The TOI Youth Icons Summit & Awards, UP Chapter, was held in Lucknow on October 27, celebrating young changemakers across various fields. It paired conversations on Uttar Pradesh’s transformation with a felicitation ceremony in which 37 winners were honoured in enterprise, sports, society, culture and social media. Check out the winners list below…The TOI Youth Icons Summit & Awards, UP Chapter, was held in Lucknow on October 27, celebrating young changemakers across various fields. The event brought together achievers, emerging leaders and influential voices to celebrate young Indians shaping the country’s future. It paired conversations on Uttar Pradesh’s transformation with a felicitation ceremony in which 37 winners were honoured in enterprise, sports, society, culture and social media. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath felicitated the achievers and addressed the audience. Check out the list of the 37 winners awarded for different categories below.
A day of conversations on ‘New UP’
The discussion combined talks by leading voices from film and public service with panels on the state’s progress, from jobs, skills and startups to safety, connectivity and culture.Suhas L Y, Secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare, and Director General, Youth Welfare and P.R.D., Government of Uttar Pradesh, gave the opening address followed by panel discussions and fireside chats. Here’s a brief of some of the discussions.
- ‘Degree to Destiny’: Jobs, skills and startups in the new UP. Moderated by Meghna Deka, National Editor and Head, Video Strategy, with Shashi Bhushan Lal (Principal Secretary, MSME and Export Promotion), and founders Rama Krishna (EndureAir Systems), Ankit Sahani (Hazelnut Factory) and Mayank (ADROSONIC).
- ‘Tab vs Ab’: UP then and now, on how the state was and how it is today. Meghna Deka moderated, with Anupria Goenka, Faisal Malik and Dalip Tahil.
- ‘Small Town, Big Stage’: A UP-born youth icon’s journey from a district ground to the world stage. Aparshakti Khurana spoke with former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif.
- Special Address: Actor Ravi Kishan.
The Chief Minister’s address
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister was received by Mr. Pravin Kumar. He was felicitated by Prasad Saniyal, Business head, Times of India, What’s Hot and Ms. Prerna Mahendru, Business Head, Timesofindia.com. A book unveiling by ToI’s Mr. Dhanush, Mr. Anil Singh and Mr. Abhishek Srivastav followed, and Pravin Kumar delivered the welcome address. He then invited the Chief Minister for the award felicitation, where winners were called up one by one and felicitated together by the CM.
TOI Youth Icons Summit & Awards – The 37 winners
Here’s the list of the winners along with their categories.
The list shows how broad the idea of a ‘youth icon’ has become. Athletes and entrepreneurs sit alongside a district magistrate recognised for social impact, a grassroots drone innovator, a Siddha Veena artist, and creators working in regional languages, comedy, food, travel and spiritual storytelling.
Closing conversation: ‘UP We Live In’
The final panel, moderated by Meghna Deka, looked at safety, connectivity and culture through young eyes. Panellists were Amrit Abhijat (Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism, Culture, Religious Affairs and Transport), Yatindra Mishra (author, culturist and member, Central Board of Film Certification) and IPS officer Vrinda Shukla (Superintendent of Police, Women and Child Security Wing 1090, UP Police). Thereafter, Deka played a rapid fire round with the panelists and then thanked the Chief Minister and closed the programme.
