AWARDS JANUARY 2016

AWARDS JANUARY 2016

• Award for Kerala Tourism
   Kerala Tourism has emerged as one among the four winners in the destination category at the 36th edition of FITUR – the second largest travel and tourism fair in Spain. The eye-catching pavilion, themed on Kerala’s fabled snake-boat race, has fetched the State the award along with Mexico, Japan, and Nepal. A large number of visitors flocked to the Kerala pavilion, adorned by two replicas of snake-boats, making it one of the most-photographed pavilions at FITUR.
  
  The pavilion, created with stunning images of boat races, won the Best Stand award for design, communication, and professionalism.
  
  The sprawling independent pavilion of Kerala Tourism built on a 60-square-metre area had participation from four co-exhibitors representing the State’s private tourism and hospitality sector. FITUR, organised by Madrid’s trade fair organisation IFEMA (Feria de Madrid), was held at IFEMA Convention Centre from January 20 to 24 and attended by 9,500 companies from 165 countries.
  
  The award-winning pavilion was conceived and designed by Stark Communications, the marketing agency of Kerala Tourism, and executed by Art Director Sabu Sivan and team.
  
• Govt announces Padma awards to 112 personalities
  Padma Awards are given in various disciplines and fields of activities, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education.
  
  ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.
  
  A total of 112 people have been selected for the Padma awards 2016. The list comprises of 10 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 83 Padma Shri Awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs (include one posthumous) and 4 Posthumous awardees.
  
  The awards are conferred by the President as ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan around March-April every year.
   
  Padma Vibhushan

  Sl. No	Name	Field	State
  1.	Ms. Yamini Krishnamurthi	Art- Classical dance	Delhi
  2.	Shri Rajinikanth	Art-Cinema	Tamil Nadu
  3.	Smt. Girija Devi	Art-Classical Vocal	West Bengal
  4.	Shri Ramoji Rao	Literature & Education-Journalism	Andhra Pradesh
  5.	Dr. Viswanathan Shanta	Medicine- Oncology	Tamil Nadu
  6.	Shri Shri Ravi Shankar	Others-Spiritualism	Karnataka
  7.	Shri Jagmohan	Public Affairs	Delhi
  8.	Dr.Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre	Science & Engineering	Karnataka
  9.	Shri Avinash Dixit (Foreigner)	Literature & Education	USA
  10.	Late Shri Dhiru Bhai Ambani (Posthumous)	Trade & Industry	Maharashtra

  
  Padma Bhushan

  Sl. No.	Name	Field	State
  11.	Shri Anupam Kher	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
  12.	Shri Udit Narayan Jha	Art-Playback Singing	Maharashtra
  13.	Shri Ram V. Sutar	Art-Sculpture	Uttar Pradesh
  14.	Shri Heisnam Kanhailal	Art-Theatre	Manipur
  15.	Shri Vinod Rai	Civil Service	Kerala
  16.	Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad	Literature & Education	Andhra Pradesh
  17.	Prof. N. S. Ramanuja Tatacharya	Literature & Education	Maharashtra
  18.	Dr. Barjinder Singh Hamdard	Literature & Education - Journalism	Punjab
  19.	Prof. D. Nageshwar Reddy	Medicine-Gastroenterology	Telangana
  20.	Swami Tejomayananda	Other-Spiritualism	Maharashtra
  21.	Shri Hafeez Contractor	Others-Architecture	Maharashtra
  22.	Shri Ravindra Chandra Bhargava	Public Affairs	Uttar Pradesh
  23.	Dr.Venkata Rama Rao Alla	Science & Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
  24.	Ms. Saina Nehwal	Sports-Badminton	Telangana
  25.	Ms. Sania Mirza	Sports-Tennis	Telangana
  26.	Ms. Indu Jain	Trade & Industry	Delhi
  27.	Late Swami Dayanand Sarawasati (Posthumous)	Others-Spiritualism	Uttarakhand
  28.	Shri Robert Blackwill (Foreigner)	Public Affairs	USA
  29.	Shri Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (NRI/PIO)	Trade & Industry	Ireland

