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Gulf News staff scooped two top awards after going that extra mile for the Dubai Shopping Festival. Photographer Rangarajan picked up the first prize in the families photographic category while reporter Kelly Crane won the profilic writer award for best DSF coverage in terms of articles and features in English.
Under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Executive Council, the DSF official closing ceremony held on Saturday at Zabeel Park honoured the winners of various DSF awards for their outstanding contribution in making DSF 2006-2007 a big success.
The awards function was attended by Shaikh Hamdan, Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman, Dubai World, and members of the DSF Supreme Committee.
The official closing ceremony was also attended by DSF officials including CEO Saeed Al Nabouda, COO Ebrahim Saleh and Laila Suhail, Chief Marketing Officer for DSF. They were joined by representatives of the local, regional and international media.
A global event
In his speech Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem said: "It is without a doubt that the Dubai Shopping Festival has become, after only one decade since its launch, a global annual event that attracts millions of visitors from all over the world with its main theme One World. One Family. One Festival.
"As we conclude another successful edition of DSF we would like to thank the media for their unstinted support, and all the people who have been involved, directly or indirectly, in the organising of this glorious event. Last, but not the least, I would like to thank the people of UAE for their hospitality, warmth and generosity in welcoming all visitors during DSF."
Photography awards
Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the awards of the newly-launched DSF Photography Awards, honouring six winners in two categories.
In the DSF Families Category, the first prize went to Rangarajan of Gulf News, the second prize to Joseph J. Capellan of Emirates Today and the third prize winner was Haitham Al Khatem of Al Khaleej newspaper.
In the DSF Celebrations Category, Rajan V.M. of Gulf Today won the first prize, Pawan Singh of Khaleej Times the second prize and Chandra Balan of Emirates Today the third.
Journalism has played a pivotal role in the success and fame of the Dubai Shopping Festival since its launch and has helped in communicating the festival's vision and mission to the whole world. In order to acknowledge the efforts of journalists in taking the true stories of DSF to a wide cross-section of readers the DSF Journalism Awards were instituted.
Best DSF Coverage in terms of Articles and Features in English was awarded to Kelly Crane of Gulf News and the Best International Report was given to Mahmoud Morsi from Sayedati.
Shaikh Mayed also presented the awards for Best UAE Report (Arabic) to Shireen Masoud of Al Khaleej Newspaper for her report "Dubai the Modern City of 1001 Nights". The award for the Best UAE Report (English) was won by Sue Steven of Khaleej Times for her report "When Heritage Beckons".
Best UAE Feature Format (Arabic) was given to Mohammad Zaher Haj Hussain of Al Bayan for his feature "Security and Comfort is a Daily Feature of DSF" and the Best UAE Feature Format (English) was awarded to Linda George of Emirates Today, for her feature — "There Is So Much To Do and So Little Time".
GCC Awards
The award for the Best Two GCC Stories (Arabic) was given to Ali Hammoud of Al Watan newspaper from Qatar for his feature "DSF... a world of Tourist Attraction & Family Entertainment" and for English the winner was Nancy Oteifa from Kuwait Times for her feature "Dubai Shopping Festival Spreads the World of Festivals in Dubai".
Al Khaleej newspaper bagged the award for Best DSF Coverage in terms of articles (Arabic) while Al Bayan won for Best DSF Coverage in terms of features.
A private affair
The next category of awards honoured the private sector for their pioneering initiatives and innovative promotional campaigns during the Dubai Shopping Festival. The awards were presented by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Executive Council.
The Best Shopping Mall promotion award went to BurJuman, Best Shopping Mall décor award went to Mercato Mall, Best Shopping Mall Event to Mall of the Emirates and Outstanding Mall Contribution to Ibn Battuta Mall.
The Best Retail Promotion went to Visa International and the Most Attractive POS Display to Paris Gallery. Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group won the award for Outstanding Retail Service and Axiom Telecom was awarded for the Best DSF Promotion.
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad also presented the Ideal Arab Mother and Family Award which were launched by the DSF in the year 2000 as part of its social commitment towards the ideal family concept under the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The Ideal Arab Mother Award for 2006 went to Bothaina Abdulaziz Elabgy while the Ideal Arab Family Award for 2006 was won by the family of Baya Bent Mansour Mezghanni. The Ideal Arab Mother Award 2007 was won by Mezna Mohammad Hussaini while the Ideal Arab Family Award for 2007 goes to the family of Omar Mustafa Taha.
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