A. Voice Achievers Award for 2009 to 7 Indo-Canadians for their outstanding contributions to the film industry, trade, medicine, literature and sports:

1. Cancer-stricken actor Lisa Ray (performance in Deepa Mehta’s film Water )
2. Gopal Bhatnagar (cardiac surgery)
3. M.G. Vassanji (arts)
4. Meenu Sikand (social work)
5. Raja Panjwani (sports)
6. Rai Sahi (Business)
7. Asha Luthra (President of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce)

B. Visa-on-Arrival facility in India to nationals of 5 countries :

1. Japan
2. Singapore
3. New Zealand
4. Luxembourg
5. Finland

C. The new ART (Regulation) Bill, 2008: Seeks to legalise commercial surrogacy and the 228th report of the Law Commission suggests banning commercial surrogacy and legalising only altruistic surrogacy

D. Rajiv Gandhi Award Winners:

Shahid Kapoor: Best Actor
Katrina Kaif: Best Actress
Vineet Jain: MD of The Times Group, for Industry
Ramesh Chandra Agarwal: Journalism
Sam Pitroda: Global Indian
Dr. Narendra Jadhav: Educationist
Dr. G. Madhavan Nair: Super Achiever
Krushnaa Patil: Woman Achiever
Avika Gor: Child Prodigy
Rajashree Birla: Social Field
Rohit Kochhar: Young Entrepreneur

E. Ramon Magsaysay Award Winners:

Krisana Kraisintu from Thailand
Deep Joshi from India
Yu Xiaogang, from China
Antonio Oposa, Jr., from the Philippines
Ma Jun, from China
Hsaw Wa, from Burma

F. Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development started in 1986 has had 22 awardees so far as follows:

Year Name Recipient Description

---- ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------------------------

1986 Parliamentarians for Global Action International Organisation of Parliamentarians

1987 Mikhail Gorbachev Former Soviet Union Leader

1988 Gro Harlem Brundtland Former Prime Minister of Norway

1989 UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund

1990 Sam Nujoma First President of Namibia

1991 Rajiv Gandhi Former Prime Minister of India (posthumous)

1992 Saburo Okita Japanese Economist

1993 Václav Havel 1st President of the Czech Republic

1994 Trevor Huddleston Anti-Apartheid Activist

1995 Olusegun Obasanjo 12th President of Nigeria

1996 Medicins Sans Frontieres Voluntary Organisation

1997 Jimmy Carter 39th President of the United States

1998 Muhammad Yunus Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 2006

1999 M S Swaminathan Indian Agricultural Scientist

2000 Mary Robinson 7th President of Ireland

2001 Sadako Ogata Former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

2002 Shridath Ramphal 2nd Commonwealth Secretary-General

2003 Kofi Annan 7th United Nations Secretary General

2004 Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Princess of Thailand

2005 Hamid Karzai 1st President of Afghanistan

2006 Wangari Maathai Environmental and Political activist

2007 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Charitable Foundation

2008 Mohamed ElBaradei 4th Director General of the IAEA

2009 Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh Prime Minister