Gold Award Presentation Ceremony – February 7, 2018

Achieving a Gold Award is one of the biggest milestones of your life. It shows that you have the ability, focus and determination to achieve your set goals and pursue them with passion and perseverance. It shows that you have done your share to achieve all-round development and at the same time are open to learn from what the future has to offer. Therefore, it is imperative that you celebrate this achievement with others and The Gold Award Ceremony is designed to celebrate this achievement of yours.

We are happy to announce that a Gold Award Ceremony will be organised on February 7, 2018 at India International Centre, New Delhi.

Please note that the last date for Record Book submission is January 5, 2018.

Gold Award Ceremony 2017 - A brief note

This year's Gold Award Ceremony was organised on 20th July 2017 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. The National Award Authority (NAA) took immense pride in felicitating the Gold Award Holders, Award Leaders and Volunteers. This Gold Award ceremony is dedicated to appreciating the milestones and the commitment of each participant. The day was dedicated to celebrate, enjoy and cherish their achievements with friends, family and the IAYP team.

This year the National Award Authority was privileged to invite Dr Vivek Raghavan, Chief Technology Officer, Team Indus as the Chief Guest and Sue Walker, Asia Pacific Regional Director of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, who graced the occasion with their presence.

The host and compere for the ceremony was Ranjana Rai, Award Leader and Member of the National Training Panel, who kept the audience engaged with her lively exchanges. She commenced the Gold Award Ceremony by welcoming the Chief Guest and all the Awardees, Award Leaders and Parents. Mr. Kapil Bhalla, National Director, had the privilege to welcome the Chief Guest Dr. Vivek Raghavan, Regional Director Asia Pacific Sue Walker, Himmat Kalsia (Chairman, APF), Dr. Sanat Kaul (Managing Trustee, APF), Vinay Sheel Oberoi (Member Trustee) and Vice Admiral SP Govil (Retd.) Former Trustee and National Chairman. This welcome address was followed by honouring the school principals who were there to grace the occasion. Mr Bhalla welcomed and congratulated Naina Lakhanpal, Principal, Him Academy, Vikas Nagar, Hamirpur; Dr R. D. Thakur, Principal, K.C. Public School, Jammu; Vivek Gautam, Principal, OP Jindal School, Raigarh; Skand Bali, Principal, G D Goenka World School, Gurugram; Major General TPS Waraich, Director, Yadavindra Public School, Mohali; Vikaram Singh, Bursar, Yadavindra Public School, Patiala; Jorawar Singh, Principal, Cambridge International School, Phagwara; Aditya Kumar Sharma, Principal, SYNA International School, Katni and Wing Cdr Ranjit Kumar Mandal for their invaluable support and contribution to the Award Programme, and presented them the Friendship Badge.

A variety of entertainment performances were presented by Award Participants, commencing with a group dance by Award participants of ISPG sponsored Special Project at Sri Sarada Math, Baladband, West Bengal. This was followed by a solo classical dance performance by Shubhangee Goel, Award Participant from Delhi Public School, NTPC Vidyut Nagar.

Sharing some of the memorable and life transforming moments from the diaries of Gold Awardees, which will inspire the Gold Award achievers, is another important event, and Pallavi Gill and Md Imran, both Gold Award Holders, who are representing India at the International Gold Event, 2017 to be held from 25th October – 30th October 2017 at Prague, Czech Republic shared their life transforming experiences with the house.

National Director Kapil Bhalla addressed the audience, sharing information of the progress of the Award. He outlined future plans that have been designed to spread the Award Programme to untouched areas of the country. Kapil Bhalla also highlighted the achievements of the Gender Diversity and Empowerment Project run by IAYP India under ISPG Grant.

The National Director's speech was followed by the Award Presentation Ceremony where the Chief Guest Dr Vivek Raghavan handed the Gold Certificates to the participants while Sue Walker honoured a select group of Award Leaders with Special and Voluntary Service Meritorious Certificates.

The Chief Guest, in his speech, congratulated all the Awardees and Award Leaders for their success. Sharing some life experiences, the story behind participating in Google Lunar X Prize, and other details about #harindiankamoonshot with the audience.

The Gold Award Holders of Sri Sarada Math presented Rakhi to the guests. These Rakhis were made by the participants under the Skill Development programme of ISPG sponsored Gender Diversity Empowerment Project at Sri Sarada Math, Baladband, West Bengal.

Himmat Kalsia, Chairman, APF proposed the Vote of Thanks at the end of the ceremony.

