Naresh Goyal, founder Chairman of Jet Airways and English cricketer Monty Panesar have won 2006's Man of the Year and Sports Personality of the Year award instituted by a Gujarati-English bilingual weekly.
At a function attended by over 1200 people at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, 56-year-old Goyal was presented the award for his outstanding performance in making Jet Airways one of the world's best and fastest growing airlines.
Left-arm spinner Panesar who played a stellar role in England's recent Test series victory over Pakistan, got the biggest cheer of the evening as he collected the Sports Personality of the Year Award from former Bombay Dreams pin-up girl Sophiya Haque.
Addressing the gathering, Kalpesh Solanki, group managing editor of the Asian Media and marketing Group which organised the GG2 (Garavi-Gujarat) Leadership and Diversity Awards and Baroness Helene Haymen, Speaker of the House of Lords, said the awards reflected the wealth of talent that Britain had at its disposal because of its positive attitude towards difference.
