Mumbai: In the last one and a half years, the Covid-19 pandemic completely shook the whole world, but some people gathered the strength in those bleak times and kept pushing to attain perfection in their respective fields. Zee Hindustan honoured the people who accelerated the country's economic progress while battling the difficulties during the Corona period through its unique initiative called 'Udaan: Dare to Dream’.

The event witnessed an extraordinary panel of industrialists and entrepreneurs who spoke about the complications faced during Covid-19, how they kept up their businesses and helped the employees in that difficult phase. Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu had also graced the event.

Industry luminaries such as Maruti Suzuki India executive director Shashank Srivastava; Gujrat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd - Amul managing director Dr RS Sodhi, and Honda Motors India director YS Guleria were part of the first panel discussion. They spoke about growth strategies, how large companies support small businesses and how the government has taken several steps to support MSMEs.

Many other panelists, namely Gaurav Beriwal, Srikant Jhunjhunwala, Nitiz Murdia, Pradeep Aggarwal, Dr Suborno Bose, Subrata Ray, Satvinder Singh Saluja, Ajay Chaudhary, and Ashish Shah were a part of the event as well. They spoke about innovation in business, new opportunities in these times, inspirational entrepreneurs' stories, and issues about how their respective industries were impacted due to Covid-19.

Zee Hindustan CEO Purushottam Vaishnava, along with managing editor Shamsher Singh, launched the new theme song of Zee Hindustan on this occasion. Vaishnava inaugurated the event saying, "Zee Hindustan is proud to celebrate the people who gave wings to the economy and inspired everyone with their sportsmanship in such difficult times. I salute all the people present today and thank them for the wonderful contribution and keeping the spirits of our country high!"

The programme ended with felicitating those, who overcame their challenges and waved the country's tricolour high in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics – Sunder Singh Gurjur, Yogesh Kathunia, Singharaj Adhana, Manoj Sarkar, Harvinder Singh. Along with Dutee Chand, an Indian professional sprinter and current national champion in the Women’s 100 meters event.

Zee Hindustan CRO Manoj Jagyasi said, “We would like to extend our gratitude towards industry stalwarts like RS Sodhi from Amul, YS Guleria from Honda Motors, and Shashank Shrivastava from Maruti, for being part of the power-packed panels and motivating other entrepreneurs with their inspiring stories. Big thanks to the sponsors for supporting such an initiative which encouraged businesses to do more towards their organisation and society at large. This was indeed one of the largest events put up by any national channel in the recent past! Zee Hindustan always has and always will take up such initiatives which represents the true value of Rastravaad.”