UNITED NATIONS(TIP): The “Power of One” Award , established by Diwali Foundation, USA, Inc. chaired by Ranju Batra, in 2017  is to celebrate and highlight the vital and important work done across the world in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations.

To be eligible for the Award, , one has to be a former Permanent Representative or former high level member of UN Secretariat, or soon to be former, who has toiled selflessly to “help to form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all”.

The recipients for the 2018 “Power of One”  Award included H.E. Catherine Boura, former Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations; H.E. Mohamed Khalid Khiari, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations till December 2018; H.E. Andrej Logar, former Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations ; H.E. Agshin Mehdiyev, Former Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan; H.E. Nguyen Phuong Nga, former Permanent Representative of Viet Nam  to the United Nations; and H.E. Virachai Plasai, former Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations.

The Awards were presented by Ranju Batra, Chair of Diwali Foundation, USA, Inc. at the United Nations , December 11, 2018 in the presence of a large number of diplomats, community members and media.

The event was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India.

The 2018 Power of One awards were co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Greece, France, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Permanent Observer of State of Palestine, and NY Office of International Atomic Energy agency.

Those who addressed the gathering included India’s PR Syed Akbaruddin, Georgia’s PR Kaha Imnadze, Algeria’s PR Sabri Boukadoum, Kazakhstan’s PR Kairat Umarov, Sri Lanka’s PR Amrith Rohan Perera, Ranju Batra, Chair of Diwali Foundation, USA, Inc., and Ravi Batra, Chair, National Advisory Council South Asian Affairs.