SPORTS DECEMBER 2010

SPORTS DECEMBER 2010

• Sachin Tendulkar has become the first batsman in the world to score Test hundreds for 50 times. The 50th Test century was made against South Africa at Centurion grounds. The first Test century of Tendulkar was arrived in Manchester in 1990. 
• The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) completed its election process and announced the new office bearers that were stayed following the orders of the Patna High Court in October. The Karnataka State Hockey Association President RK Shetty will replace KPS Gill as President of IHF. Gill was first elected as President of IHF in 1998 and his association with IHF is ending now nearly after two-decades. 
• Soumyajit Ghosh becomes the first Indian to win the medal in World Junior Table Tennis Championships. Ghosh won the bronze medal in mixed doubles along with his team mate NG Wing Nam of Hong Kong. Ghosh won the medal against Korean players at Bratislava, Slovak Republic. 
• Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won the Hong Kong Open againt Shixian Wang of China. Saina has won back-to-back titles this year - Indian Open Grand Prix, Singapore Open Super Series, Commonwealth Games and Hong Kong Open.
• Sachin Tendulkar's record-breaking double century in ODI against South Africa has found a place in Time magazine's top 10 sporting movements of the year. Sachin holding the record of first ever double century in one day international cricket matches.
• Six Indian Hockey players were selected for Asian All-Stars Hockey team by Asian Hockey Federation for their best performance in recent Asian Games held at Guangzhou, China. According to Hockey India Sandeep Singh, Rajpal Singh, Arjun Halappa, Gurbaj Singh and Joydeep Kaur and Rani Rampal are selected from women's section.
• The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) completed its election process and announced the new office bearers that were stayed following the orders of the Patna High Court in October. The Karnataka State Hockey Association President RK Shetty will replace KPS Gill as President of IHF. Gill was first elected as President of IHF in 1998 and his association with IHF is ending now nearly after two-decades.
• Sachin Tendulkar has become the first batsman in the world to score Test hundreds for 50 times. The 50th Test century was made against South Africa at Centurion grounds. The first Test century of Tendulkar was arrived in Manchester in 1990.
• Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki named for International Tennis Federation World Champions for 2010. Nadal and Wozniacki selected for ITF awards for second and first time respectively. 
• Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki gave Serbia for the first time Davis Cup Tennis title after beating the nine-time winner France. Serbia has become the 13th country to win the title in 110 years history of Davis Cup.
• Yusuf Pathan gets his first century in One Day International against New Zealand with his unbeaten 123 runs in the fourth match of the series played in Bangalore. Pathan led India to victory to chase the score of 315 made by New Zealand. Pathan made 123 runs from 96 balls with 7 fours and 7 sixers.
• Team India won 5-0 against New Zealand as part of the 5th ODI held in M.A.Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai. Man-of-the-Mach was given to Yuvraj Singh, Player-of-the-Series to Gambhir.
• The FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) Executive Committee member Franz Beckenbauer announced that the Soccer World Cup 2018 and 2022 will be held in Russia and Qatar respectively. Qatar will be the first Muslim country to hoast the games. The next 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. The bid for 2018 and 2022 were finalised by the 22 FIFA Executive Committee Members
  Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistan counterpart Aisam ul Haq in tennis doubles also known Indo-Pak Express awarded the 2010 Prix of Peace & Sports in Monaco.

