Shahrukh Khan To Get Crystal Award At WEF Davos Summit
Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan will get the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos later this month, along with Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and Sir Elton John.
Bollywood
megastar
Shahrukh
Khan
will
get
the
Crystal
Award
at
the
World
Economic
Forum's
Annual
Meeting
in
Davos
later
this
month,
along
with
Hollywood
star
Cate
Blanchett
and
legendary
musicianSir
Elton
John.
Khan
will
get
the
award
for
"his
leadership
in
championing
children's
and
women's
rights
in
India," the
World
Economic
Forum
(WEF)
said.
The
past
awardees
from
India
include
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Mallika
Sarabhai,
A
R
Rahman,
Shabana
Azmi,
Ravi
Shankar
and
Amjad
Ali
Khan.Sir
Elton
John
has
been
selected
for
the
2018
award
for
his
leadership
in
the
fight
against
HIV/AIDS
and
Blanchett
for
her
leadership
in
raising
awareness
about
the
refugee
crisis.
The
Annual
Crystal
Awards
ceremony,
which
opens
the
WEF
summit
in
the
Swiss
ski
resort,
celebrates
the
achievements
of
outstanding
artists
who
have
shown
exemplary
commitment
to
improving
the
state
of
the
world.
Announcing
the
names
of
the
three
awardees
for
this
year,
the
WEF
said
"each
of
them
in
their
own
way
has
taken
action
to
uphold
human
dignity".
The
award
ceremony
will
take
place
on
January
22,
the
first
day
of
the
five-day
annual
meeting
of
Geneva-based
WEF,
which
describes
itself
as
an
international
organisation
for
public-private
cooperation
committed
to
improving
the
state
of
the
world.
The
three
awardees
will
be
among
40
art
and
culture
leaders
taking
part
in
this
year's
annual
WEF
summit,
which
will
have
a
theme
of
'creating
a
shared
future
in
a
fractured
world'.
Last
year's
awardees
were
Anne-Sophie
Mutter,
Forest
Whitaker
and
Shakira,
while
Yao
Chen,
Leonardo
DiCaprio,
Olafur
Eliasson
and
will.i.am
were
awarded
in
2016.
The
past
awardees
include
Matt
Damon,
Bono
and
Charlize
Theron.
About
Shahrukh
Khan,
the
WEF
said
he
is
one
of
Bollywood's
most
prominent
actors
who
has
been
at
the
forefront
of
the
Indian
film
and
television
industry
for
over
30
years.He
is
also
the
founder
of
the
non-profit
Meer
Foundation,
which
provides
support
to
female
victims
of
acid
attacks
and
major
burn
injuries
through
medical
treatment,
legal
aid,
vocational
training,
rehabilitation
and
livelihood
support.
He
has
also
been
responsible
for
the
creation
of
specialised
children's
hospital
wards
and
has
supported
childcare
centres
with
free
boarding
for
children
undergoing
cancer
treatment.
"With
victims
of
acid
attacks
I
have
had
the
privilege
to
witness
the
unparalleled
courage
and
compassion
that
women
are
capable
of.
I
have
seen
the
transformative
strength
of
goodness
and
the
healing
power
of
gentleness,"
Khan
said.
About
Blanchett,
the
WEF
said
she
is
an
internationally
acclaimed
award-winning
actor
and
director
of
both
stage
and
screen.
She
was
appointed
a
UNHCR
Global
Goodwill
Ambassador
in
2016
in
recognition
of
her
commitment
to
refugees
and
has
lent
her
voice
and
influence
to
raising
awareness,
advocating
and
fundraising
for
the
UNHCR.
Having
met
refugees
in
countries
including
Lebanon,
Jordan
and
her
home
country
Australia,
she
advocates
for
increased
solidarity
and
responsibility
sharing
for
the
65
million-plus
displaced
people
across
the
world.
She
has
brought
her
creative
skills
to
bear
in
sharpening
focus
on
the
individual
human
stories
that
lie
behind
the
vast
numbers.
"As
a
UNHCR
Goodwill
Ambassador,
my
job
is
simple:
to
help
connect
people
to
the
human
stories
of
those
forced
to
flee,
and
to
state
the
case
for
all
of
us
to
stand
with
refugees,"
she
said.
Sir
Elton
John,
one
of
the
world's
most
successful
musical
solo
artists
of
all
time
with
a
career
spanning
more
than
five
decades,
said
that
AIDS
is
the
leading
cause
of
death
for
women
of
childbearing
age,
yet
the
medicine
and
know-how
exists
to
prevent
this.
"If
we
want
to
give
the
next
generation
a
better
future,
we
could
solve
this
problem.
What
it
takes
is
our
collective
passion
and
compassion,"
he
said.
With
35
Gold
and
25
Platinum
albums,
he
has
sold
more
than
250
million
records
worldwide.
In
1992,
he
established
the
Elton
John
AIDS
Foundation
(EJAF),
which
today
is
one
of
the
leading
non-profit
HIV/AIDS
organisations.
EJAF
has
raised
more
than
USD
400
million
to
date
to
support
hundreds
of
HIV/AIDS
prevention,
service
and
advocacy
programmes
around
the
globe.
In
1998,
Queen
Elizabethknighted
him
Sir
Elton
John,
Commander
of
the
Order
of
the
British
Empire
for
his
services
to
music
and
charitable
causes.