The IAYP thank the Chief Guest, Regional Director, Award Holders, Award Leaders, Principals, Parents, Guardians and our Trustees for being there to make this Gold Award Ceremony a success. For Gold Award Ceremony pictures, please click here.

Congratulations and Thank You

A big round of applause to all Gold Award Achievers, Award Leaders and Volunteers. Our thanks to all stakeholders who made the Annual Gold Award Ceremony 2017 a huge success. Thank you, Dr. Vivek Ragahavn and Sue Walker for gracing the ceremony.

Dr. Vivek Raghavan

Chief Guest at Gold Award Ceremony - 20th July 2017

We are pleased to share the profile of Dr. Vivek Raghavan, Chief Technology Officer, Team Indus, who has kindly consented to grace the occasion as the Chief Guest of the Annual Gold Award Ceremony to be held on 20th July 2017 at India International Center and felicitate Gold Awardees at the function.

Dr. Vivek Raghavan is at heart an out-of-the-box problem solver.

He serves as Chief Technology Officer and Board Member for Team Indus, India's entry to the Google Lunar X-Prize, which aims to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon.

Vivek is also the Chief Product Manager and Biometric Architect at the Unique Identification Authority of India. He has been involved in the design, implementation and scale out of the technology platform for Aadhaar, the world’s largest identity program. He joined the Aadhaar project just before the first Aadhaar was issued, and was there when the billionth Aadhaar was generated.

Vivek is a full time volunteer, and is in the unique position of playing both these roles in a volunteer capacity.

Vivek spent 20 years in the field of Electronic Design Automation, successfully founding, running and selling two EDA startups and being responsible for the design and development of multiple market leading EDA products. He has held senior management positions at Magma Design Automation, Synopsys and Avant! Corporation. Vivek has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a B. Tech. from IIT Delhi.

Gold Award Ceremony 2017 - July 20th

 

Achieving a Gold Award is one of the biggest milestones of your life. It shows that you have the ability, focus and determination to achieve your set goals and pursue them with passion and perseverance. It shows that you have done your share to achieve all-round development and at the same time are open to learn from what the future has to offer. Therefore, it is imperative that you celebrate this achievement with others and The Gold Award Ceremony is designed to celebrate this achievement of yours.

We are happy to announce that the Annual Gold Award Ceremony 2017 will be organised on July 20, 2017 at India International Centre, New Delhi.

We cordially invite you to join this celebration and you will soon receive an invite to GAC 2017. It goes without saying that your presence will make this event memorable and successful.

Please note that the last date for Record Book submission is 5th June, 2017.

Gold Award Ceremony 2016 - July 14th

Achieving a Gold Award is one of the biggest milestones in the life of Gold participants. It shows their ability, focus and determination to achieve their set goals and pursue them with passion, perseverance and single-minded devotion to the purpose. While the Gold Award journey promotes the overall development of the participants, it also gives them immense opportunities to learn from their experiences so that they can deal with the challenges that the future might pose. The Gold Award Ceremony is organised every year to salute their indomitable spirit and perseverance.

This year's Gold Award Ceremony was organised on 14th July 2016 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. The National Award Authority (NAA) took immense pride in felicitating the Gold Award Holders. This Gold Award ceremony is dedicated to appreciating the milestones and achievements of each participant. The day was dedicated to celebrate, enjoy and cherish their achievements with friends, family and the IAYP team.

This year the National Award Authority was privileged to invite Mr Abbas Ali Baig, former cricketer, Indian team as the Chief Guest, who graced the occasion with his presence.

The ceremony was preceded by an interactive session with Mr. Himmat Kalsia (Chairman, Award Programme Foundation) and Dr. Sanat Kaul (Managing Trustee, Award Programme Foundation), who reached out to the Awardees, Award Leaders and parents and initiated a dialogue about the Award Programme. They asked the audience to provide their experience and feedback and suggestions that would help the Foundation to advance the Award Programme in India.

The host and compere for the ceremony was Pratibha Singh, Award Leader and Member of the National Training Panel, who kept the audience engaged with her lively exchanges and appropriate snatches of poetry for each occasion. She commenced the Gold Award Ceremony by welcoming the Chief Guest and all the Awardees, Award Leaders and Parents. Mr. Kapil Bhalla, National Director, had the privilege to welcome the Chief Guest Mr. Abbas Ali Baig, Mr. Himmat Kalsia (Chairman, APF) and Dr. Sanat Kaul (Managing Trustee, APF). This welcome address was followed by honouring the school principals who were there to grace the occasion. Mr. Bhalla welcomed and congratulated Mr. Jorawar Singh, Principal, Cambridge International School, Phagwara; Dr. Sumer Bahadur Singh, Principal, The Daly College Indore; for their invaluable contribution to the Award Programme, and presented them the Friendship Badge.

