Hyderabad, Sept. 15: Sriram Bharatam, CEO & founder of Iridium Interactive Limited, has been awarded the ‘Udyog Rattan Award’ by the Institute  of  Economic  Studies,  New  Delhi,  one  of the  country's  premier research institutes. This honor was conferred on Mr. Bharatam in recognition of his contributions towards Industrial development. In the same function, Iridium Interactive Limited also received the Excellence award for outstanding performance in Productivity, Quality, Management and Innovation

The award was presented at India Habitat Center, New Delhi. The ceremony was graced by the Governor of Sikkim, Bhism Narain Singh, Ex-governor, TamilNadu, G.V.G.Krishnamurthy, former Election Commissioner and other dignitaries.

Speaking on this occasion Sriram said, “We believe that every citizen has a responsibility to give back to the society, and we at iridium Interactive have steadfastly followed this adage. Our socially responsible approach is our differentiator – bringing smiles to more faces, and winning us a few accolades along the way. We translate our ideology into action in many ways: we advocate web accessibility in the virtual world; while working towards up-lifting the disabled in the real world through our non-profit arm, Cause an Effect foundation.”

Accepting the Udyog Rattan award, Mr. Bharatam said that both the awards rightfully belong to management, staff and well wishers of Iridium Interactive who have contributed towards making the company  a success story.

Mr. Bharatam is also the founder of the not-for-profit Cause an Effect Foundation (CnE). The Cause an Effect project was first launched to help the victims of the super cyclone that devastated Orissa in the year 1999. The same team then moved on to generate funds for the victims of the Gujarat Earthquake and Andhra Floods, as well as the Tsunami-affected victims across Tamil Nadu & Andhra. In all Cause an effect projects, Iridium Interactive (ii) functions as the commercial interactive agency, and has been highly successful in generating awareness and publicity. The ii management and employees are actively involved in all the initiatives of Cause an effect, giving generously of their time and expertise.

Mr. Bharatam himself made an abrupt departure from a very promising consultancy career to establish Cause an Effect. An avid believer in the World Wide Web, he used the power of internet to raise significant funds for the cyclone victims & to build a global community of 18 million in just 45 days. This effort led him to win the world’s prestigious Kauffman Community Award for ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ in the year 2004. Known for his creativity and innovation, he currently spearheads the Web Accessibility and Usability Initiative, i.e. making websites accessible for the differently-abled.

The Udyog Rattan Award and Award for Excellence is conferred by the Institute of Economic Studies every year.  IES (http://iesindia.org) was established in 1980 by a group of economists, parliamentarians and industrialists who came together to study and discuss problems concerning various aspects of the economy and economic development of India and offer their expert advice and services.

The previous recipients of this prestigious award include Vijay Mallaya, Chairman UB Group and Kingfisher Airlines, R Krishna Bajaj, H S Singhania, Chair man JK Tyre  and Industries, Dr B K Modi,Chairman & President  Modi Group of Industries,  B R Chopra, Renuka Ramnath, Managing Director & CEO ICICI Venture Funds,  and H P Nanda Chairman of ESCORTS Group.