AWARDS JUNE 2014

AWARDS JUNE 2014

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon Ltd, Asia's leading bio-pharmaceutical company, has been awarded the Kiel Institute's '2014 Global Economy Prize' for businessduring the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Institute held in Kiel, Germany on 22 June. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy is an international centre for research in global economic affairs, economic policy consulting and economic education. This prestigious award established in 2005 by the Kiel Institute. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the first Indian woman and the fourth Indian to be conferred this prize.
  
  • Previous honourees of this award are- Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate in Economics (2007), Baba N. Kalyani, Chairman of the Kalyani Group (2009) and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of the Bharti Group (2009).
    
• France is going to honour Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan with the 'Legion of France'. It is one of its highest civilian awards of France. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will present the award to Shah Rukh Khan next week. The award is conferred for excellent civil or military conduct. After Amitabh Bacchan, Shah Rukh Khan will be the second Bollywood actor to receive the same honour.
  
• Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik on 28 June won the People's Choice Prize for his work "Save Tree, Save the Future" at the World Cup of Sand Sculpting-2014 held in the Atlantic City of the US. Twenty internationally renowned sand artists from around the world participated in the event. Sudarsan Pattnaik has been awarded with the Padmashri by India this year.
  
• India-born plant scientist Sanjaya Rajaram has been named the winner of the USD 250,000 World Food Prize 2014, for his contribution in increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tonnes in the years following the Green Revolution. Rajaram's breakthrough achievement in successful cross-breeding of winter and spring wheat varieties, which were are of distinct gene pools and had been isolated from one another for hundreds of years. He developed plants that have higher yields and a broad genetic base. More than 480 high-yielding wheat varieties bred by Rajaram have been released in 51 countries on six continents and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers alike.
  • The World Food Prize Foundation President-Kenneth M Quinn.
  • The World Food Prize was established in 1986 by Norman Borlaug in order to focus the world's attention on hunger and on those whose work has significantly helped efforts to end it.
    
• Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh (80) on 20 June 2014 was chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He is the 49th recipient of Jnanpith award. Kedarnath Singh was born in Balia of Uttar Pradesh. Jnanpith award is one of the prestigious literary awards in India and was instituted in 1961. The award is given to any Indian citizen who writes in any official languages of India. The award includes Rs . 11 lakh and a citation.
  
• India-born Pratishtha Khanna was honoured with Champions of Change by the White House on 17 June 2014. She is one of 10 local Champions of Change honoured for their exemplary leadership in their communities. Pratishtha was born in Delhi and she migrated to the United States at the age of 10. She is currently a senior at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). All the 10 locals honoured with Champions of Change were beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) programme. It was initiated by the President Barack Obama in 2012.
  
• The Women and Child Development Minister, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi on 11th June announced that similar to the Stree Shakti Puruskars that recognise the contribution of women in various fields at the national level, an award to recognise the contribution of women at the grassroots level towards women’s issues and empowerment, will be conferred to one woman from each district every year on International Women’s Day. The Award will comprise of a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and a citation. The Award will give recognition to the women who have made outstanding contribution in the field work. This award will be given to a girl or woman from each district throughout the country. The Award will be presented to women who have done extraordinary work at grass root level.
  • The Stree Shakti Award is conferred by the WCD Ministry to recognize and honour women for outstanding contribution to society.
  • Presently five Awards are given to women for their extraordinary work in different fields. The Award includes cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs and a citation.
  • Every year International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March.
    
• C.Radhakrishnan, the eminent Malayalam scientist-turned-writer was selected for the prestigious Moortidevi Award for 2013 on 13 June 2014. He has been selected for his novel Theekkadal Katanhu Thirumadhuram. The novel is a biographical account of Thunchat Ramaanujan Ezhuthachan, the person who is regarded as the father of Malayalam language. Moortidevi award is presented by the Bhartiya Jnanpith and carries cash prize of four lakh rupees, a plaque and a statue of goddess Saraswati. The award is given in the memory of Moortidevi, the mother of Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, the founder of Bhartiya Jnanpith.
  
• Somasundaram, member (Air Navigation Services), Airports Authority of India ( AAI) has been conferred upon the prestigious Bharat Ratna JRD Tata Award instituted by Aeronautical Society of India (ASI) for the year 2013.Somasundaram has contributed substantially not only in improving ANS infrastructure in the country for enhancing safety, efficiency and capacity of the airspace but also towards seamless ATM and global harmonization. Earlier, he has won international ATC Awards consecutively for 3 years. The ASI has been conferring annual national awards in recognition and appreciation of outstanding contribution and achievements made in the field of aeronautics and airspace sciences.
  
• Irish novelist Eimear McBride has won 2014- Baileys Prize. Baileys Prize is the UK's only annual book award for fiction written by a woman. McBride’s debut "A Girl is a Half-formed Thing" is about the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. Indian origin Jhumpa Lahiri was also shortlisted to this award for her novel "The Lowland". The awards ceremony took place in UK on 4 June.
  • The award, earlier known as the Orange Prize, was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote international fiction by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible. ·
  • Any woman writing in English - whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter - is eligible.
    
• Mahindra Group chairman Anand G. Mahindra became the first Indian to receive the prestigious Harvard Medal for his 'dedication, generosity and service' to the university.
  Harvard president Drew Faust, the Lincoln professor of history, presented Mahindra with the medal at the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association during Harvard's 363rd Commencement Afternoon Program on May 29. Mahindra is an alumnus of the university, graduating with Honours (Magna Cum Laude) from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1977. In 1981, he secured an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School, Massachusetts. Mahindra is a Co-founder of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Association of India. Mahindra is also a founding member of the university's South Asia Institute (SAI), the HBS India Research Centre, and the SAI field office in Mumbai, India. He is also a long-time member of the Asia Centre Advisory Committee.
  
• The Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari presented the ‘Malti Devi Gyan Peeth Puraskar-2014’ to fifteen outstanding teachers from girls’ higher secondary schools in Punjab at a function in New Delhi on 29 May. The function was organized by the Mohinder Singh Syngle Education and Research Society, in cooperation with the Government of Punjab.The Vice President of India applauded the joint effort of Punjab government along with Mohinder Singh Syngle Education and Research Society for the useful contribution to the society.