A variety of entertainment performances were presented by Award Participants, commencing with a solo song presentation by Aditi from Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar. The house was dazzled when the participants form Uttam School, Ghaziabad came to the stage and presented a short tableau about how King Ashoka embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths during the Kalinga War, a war that he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. This tableau was followed by a presentation from the participants from Sri Sarada Math, Rasik Bhita about the Gender Diversity and Empowerment Project. Konkana and Swagata shared real life experiences about their efforts to approach and reach out to the underprivileged; they also described how the community is benefiting. After this, Abijeet Nagpal from The Scindia School, Gwalior shared his experience of a cycling expedition from Manali to Leh through a short film.

After the entertainment presentations, National Director Kapil Bhalla addressed the audience, sharing information of the progress of the Award. He outlined future plans that have been designed to spread the Award Programme to untouched areas of the country. Kapil Bhalla also highlighted the achievements of the Gender Diversity and Empowerment Project run by IAYP India under ISPG Grant. With immense pride, Kapil Bhalla applauded the four participants with special needs from Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre, Dehra Dun, who received their Gold Award and recognition for their extraordinary pursuit.

In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of The International Award, a series of short films are being screened internationally, featuring interviews with Award participants and Award Leaders from around the world. Kapil Bhalla shared that the interviews of five Indian participants and Award Leaders have been selected for the 60-minute movie created by The International Award Foundation. His report was followed by a screening of the short films of the Indian participants who were nominated for the 60th Anniversary film.

The National Director's speech was followed by the Award Presentation Ceremony where the Chief Guest Mr Abbas Ali Baig handed the Gold Certificates to the participants and also honoured a select group of Award Leaders with Special, Voluntary and Outstanding Service Meritorious Certificates.

The Chief Guest in his speech congratulated all the Awardees and Award Leaders for their success. Sharing some life experiences with the audience, he mentioned how he faced challenges when he was young and how he overcome them with focus and determination.

Mr. Himmat Kalsia, Chairman, APF proposed the Vote of Thanks at the end of the ceremony.

The IAYP thank the Chief Guest, Award Holders, Award Leaders, Principals, Parents, Guardians and our Trustees for being there to make this Gold Award Ceremony a big success. For Gold Award Ceremony pictures, please click here.

Abbas Ali Baig

Chief Guest at Gold Award Ceremony - 14th July 2016

Abbas Ali Baig is one of the most elegant right handers to have worn the Test Cap in the history of Indian cricket. A child prodigy, Abbas Ali Baig, born on 19 March 1939, made his debut in First Class cricket at the age of 15, during the 1954–55 Ranji Trophy, against Andhra Pradesh.

He played in 10 Tests between 1959 and 1967. In a career spanning 21 years, he scored 12,367 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 34.16.

He made his initial reputation playing for Hyderabad, but it was while at Oxford that he started making heads turn with his dazzling and exquisite stroke-play, fleet footed movement and incredible hand-eye coordination. While at the crease, he was more like a composer directing his orchestra rather than a batsman wielding his willow.

His debut for India had an element of drama in it as the 20-year old Abbas Ali Baig was drafted straight from University into the Indian team to make his Test debut in the 4th Test at Old Trafford in the late 1950’s India tour of England. Baig became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a century on debut when he made 112 in India's second innings. It was also the first century by an Indian debutant outside India.

Following the series in England, Baig was included in the Indian squad for the home series against Australia later that year. In the first innings of the third match at Bombay, he scored 50 and was involved in a crucial 133-run partnership with Nari Contractor. Baig followed that with another half-century in the second innings when he made 58. His half-centuries helped India secure a draw. With over 12,000 runs in the First Class, and a style of batting that captured the viewers’ imagination, Abbas Ali Baig was the quintessential romantic batsmen in an era when India was not known for its cricketing prowess and the limited touring opportunities that were available never really allowed India to exploit his talent to full potential. During a break in India's second innings, when Baig walked to the pavilion along with Ramnath Kenny, he was kissed on his cheek by a young woman spectator, leading Vijay Merchant to remark “wonder where all these enterprising young ladies were when I was scoring my centuries and double centuries.” 

For Baig’s excellent batting in that season, he was named one of Indian Cricket’s five "Cricketers of the Year" in 1959-60.