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2010

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2010

• Preeja Sreedharan won India's fourth Gold Medal at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou when she triumphed in the women's 10,000m final. Preeja's success was preceded by shooter Ronjan Sodhi (men's double trap) and followed by athlete Sudha Singh (women's 3000m steeplechase), as India gained three Gold in all. 
• Raju Yadav Manuka won Mr.World Bronze Medal and Laxman Reddy won Mr.World Gold Medal in the World Body Building Chanmpionship held in Las Vegas.
• Jayanth Reddy was a fifth Dan taek wando expert executed 171 kicks in one minute scripting his way in to the Guinness book India's Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Krishan Singh won Gold Medal at the Asian Games at Guangzhou, China. 
• Somdev Devvvaraman won the first Gold Medal in Asian Games Tennis Singles at Guangzhou.This is the first time since Japan's Toshiro Sakai in the '1974 Tehran Asiad' that a player has swept both singles and doubles Gold at the same Games. 
• The Indian team won the Test Series against New Zealand at VCA Stadium in Nagapur. This is the 3rd Biggest Victory of India. Awarded for the 'Man of the Mach'- Rahul Dravid, `'Man of the Series'-Harbhajan Singh. Tarundeep Rai created history after he became the first Indian archer in the Asian Games history to win the silver in the Men's individual archery event being held at Guangzhou, China. 
• India won a medal in Hockey at Asian Games after a gap of 8 eight years. India won Bronze against South Korea where as Pakistan won Gold against Malaysia. 
• India stood at sixth place in medals tally during the 16th Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. In total India won 14 Gold, 17 Silver and 33 Bronze medals during the event. India made their second best performance in its history by winning 14 Gold medals. 
• Bangladesh won their first Gold medal in its history of Asian Games. Bangladesh won Gold medal in T20 Cricket against Afghanistan. This is the first time that Cricket has been introduced in Asian Games. Chinese Badminton superstar, Lin Dan was named as Most Valuable Player of Guangzhou Asian Games. The 27 year old claimed the major title after collecting the highest number of votes. 
• Million Feyisa of Ethiopia and Lalita Babbar are declared as the champions of men's and women's categories of the Eighth Edition of the Hyderabad 10K run as Necklace Road. 
• Martin Kaymer of Germany became the Europe's number one golfer after winning the 'The Race to Dubai'. Kaymer received the trophy of ‘Best European Golf player of the year'. 
• Roger Federer of Switzerland won the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals held in London against Rafael Nadal of Spain. This is the fifth time that Federer won the ATP World Tour Finals. 
• Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) signed a host-city contract with Nanjing, China for the Second Asian Youth Games in 2013. President of OCA Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah signed the contracts. The first edition of Games were held in Singapore Germany's Sebastian Vettel, 23 year old Red Bull driver became the youngest world champion of Formula One with his victory in Abu Dhabi Grand Pix. 
• Pankaj Advani becomes the first gold medalist for India at the 16th Asian Games being held at Guangzhou. Pankaj defeated Myanmar's Oo Oo Nay Thway to get the gold in billiards. 
• The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah announced that Cricket will be part of 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. 
• Harbhajan Singh became the first No.8 batsman in the history of Test Cricket to hit back-to-back centuries against New Zealand at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad respectively. 
• Chris Gayle, former captain of West Indies became the first of his country's batsman to get triple century against Sri Lanka for 333 runs before being bowled by Ajanta Mendis at Galle International Stadium in Sri Lanka.
• Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) signed a host-city contract with Nanjing, China for the Second Asian Youth Games in 2013. President of OCA Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah signed the contracts. The first edition of Games were held in Singapore 
• Germany's Sebastian Vettel, 23 year old Red Bull driver became the youngest world champion of Formula One with his victory in Abu Dhabi Grand Pix.
• Pankaj Advani becomes the first gold medalist for India at the 16th Asian Games being held at Guangzhou. Pankaj defeated Myanmar's Oo Oo Nay Thway to get the gold in billiards.
• The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) President, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah announced that Cricket will be part of 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. 
• Harbhajan Singh became the first No.8 batsman in the history of Test Cricket to hit back-to-back centuries against New Zealand at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad respectively.
• Chris Gayle, former captain of West Indies became the first of his country's batsman to get triple century against Sri Lanka for 333 runs before being bowled by Ajanta Mendis at Galle International Stadium in Sri Lanka.
• Ramesh Masthipuram, senior police officer from Andhra Pradesh successfully completed the Athens Classic Marathon with a distance of 42.195 KM. 
• German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull team wins Brazillian Formula One Grand Prix World Championship. Roger Federer wins final of Swill Indoors ATP Tennis against Serbian Novak Djokovic. 
• Chirag United wins Durand Cup against JCT played at Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi 
• India's star and World No. 2 Badminton player Saina Nehwal received Rajiv Khel Ratna Award 2009. The India's highest sporting award carries a medal, citation and cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh 
• Harbhajan Singh scored his first test century against New Zealand in Ahmedabad 
• Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider announced his retirement from international cricket within in three months of his Test debut due to death threats on match fixings. 
• The International Cricket Council appointed Sachin Tendulkar as official event ambassador for 2011 Cricket World Cup 
• Asian Games 2010 inaugurated in Guangzhou, China. The 16th Asiad games being held in China and the 1st Asiad games were held in 1951 in New Delhi. 
• Hyderabad team created a new record lowest total in Ranji matches with 21 runs against Rajasthan for their total of 220. The match was played in Hyderabad.
• Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the WTA Championship final, while beating World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at Doha
• The Commissioner of ICC for code of conduct rejects the appeal of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir against suspension for spot-fixing

SPORTS OCTOBER 2010

SPORTS OCTOBER 2010

• Tennis player Carolinae Wozniacki secured the year-end No.1 ranking
• Devender Yadav of APSRTC has been nominated as official for the Mr. World International Bodybuilding Championship to be held at Varanasi. 
• Hockey India President, Ms. Vidya Stokes resigned. She gave her resignation to Narendra Batra (Secretary-General of Hockey India) 
• Paul, the Octopus, who fascinated football fans by correctly predicting results at this year’s World Cup, died in an aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen. 
• Rising Tennis star, Somdev Devvarman increased his position to his career best 94 rank in the latest ATP Rankings Chart, released. Sania Mirza gained in singles to 166th rank and to 64th rank in doubles. 
• A National Olympic Committee official said that Sri Lanka’s only Gold medalist at Common Wealth Games, boxer Manju Wanniarachchi has failed a dope test and could be stripped of his medal. 
• Ferrari Formula One Driver Fernando Alonso won the Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam. 
• Roger Federer defeated Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-3 to win the Stockholm Open, his 64th career title which pulled him to the level with Pete Sampras. 
• India was ranked 144 in FIFA World ranking and 24 in Asia.
• Tennis Player Rafael Nadal inaugurated an Education-Cum-tennis Coaching Centre at Anantapur. Tennis Coaching Centre was built by The Rural Development Trust in Collaboration with Foundation Rafael Nadal in The town. He also announced a donation of Rs.55 Lakh to promote Tennis in the Region. The RTD is funded by Spanish agencies. 
• Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murali Deora has announced cash awards for Indian sports persons who won medals at the 19th commonwealth games. Mr Deora said the petroleum sports promotion board would give away Rs.9 crore to players. It would give Rs.10 lakh each to gold medalists, Rs.7.5 lakh to silver medalists, and Rs.5 lakh to bronze medalists. 
• 19th Common wealth games were completed with India taking a best ever second place in the medals table with 38 Gold, 27 Silver, 36 Bronze and 101 medals in all another commonwealth games first .The country grabbed 10 meals in 1966, 16 in 1982, 25 in 1998 and 49 in the 2006 commonwealth games. India has participated in 14 of the 18 editions, the first time being in London, 1934. Glasgow, Scotland’s capital’ will be host to the next common wealth games in 2014. 
• Common wealth medal winners of Andhra Pradesh sports persons:
  Gold medal winners are Sanina Nehwal in badminton and Jawala Gutta and Aswini in shuttle badminton (double). The silver medal winners include Ashar Noria(trap shooting), Sania Mirza (tennis) and Ch. Jignas and Tirumal Chatterjee (archery).
  Satti Geeta (4*400 metres relay), Abdul Nageeb Kureshi (4*400 metres relay), V.Srinivasa Rao(weightlifting) and Kashyp (badminton) are bronze medal winners from the state. 
• India swept the Border-Gavaskar trophy test series (2-0) at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. The 2-0 win marked India’s first ever clean sweep over Australia in a series of two or more tests. 
• Sachin Tendulkar completed his sixth double hundred in Test cricket as part of 2nd test between India and Australia. Tendulkar made 214 runs off 363 balls. 
• Milkha Singh gave the country its first triumph in Cardiff; Krishna Poonia brought its second gold medal in the women’s discus, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. With Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil taking the silver and bronze, India celebrated its first sweep of all the medals in common wealth games history. 
• Kavitha Raut bagged the first athletics medal of the common wealth games for India - bronze medal in the 10,000 metres running race. 
• 19th Common Wealth Games were inaugurated in New Delhi on 3rd October by the President Pratibha Patel and British King Charles. 6700 sports persons from 79 countries will participate in this event. Abhinav Bindra will represent India. The next Common Wealth Games will be held in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland.

