AWARDS AUGUST 2013

AWARDS AUGUST 2013

• Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai (16), an outspoken proponent of girls’ education who survived a Taliban assassination attempt last year, has been awarded a top Dutch children’s honour for her activism. Organizers announced on 27 August, that she will be presented with the International Children’s Peace Prize on September 6 in The Hague, Netherlands. Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman will do the honours. The prize, an initiative of the Dutch-based Kids Rights Foundation, was launched in 2005 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, when he chaired the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome. It carries a cash value of €100,000 ($133,000) that is invested in projects relating to the winner’s cause.
  
• The inaugural Mahathir Award for Global Peace has been awarded to former South African president Nelson Mandela. Current South African president Jacob Zuma accepted the award on Mandela’s behalf on 27 August. Describing Mandela as a friend, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said it was appropriate that the South African leader was the first recipient of the award as he was truly a man of peace. The Mahathir Award for Global Peace will be presented annually to recognise those who have made valiant efforts in promoting peace. The Mahathir Award for Global Peace is an international peace award by the Mahathir Global Peace Foundation, which was formed to contribute to global peace efforts. During the event, the foundation presented Mahathir with the Lifetime Campaigner for Global Peace award.
  
• Justice Rajendar Sachar (Chairman of Sachar Committee) and film actor Aamir Khan will be conferred Honoris Causa (Doctorate) by the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad during its fifth convocation to be held on August 24th at Global Peace Auditorium in university premises. Union HRD Minister Dr M.M. Pallam Raju will be the Chief Guest while Dr. Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Chancellor of Urdu University will preside over the convocation.
  
• Eminent Sarod player Rajiv Taranath of Mysore on 18 August, has been selected for this year’s Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru National Award, instituted by the Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru National Memorial Trust. Hindustani classical vocalist Kaushik Aithal of Bangalore and tabla player Anubrata Chatterjee of Kolkata has been chosen for the young artiste award. Mr. Taranath will get a purse of Rs. 1 lakh and a citation, while Mr. Aithal and Mr. Kaushik will be presented a purse of Rs. 25,000 each. Mr. Taranath is the only Sarod player in southIndia. Kaushik Aithal is an up-and-coming Hindustani classical vocalist from Bangalore.Mr. Chatterjee, a popular name among young tabla artistes, has accompanied stalwarts such as Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan, and Shiv Kumar Sharma.
  
• Tata Steel on 22 August 2013 was adjudged the Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant in the country for the year 2011-12 based on the recommendations made by a Panel of Judges that selected companies for the Prime Minister`s Trophy awards for the year 2011-12. The Government of India decided to award the Certificate of Excellence to Tata Steel as per the scheme for the Prime Minister's Trophy for 2011-12. Tata Steel has scored maximum marks in overall performance for the fourth consecutive year. Tata Steel had won the Prime Minister’s trophy twice for 2008-09 and 2010-2011 while the Certificate of Excellence in 2009-10 and 2011-12.The Prime Minister’s Trophy was instituted in 1992 by former Prime Minister Late P. V. Narsimha Rao for excellence in the performance of integrated steel companies with an objective to give recognition for outstanding performance in the vital sector of the national economy which draws heavily on national resources of capital and skilled manpower.
  
• A team of three Indian-American students defeated teams from 17 other regions to win top honour at the 11th National Geographic World Championship in Russia's St. Petersburg city. The team included Captain Gopi Ramanathan,15, from Sartell, Minnesota, Asha Jain,13, from Minocqua, Wisconsin, and Neelam Kaur Sandhu,14, from Bedford, New Hampshire. Ramanathan, already has won his state geography bee twice. He had finished seventh in the 2012 National Bee in Washington, DC. Students around the world earned the chance to be part of the World Championship competition by winning or being a top finisher in the national competitions of their home regions. The competition was sponsored by Google, and presented by the US National Geographic Society in partnership with the Russian Geographical Society.
  
• Eminent Malayalam poet Sugathakumari was conferred the ‘Saraswati Samman 2012’ for her collection of 27 poems in book “Manalezhuthu” (Writings on the Sand) at a function New Delhi on 2nd August. The prestigious award — instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation — carries a citation and a plaque, apart from Rs. 10 lakh as prize money. It is given annually to an outstanding literary work published during the last 10 years in any of the Indian languages. Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju, who presented the award, said Sugathakumari’s life and writings were a true reflection of the humanitarian spirit and value systems intrinsic to the Indian culture. Sugathakumari said it was a matter of pride and joy for her to be chosen as the 22nd recipient of the award for her work published in 2006. Past recipients include Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Vijay Tendulkar, Dr. Dalip Kaur Tiwana, Dr. Dharam Veer Bharati and Srilal Shukla.
  
• Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan will be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award for his contribution towards promotion of communal harmony and peace.The award carries a citation and a cash award of Rs five lakh. It will be conferred on Khan on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi."The advisory committee of the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award decided that the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award be given to famous Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan for his outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill," an AICC release said. The award ceremony is held every year on the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister and was instituted to commemorate his lasting contribution to promoting peace, communal harmony and fighting against violence. The former recipients of the award include Mother Teresa, Bismillah Khan, Mohammed Yunus, Teesta Setalvad, Swami Agnivesh, Harsh Mander, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Maulana Wahiuddin Khan and K R Narayanan.
  
• NTPC has been conferred three Awards by the World HRD Congress and Star Group at the 4th Asian’s Best Employer Brand Awards held at Singapore recently. The award was received by S.P. Singh, General Manager (HR), NTPC. The company has been Awarded for Talent Management, Award for Excellence in HR through Technology and Asian’s Best Employer Brand Award (RANK 14th). NTPC currently employs about 25,000 people.
  
• Barack Obama, the US President would confer the Presidential Medal of Freedom on former US President, Bill Clinton and talk show queen, Oprah Winfrey. It is the highest civilian honour of America. The announcement of the Freedom Honorees was done on 8 August 2013. Clinton and Winfrey are among the 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the year 2013. The award was created by John F Kennedy and this year it marks its 50th Anniversary of the executive order signed by him. Since the day of its formation, the Presidential medal has been awarded to more than 500 exceptional individuals from different sections of society. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with the comparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States. Individuals, who have made some meritorious contribution for the national security and national interest of US, Cultural/Public/Private endeavors and World Peace are recognized by this award. Being a civilian award, it can be awarded to a military person and can be worn along with the uniform. It can also awarded even to non-US residents.