Shri Arun Jaitley Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting said that the National Photography Awards wasa ‘Great Initiative’of the Government to honour and recognize thosecreative professionals who defined moments in history through their creative pictorial mastery. Photographers work in adverse circumstances waiting to capture moments of the day which leaves an impression in the minds of the people. Shri Arun Jaitley stated this while delivering his address at the5^thNational Photography Awards ceremonyhere today.Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and Secretary I&B, Shri Sunil Arora were also present on the occasion.

Figure 1:  Shri Arun Jaitley& Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore along with 5^th National Photography Award Winners

Figure 2: I&B Minister Shri Arun Jaitley felicitating the Life Time Achievement Award winner Shri Bhawan Singh

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Jaitley said photography was a complicated art, which reminded us of history through images captured related to events/personalities. The Minister lauded the professional work of Shri Bhawan Singh who was given the Life Time Achievement Award for this year, recalling his excellence in capturing the visual journey of India from late 70s. He also highlighted the professional skillsof Shri Bhawan Singh in portraying images of different genresin a career span ofmore thanfourdecades.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Sunil Arora, Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that a photograph/Cartoon had the power of expression conveying more than an editorial write up. He said that Photo Division, a Media Unit under the Ministry of I&B is the largest organization in the country involved in production and storage of still photographs across various facets of life and is in the process of digitizing this repository.

Figure 3: Shri Arun Jaitley felicitating the Life Time Achievement Award winner Shri Bhawan Singh

Shri Arun Jaitley and Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore also felicitated the winners of the 5^th National Photography Awards. The Life Time Achievement award was presented to Shri Bhawan Singh for his illustrious career and contributions to the field of Photography. Shri Bhawan Singh has worked in the Indian news industry for over five decades and is one of the senior photo journalist in the country. His career which started in a newspaper has been built mostly around magazines. He worked as Magazine Photo Editor with India Today magazine. He is a recipient of the World Press Photo Award.

The total number of awards in the various categories werethirteen. The various categories included Professional Photographer of the Year, Special Mention Award (Professional), Amateur Photographer of the Year, Special Mention Award (Amateur). The Professional Photographer Award of the year was given to Shri Javed Ahmed Dar who trains his lens on pictures of human interest. His photographs have appeared in prestigious international publications.  Shri Himanshu Thakur was given the Amateur Photographer of the year award. He is a photo enthusiast who captures people’s emotions, expressions and city scapes.

Shri Jaitley also released the brochure for the 5^th National Photography Awards which profiles the awardees and their work.

Figure 4:Shri Arun Jaitley, Col Rajyavardhan Rathore and Secretary I&B releasing the Brochure for the 5^th National Photography Awards

The Jury for the 5^th National Photography Awards was a six member committee headed by Shri Ashok Dilwale. The other members of the Jury included Shri K. Madhavan Pillai, Shri SudharakOlwe, Shri H.Satish, Shri GurinderOsan and Shri SanjivMisra.

       Figure 5 : Shri Arun Jaitley felicitating the awardees at the 5^th National Photography Awards

CP/GV