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2010

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2010

• Chennai Super Kings defeated the Eastern Cape Warriors by eight wickets in the final of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament at the Wanderers Stadium 
• Iran defeated India and won the Asian Senior Volleyball Championship. 
• Pankaj Advani created history by winning World Billiards Championship after defeating nine times champion Mike Russel at the Northern Snooker Centre on Sunday night (September 6), in Leeds.
• India's MC Mary Kom won her fifth World women's boxing title in Bridgetown ( Barbados). The Manipuri brave heart, who had won her four earlier titles in the 46kg category, this time won in the 48kg class beating her Romanian opponent Duta Seluta 16-6. 
• Rafael Nadal won US Open and completed career slam. The victory is also noted for being the title that would complete his Grand Slam set. He is the 7th player in the world to complete this feat, as well as being the 4th player to be victorious at 3 consecutive Grand Slam events since 1968.
• US OPEN 2010 Men’s Singles title was by Rafael Nadal defeating Novak Jokovich.
  Women’s Singles title was by Kim Clijsters defeating Vera Zvonareva. 
• Sushil Kumar created history by becoming the first Indian wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Moscow. 
• The Indian men's archery team won gold in the World Cup archery stage IV meet in Shanghai. The Indians also picked up one silver and a bronze medal.

SPORTS AUGUST 2010

SPORTS AUGUST 2010

• Japan's Yuka Sato become the first gold medal winner of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore when she won the triathlon. 
• The Group of Ministers on the Commonwealth Games headed by Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy approved the theme song for the event composed by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman.
• India won over Sri Lanka in the third Test at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo leveling the test series. This is India's fourth highest successful chase in Test cricket. Laxman was named the Man of the Match. Virender Sehwag was adjudged Player of the Series.
• Tyson Gay beat Usain Bolt in the 100 metres at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds in Stockholm.
• Bengal beat Punjab in the final of the 64th senior National football championship (Santosh trophy) in Kolkata.
• Tejaswini Sawant became the first Indian woman shooter to be crowned a World champion when she won the 50m rifle prone event with a World record 597 in the 50th World shooting championship in Munich.
• Asher Noria won the double trap gold by equaling the junior World record of 146 in the 50th World shooting championship in Munich, Germany. 
• Somdev Devvarman was ranked No. 96 in the latest rankings released by the ATP. Devvarman became the sixth Indian man to figure in the top-100, after ATP rankings were introduced in 1973, behind Vijay Amritraj (16), Ramesh Krishnan (23), Leander Paes (73), Anand Amritraj (74) and Sashi Menon (87). 
• Australian Mark Webber won the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix which was held in Budapest, Hungary.

SPORTS JULY 2010

SPORTS JULY 2010

• India defeated China to win the bronze medal in the inaugural Asian women's Champions Trophy hockey tournament at Busan, South Korea. 
• Gagan Narang won the air rifle bronze medal in the 50th shooting World championship in Munich, Germany. 
• Badminton star Saina Nehwal has been chosen for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. Among the titles Saina won in the last three years were the Indonesian Open (2009), Syed Modi Grand Prix (2009) and World junior title (2009). She climbed to No. 2 in world rankings following three major titles in a row in India, Singapore and Indonesia. She also became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the All England and Asian championships. 
• Fernando Alonso won the German Formula One Grand Prix which was held at Hockenheim. 
• Muttiah Muralitharan became the first man to take 800 Test wickets and became the highest wicket-taker in 133 matches at an average of 22.72. Muralitharan began his Test career against Australia in Colombo in 1992. The 38-year-old ended his Test career with the victory over India on the final day of the first Test held at Galle, Srilanka. 
• The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has allocated the FIH Champions Trophies for 2011. The men's event will be played in India, while the women's is scheduled to be held in The Netherlands 
• Argentina won the Samsung hockey Champions Trophy for women, beating the Netherlands.
• Dani Pedrosa of Spain won the German MotoGP F-1race which was held at Sachsenring,Germany.
• Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa won the British Open golf championship which was held in St.Andrews,Scotland. 
• Poojashree Venkatesh and Rushmi Chakravarthi won the doubles title of the $10,000 ITF women's tennis tournament at Hatyai, Thailand, beating the third-seeded Ayu-Fani Damayanti and Lavinia Tananta of Indonesia 6-3, 7-6(10) in the final.
• Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal jumped one place to a career-best second in the latest international rankings. She is now just behind number one, Chinese Yihan Wang.
• Visakhapatnam won the inaugural Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy memorial South India cricket tournament,beating Krishna by 23 runs in the final at Tirupati. 
• Spain holds the football World Cup trophy with their historic win in the final against the Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa. 
• Australian Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix held in Silverstone, U.K. 
• Sharath Kamal of India won the US Open table tennis championship by beating Slovakia's Keineth Thomas in the final at Michigan. 
• Rafael Nadal of Spain won the Wimbledon men's singles title defeating Tomas Berdych. This is Nadal’s eighth Grand Slam title. 
• Defending champion Serena Williams won her fourth women's singles title at Wimbledon open with the victory over Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonareva in the final. 
• Sharad Pawar assumed office as President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Pawar is only the second Indian, after Jagmohan Dalmiya, to have become the highest executive of the world cricket body.
• Ravi Dixit became the first Indian to win the Under-19 boys' title in the Asian junior squash championship (Individuals) in Colombo,Srilanka.

