AWARDS AUGUST 2012

 AWARDS AUGUST 2012

• Aditi Mukherjee, a Delhi based scientist, won the prestigious Norman Borlaug Award in Field Research and Application. Mukherjee was picked for the award for her work in transforming access to water for thousands of farmers in West Bengal. The award will be formally presented to Mukherji on 17 October 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa, US. Mukherji, 37, is a senior researcher at the Delhi office of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The international award is conferred by the World Food Prize Foundation, which was started by Norman Borlogue, the father of Green Revolution in India. The award carries 10000 dollar cash prize. The Borlaug Award is restricted to scientists under 40.
  
• The Castrol awards for cricketing excellence honoured the players, as Ajit Wadekar, who bagged the lifetime achievement award, and Unmukt Chand, who topped the ‘Junior cricketer’ category. The other awards are- Indian cricketer of the year — M.S. Dhoni, special award for- Yuvraj Singh. Test-cricketer-of-the-year award - Rahul Dravid , while the limited-over category honours went to Suresh Raina and Sachin Tendulkar took the batsman-of-the-year trophy and the best bowler award - R. Ashwin. Other awards: Performance in the World Cup: Yuvraj Singh; 100th hundred: Tendulkar; Extraordinary double century in ODIs: Virender Sehwag; Performance under pressure: Gautam Gambhir (World Cup final); Stand-out performance under pressure: Virat Kohli.
  
• Physics professor of Johns Hopkins University, Charles L Bennett, was awarded with the Gruber Cosmology Prize 2012 in Beijing at the opening ceremony of the 28th Conference of the International Astronomical Union on 22 August 2012. This award was given to him acknowledging his immense contribution to the world of physics. Bennett, a prominent physicist, led a 26-member team that worked on NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The findings of the study helped astronomers refine their understanding of the age, shape and makeup of the universe.
  
• Dr PKB Patnaik has bagged the Damien-Dutton Award for 2012. He is now working as the State Leprosy Officer , Odisha. Dr Patnaik has been selected for the award in recognition of his more than 25 years of concern and dedication to the victims of leprosy in India and for his direct involvement in making the multi-drug therapy available to the people affected by leprosy and goal to eliminate leprosy from the State, which has been achieved. The Damien-Dutton Society for Leprosy AID INC was founded in the year 1944 by the Staff Sgt Howard E Crouch, Medical Corps US Army.Dr Patnaik is also Honorary Secretary, Hind Kustha Nivaran Sangh, Odisha State Branch appointed by the Governor since 1996.
  
• In a rare honour, eminent Urdu litterateur, Padmabhushan award winner, Professor Gopi Chand Narang’s(81) name figured in the list of civilian honours announced by Pakistan on the eve of its Independence Day. Prof. Narang has been conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), the third highest civilian honour bestowed by the nation.The legendary writer Saadat Hasan Manto ( Nishan-i-Imtiaz ), ghazal maestro Mehdi Hassan ( Nishan-i- Imtiaz ) and eminent poet Josh Malihabadi ( Hilal-i-Imtiaz ) are also figured in the list of award winners. In the past, former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and matinee idol Dilip Kumar have been bestowed Pakistan's highest civilian honour, Nishan-i-Imtiaz .The investiture ceremony will take place in Pakistan on March 23, 2013, Pakistan's Republic Day.
  
• Ashok Sen, an Indian physicist currently on the faculty of an Allahabad-based research institute has become a proud recipient of USD three million (about Rs 16.75 crore) cash prize instituted by Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner for researchers in the discipline. Ashoke Sen, a professor in Physics faculty of the Harishchandra Research Institute, situated at the city outskirts and funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), received the news on, that he was selected for the inaugural group of nine recipients of the Fundamental Physics Prize this year when he was abroad last week. Sen, 56, who is known for his research on the 'String Theory', is an alumni of the prestigious Presidency College at Kolkata and IIT- Kanpur. He has been associated with premier US-based institutes like Fermilab and Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, besides the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at Mumbai. Sen had received the Padma Shri in 2001, besides being honoured with a number of prizes like the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Prize (1989), S S Bhatnagar Award (1994). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998. Yuri Milner is said to have himself studied Physics at the under-graduate level before dropping out of college and making billions by investing in companies like Facebook. According to the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation's website, Sen was chosen "for uncovering striking evidence of strong-weak duality in certain super- symmetric string theories and gauge theories, opening the path for the realisation that all string theories are different limits of the same underlying theory".
  
• A Chennai-based development organisation, Hand in Hand India, is among the five winners of this year’s World Environment Day Challenge organised by the UN for inspiring environmental action. Hand in Hand India brought together over 500 volunteers to create a colourful 10,000 square foot rangoli carpet depicting 10 environmental themes. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) had challenged people across the world to pledge an environmental activity in connection with this year’s World Environment Day, which was observed on June 5.
  
• Renowned social worker D.R. Mehta was selected for the 20th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award on 4 August. Congress treasurer Motilal Vora, who is member secretary of Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award Committee, said in a statement that the award was given to Mehta for "his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill". The award, given on the birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, carries a citation and a cash award of Rs.5 lakh. Mehta is founder of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS), a Jaipur-based NGO that helps the physically challenged, particularly the poor, by providing devices such as artificial limbs and callipers. Former recipients of the award include Mother Teresa, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Dutt, S.N. Subbarao and Dilip Kumar.
  
• India born internationally acclaimed NRI Heart Surgeon and Research Scientist from the famed Harvard University, Dr Mukesh Hariawala, has been unanimously selected by the National Healthcare jury to be honored with the prestigious 'India's Most Admired Surgeon 2012 Award'. The glittering ceremony to be held at Mumbai's Hilton Hotel on 21st September, will have in attendance top dignitaries from government, celluloid personalities, industrialists and eminent public figures, led by Maharashtra Governor Shri K. Sankaranarayanan,