AWARDS NOVEMBER 2015

AWARDS NOVEMBER 2015

• VK Sambyal: Noted Classical Singer, and Station Director Radio Kashmir Jammu VK Sambyal was awarded with Rashtriya Nirman Puruskar 2015. He was recognized for his contributions and services rendered for the promotion of Jammu region on the occasion of World Quality day by NRI Welfare Society of India at a function in the India Habitat Centre new Delhi on, the 24th of November 2015. The award was presented by Dr.Bhisham Narayan Singh, former Governor and other dignitaries.
  
• Chandrasekhar, Narahari Sastry:CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) director S Chandrasekhar and Center for Molecular Biology director G Narahari Sastry have been awarded the prestigious J C Bose National Fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology.
  
  The awards were given to them in recognition of their scientific research. S Chandrasekhar made significant contribution in diverse areas of organic chemistry especially in chiral chemistry and total synthesis of biologically active natural products. G Narahari Sastry has made fundamental contributions in the area of computer-aided drug design, supra-molecular interactions and advanced material design. He has been honoured with many prizes and awards in his career. The award comes with a research grant of Rs 10 lakh per year, in addition to a monthly fellowship, for five years.
  
• KV Srinivasulu Reddy: Guntur District Educational Officer KV Srinivasula Reddy has been selected for a national award by the Union Ministry for Human Resources for his contribution to reforms in the education sector and initiatives taken for creating an education website for the government. He was selected while he was working as DEO in East Godavari district before his transfer to Guntur district.
  
  The DEO opened a website to popularise government schemes, report card on quality of education in the district, Students performance as well as Teachers performance and suggestions for imparting quality education.
  
  He also posted performance reports at the panchayath level, mandal and district level for the government to have an idea of the status of education in the district.
  
  He also prepared a report on the website and sent the same to the Union Ministry of Human Resources for their comments.
  
  Impressed at the DEO's initiatives, the union government selected the Guntur DEO Srinivasula Reddy for the national award, awarded only to two persons at the national level. Reddy is one of the two selected for the prestigious national award.
  
• Infosys Foundation Prizes
   The Infosys Science Foundation, on 16th November, announced the winners of the 2015 Infosys Prize. Each prize carries a cash award of Rs 65 lakh and a gold medallion.
  Bengaluru-based scientist Umesh Waghmare of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) has won the prize in engineering and computer science, while five others won in categories like humanities, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences and social sciences (see list). The winners are Prof Umesh Waghmare (Engineering), Amit Sharma (Life Sciences), Prof Jonardon ganeri (Humanities), Prof Mahan Maharaj (Mathematical Sciences), Prof G. Ravindra Kumar (Physical Sciences), Srinath Raghavan (Social Sciences).
  
• Kiren Rijiju: The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) on 17th November designated union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Champion for the Asia Region.
  
  The honour was conferred by Margarete Wahlstrom, special representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, during the inaugural session of the Asia Leaders' Meeting towards Implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR in Asia.
  
• Zaina Erhaim: A Syrian journalist who lives and works in the war-scarred city of Aleppo was awarded the Reporters without Borders Prize in France on 18th November for her defence of press freedom.
  
  The Paris-based media rights group singled out Zaina Erhaim for her “determination and courage” in covering the conflict in Syria, which is deemed the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Over the past two years, Erhaim has trained around a hundred print and television journalists, a third of them women. Her efforts have led to the emergence of a number of independent newspapers and magazines. Her uncle accepted the prize on her behalf at a ceremony in the French city of Strasbourg.
  
• Abraham Keita: A Liberian teenager, AbrahamKeita was awarded the prestigious International Children's Peace Prize for his "tireless campaigning" to end violence against minors. Seventeen-year-old Abraham Keita was handed the award by his countrywoman Leymah Gbowee, who in 2011 was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Liberia is still struggling to get back on its feet after 14 years of civil war, which ended in 2003 leaving some 250,000 people dead.
  
  Some 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty level in Liberia which was also hit this year by the deadly outbreak of Ebola in west Africa. In a country where 60 percent of the population is under the age of 25, almost 4,500 children lost one or both parents in the outbreak in which some 5,000 people died.
  
  According to a report by the University of Leiden, in the west of the Netherlands, almost half of Liberia's children have experienced some kind of physical violence and 13 percent of girls have been sexually abused. The International Children's Peace Prize has been awarded annually since 2005 to a child who "fights courageously for children's rights." The foundation also invests some 100,000 euros ($108,000) in projects in the winner's country.
  
• Francesco Ricci Bitti: Association of National Olympic Committees presented the lifetime achievement award to former International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti who served as president for 16 years before standing down last month. This was recognised with the Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement at The ANOC Awards 2015 in Washington D.C.