
REGIONAL: Abdul Gani of The Assam Tribune was conferred the Best Sports Journalist of the Year Award during the 30th National Sports and Cultural Festival 2025-26 organised to mark the 111th birth anniversary of Premoda Kanta Sarma at Kumar Bhaskar Natya Mandir. Several prominent personalities from different fields were also honoured at the closing ceremony and annual award function of the festival.
Thanking the organisers, Gani paid tribute to Premoda Kanta Sarma and said he hoped that his ideals would continue to inspire future generations. He added that such recognition motivated him to work harder in his professional field.
Before joining The Assam Tribune, Gani was associated with several national and international media organisations, including The Times of India, The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and Anadolu News Agency. Apart from sports and film reporting, he has extensively reported news from the Northeast for more than 15 years.
Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Dr Kaukab Azeem, former Assam chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, Ashok Saikia, Kamalesh Chandra Choudhury, Mahindra Das, Mukul Hazarika, Gakul Chandra Deka and posthumously to late Ramcharan Bharali .
The Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika Centenary Award was presented to Anirban Das.
The Best Electronic Media Awards were presented to Nabanita Kalita and Ainul Haque for media excellence, , while the Best Journalist Award was conferred on Saurav Kumar Borah.