London: Asian Lite, a Manchester-based magazine edited by Indian-origin journalist Anasudhin Azeez, has been honoured by a media organisation as one of the eight best in the region.

The paper is known within the Asian community for its principled stand on declining advertising for sex chat lines, astrologers, escort agencies and fake sadhus.

The magazine is widely distributed at temples, gurdwaras and other religious places.

The one-year-old magazine aimed at professional British Asians, including many recent migrants from India, has been selected as one of the eight best publications by How-Do, a professional media forum.

It was launched in June 2007. Asian Lite made the best eight out of over 180 entries.

The magazine was honoured during the How-Do annual awards at Manchester this week.

The magazines were selected by a 12-member panel of judges including BBC's Gordon Burns and Jim Hancock.

"The nomination is a birthday present to us," Azeez, who hails from Kerala, said.

"We are celebrating our first anniversary next month and the nomination is an approval of the professionalism my team is providing." "Manchester is the Mecca of modern journalism because here is where CP Scott coined his famous quote -- Facts are sacred and comment is free -- which sums up the essence of journalism," he added.

A media partner to the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and the Asian Business Development Network (ABDN), Asian Lite is the first British Asian journal to introduce Internet Television by utilizing the spread of broadband facility.

Source : PTI