April 14, 2003 – Sir Shridath Ramphal, who serves as a member of the Innovative Communications Corp. board of directors, recently received the 2002 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development from the Indian government.
Ramphal is the first person in the region to receive the award.
"I can't think of anyone more deserving of this honor than Sir Shridath," Jeffrey J. Prosser, Innovative's chairman and chief executive officer, said. "He had devoted his entire life to resolving social and economic justices and fostering interrelationships among all of our multicultural and multiethnic groups."
Previous recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter and Vaclav Havel.
Prosser said in a news release that Ramphal serves on various regional and national commissions and task forces concerned with peace, development and governance.
Ramphal served as secretary general of the British Commonwealth from 1975 to 1990, served in the 1960s as Guyana's attorney general and foreign minister, and for the past 14 years, as chancellor at the University of the West Indies.
He has also served on Willy Brandt's Commission on Development, Olaf Palme's Commission on Disarmament, and co-chaired with Sweden's Prime Minister Ingvar Carisen the Commission on Global Governance. He also headed the West Indian Commission that produced the 1992 "Time for Action" report.
Prosser said many people think the award is India's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ramphal will receive 2.5 million rupees, which equals about $5 million, and a trophy with a citation and portrait of Indira Gandhi.
Born in Guyana and known throughout the Caribbean as Sonny, the 75-year-old Ramphal descended from indentured Indian laborers.
The award is named in honor of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