  
  Padma Shri 

  Sl. No	Name	Field	State
  30.	Smt. Prathibha Prahlad	Art- Classical Dance	Delhi
  31.	Shri Bhikhudan Gadhvi	Art- Folk Music	Gujarat
  32.	Shri Sribhas Chandra Supakar	Art- Textile Designing	Uttar Pradesh
  33.	Shri Ajay Devgn	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
  34.	Ms. Priyanka Chopra	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
  35.	Pt. Tulsidas Borkar	Art-Classical Music	Goa
  36.	Dr. Soma Ghosh	Art-Classical Vocal	Uttar Pradesh
  37.	Shri Nila Madhab Panda	Art-Film Direction and Production	Delhi
  38.	Shri S.S. Rajamouli	Art-Film Direction and Production	Karnataka
  39.	Shri Madhur Bhandarkar	Art-Film Direction and Production	Maharashtra
  40.	Prof. M. Venkatesh Kumar	Art-Folk Artist	Karnataka
  41.	Ms. Gulabi Sapera	Art-Folk Dance	Rajasthan
  42.	Smt. Mamta Chandrakar	Art-Folk Music	Chhattisgarh
  43.	Ms. Malini Awasthi	Art-Folk Music	Uttar Pradesh
  44.	Shri Jai Prakash Lekhiwal	Art-Miniature Painting	Delhi
  45.	Shri K. Laxma Goud	Art-Painting	Telangana
  46.	Shri Bhalchandra Dattatray Mondhe	Art-Photography	Madhya Pradesh
  47.	Shri Naresh Chander Lal	Art-Theatre & Cinema	Andaman & Nicobar
  48.	Shri Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah	Literature & Education	Assam
  49.	Shri Prahlad Chandra Tasa	Literature & Education	Assam
  50.	Dr.Ravindra Nagar	Literature & Education	Delhi
  51.	Shri Dahyabhai Shastri	Literature & Education	Gujarat
  52.	Dr.Santeshivara Bhyrappa	Literature & Education	Karnataka
  53.	Shri Haldar Nag	Literature & Education	Odisha
  54.	Shri Kameshwaram Brahma	Literature & Education -Journalism	Assam
  55.	Prof. Pushpesh Pant	Literature & Education-Journalism	Delhi
  56.	Shri Jawaharlal Kaul	Literature & Education-Journalism	Jammu & Kashmir
  57.	Shri Ashok Malik	Literature &Education	Delhi
  58.	Dr.Mannam Gopi Chand	Medicine-Cardio Thoracic Surgery	Telangana
  59.	Prof. Ravi Kant	Medicine-Surgery	Uttar Pradesh
  60.	Prof. Ram Harsh Singh	Medicine- Ayurveda	Uttar Pradesh
  61.	Prof. Shiv Narain Kureel	Medicine- Paediatric Surgery	Uttar Pradesh
  62.	Dr.Sabya Sachi Sarkar	Medicine –Radiology	Uttar Pradesh
  63.	Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale	Medicine-Cardiac Surgery	Andhra Pradesh
  64.	Prof. T.K. Lahiri	Medicine-Cardio Thoracic Surgery	Uttar Pradesh
  65.	Dr. Praveen Chandra	Medicine-Cardiology	Delhi
  66.	Prof. (Dr) Daljeet Singh Gambhir	Medicine-Cardiology	Uttar Pradesh
  67.	Dr.Chandrasekar Shesadri Thoguluva	Medicine-Gastroenterology	Tamil Nadu
  68.	Dr. (Mrs.) Anil Kumari Malhotra	Medicine-Homeopathy	Delhi