SPORTS JUNE 2010

SPORTS JUNE 2010

• Sebastian Vettel of Germany won the European Grand Prix which was held in Valencia, Spain. 
• Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal won the Indonesia Open Super Series defeating Japan's Sayaka Sato. This was Saina's third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series tournament. 
• India defeated Srilanka in the final of the Asia Cup cricket championship by 81 runs 
• Saina Nehwal won the Singapore Open badminton Super Series defeating Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the final. 
• Saina Nehwal won the $1, 20,000 Yonex Sunrise-India Open Grand Prix gold badminton championships in Chennai defeating Choo Wong Mew of Malaysia. 
• World record holder Ronjan Sodhi won the double trap gold in the shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy.

SPORTS MAY 2010

SPORTS MAY 2010

• Somdev Devvarman became the first Indian in 13 years to qualify for the men's singles event of the French Open. 
• Grandmaster RR Laxman defeated Argentinean Grand Master Pablo Lafuente to bag the gold medal in the Commonwealth Chess Championship in New Delhi. The women’s title was bagged by Dronavalli Harika. 
• Asian champion Pan Qiang of China equalled the World record on way to winning the double trap gold in the shotgun World Cup in Dorset, Britain. 
• Mark Webber won the Monaco Grand Prix defeating his teammate Sebastian Vettel. 
• England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win its first title in the ICC World Twenty20 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown (West Indies). 
• Defending champions India and South Korea were declared joint winners of the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament as the summit clash between the two teams was called off due to rain. 
• Sushil Kumar notched up his first-ever gold medal in the Asian wrestling championship defeating Korean Dae Sung Kim in Delhi.
• Viswanathan Anand retained the FIDE World Chess Championship, defeating Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in the final classic game of the series in Sofia (Bulgaria). Anand won the 12-game match with a score of 6.5-5.5 to defend the title he claimed in 2007.

SPORTS APRIL 2010

SPORTS APRIL 2010

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed vice-president Chirayu Amin as interim chairman of the IPL. 
• Chennai Super Kings won the final of the DLF IPL3 against Mumbai Indian by 22 runs. 
• Eight-time National badminton champion Madhumita Bisht was presented the lifetime achievement award for her long and illustrious career by the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club. 
• Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar was named best batsman while Deccan Chargers Pragyan Ojha bagged the best bowler honour at the IPL Awards Night in Mumbai. 
• Jenson Button,the reigning World champion won the Chinese Grand Prix. 
• Third seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes won the Sony Ericsson Open defeating fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi in the final. Female singles title was by kim clijsters defeating Venus Williams.
• Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bullteam won the formula one Malaysian Grand Prix.
• Third seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes won the Sony Ericsson Open defeating fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi in the final. Female singles title was by kim clijsters defeating Venus Williams. 
• Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team won the formula one Malaysian Grand Prix. 
• A massive web of spiralling steel in the form of five Olympic rings taller than the Statue of Liberty and designed by the internationally renowned Mumbai-born artist Anish Kapoor, will form the backdrop to the London 2012 Olympic Games stadium in East London. 

SPORTS MARCH 2010

SPORTS MARCH 2010

March 2010 Sports

• Formula One World champion Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix.
  
• The seventh National youth (under-18) athletics championship, jointly organised by the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association (TNAA) and the Coimbatore District Athletic Association (CDAA), will be held in Coimbatore from April 23 to 25.
  
• Pune and Kochi joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the auction for the new teams. The Sahara Group won Pune with a $ 370 million bid for 10 years. Rendezvous sports world, a consortium of five companies won Kochi with a bid of $ 333.3 million. The IPL will feature 10 sides from 2011.
  
• India won the overall title in the commonwealth boxing championship with a tally of six gold medals.
  
• Australia won the hockey world cup dethroning Germany at the Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi.
  
• Pankaj Advani won the inaugural O.B. Agarwal Memorial 6 red snooker National Championship title defeating West Bengal's Brijesh Damani.
  
• Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain formula one Grand Prix held in Bahrain.
  
• Kapil Dev was inducted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Dubai. The Hall of Fame recognises some of the legends of the game from its long and illustrious history.
  
• The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) while releasing a comprehensive selection policy has made it mandatory for all shooters to hence forth compete in the national championship to be eligible for representing the country in international competition.
  
• Ong Beng Hee clinched the PSA title at the Chennai open squash championships. In the Women's section, World No.1 Nicol David won the WISPA title.
  
• The Tamil Nadu team retained the Vijay Hazare Trophy - India's Premier one - day cricket competition, defeating Bengal in the final.

SPORTS FEBRUARY 2010

SPORTS FEBRUARY 2010

• Andrew Dodt clinched his maiden professional crown in the final round of the Avantha Masters Golf tournament at Gurgaon.
• Pakistan beat India in the final of the 11th South Asian Games hockey competition at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Gaganjeet Bhullar of India won the Asian Tour International Golf title held in Bangkok.
• Olympic Champion Abhinav Bindra clinched the gold in the 10 - metre air rifle event, in the first of the three competitions in the intershoot shooting championship at The Hague in the Netherlands.
• Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black won the Australian open mixed doubles championship beating Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czechoslovakia. Women’s double championship was won by Serena and Venus Williams.

SPORTS JANUARY 2010

SPORTS JANUARY 2010

• Roger Federer has set a record of winning 16 Grand Slam Titles after defeating Murray in the Australian open. 
• Defending Champion Serena Williams won her fifth Australian Open title and 12th Grand Slam beating Justin Henin of Belgium. 
• Croatia's Marin Cilic defended his title at the Chennai Open Tennis Tournament by defeating Swiss player, Stanislaus Wawrinka.
• Chetan Anand won the 74th senior National badminton championship title beating former champion Anup Sridhar. In the women's section, Trupti Murgunde defeated the defending champion Sayali Gokhale of Air India.
• Srilanka defeated India by four wickets in the final of Idea Cup Cricket tri-series.
• Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu became the Queen's baton-bearer for Delhi Common Wealth Games.
• Spain beat Great Britain to regain Hopman cup, a tennis championship held in Perth.
• Kim Clijsters beat the fellow Belgian Justine Henin in the final of the Brisbane International held at Sydney.

