Dataquest scribe bags Polestar award

CHENNAI: The PoleStar Awards for 2001 has been awarded to Shweta Verma, Senior Correspondent of Dataquest for excellence in writing on `IT for Competitive Advantage'. The award has been instituted by the Polestar Foundation, an independent committee based in Chennai that seeks to recognize media talent in the infotech segment. Samar Halarnkar of Business Today was the winner of the Polestar Award for excellence in writing on `IT for the Masses'.

Ratnam V. Balaraman, Director Exports, Hindustan Lever Ltd, a member of the jury said, "Having been a permanent member of the Jury panel, every year is a journey of discovery for me. I am consistently surprised at the quality of analyses and reportage that is being turned in by the Indian media and its only getting better, year after year. I am glad that we are playing this role in encouraging such high quality levels of reportage and I believe we will only grow from strength to strength. Every year, the number of nominations has been increasing and this year saw an unprecedented surge in the number of nominations, yet again, highlighting the growing popularity and impact of this credible Award series."

Commenting on her selection, Shweta Verma, said, "To me, writing is a passion and it feels great to be recognized for something you love doing. The PoleStar Award is very special and comes at a time when IT writing in this country deserves to be applauded."