He was impressive in the domestic circuit, scoring heavily in the Ranji and Duleep Trophy tournaments. In 1966, he was included in the team for the home series against West Indies. He was selected to be a part of the Indian team that toured England in 1971. He was the manager of the Indian Cricket Team during the 1992 World Cup.

Gold Award Ceremony 2016 - July 14th

Achieving a Gold Award is one of the biggest mile stones of your life. It shows that you have the ability, focus and determination to achieve your set goals and pursue them with passion and perseverance. It shows that you have done your share to achieve all-round development and at the same time are open to learn from what the future has to offer. Therefore, it is imperative that you celebrate your this achievement with others and The Gold Award Ceremony is designed to celebrate this achievement of yours.

We are happy to announce that Mr. Abbas Ali Baig, former Indian Cricketer, has consented to grace the occasion as Chief Guest and present the Gold Awards to all the successful participants at the Annual Gold Award Ceremony on July 14, 2016 at India International Centre, New Delhi.

We cordially invite you to join this celebration and soon you would receive an invite to GAC 2016. It goes without saying that your presence will make this event memorable and successful.

Please note that the last date for Record Book submission is 5th June 2016.

My Award Journey

Debalina Mukherjee, Gold Award 2015 shares her Award Journey experience with us on achieving the Gold Award.

Time and tide wait for none.  I can't fathom how quickly the last four years have passed.  It seems as if July 2011 was just yesterday... when I started my journey with the International Award for Young People. And now today, 16th July 2015, we, the recipients of the Gold Award are assembled at the India International Centre, New Delhi to receive our Gold Badge and Certificate.  Today is the day that we have been awaiting. It is impossible to describe how much we have gained in these four years from this organisation, from friendship that spans across our country and into other nations, to uninhibited creativity; from the light of knowledge that was kindled not just in us but others we came in contact with; and from a deep understanding of nature, to a spirit of adventure. I am very sad that our beautiful journey now comes to the finishing point, but I realize today from the inspiring words I heard at the ceremony, that there is no end when doing something for others. In one word, what I learnt from this journey, the soul of our great culture is 'Udar charitaya'- I am connected to the whole universe.

I am very proud of being a participant of the IAYP, very grateful to our respected Mataji and elders of Sarada Math, Rasik Vita for their guidance to me and also my parents for their support.  I pay my respect to all concerned.  I wish we shall meet again one day, maybe on a cliff or a steep mountain, or maybe around a bonfire under the twinkling night sky.  Till then, good bye...

My Days with the Award

The Young People of today are vocal. They want to talk about their experiences, their likes and dislikes and interests. The Award Programme encourages Young People to speak their minds. Let us hear from Dev Suri, Gold Award Holder about his experiences...

I am immensely grateful to my school Jodhamal Public School, Jammu for initiating me and motivating me to participate in the IAYP programme. After going through assorted adventurous journeys, village visits, conducting events and developing distinct skills I was beginning to see myself as a teacher or trainer in the IT sector.

It was a memorable day for me when I received the prestigious Gold Award in 2014 at Delhi, awarded by former Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr SY Qureshi .Throughout the programme I welcomed the exposure to different lifestyles via the village visits and developed a positive perspective towards the development of society - overcoming the negative attitude that I had earlier. I realized that it is programmes like the IAYP that really make the difference and challenge others with the question: "If we can, then why can't you?", thus creating a web of people who care for preserving the ecosystem. I myself motivate others to take up this programme which helps in the development of life skills and as a way to render services to the society at a young age.

All around us we see that the growing corruption, scams, violence and other issues have created pessimism in people; but these are the people who mostly stand and stare. It is time for the young minds of our nation to take some action by being a part of this programme, for nurturing optimism towards the eradication of such evils, for developing a character or combination of skills and emotions that will create better human beings as light of hope for our planet. It is necessary to realign our perspective towards life and to find the meaning of our existence in the ecosystem, to strive for the betterment of our future and conservation of environment and its inhabitants, and this is where the IAYP programme has definitely helped me, because a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.

