AWARDS SEPTEMBER 2013

AWARDS SEPTEMBER 2013

• Gyan Correa’s debut Gujarati movie The Good Road was on 21 September 2013 nominated as India’s official entry to 2014 Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category. The Good Road is a 2013 Indian drama film written and directed by Gyan Correa. The film The Good Road the story of a boy who is lost and found while his family is on a holiday trip to the Kutch, Gujarat. The Good Road movie is produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the film stars Keval Katrodia as seven-year-old Aditya who loses his way in the desert. The movie also stars Sonali Kulkarni and actor Ajay Gehi as Aditya's parents. India has never won a Foreign Language Film Oscar. So far in the history of Indian cinema, only three Bollywood films, including Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan (2001), have made it to the nomination stage of the Oscar.
  
• Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner presented with the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award (Harvard Humanitarian of the year) by Harvard University on 27 September 2013.16 years old Malala received the award by Dr Allen Counter, Director of the Harvard Foundation for her contribution in promoting the education among girls. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school pupil. She was shot in the head by a Taliban militant in October 2012 after she campaigned for girls' right to education.
  
• India environmentalist Bunker Roy and Pakistan’s teenage education activist Malala Yousufzai were on 23rd September, declared winners of this year’s of the prestigious ‘Clinton Global Citizens Awards’. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years. As a result of Barefoot’s work, one million litres of rainwater have been harvested to provide clean drinking water to over 239,000 school children in more than 1,300 communities worldwide. The Barefoot Approach is a proven community-based model, providing basic infrastructure for power and water in remote, rural areas, as part of an integrated solution to alleviating global poverty. Roy has been named one of the 50 environmentalists who could save the planet by the Guardian and one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine. Sixteen-year-old Yousafzai, who, after being shot by the Taliban less than a year ago for her outspoken support for girls’ education, has co-founded the Malala Fund to continue advocating for universal access to education. The awards will be presented in a special ceremony on 24th September, during the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City, where more than 1,000 top business, government, and civil society leaders will convene to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The Clinton Global Citizen Awards were launched in 2007 to honour outstanding individuals for their visionary leadership, demonstrated impact, and sustainable and scalable work in solving global issues.
  
• Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram G Rajan on 26th September, has been awarded the fifth Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013, in recognition of his ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macro-economic policies around the world. The academic prize is sponsored by the Deutsche Bank Donation Fund and carries an endowment of euro 50,000. The Centre for Financial Studies (CFS) awards the prize bi-annually in partnership with Goethe University Frankfurt. Rajan was picked up for the prize from more than 260 nominations from top universities, central banks and research centers in 37 countries. More than half of the nominations came from the US.
  
• The University of British Columbia's Faculty of Law at Allard Hall, Toranto presented Anna Hazare, one of India's most influential social activists, with the inaugural Allard Prize for International Integrity at a special ceremony on 25th September. The $100,000 prize is one of the world's largest awards recognizing efforts to combat corruption and to promote human rights. Established in October 2012 by UBC Law alumnus Mr. Peter A. Allard, QC, the Allard Prize is awarded to an individual, movement or organization that has shown exceptional courage and leadership in combating corruption, especially through promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law. For decades, Anna Hazare has led successful movements across India to enhance government transparency and investigate and prosecute official corruption. TIME Magazine named the 2011 movement he started one of the Top News Stories of 2011.
  
• An Indian-origin scientist, who proved how cutting emissions of "black carbon" or soot can significantly lessen the impact of climate change, has been selected for the United Nation's top environmental award. A statement issued by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 17th September, said Veerabhadran Ramanathan of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California is to receive the 2013 " Champions of the Earth award", the UN's highest environmental award. In 1997, he had co-led an international research team that first discovered the climate impact in Asia of widespread air pollution, known as the atmospheric brown cloud (ABC).The prize is awarded annually to leaders from government, civil society and the private sector, whose actions have had a significant and positive impact on the environment. A major UNEP study in 2011 of which Ramanathan acted as vice-chairman, presented 16 actions to cut black carbon and methane emissions, which, if implemented, would save close to 2.5 million lives a year through reduced respiratory illnesses, avoid crop losses amounting to 32 million tones annually, and deliver near-term climate protection of about 0.5 degree C by 2050.Ramanathan's studies on the climate warming effects of non-CO2 pollutants dates back to 1975, when he discovered the super greenhouse effect of a class of halocarbons known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).Translating his research into action, he had started "Project Surya" in India to phase out inefficient cooking stoves.
  
• Bollywood actor John Abraham on 17th September, conferred the 'Pride of the Nation' award for his attempt to raise the sensitive issue of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination through his role as a RAW agent in "Madras Cafe". Constituted by Anti Terrorist Front, the award was presented to Abraham by its chairman M. S. Bitta in New Delhi. The film "Madras Cafe" is set in the late 80s and early 1990s, during the time of Sri Lankan civil war and the assassination of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bitta said there was a need to initiate an "unbiased enquiry to expose the conspiracy" which resulted in the death of Rajiv Gandhi.
  
• Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai and American singer, human rights and social justice activist Harry Belafonte were on 17th September, named as joint recipients of Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2013. The Ambassador of Conscience Award is the human rights group’s highest honour, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights through their life and by example. The award will be presented at a ceremony on 19th September, at the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland, according to a press statement issued by Amnesty International. “Our two new Ambassadors of Conscience are different from each other in many ways, but they share a dedication to the fight for human rights everywhere and for all,” said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International.
  
• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was awarded Indira Gandhi Official Language Award for propagation of Rajbhasha (Official Language) in the company by the Union Government of India on Hindi Divas on 14th September. On 14 September Hindi was adopted as an official language of the country. To promote the official Language in the country, the Government of India introduced Indira Gandhi Official Language Award from 1986-82.This award grants to the various Ministries/Departments, Banks and Financial Institutions, Public Sector Undertakings and employees.
  
• Actor Aamir Khan has been selected for a US award for his television show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ along with eminent American director Kathryn Bigelow and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC). They will be honored at the inaugural awards dinner by the America Abroad Media (AAM) in Washington DC on October 28. “Their work exemplifies the power of media to inform, educate and empower citizens about the critical social and public policy issues of our time,” America Abroad Media said in a statement on 20th September.
  
• Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls’ education, and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have been nominated for the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize. Malala, who has become emblematic of the fight against the most radical forms of Islamism, is backed by the three main political groups in parliament, making her a favorite for the award. Snowden, the US contractor who revealed widespread spying by the United States on friends and foes alike and who has sought asylum in Russia, has been nominated by the Greens and a far left group. A statement on 17th September, also named the Standing Man group, activists behind the Taksim Square protests in Istanbul in June which upset the accepted view that Turkey was on the smooth path to lasting political stability. The other nominees are jailed Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu and Eskinder Nega, Belarus political prisoners Ales Belyatsky, Eduard Lobau and Mykola Statkevich, and jailed former Russian oligarch and Putin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Also nominated is the CNN Freedom Project, a global media campaign to raise awareness on human trafficking. The winner of the prize will be announced in October. Last year’s award went to detained Iranians, lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and film maker Jafar Panahi, to honour those “standing up for a better Iran.”Past winners of the 50,000 euro ($65,000) prize include South African anti apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan
  
• President Pranab Mukherjee conferred National Communal Harmony Awards to Shri Khamliana, Shri Md. Abdul Bari and The Foundation for Amity and National Solidarity in New Delhi on 20th September. Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh were also present on the occasion. Shri Khamliana, a resident of Aizawl, is the Founder President of the Mizoram Youth Club which was established in 1990 and has nine branches all over the State. The Youth Club is a reputed and renowned organization in the State and has done exemplary work in diverse fields including extending support for rehabilitation of drug addicts, victims of AIDs and other similarly affected people. Shri Khamliana has conducted AIDS awareness and anti-drugs campaigns all over Mizoram. Shri Md. Abdul Bari, from Bhadrak, Odisha is the President of the Bhadrak Muslim Jamat.
  
• He is a known social activist who has been working towards maintaining communal harmony in the area. No major communal incident has taken place in Bhadrak district since 1993. Shri Bari has selflessly helped the police and local administration to maintain peace, unity and harmony in the district. He has received commendation and recognition from the Government as well as social organizations for his noble and selfless work. The personal example set by Shri Abdul Bari and his meritorious and creditable services to the society have inspired the present generation to promote an atmosphere of peace and harmony amongst the different religious communities residing in the district. The Foundation for Amity & National Solidarity (FANS) is a non-political, non-partisan, social organization based in Delhi which works to spread and promote amity and communal harmony in the country. Established in 1984, the Foundation in its 28 years of service to the nation has organized more than 400 events comprising of Seminars, Workshops, Inter-religious meets, Symposia, Declamation Contests, Youth Camps, Sadbhavana Sabhas and Peace Marches all over the country. The Foundation has successfully conducted four Regional Children camps and 14 All India Inter University National Integration Youth Camps in different parts of the country.
  
• An Indian freedom fighter was posthumously conferred a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at UK's House of Commons on 12 September, for his contribution during India's independence movement and its journey afterwards. Britain's minister for business engagement with India Gregory Barker and Virendra Sharma, chair of the Indo-British all party parliamentary Group jointly presented the award to late Jawaharlal Darda's son, Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, MP and chairman and editor-in-chief of Lokmat, the most widely circulated Marathi language newspaper.
  
• President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 6 September, conferred Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony, 2013 on Maestro Zubin Mehta in New Delhi. The award carries an amount of One Crore Rupees (Rs. 1 Crore), a citation in a scroll, a plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item. The annual award was instituted by the Govt. of India during the commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex. The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro in 2012. A High-level Jury under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justice Altamas Kabir, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Smt. Sushma Swaraj and Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi after detailed discussions on 4th July, 2013, unanimously decided to select Shri Zubin Mehta to be the second recipient of the Tagore Award, 2013 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony.
  
• Haraprasad Das was conferred the Moortidevi Award for 2012 for 'Vamsha, a poetic recreation of the Mahabharata in contemporary idiom, which has been hailed as a post-modern masterpiece. as, who has eleven works of poetry, four of prose, three translations and one piece of fiction to his credit, was given the award on 3 September, at Shastri Bhavan by the Moortidevi Award Selection Board, chaired by oil minister Veerappa Moily.
  
• Indian American Kavita Shukla in the first week of September 2013 won INDEX design award for her innovative design, FreshPaper. It helps keep food fresh for a longer period. The award carries 500000 Euro award. It recognizes the best of innovations addressing problems facing the world. The Award is given biennially in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kavita Shukla was among the five winners in categories such as Home, Body, Work, Play and Community. Kavita’s design won in the Home category. It succeeded the jury with its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. FreshPaper is simple, low-tech and hyper affordable, with the potential to scale into new markets. The FreshPaper is compostable and infused only with organic spices.