Rahman is the Indian of the year

Mozart of south Oscar winning music maestro A R Rahman has been chosen as the CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2009, while renowned sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Filmmaker-thespian Kamal Haasan shared the award for special achievements with the Indian test cricket team.

Rahman was not only chosen as the Indian of the year but was also awarded for his achievements that have put India on the global entertainment map, as he won Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Scion of the Gandhi family Rahul Gandhi was named politician of the year, badminton ace Saina Nehwal was awarded as sportsperson of the year, and the businesspersons of the year was the team that salvaged Satyam.

That consists of Kiran Karnik, Deepak S Parekh, C Achuthan, Tarun Das, TN Manoharan and S Balkrishna Mainak for displaying passion and commitment for corporate brand India and setting out to achieve a task that many considered to be impossible.

The Public Service of the Year award went to Pratham, the largest NGO working to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of India.

The awards were attended by cabinet ministers, industrialists, corporate leaders and citizens. This event will be aired on television on CNN-IBN on December 25 at 9.30 pm.