SPORTS DECEMBER 2009

SPORTS DECEMBER 2009

• Indian Boxer Suran Jaysingh won gold medal in Presidents Cup Inter Continental Boxing Championship under 51 kg categories that was held in Baku, Azerbaijaan.
  
• South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship was won by India at Dhaka, defeating Maldives.
  
• All India Ranking Badminton, Bangalore.
  Men’s title: Ajay Jayram
  Women’s title: Trupti
  Women’s doubles title: Sikkireddy (AP) and Tulasi (Kerala)
  Men’s doubles title: Sai Praneet (AP) and Pranav Chopda (Punjab)
  
• AP’s Harika won the 36th National Chess Championship at Chennai. Aarti Ramaswamy and Kiran Mohanty were in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
  
• Mens Hockey Champions Trophywas won by Australia beating Germany in Melbourne. This is the 10th time Australia has won this trophy.
  
• Jwala and Diju of India lost to Neilson and Christina Federson of Denmark in World Badminton Super Series final.
  
• India has been ranked number 1for the first time in ICC world test cricket rankings. It reached this position after winning test series against Sri Lanka.
  
• Argentina’s Lionel Messi won Golden Ball Award and became European Footballer of the year. Christina Ronald and Xavi Hernadez stood at 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
  
• Sports Illustrated magazinenamed Saina Nehwal as Sportsperson of the year, Ussain Bolt as International Sportsperson of the year and Indian Davis Cup Team as Team of the Year.
  
• Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand win Titles at Syed Modi International Badminton Grand Prix.
  
• Gagan Narang won gold medal in Asia Air Gun Championship’s 10m air rifle category. India won gold medal in team category.
  
• Israel grand master Boris Gelfandwon the FIDE Chess World Cup.He defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the final.
  
• India scored its highest ODI score (414) against Sri Lanka in Rajkot.
  
• Indian A team won Asia Team Chess Championship under the leadership of Krishnan. Women’s title was won by Vietnam defeating Indonesia.
  
• Ashutosh Singh of Delhi and Ankita Raina of Gujarat emerged winners at the Vishwarupa Tubes National Grasscourt Tennis Championship at Kolkatta South Club. Doubles title was won by Prasanth and Mithun Murali of Tamil Nadu.
  
• Roger Federer and Serena Williams were named ATF World Champions for the year 2009. The Associated Press selected Serena Williams as Female Athlete of the year.
  
• Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Marta were named the best male and female players of the year by FIFA for the year 2009.

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2009

SPORTS NOVEMBER 2009

• Australia had won the ODI series against India at 4-2. Watson was named Man-of-the-Series.
  
• Viswanath Anand has won Rapid Chess Championship by defeating Karpov.
  
• Sachin Tendulkar scored 17, 000 runs in 435 ODIs. He is the highest scorer in ODIs. Sanat Jayasurya and Rickey Ponting are 2nd and 3rd highest scorers.
  
• Italy has won Federation cup tennis title.
  
• Sowmya Swaminathan has won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship held in Argentina. She is the third to win the title after Hampi and Harika.
  
• China has won Asia Women Hockey cup by defeating India in the final.
  
• Serena Williams has won WTA women’s championship after defeating her sister Venus in the final.
  
• CEAT Cricket Awards:
  
• International Cricketer of the year and test batsman of the year – Gautam Gambhir
  Test bowler of the year – Jhonson (Australia)
  One day batsman of the year – Sehwag
  One day bowler of the year – Mendis
  International Lifetime Achievement Award – EAS Prasanna
  International Team of the year – Australia.
  
• Davydenko defeated Juan Martin del Potro in the finals at London, to become the first Russian to win ATP World Tour title in the tournament history. Doubles’ title was won by Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.
  
• India has won its 100th testmatch in cricket on November 27th when it has won the test match against Sri Lanka in Kanpur. The other countries which have won 100 test matches are Australia, England, West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan.
  
• Roger Federer was titled number one player of the 2009 by defeating Andy Murray in ATP World Tour Finals in London.
  
• Ng-On Yee is the youngest snooker world champion. The 19-year-old Hong Kong girl produced a classy performance to beat the 49-year-old Australian in the final of the ONGC-IBSF World snooker championship at Hyderabad. The men’s title was won by England’s Alfred Burden.
  
• World Under-16 Chess title was won by P Seturaman that was played at Atlanta.
  
• Athlete of the year 2009 awards was given to Usain Bolt and Sanya Richards by International Association of Athletics Federation.
  
• Sachin has become the first cricketer to score 30, 000 runs in international cricket. Ricky Ponting is in the second place with 25, 000 runs.
  
• China has won Asian Table Tennis Championship by defeating Japan in Men’s title and Singapore in Women’s title which was held in Lucknow. India was ranked 7th in the championship.
  
• Tigerwoods has won the Australian Masters Golf Title that was played at Melbourne.
  
• Mohinder Amarnath was conferred with C K Naidu memorial lifetime achievement award.

SPORTS OCTOBER 2009

SPORTS OCTOBER 2009

• Queen Elizabeth II handed over the glittering baton to India’s President to take the responsibility of 2010 Common Wealth Games.
  
• England’s Umpire David Shepherd died. He has umpired for 172 ODIs and 92 test matches.
  
• India has won Senior and Junior Team titles in Common wealth Weightlifting Championship which was held in Penang, Malaysia.
  
  Best junior Lifter in female category was Usha(48kgs) and Best junior lifter in male category was Sukhen Dey (56kgs).
  
• National Inter-state Athletic Championship ended in Chennai on October 24th.
  Kerala stood 1st with 12 gold medals followed by Punjab and Jarkhand. Men’s and Women’s Championship was won by Kerala. Best male athlete was Joseph Abraham (Kerala) and Best female athlete was Manjeet Kaur (Punjab).
  
• Chetan Anand won Dutch Open Badminton title in Almere, Holland.
  
• New South Wales Blues was crowned champion of the inaugural Airtel-Champions League Twenty20 championship with a 41-run win over Trinidad & Tobago in the final at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.
  
  Brett Lee was named ‘Player-of-the-Final’ and ‘Man-of-the-Series’.

