFC has collapsed in India. In fact, PSU Banks will be hiring 60,000 new recruits in the coming fiscal year and we will see a 7% growth.”

Actor, director and producer Aamir Khan said: “I want to take this opportunity to thank NDTV for this recognition and my audience for voting for me and encouraging me to give my best to my work over the years. It has been a complete team effort and I am fortunate to have worked with some of the best directors in the industry