London, Oct 2 (PTI) NRI entrepreneur Avtar Lit has been conferred with the 'Jewel of Punjab' award for his outstanding contribution in the field of Asian Radio and Television in the UK. Andrew Mitchell, MP, Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, presented the award to Lit, founder Chairman of Sunrise Radio Group, at a gala annual function organised by World Punjabi Organisation (European Division) here. Lit was named as one of the 20 most powerful Asians in England. His fortune is reportedly worth around USD 96 million. Receiving the award, Lit said there might have been many more in the audience who deserved the award but any recognition from the community is very important. G S Chetwal, earlier chief of the Ealing Gurdwara, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award while B S Grewal, popularly known as Bobby Grewal who walked from Amritsar to Kanyakumari and London to Glasgow to raise funds for Bowel Cancer Research, was chosen for Lifetime Achievement Award for Charitable services. Prominent among those present on the dais included Lord Navnit Dholakia, Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats party in the House of Lords, Sailesh Vara, first Asian Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and currently the Government whip and C Rajashekar, Minister, Political, Press and Information at the Indian High Commission to the UK. R S Baxi, President of the World Punjabi Organisation (European Division) referred to recent riots in London which he said came as a surprise to all of us. Andrew Mitchell, Minister for International Development, acknowledged the huge investment by Tatas in the UK. Referring to the UK-India partnership, particularly in the field of development, Mitchell said Britain would continue its programme to help the poor in India. India still has more poor people than in Sub-Saharan Africa and we will continue our assistance in this regard for the next four years. We will also seek private sector investment in eradicating poverty and we are proud to be partners with India. He said the British aid programme had helped 60 million more children to go to schools. India and Britain were also working together in Somalia where 1.3 million children were being inoculated for measles. Lord Dholakia said that in the recent riots in London, many of the victims were Indians. On appointment of R S Baxi as member of the Olympic Legacy Committee, he said, His contribution in terms of improving the environment and reducing the Carbon Footprint in this country is laudable.
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