• Ghana has won FIFA U-20 Football World Cup beating Brazil. This is the 1st African country to win this cup.
  
• Jenson Button has won F1 World’s Drivers Championship title that was held in Brazil.
  
• Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko beat Rafael Nadal to win the Shanghai Masters.
  
  
• ICC Awards 2009:
  
  1. Best Test Cricketer – Gautam Gambhir
     
  2. Best One day Cricketer - Mahendra Singh Dhoni
     
  3. Test and One day teams captain – M S Dhoni.
     
  4. Best Cricketer – Mitchell Jhonson
     
  5. Best Emerging Cricketer – Peter Siddle (Australia)
     
  6. Best Umpire – Aleem Dar
     
  7. Spirit of Cricket Award – New Zealand
     
     
• Pan Pacific Title was won by Maria Sharapova by beating Jelena Jankovic.
  
• Formula 1 Japan Grand Prix was won by Sebastian Vetel.
  
• Rio de Janeiro has been chosen as the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics, beating Madrid in the final round of voting.
  
  
• Muniyappa won Indian Open Golf Title by defeating South Korean Lee Sang in Gurgaon.
  
• China Open Men’s Title was won by Jokovich and Women’s Title was won by Svetlana Kuznetsova.
  
• Australia won ICC Champion’s Trophy by beating New Zealand in the finals. Shane Watson was selected as Man of the Match and Ricky Ponting was given Player of the tournament and Golden Bat award for scoring highest runs in the series.
  
• Irani Trophy was won by Rest of India team defeating Mumbai.

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2009

SPORTS SEPTEMBER 2009

• US Open Women’s singles Tilte was won by Clijsters by beating Serena Williams. Men’s doubles title was won by Paes and Dlouhy (Czech Republic) over Bhupati and Knowels.
• Rubens Barrichello has won the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
• Vijender Singh has won bronze medal in World Boxing Championship.
• Hyderabad Hockey Association, Andhra Hockey Association and AP women Hockey Association merged to form Hockey Andhra Pradesh.
• India has reached 1st rank in ICC World cricket rankings for the first time after defeating Sri Lanka in Compaq cup.
• China won the World Chess Team Championship. Russia stood in the 2nd place and India was placed in 7th position.
• India has won Nehru Cup International Football Tourney beating Syria.
• Pankaj Advani defeated nine times champion Mike Russell at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds to win the elusive World Professional Billiards Championship. 
• Pankaj Advani has won the World Billiards Title. He is the second Indian to win this title after Geet Sethi in 1992.
• FIBA – Asia basketball championship held at Chennai was won by China beating Korea. Japan stood in the 3rd place.
• Lakshmi Sahiti from AP won the National Women’s chess championship.
• Indian wrestler Ramesh Kumar has won bronze medal in 74kg category World Wrestling Championship.
• Football Durand Cup was won by Churchill brothers.
• Gautam Gambhir has won the Castrol Cricketer for the year 2008. He also won the batsman of the year. In other categories, M S Dhoni was selected for ODI player, Sehwag for test player, Harbajan Singh for bowler of the year.
  
  
  US Open

  Del Proto of Argentina defeated Federer and won his 1st grand slam, US open Men’s title.
  
  
  Women’s singles Tilte was won by Clijsters by beating Serena Williams. 
  
  
  Men’s doubles title was won by Paes and Dlouhy (Czech Republic) over Bhupati and Knowels. 
  
  
  Womens’s doubles title was won by Serena and Venus Williams.
• India dominated in Asian Grand Prix Archery. India has won 4gold, 1silver and 3bronze medals. 
• Somdev Devvarman beat Rik de Voest in the first reverse singles to win the Davis Cup World Group play-off 3-1 against South Africa. With the victory, India was qualified for the Davis Cup World Group after a long gap of 11 years. India last played in the World Group in 1998.
• Gaganjeet Bhullar won the DLF Masters golf tournament by beating Anirbaan Lahiri.

SPORTS AUGUST 2009

SPORTS AUGUST 2009

Kingfisher’s Forbes India team has won 8 points for the first time in F1 Belgian Grand Prix with Fischichella achieving 2nd rank.

India’s mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold over Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh.

Russian Yelena Isinbayeva set world record in Pole vault held at Zurich Golden League Meet.

Roger Federer has won the Cincinnati Masters title beating Novok Djokovic.

Rubens Barichello (Brazil) has won F1 European Grand prix.

Olympic bronze medal winner Vijender Singh achieved a career-high second rank in the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) official rankings. Among other Indians, Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist Akhil Kumar has been placed ninth in the feather weight (57kg).

Kenenisa Bekele has won the world championship in 5000m and 10000m running consecutively for the fourth time.

Dubois won the Vancouver final beating Sania Mirza.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt obliterated his own 100 meters World record to win the World championship final in a breathtaking 9.58 seconds. He also created world record in 200m running by completing in 19.19seconds.

South Korean golf star Yang Yong-Eun beat world number one Tiger Woods by two strokes and won the PBA Golf Champions tournament.

Mahesh Bhupati and Knowles has won the Montreal tennis title.

Lin Dan won his third straight world title defeating second-seeded fellow Chinese and World No. 2 Chen Jin in men’s singles final in the BWF World badminton championship.

In the women’s final seventh-seeded Lan Lu of China defeated two-time world champion and fifth-seeded Xie Xingfang. 

World Badminton Championship started at Hyderabad. England did not participate in the championship due to security reasons. 

India is the Asia Youth Chess Champion. Second place goes to Vietnam. 

India stood at third place in the world junior squash championship. Egypt stood at first place.

SPORTS JULY 2009

SPORTS JULY 2009

• Bangladesh has won its first away from home Test series against West Indies. 
• Gaganjeet Bhullar is the youngest Indian golfer to win Asian Tour Title. 
• Sania Mirza won Lexington Challenger Title by defeating Jolie Koin. 
• Michael Phelps created world record in American swimming championship. He swum butterfly swimming race in just 50.22 seconds. 
• Padmini Raut won Asian Junior chess championship. 
• Roger Federer won Wimbledon Men’s title beating Andy Roddick in finals. With this 15th Grand slam, he became the highest winner of the grand slams. 
• Serena Williams won Wimbledon women’s title. 
• Doubles women's title was won by Serena and Venus Williams. 

