Jammu, Sep 22 (FN Agency) The Press Club of Jammu on Wednesday announced sixth Ashok Sodhi Memorial Awards for Best Photography 2022 here at a function. The awards were announced by the three member jury comprising veteran and senior journalists Sanjit Khajuria, Sunny Dua and Khushwinder Singh. The first prize was grabbed by Nitin Kanotra and he was awarded a cash prize of Rs 11,000 and a certificate. The second prize winner was Ishika Jandiyal, and the third prize was won by Ankush Sharma. They were awarded a cash prize of Rs 8000 and Rs 5000 respectively with a certificate. Meanwhile the consolation prizes were won by Ankur Sethi, Arushi Attri, Randhir Singh, Amit Sharma, Surjeet Singh, Pardeep Bakshi, Shilpa Thakur, Versha Devi, Diksha Sharma and Sandhia Bhardwaj. Rs 2000 was awarded to the consolation prize winners with a certificate. The event could not be organised due to Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Around 50 entries were received for the competition this year.
The awards were presented by president of Press Club of Jammu, Sanjeev Pargal, Editor-in-Chief, State Times, Raj Daluja, Senior Journalists Arun Joshi and Ashwani Kumar (Former PCJ President). Meanwhile the consolation prizes were presented by Senior Journalist Pradeep Dutta, Adarshpal Gupta and Vivek Sharma. Former President PCJ, Manu Shrivatsa was also present on the occasion. Earlier welcome address was presented by Secretary General, PCJ, Dinesh Manhotra and Vote of Thanks by Executive Committee Member Dinesh Mahajan. Vice President, Zorawar Singh Jamwal, Secretary Finance, Channi Anand, Executive Committee Members, Nishikant Khajuria, Kunal Shrivatsa, Deepak Khajuria, Govind Chauhan, Ajay Meenia and senior journalist Sominder Koul were also present on the occasion. Senior photojournalist Ashok Sodhi had attained martyrdom while performing his professional duties during a fierce encounter between militants and security forces at Samba on May 11, 2008.