The Hindu : National : `Alternative Nobel' to be announced in Hyderabad

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Monday, Sep 20, 2004

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National

`Alternative Nobel' to be announced in Hyderabad

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 19. The Right Livelihood Awards, also known as the `Alternative Nobel Prize,' will be announced in Hyderabad on Monday morning, the first time this is being done outside Sweden in the 25 years of its existence.

The Right Livelihood Awards Foundation was established 25 years ago in Sweden and the Alternative Nobel is traditionally given from the Swedish Houses of Parliament a day before the Nobel Prize. According to a press release from the Foundation, the name of the award is derived from Lord Buddha's eight-fold path. The first Right Livelihood Award was given to the Egyptian "architect of the poor", Hasan Fathy. Other winners include the Chilean "barefoot" economist, Manfred Max-Neef, Mordechai Vanunu, who exposed Israel's secret nuclear weapons programme, Ken Saro-Wiwa of Nigeria who was later executed for organising the Ogoni people against oil interests and the peasant movements of the landless in Brazil.

In South Asia, the Alternative Nobel has been given to Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Ela Bhatt of Sewa, Sunderlal Bahuguna of the Chipko movement, Zafarullah, Chowdhury of the people's health movement in Bangladesh, ecological activist Vandana Shiva and P.K. Raveendran of the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishat.

The jury that selected this year's winners was headed by Baron Jakob von Uexkull of Sweden.

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