Raja Randhir Singh - Chief Guest at Gold Ceremony 2015

Randhir Singh, former Olympic-level trap and skeet shooter and now sports administrator, is currently the Honorary Member from India on the International Olympic Committee. He is a 1979 recipient of the Arjuna Award. He was educated in Yadavindra Public School, Patiala and earned a B.A. in History (Hon.) from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

He comes from a family of sportsmen and sporting administrators. He made his competitive senior shooting debut as an 18-year-old when he was part of the winning trap shooting team at the Indian National Championships in 1964. His team defended the title the next year, and he won his first national individual title in 1967 in skeet. He went on to win multiple titles at the national level in both skeet and trap shooting.  He represented India Internationally for 31 years from 1963 to 1994, which is the longest representation by any sportsman in India.  He became the first Indian shooter to win continental gold at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok. On home soil four years later, he won team silver at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

He represented India in six Olympic Games from 1964 to 1984 and he also competed in four Asian Games from 1978 to 1994, winning a medal of each colour.  He also represented India at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games (1978) and won a Bronze Medal.

He is the winner of the Olympic Order (Silver) Award 2014 from the International Olympic Committee, Merit Award (2006) from Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC), Merit Award (2005) from Olympic Council of Asia and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award (1979) from State Sports Award -- Government of Punjab.  He was Founder Secretary General of the Afro-Asian Games Council (1998), and helped lead the organization of the only Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad in 2003.

He was involved in bringing the 2010 Commonwealth Games to India, and had been the Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee.  He served the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC) (2012-2014) as Vice President. He was the Secretary General of the Indian Olympic Association (1987-2014), Secretary General of Olympic Council of Asia since 1991, and member of the International Olympic Committee from 2001 - 2014, and member of the Association of National Olympic Committees Executive Board (2202-2012 and 2014). Recently he was re-elected for the sixth time as the Secretary General of the OCA. He has also served as member of the World Anti-Doping Agency Foundation Board (2003--2005) and on the following commissions: Olympic Games Study Commission (2002--2003); IOC Sport for All Commission (2004), IOC Women and Sport Commission (2006); IOC Coordination Commission 2010 - Ist Youth Summer Olympic Games,  Singapore 2008; Foundation Board Olympic Truce Foundation (2006) and Wada Foundation Board (2003-2005).  He was a member of the Governing Body, Sports Authority of India, Govt. of India (1987-2010).

In 2000 he was awarded a D.Litt. in sports science from Lakshmi Bai National Institute of Physical Education, Gwalior, India.

GOLD AWARD CEREMONY 2015 - July 16th

Achieving your Gold Award is a really big step in your young life. It shows that you have the ability, focus and determination to achieve. It shows you have done your share to achieve all-round development and at the same time are open to learn from what the future has in store for you. So it's only right that you get a proper celebration for your achievement. Our Gold Award Ceremony is designed to celebrate this achievement.
We are happy to announce that Raja Randhir Singh, former Olympic-level trap and skeet shooter, is the Chief Guest and will present the Gold Awards to the successful participants at the Annual Gold Award Ceremony on July 16, 2015 at India International Centre, New Delhi.
You can soon expect to receive an invite to GAC 2015 and your presence will make this event memorable.  Ceremony details can be checked here.

Gold Award Ceremony 2014

On July 7, 2014 International Award for Young People India recognized the hard work, will and strength of

eighty Gold Award winners from across India. The Gold Award Ceremony 2014 was an event to experience and witness the excitement and happiness of youngsters from various schools and foundations who had successfully completed their Gold Award level. 

Former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr. SY Quraishi had consented to be our chief guest for the event. The event started with our National Director Kapil Bhalla giving a brief report on what IAYP did in the past year and also explained what IAYP India stands for. Mr. Bhalla also took a moment to explain to our Gold Award winners, how this achievement is just the stepping stone for a brighter future and how the Award will help them in their journey. 

The report by our National Director was followed by speeches from our International Gold Event Seoul participants Anwesha Ghosh and Ankit Durga, they utilized their time on the stage by sharing their experience of the Award and how it has transformed their lives for a better future. This was followed by tabla performance by two students from GD Goenka World School, Gurgaon, which left the audience at India International Centre mesmerized.

Finally came the time which each of our eighty participants had been eagerly waiting for, the Annual Gold Award Felicitation Ceremony. Our chief guest Dr. Quraishi presented each participant with Gold Award certificate, badge and tie/scarf. Along with the Gold Award winners, fifteen Award Leaders were also recognized for their long term contribution towards IAYP. 

Dr. SY Quraishi then addressed the audience, where our honorable chief guest talked about his journey through the Ministry of Youth Affairs and various other topics including, Indian Youths and their role towards growth of our country. Then a vote of thanks was delivered by the Chairman of Award Programme Foundation Trust Mr. Himmat Kalsia.

The event ended with a group photograph, where each participant displayed their achievement and shared their excitement and happiness with each other. All in all it was a run away success.