The second edition of the Shriram Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism was held at the Trident Oberoi in Mumbai on 25^th April. The glittering function was organised by Shriram Capital and South Africa’s Sanlam Group in association with The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR). Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, graced the occasion as Chief Guest.



Each Category Winner received cash prize of INR 1 lakh along with a citation. The awards were divided into four categories namely Financial Markets, Banking, Economic Policy and Sectoral Issues. An initial screening round of all entries was done by IFMR and shortlisted entries were then made available for the consideration of for an eminent panel of independent jury members. Criteria used for judging included analysis and understanding of the issue, use of research and data, relevance to the audience and the quality of writing and communication.



The distinguished panel of independent jury members comprised of Mr. Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director – TVS Capital Ltd, Mr. Srinivasan K. Swamy, Chairman & Managing Director, R. K. Swamy BBDO, Ms. Ashu Suyash, CEO, L&T Mutual Fund, Mr. Adit Jain, Chairman, IMA Asia and Mr. Swaminathan S. Aiyar, Consulting Editor of Economic Times, who incidentally was the winner of the Life Time Achievement Award at Shriram Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism in 2012.



The final list of winners on the awards night were:



Financial Markets: Ms. Aarati Krishnan for her story “A very strange bull market” published in Hindu Business Line



Banking: Mr. V Keshavdev for his story “India Inc’s MahaKumbh” published in Outlook Business



Economic Policy: Mr. Bibek Debroy for his story “Control and food inflation” published in The Economic Times



Sectoral Issues: Mr. M Rajshekhar for his story “Great rural land rush: 3 to 100- fold rise in farm land prices may not bode well“ published in The Economic Times



Lifetime Achievement Award: Mr. T.N. Ninan. Editor – Business Standard



Speaking about the inception of the awards, GS Sunderarajan, Group Director, Shriram Group said ‘It all started when we hosted a Sunlam Awardee last year. We were excited by the format decided to learn more about the awards. After acquainting ourselves with it we started the award ceremony as a small affair in in Chennai last year. The event saw Finance minister, P Chidambaram and former Finance and Commerce Editor of The Hindu, Mr. P.N Seshan being awarded the Lifetime Achievement award. Following the event’s success, we decided to take inputs from various editors from different publications and modified a large part of the awards. We opened up free nominations and let the jury decide the category.



‘We decided to focus on financial journalism because of the kind of industry we are in. Another reason is because we felt that financial journalism is one area within journalist recognition umbrella that is least recognized. We identified a void and felt the need to fill it.’



He also said Shriram Capital is committed to growing the property. ‘We started with written media. We gradually wish to include vernacular, TV and then an international category. We will continue to keep adding value to what we are doing.’