ITGD Bureau; New Delhi, November 7, 2010
An India Today report based on the Right to Information Act by Associate Editor Shyamlal Yadav is among the winning entries for the 2010 Lorenzo Natali Prize (LNP)-2010, an annual competition open to journalists worldwide.
The report was among the 17 best entries (three from each continent and two special prizes) from over 1,100 nominations worldwide.
Awarded by the European Commission, the LNP is supported by Reporters Without Borders and WAN IFRA - World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, which represents over 18 000 publications in all five continents. The awards will be conferred at a ceremony in Brussels on December 6 in the presence of European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs. Prizes worth a total of â‚60 000 will be awarded to these 17 journalists. Individual prizes will be announced at the ceremony.
Done over a year, the India Today report shows how the pollution control mechanism under National River Conservation Project (NRCP) has failed despite spending over Rs 3,892 crore on 38 prominent rivers in 20 states and 167 towns. The story was a result of over 30 RTI applications, appeals and reminders to the Ministry of Environment of Forests, Central Pollution Control Board and various state Pollution Control Boards.
The same report will also be among the finalists for Developing Asia Journalism Award 2010 by ADBI which will take place in Tokyo on November 17-19.
Launching the award on April 30 last, Piebalgs said: "Through the Lorenzo Natali Prize, the European Commission recognises journalists who contribute to the cause of development, democracy and human rights."
Since 1992, the LNP is an international prize awarded every year and is open to journalists working in TV, radio, the press and online. Lorenzo Natali (1922-1990) was a European Commissioner and then a Vice President of the Commission between 1976 and 1989, with special responsibility for cooperation and development between 1985 and 1989.
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