AWARDS JANUARY 2017

AWARDS JANUARY 2017

• Padma awardees list announced
  Politician Sharad Pawar, Murli Manohar Joshi and singer Yesudas and spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev are among the seven prominent personalities who will be awarded Padma Vibhushan, the country's prestigious civilian award. Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Sunder Lal Patwa and former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma have also been selected for this award posthumously.
  
  Instrumentalist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and former Journalist Cho Ramaswamy are in the list of seven people who will be given the Padam Bhushan. Cho Ramaswamy will be awarded posthumously.
  
  Besides, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohili, Olympic medalist wrestler Sakshi Malik, Athlete Deepa Malik, Olympian gymnast Dipa Karmakar and singer Kailash Kher are among the 75 prominent names who will receive Padma Shri for their outstanding performance in different fields.
  
  From Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Banskantha in Gujarat to a small village Vatakra in Kerala, awardees transcended geographical boundaries. Chintakindi Mallesham from Telangana, AIDS crusader Dr. Suniti Solomon and Chettlah Ramiah are among unsung heros.
  
• Havaldar Hangpan Dada awarded Ashok chakra
  The highest peacetime military decoration award - the Ashok Chakra - was given to Havaldar Hangpan Dada posthumously for his selfless service to the nation. The award was received by his wife Chasen Lowang Dada.
  
• Meghalaya governor Shanmuganathan resigned
  Meghalaya Governor V. Shanmuganathan quit office on 26th January after several Raj Bhavan employees wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his removal as he had ‘compromised the dignity’ of the post. The letter was written after complaints of sexual harassment cropped up against Mr. Shanmuganathan. Employees alleged that the Governor had made the Raj Bhavan a ‘young ladies club.’
  
• Indian origin people to receive Australia’s highest civilian honour
  Three Indian origin persons have been awarded Australia's highest civilian honour this year for their contributions in the field of medicine and community work. Purushottam Sawrikar, a Sydney-based medical practitioner, received Order of Australia medal for the year 2017 for his service to medicine, and to the Indian community.
  
  Makhan Singh Khangure from Perth was given the award for his service to medicine in the field of neuroradiology, to education, and to a range of professional medical associations.
  
  Vijay Kumar, was given the award for his service to medical research in the disciplines of nuclear medicine and biology, to professional organisations, and to the community. Over 950 Australians were named in the Australia Day Honours this year, announced on 26th January on the Australia Day.
  
• Infosys Science Foundation announced its annual prizes
  The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) will be felicitating the winners of the Infosys Prize 2016 categories in Bengaluru. Now in its eighth year, the winners were shortlisted from over 250 nominations by a panel comprising renowned scientists and professors.
  
  The winners are Prof V. Kumaran (IISc) in the engineering and computer science section; Prof Sunil Amrith of Harvard University (Humanities); Dr. Gagandeep Kang of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad (Life sciences); Prof Akshay Venkatesh of Stanford University (mathematical sciences), Dr. Anil Bhardwaj of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (physical sciences) and Prof Kaivan Munshi of Cambridge University (social sciences).
  
  Each winner would get Rs 65 Lakh, a 22 karat gold medallion and a citation certificate. They will be felicitated by Nobel Laureate Prof Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.
  
   
   
• La La Land sweeps Golden Globes with seven wins
  "La La Land", a romantic musical comedy drama film swept the Golden Globes awards by winning in all the seven categories including the top award of best musical or comedy at the ceremony in Los Angeles.
  
  The film director Damien Chazelle took home the trophies for best director and screenplay. The film's leading stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone won the trophies for best actor and actress. "La La Land" also took the best original score award.
  
  The other big award of the night went to "Moonlight", for best motion picture. The film piped Dev Patel-starrer "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea", "Hacksaw Ridge" and "Hell or High Water".
  
  In the best supporting actor and actress categories the trophies went to Aaron Taylor-Johnson of "Nocturnal Animals". Viola Davis won the best supporting actress category for "Fences".
  
  The Golden Globe Awards is a major part of the film industry's awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards or Oscars.
  
• Parag Havaldar won ‘Technical Oscar’
  An IIT-Kharagpur alumnus has won the prestigious Technical Achievement Award (the Scientific & Technical Awards prize), popularly called the 'Technical Oscar', awarded by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.
  
  Parag Havaldar, who graduated from IIT-Kharagpur in 1991 with a degree in computer science and engineering, has been awarded for "the development of expression-based facial performance-capture technology at Sony Pictures Image works". He will be awarded a certificate from the Academy at Beverly Hills on February 11.
  
• Amitabh Bachchan honoured by US Embassy
  Amitabh Bachchan has been honoured by the US Embassy to acknowledge his immense contribution to the India-US ties on tuberculosis. The award was presented on January 8 by US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma to the 74-year-old actor, who himself is a TB survivor and brand ambassador for the cause.
  
• Four Indian-American Scientists for Presidential Awards
  Four Indian-American scientists have been chosen among 102 researchers who will receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) the highest honour given by the US government to science and engineering professionals.
  
  Pankaj Lal from Montclair State University ( Department of Agriculture); Kaushik Chowdhury from Northeastern University (Department of Defense), Manish Arora, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Department of Health and Human Services) and Aradhna Tripati, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (National Science Foundation).
  
• Joe Biden honoured with Presidential Medal of Freedom
  Outgoing US President Barack Obama has awarded Vice President Joe Biden with the highest civilian honour, commemorating an extraordinary man with an extraordinary career in public service. Mr. Biden accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony in his honour at the White House.
  
• Aamir Khan got award at 62nd film fare award
  Aamir Khan bagged the Best Actor Award for his performance in 'Dangal'. Alia Bhatt was honoured with the Best Actress Award for her gritty portrayal of a Bihari migrant in 'Udta Punjab'. Nitesh Tiwari bagged the Best Director Award, for Dangal, and Dangal itself awarded as the best film.
  
  Sonam Kapoor won the Critics Award for Best Actor (Female) for her portrayal of Neerja Bhanot in the biopic 'Neerja'. Actors Shahid Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee got the Best Actor (Male) nod for their performances in 'Udta Punjab' and 'Aligarh' respectively.
  
  'Neerja' and 'Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921)' won five awards each. Actor Shatrughan Sinha took home the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
  
  
• J&K AACL announces the Best Book Award-2015
  J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages announced the Best Book Award-2015, carrying a cash prize of 51,000 rupees, a citation, a memento and a shawl each, in various languages spoken in the State. The announcement of the award was made by Secretary Academy, Dr. Aziz Hajini in Jammu on 3rd January, after the recommendation of adjudicators was approved by the President of the Academy.
  
  Announcing the winners of the coveted literary award, Dr. Hajini said, the award in Dogri language goes to Narinder Bhasin for Char Dishan Char Dham, in Kashmiri to Prof. Ratan Lal Shant for his work Kashir Afsana Manzil Te Munaar, in Urdu to Wali Mohammed Aseer Kishtwari for Tarekh-e-Awliya-e-Jammu Wa Kashmir, in Pahari to Mohammed Maqbool Sahil for his book Parchhanwan, in Gojri to Choudhary Fazal Mushtaq Kohli for Gujjar Gandhi.