Somanath, expressing his gratitude, said he saw this award not as a personal win, but one of recognition for the ISRO.

Somanath, expressing his gratitude, said he saw this award not as a personal win, but one of recognition for the ISRO.

Somanath, expressing his gratitude, said he saw this award not as a personal win, but one of recognition for the ISRO.

Kochi: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S Somanath was named the Manorama News Newsmaker 2023. Somanath was chosen through an audience opinion poll organised by Manorama News in collaboration with KLM Axiva Finvest.

Actor Siddique announced the winner. Somanath expressed his gratitude to the viewers of Manorama News for the win. "I see this award not as a personal win, but one of recognition for the ISRO," said Somanath. Siddique, while making the announcement, said he too wanted Somanath to win the Newsmaker award.

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There were four finalists – filmmaker Jude Anthany Joseph, Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan, Speaker A N Shamseer and Somanath. The winner was adjudged following an opinion poll that went on for one-and-a-half months. Writer Thanuja Bhattathiri and Manorama News director Johny Lukose were also part of the panel that made the announcement. This is the second time in the 18-year history of Manorama Newsmaker that an ISRO chairman has bagged the award. Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair won the award in 2008.