  69.	Prof. M.V. Padma Srivastava	Medicine-Neurology	Delhi
  70.	Dr. Sudhir V. Shah	Medicine-Neurology	Gujarat
  71.	Dr. M. M. Joshi	Medicine-Ophthalmology	Karnataka
  72.	Prof. (Dr) John Ebnezar	Medicine-Orthopaedic Surgery	Karnataka
  73.	Dr. Nayudamma Yarlagadda	Medicine-Paediatric Surgery	Andhra Pradesh
  74.	Shri Simon Oraon	Other –Environment Conservation	Jharkhand
  75.	Shri Imitiaz Qureshi	Other-Culinary	Delhi
  76.	Shri Piyush Pandey	Others-Advertising & Communication	Maharashtra
  77.	Shri Subhash Palekar	Others-Farming	Maharashtra
  78.	Shri Ravinder Kumar Sinha	Others-Wildlife Conservation	Bihar
  79.	Dr. H.R. Nagendra	Others-Yoga	Karnataka
  80.	Shri M. C. Mehta	Public Affairs	Delhi
  81.	Shri M. N. Krishna Mani	Public Affairs	Delhi
  82.	Shri Ujjwal Nikam	Public Affairs	Maharashtra
  83.	Shri Tokheho Sema	Public Affairs	Nagaland
  84.	Dr. Satish Kumar	Science & Engineering	Delhi
  85.	Dr.Mylswamy Annadurai	Science & Engineering	Karnataka
  86.	Prof. Dipankar Chatterji	Science & Engineering	Karnataka
  87.	Prof.(Dr.) Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav	Science & Engineering	Maharashtra
  88.	Smt. (Prof.) Veena Tandon	Science & Engineering	Meghalaya
  89.	Shri Onkar Nath Srivastava	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
  90.	Ms. Sunita Krishnan	Social Work	Andhra Pradesh
  91.	Shri Ajoy Kumar Dutta	Social Work	Assam
  92.	Shri M. Pandit Dasa	Social Work	Karnataka
  93.	Shri P. P. Gopinathan Nair	Social Work	Kerala
  94.	Smt. Madeleine Herman de Blic	Social Work	Puducherry
  95.	Shri Srinivasan Damal Kandalai	Social work	Tamil Nadu
  96.	Shri Sudhakar Olwe	Social Work	Maharashtra
  97.	Dr. T.V. Narayana	Social Work	Telangana
  98.	Shri Arunachalam Murugantham	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
  99.	Ms. Deepika Kumari	Sports-Archery	Jharkhand
  100.	Shri Sushil Doshi	Sports-commentary	Madhya Pradesh
  101.	Shri Mahesh Sharma	Trade & Industry	Delhi
  102.	Shri Saurabh Srivastava	Trade & Industry	Delhi
  103.	Sh Dilip Sanghvi	Trade & Industry	Maharashtra
  104.	Dr. Keki Hormusji Gharda	Trade & Industry	Maharashtra
  105.	Late Shri Prakash Chand Surana (Posthumous)	Art -Classical Music	Rajasthan
  106.	Late Shri Saeed Jaffrey (NRI/PIO/Posthumous)	Art-Cinema	UK
  107.	Shri Michael Postel (Foreigner)	Art-Archaeology	France
  108.	Shri Salman Amin Sal Khan (NRI/PIO)	Literature & Education	USA
  109.	Smt. Hui Lan Zhang (Foreigner)	Others-Yoga	China
  110.	Shri Predrag K. Nikic (Foreigner)	Others-Yoga	Serbia
  111.	Dr.Sundar Aditya Menon (NRI/PIO)	Social Work	UAE
  112.	Shri Ajaypal Singh Banga (NRI/PIO)	Trade & Industry	USA

