Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 24:
Twenty three year old Vikram Laishram from Uripok is among 20 �dynamic leaders� from 16 countries awarded with this year�s Youth Action Net Award conferred by International Youth Foundation and Nokia.
Gautam Gupta of Delhi is the second Indian honoured with the prestigious award.
In addition to the 20 youths getting cash award of 500 US dollars each, they also took part in a week-long special skill-building workshop held at Washington DC under the sponsorship of the two groups.
During the workshop that concluded on November 18 the awardees shared their experiences on different issues relevant to youth and drug abuse.
Vikram, who founded a project christened �Better treatment equals better life� to improve health of the Manipuri people where cases of drug addiction is among the highest in the country, is currently working here as a regional focal point for south Asia under a New York based group - Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS.
�The Washington meet was awe-inspiring and from it I�ve learnt lots of innovative ideas to fight drug abuse amongst the youth and HIV/AIDS infection,� Vikram who arrived here yesterday said.
He along with four awardees attended as panel members on November 17 during the workshop held under the banner �Youth leadership in a globalized world�, Vikram said adding that World Bank and AP etc, interviewed him.
Informing that he was associated with an NGO as well as the Family Planning Association of India, the awardee confided that his current work involves joining e-course on capacity building taught by training officers from New York in addition to working as a moderator for E-forum on mapping youth organisations.