SPORTS MAY 2009

SPORTS MAY 2009

• Roger Federer won Madrid Masters men’s title defeating Nadal. The women’s title was won by Safina.
• Grand Master Suresh Kumar Ganguly has won Asian Chess Championship defeating Chinese grand master Jo Jian Chavo.
• Jenson Button has won formula one Monaco Grand Prix title defeating Rubens.
• Deccan Chargers has won the IPL-2 trophy. The highest scorer of the tourney was Mathew Hayden , the highest wicket taker was RP Singh. Adam Gilchrist hit highest sixes (60).
• Singapore’s Gao Ning has defeated Achanti Sharath in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship held at Scotland.
• Sayali Gokhale won the Women’s single title in the Spanish Open Badminton Championship at Madrid.

SPORTS APRIL 2009

SPORTS APRIL 2009

• Jenson Button won Malaysian Grand Prix.
  
  
• England's Claire Taylor has become the first woman to be named as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year 2009 by Wisden, the sport's annual of record.
  
  
• Victoria Azaranka beat Serena Williams to win Miami Masters Tennis title.
  
  
• Sehwag was announced as Wisden 2008 ‘Leading Cricketer in the World’.
  
  
• Wisden Dream Team: M S Dhoni was selected as captain. Sehwag, Harbajan Singh, Sachin and Zaheer Khan were selected in the dream team.
  
  
• India has won a test series in New Zealand after 41 years.
  
  
• Shooting World Cup in Changwon, Korea: Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the men’s 10m air rifle event of the first ISSF World Cup of the year in Chongwon, Korea. He also won the gold in the men’s 50-metre free rifle 3-position event.
  
  
• Rahul Dravid created world record in the number of catches (183).
  
  
• India has won Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2009 after 13 years by beating Malaysia in the final.
  
  
• Rafael Nadal won his fifth consecutive Barcelona Open title victory over Spanish compatriot David Ferrer.
• 
  

SPORTS JUNE 2009

SPORTS JUNE 2009

• Brazil won Confederation cup against America in final.

  
  
• Saina Nehwal won Indonesian Open. She is the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament. she clinched the Indonesian Open title with a stunning victory over higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta.

  
  
• Sebastian Vettel, Won 2009 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix.

  
  
• Pakistan won T 20 World cup. Shahid Afridi was declared as Man of the Match.

  
  
• Roger Federer won French open title beating Robin Soderling.

  
  
• The world|s fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, was awarded the title of 2009 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.

  
  
• Suranjoy won Asian boxing gold : Suranjoy Singh gave India its first Asian Boxing Championship gold in 15 years.
• 
  

AWARDS DECEMBER 2017

AWARDS DECEMBER 2017

AWARDS NOVEMBER 2017

AWARDS NOVEMBER 2017

• Lifetime Achievement Award for Girish Karnad
   Actor-playwright Girish Karnad was conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of theatre at the Tata Literature Live in Mumbai.
  
  Mr Karnad, who has been writing plays, has had his works translated into various Indian languages and helmed by directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B V Karanth and Alyque Padamsee among others.
  
  At the eighth edition of the Tata Literature festival the 79-year-old playwright, famously known for writing 'Tughalak', spoke on the topic 'Playing on Twenty Tongues' after receiving the honour.
  
  Tata Trusts' Big Little Book Awards', for Author in Bengali Children's Literature, went to Nabaneeta Dev Sen. This year, in its second edition, 'BLBA' recognised champions of Bengali children's literature.
  
  Book of the year, non-fiction, went to 'Age of Anger: A History of the Present' by Pankaj Mishra, whereas the fiction top honour was bagged by Easterine Kire's 'Son of the Thundercloud'. The four-day LitFest concluded with a performance by sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan.
  
• Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2017 for Dr Manmohan Singh
   Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2017 for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India's stature globally.
  
  According to a statement from the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Dr Singh was unanimously chosen for the award by an international jury chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee.
  
  The Trust said Dr Singh is only the third Indian prime minister to complete two full terms as the PM between 2004 and 2014. The award, named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was announced on the eve of Gandhi's birth anniversary.
  
• Amitabh Bachchan to be given personality of the year award at International Film Festival of India
  Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with personality of the year award at the upcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. According to Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the award will be given during IFFI which will be held from November 20-November 28. Amitabh has starred in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades. He has won four national awards for best actor and 15 Filmfare Awards.
  
• Royal Opera House received Award of Merit from the 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation
   The restored Royal Opera House, located at Mumbai's Charni Road, has received the Award of Merit from the 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
  
  In 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, four restored city landmarks were among the 16 winners from six countries - Australia, China, India, Iran, New Zealand and Singapore.
  
  Meanwhile, amongst this, all Mumbai bagged the maximum number of UNESCO Heritage Awards for - Christ Church and Royal Opera House (Award of Merit), Bomonjee Hormarjee Wadia Fountain and Clock Tower and Wellington Fountain. Ahead, Delhi bagged for Haveli Dharampura in Shahjahanabad.
  
  The other two winners from India were the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, and the Gateways of Gohad Fort near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
  
• M K Sanu presented Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016
  Renowned writer, critic and biographer Prof. M K Sanu was on 1st November presented with the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016 in recognition of his contribution to Malayalam literature.
  
  A jury headed by eminent poet Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri selected Mr Sanu for the award carrying a cash prize of two lakh rupees, a citation and a statuette.
  
  Sanu is a recipient of several honours, including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award, Padmaprabha Award, Kendra Sahitya Adademi Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award.
  
  His important works include "Changampuzha Krishnapilla", "Nakshtrangalude Snehabhajanam" and "Narayanaguru Swami".
  
  Persons in news: 
• Karambir Singh:Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, AVSM has taken over the charge as the Flag Officer commanding-in -Chief of the prestigious Eastern Naval Command (ENC).
  