  
  
• Ashok Chakra conferred on Lance Naik Goswami posthumously for his role in J&K encounter
  Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami from the Army’s elite Para Special Forces has been awarded Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest peacetime gallantry award, posthumously for his role in saving two colleagues during an encounter with militants in Kashmir last year.
  
  Another of his colleague, Subedar Mahendra Singh was awarded Kirti Chakra for his valiant actions in the same operation.
  
  These are among the 365 gallantry awards and other defence decorations approved by President Pranab Mukherjee on the eve of the 67th Republic Day Celebrations.
  
  These include four Kirti Chakras, 11 Shaurya Chakras, one Bar to Sena Medal, 48 Sena Medal, four Nao Sena Medal, two Vayu Sena Medal in addition to 298 Distinguished Service medals.
  
  Late night on September 2 last year, Lance Naik Goswami was engaged in a fierce encounter with terrorists hiding in the Haphruda forest in Kupwara, North Kashmir.
  
  When two of his colleagues were wounded, he rushed to rescue them, braving the volley of fire despite getting grievously wounded himself.
  
  In the same operation, Subedar Mehendra Singh moved with Lance Naik Goswami to evacuate his colleagues, drawing heavy fire in the process. He returned fire and killed one terrorist at close quarters which also bought them additional time, officials said. He was awarded the Kirti Chakra for his “exemplary leadership, selflessness and courage beyond compare”.
  
  The other Kirti Chakra was posthumously awarded to Sepoy Jagdish Chand from the Defence Security Corps for his display of raw courage in tackling terrorists during the attack on Pathankot air base on January 2.
  
  When terrorists entered the mess in the base and opened fire, Sepoy Chand, unmindful of his own safety, ran after the closest terrorist, chased and overpowered him. He snatched the terrorist’s weapon and shot him but fell to the bullets of two other terrorists behind.
  
  Of the eight Shaurya Chakra given to Army personnel, two were awarded posthumously.
  
  Among the four Navy gallantry awards, three of them went to personnel at INS Shikra, the naval air station in Mumbai, for their efforts in the rescue of vessels in distress.
  
  In the Air Force, the two Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) went to Wing Commander Nirmal Kumar Bakshi and Wing Commander Rajiv Dobhal, both Mi-17 helicopter pilots, for their role in Operation Maitri to provide relief operations in adverse weather conditions in Nepal following the devastating earthquake last year.
  
• J.K. Rowling: The Harry Potter author is to receive the PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award, PEN America told The Associated Press on 25th January. Ms. Rowling will be presented her award on May 16 at the literary and human rights group’s annual spring gala in New York. Previous winners include Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Tim Stoppard.
  
  In its announcement on Monday, PEN cited Ms. Rowling’s advocacy of free expression; her founding of the charitable trust Volant, which supports multiple sclerosis research and other causes; and her nonprofit organisation Lumos, which works to reconnect institutionalised children with their families.
  
• Award for UAS Dharwad
  The University of Agricultural of Sciences, Dharwad (UASD) has been adjudged the ‘Best Farm varsity of the country’. Among the 72 agricultural universities in the country, UASD has emerged as the best.
  
  The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi which conducts all-India post graduate entrance examination for agriculture across the country, said this year 42 students of UASD cleared the examination and secured the first-place.
  
• Lance Naik Mohan Goswami:Indian President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the country's highest peacetime gallantry award Ashok Chakra, to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami posthumously. His wife Bhawna Goswami received the award at the 67th Republic Day celebrations. On the night of 2nd September Lance Naik Goswami laid down his life while fighting LeT militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.
  
  President Pranab Mukherjee had approved 365 Gallantry awards and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. This includes one Ashoka Chakra, four Kirti Chakras, 11 Shaurya Chakras. Of the four Kirti Chakras, two will be given posthumously and of the eleven Shaurya Chakras, four are to be given posthumously.
  
  The other gallantry awards and decorations include one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry), 48 Sena Medal (Gallantry), four Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry), two Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 29 Param Vishisht Seva Medal, five Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, four Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 49 Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 20 Yudh Seva Medal, three Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 37 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty).
  
• Awards for Indian scientists, Doctors
  Three Indian-origin persons have been awarded Australia’s highest civilian honour for their contribution in the fields of physics, engineering and medicine.
  
  Chennupati Jagadish, an eminent professor at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Jay Chandra, an eye doctor in New South Wales, and Sajeev Koshy, a dentist in Melbourne, received the Order of Australia medal for 2016 announced on Australia Day.
  
  Mr. Jagadish was conferred with the award for his eminent service to physics and engineering, particularly in the field of nanotechnology and to education as a leading academic.
  
  Mr. Chandra, an eye doctor who has been the head of vitreoretinal surgery at Westmead Hospital since the unit opened in 1985, also received the award for his significant service to medicine in the field of ophthalmology. Mr. Koshy, who lives in Melbourne, was awarded the medal for his service to dentistry in the State. This year’s Australia Day honours list included over 600 people whose remarkable achievements range from high-profile humanitarian missions to work at the grassroots level.
  
• Book on Partition won Prize
  Nisid Hajari: He wrote a book Midnight’s furies. It is based on India’s partition. This book won the William E. Colby Award for 2016. Hajari’s first book covers the Partition and the violence that surrounded that event. The prize, named after a former CIA Director, is awarded annually by Norwich University to a first-time author in recognition of a work of fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operation, or international affairs. The award and honorarium will be presented to Hajari at Norwich University in April, 2016.
  
