INTERNET ENTREPRENEUR IS NAMED
'ASIAN WOMAN OF THE YEAR'

Founder of www.redhotcurry.com wins 'Asian Woman of the Year' in the media professional category.

Mrs Lopa Patel, founder of Asian Lifestyle Portal, Redhotcurry.com was named 'Asian Woman of the Year 2005' in the Media Professional category at a lavish ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel.

HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall attended a champagne reception to personally congratulate winners of the sixth annual Asian Women of Achievement Awards. A delighted Lopa received her award from Lisa Aziz, anchor for Sky News and Vijay Sharma, Head of BBC Asian Network.

From its humble beginning as a small cookery site in 2001, Redhotcurry.com has become the leading lifestyle portal for British Asians, offering a recipe of news, entertainment, lifestyle articles and opinion pieces. It's the only female-owned Asian website, entirely self-financed, battling for equality within the community and fair representation outside of it. The site now attracts more than 40,000 unique users and several million hits each month.

Lopa said of the win, "I am thrilled that the online medium is being recognised in this way. Among such great company, winning is a humbling experience.

"The Award recognises the important role that the UK's 2.3 million South Asians play in the wealth, stability and culture of modern Britain and, more importantly, how technology can be used to unite this ethnic community."

Lopa fended off stiff competition from other nominees including Anila Baig, the first Muslim columnist for 'The Sun'; Director of BBC foreign current affairs, Ruhi Hamid; Rita Payne, Asia Editor for BBC World; and Navdip Raman, Commissioning Editor, factual entertainment for Channel 4.

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of human rights organisation - Liberty, was named the 'Lloyds TSB AWA Award' winner; Sudha Bhuchar and Kristine Landon Smith, founders of Tamasha Theatre Company won the 'Arts & Culture' Award; Joyti Munsiff, Shell's highest-ranking female employee was named 'Corporate Businesswoman of the Year' and Nighat Awan OBE, founder of the Shere Khan Food group was named 'Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Ends

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

ABOUT REDHOTCURRY.COM

Redhotcurry.com is a celebration of Asian life in the UK with an informative collection of in-depth articles on race, culture, entertainment, religion, food, curry, ethnic fashion and beauty, all written with a South Asian perspective. The site covers news, views, money, business, entertainment, food and drink, health, style, sports and travel with interactive discussion groups, on-line chat, web based email and a comprehensive searchable UK South Asian restaurant directory. In 2004, Redhotcurry.com launched a shopping channel putting it line to become Britain's leading online Ethnic Goods Retailer.

http://www.redhotcurry.com - all the curry & more

ABOUT THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

The Asian Women of Achievement Awards applaud and celebrate the commitment, dedication and determination of Asian women to their professional and personal achievements within the commercial, professional, artistic and humanitarian sectors. This year 46 finalists were selected across eight different Award categories. The AWA Awards, the brainchild of Pinky Lilani, are organised by Caspian Publishing.

More information about the Awards and winners can be found at:
http://www.redhotcurry.com/news/awa_2005_winners.htm

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For further details contact:
Katy Howell
Immediate Future Ltd
0845 408 2031
katy.howell@immediatefuture.co.uk

Click here for a Word version of this press release.

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