Amitabh Bachchan presents Olive Crown Awards to Maneka Gandhi, Prasoon Joshi

MUMBAI: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan presented the prestigious IAA Olive Crown Awards, Asia’s only green award for communication, organized by the Indian chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) for creative excellence in communicating sustainability, here on Friday.
Maneka Gandhi, politician, animal rights activist and environmentalist was awarded “Green Crusader of the Year Award” for her contribution towards protection of animals, while Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman & CEO McCann World Group India & president–South Asia received the “Green Agency of the Year award” and “Campaign of the Year Award” for its “Wake up, Clean up” project.
Maneka Gandhi while receiving the award said, “There are advertisements that help animals and there are that hurt them. There was an advisement on a little dog with a child, which led the dog being purchased by many people. There was another advertisement featuring an orangutan and led to smuggling of orangutans in orange boxes. Over 90% of all species in India are endangered. Over thousands of camels are smuggled to Bangladesh to be eaten. Weather its little sparrows, vultures or butterfly, extinct of such species dents a big hole in the eco system like the ozone layer.”
Echoing similar feelings, Bachchan in his inaugural address said, “We need to ponder over climate change issues. Effects of climate changes are visible on India and it’s manmade. According to reports, India will lose $80 bilion due to environmental degradation. I am personally associated with save tiger project. Saving tiger is not just saving a magnificent animal. It’s just a metaphor and means saving the whole eco system.”