• National Bravery Awards announced
  Twenty five children, including three girls and 22 boys, have been selected for the National Bravery Awards for 2015. Two of the awards have been given posthumously. The coveted Bharat Award has been conferred on 15 year old Late Master Gaurav Kawduji Sahastrabuddhe of Maharashta. He sacrificed his life in an attempt to save four of his friends.
  
  The prestigious Geeta Chopra award has been conferred on eight year old Shivampet Ruchitha of Telangana. She displayed exemplary valour in saving two lives when a train hit her school bus. The Sanjay Chopra award has been given to 16 year old master Arjun Singh of Uttarakhand who displayed outstanding bravery in fighting a tiger to save his mother.
  
  The children will receive their awards from the Prime Minister on 24th of January and will participate in the Republic Day parade. President Pranab Mukherjee will also host a reception in their honour. The national bravery award scheme was initiated by the Indian Council for Child Welfare, ICCW, to give due recognition to the children who perform outstanding deeds of bravery and meritorious service. The awardees receive a medal, certificate and cash. Since the inception of the scheme in 1957, the ICCW has given awards to 920 brave children - 656 boys and 264 girls.
  
• Rahul Thakkar: he is a computer engineering graduate from Mumbai University, has won an Oscar for technical achievement. Thakkar shares the honour with Richard Chuang for “groundbreaking design” of the DreamWorks Animation Media Review System.
  
  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the ten scientific and technical achievements represented by 33 individuals who will be honoured at its annual scientific and technical awards presentation on February 13, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Unlike other Academy Awards, achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards need not have been developed and introduced during 2015. Rather, the achievements must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.
  
  Mr. Thakkar, who took his Master’s degree in computer science from Utah State University has over 20 years of experience in product design and research. The Academy Award citation says of the DreamWorks media review system: “It continues to provide artist-driven, integrated, consistent and highly scalable studio-wide playback and interactive reviews.” The system was developed over two decades.
  
• Award for EPFO
  The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has won the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for launching the Universal Account Number (UAN). The UAN facility enables workers to transfer their provident fund deposits while switching jobs anywhere in India easily.
  
  The EPFO won the gold award in the ‘innovative use of technology in e-governance’ category and the retirement body will get a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.
  
  The award will be presented by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to the EPFO in the 19th National Conference on e-governance to be held in Nagpur on January 22.
  
  Through UAN, active employees are provided a universal number which can be linked to various provident fund account numbers provided to them while working in different organisations. A single account number can be used through all of workers’ employments with various organisations. When a worker changes his job, he is required to inform his UAN to new employer and after the previous and present employments are linked to the number, the transfer process happens on its own.
  
  Earlier, the worker had to apply for transfer of funds on change of job from one organisation to another. The portal also allows a worker view his provident fund balance on a real-time basis without going through the employer.
  
  The EPFO had launched UAN in July 2014 and 5.65 crore workers in 4.57 lakh organisations had been allocated UAN till November last year.
  
• Raghuram Rajan: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan was named The Banker magazine's Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year 2015, for stabilising the Indian rupee, initiating key reforms to attract much needed foreign capital in the country and reining in a runaway price appreciation. The Banker is a prestigious monthly magazine of the Financial Times Group.
  
  The RBI governor has been named central bank governor of the year several times by other international magazines. In October 2014, Euromoney and in January 2015, Central Banking awarded him the best central banker award for his contribution in stabilising the Indian economy.
  
  After he took over in September 2013, the first priority for the RBI governor was to stabilise the local currency, which hit a record low of 68.87 a dollar on August 28. Through a series of innovative measures, including attracting dollars from non-resident Indians by offering higher interest rate on deposits, Rajan stabilised the rupee. The local currency soon moved back below the psychological level of 60 a dollar.
  
• Ilaiyraja:Music maestro Ilaiyaraja has been selected for Kerala Tourism’s Nishagandhi Puraskaram 2016 for his artistic excellence and contribution to the Indian film music industry. The award carries a purse of Rs.1, 50,000, citation and a statuette. A jury comprising Vice-Chancellor of the Malayalam University and former Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar selected the winner of the Nishagandhi Puraskaram.