MERINEWS.COM RECEIVED “OFFICIAL HONOREE” DISTINCTION FOR THE 11TH ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS

Gurgaon, Haryana – 23rd May 2007 – The Webby Awards, the leading international honor for the Web, today recognized merinews.com as an Official Honoree, a distinction that recognizes work exhibiting remarkable achievement.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites. The awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization that includes David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, internet inventor Vinton Cerf, and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser.

"The Webby Awards honors the outstanding work that is setting the standards for the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "merinews.com Official Honoree selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

“ This award would encourage us to strive harder and play a bigger role in bringing the real power to the people. The fact that merinews, a newbie, shared the Honoree status with established news portals like CNN.com, AOL News, CNET news.com et al tells us that we are on the right path” says Vipul Kant Upadhyay

The 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states. Out more than 8,000 entries submitted, fewer than 15% received this honor and were deemed an Official Honoree.


About [Entry]:
Merinews.com is India’s First Participatory Media Portal. With a registered contributor base in thousands, merinews aims at providing a platform to the citizens at large to write and report on news as they view it. Having a minimalist editing policy gives it the kind of credibility required for honestly putting across the views of the masses. Merinews is in a continuous development mode and is planning to launch a slew of new features that would enhance the visitor experience tremendously.

About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites. Established in 1996, the 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Adobe; The Creative Group; Verizon; AOL Video; dotMobi; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Reuters; Variety; Wired; IDG: Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

About the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS):
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and interactive media. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 500 members consisting of leading experts in a diverse range of fields, such as musician David Bowie, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, fashion designer Max Azria, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening and Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser. The Webby Awards and The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are registered trademarks of International Data Group. For more information, visit www.iadas.net.

Contact: Vipul Kant Upadhyay, CEO & Editor-in-chief
Tel: +91 124 4133555
E-mail: vipul@merinews.com