• Five Indian women in world’s 100 most powerful women
  Five Indian women led by ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, and including Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, have featured on the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes, which was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
  
  Kochhar was ranked 32 on the coveted list, while HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra took the 57th position, followed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder-Chair, of Biocon, at 71. Other Indians on the list include Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media, at the 92nd place, and Priyanka Chopra, “the most successful Bollywood actor to cross over to Hollywood,” at 97. Some of Indian-origin women who made the cut include PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at the 11th position and Indian American Nikki Haley at 43.
  
  The overall list was topped by Merkel, who retained the top spot for the seventh consecutive year and 12 times in total.
  
  Merkel is followed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May at the second position, who is “leading her country through Brexit, a historic, complex and transformative time for the country and the European Union,” Forbes said.
  
  May is followed by Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who, along with her husband Bill, has donated more than $40 billion in grants till date and supports organisations across over 100 countries. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, at the 4th position and General Motors CEO Mary Barra (5th) rounded out the top five.

AWARDS OCTOBER 2017

AWARDS OCTOBER 2017

• Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim: A globally-acclaimed South African Indian-origin researcher couple was honored on 25th October with a prestigious US award for their exceptional contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS. Professors Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim received the award from the Institute for Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore in the US. The award was presented to them by Robert Gallo, who discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS‚ at the 19th international meeting of the IHV.
  
  Salim Abdool Karim is the Director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is its associate scientific Director.
  
• Indian Peacekeepers awarded UN Medal for their professionalism
  Fifty Indian peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan have been awarded the UN Medal for their professionalism and service in protecting civilians and building durable peace in the conflict-ridden country. UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, Force Commander General Frank Mushyo Kamanzi awarded the UN Medal to the officers serving with the Indian Battalion, located in Bor in the Jonglei region of South Sudan.
  
• George Saunders:
  US author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. He became only the second American writer to win Britain's renowned Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel "Lincoln in the Bardo". The prize was announced at a ceremony in London.
  
  Judges for the prestigious English-language literary award praised the book as utterly original that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators.This year's Man Booker Prize shortlist pitted three US and three British writers against one another.
  
• Rajiv Gandhi International Air port
  Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has bagged the World 1 airport Award trophy of the Airports Council International (ACI) in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category.
  
  The Airport is run by the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), received the trophy from Angela Gittens, Director General of the ACI and Bongani Maseko, CEO, Airports Company South Africa during the 27th ACI Africa World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Port Louis, Mauritius on 17th October.
  
• Schellnhuber: Environmental scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber received Blue Planet Prize, world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science. He is the second recipient of the Blue Planet Prize. She has been awarded for her research about biodiversity and natural capital. Blue Planet Prize was instituted by Asahi Glass Foundation (an affiliate of Asahi Glass manufacturing company of Japan) in 1992.
  
• Nobel Economics Prize 2017 has been awarded to Richard Thaler
   Richard Thaler: The Nobel economics prize has been awarded to Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago for his contributions to behavioural economics.
  
  Swedish Academy of Sciences Secretary Goeran Hansson said today that the 9-million-kronor (1.1 million US Dollars) prize was awarded to the academic for his understanding the psychology of economics.
  
  The Nobel committee said Thaler's work shows how human traits affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes.
  
  Thaler,is a pioneer in behavioural economics, a research field in which insights from psychological research are applied to economic decision making, a background paper from the academy said.
  
• Rajesh Nath:
  Rajesh Nath, Managing Director of The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) India conferred as the ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian honor awarded to individuals for their services to Germany. The award, also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz or Federal Cross of Merit was instituted in 1951 and is Germany’s only honor that is awarded to both Germans and foreigners for achievements in the economic, social, political or intellectual realms.
  
• Bindeshwar Pathak:
  President Ram Nath Kovind presented Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management to noted social reformer and founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak for his immense contribution towards getting rid of manual scavenging.
  
  The President presented this year's award to Mr. Pathak at Rashtrapati Bhavan. President said Bindeshwar Pathak had contributed to making revolutionary changes in society and has put into practice the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar and Shastri.
  
  Mr. Pathak was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 1991. Pathak has developed and implemented a low cost and appropriate toilet technology popularly known as the Sulabh Shauchalaya system.
  
• Birendra Sasmal:
   A Ghana-based Indian entrepreneur, Birendra Sasmal has won a prestigious business award in the UK for his efforts to bring innovative IT solutions to Africa.
  
  Birendra Sasmal, CEO of Subah, bagged the International Business Person of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards in London for turning the company into a thriving IT, telecoms and manufacturing success story with operations across West Africa.
  
  Headquartered in Accra, Ghana, the Subah Group employs around 350 people with offices in Guinea, Sierra Leone, New York City and Dubai. Under Sasmal's leadership, the group's revenues have increased by over 3,000 per cent and it has been named among one of Africa's fastest growing tech companies.
  
• US geneticists Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young wins Nobel Medicine Prize
  This year's Nobel Medicine Prize went to US geneticists Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young for their discoveries on how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth's revolutions.
  
  For many years, scientists have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal clock that helps them adapt to the rotation of earth.
  
  The clock influences such biological functions as hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. It is what causes jetlag -- when the internal clock and external environment move out of sync when Humans change time zones.
  
  Using the fruit fly as a model organism, the scientists isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm. The trio will share the prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor (about 1.1 million US Dollars.)
  
• Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson win Nobel Prize for Chemistry
  Scientists Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson have won the Nobel Chemistry Prize on 4th October for the development of cryo-electron microscopy. It’s a method of simplifying and improving the imaging of biomolecules.
  
  Commenting on the discovery by the winners Nobel committee said in a statement that the researchers can now routinely produce three-dimensional structures of biomolecules.
  
• Kazuo Ishiguro:
  British author Kazuo Ishiguro has been declared as the winner of Nobel Literature prize. The novelist was praised by the Swedish Academy as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath illusory sense of connection with the world".
  
  He has written eight books, which have been translated into over 40 languages. His most famous novels "The Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go" were adapted into highly acclaimed films. He was made an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1995.
  
• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons awarded 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
  The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize on 6th October. The Nobel Peace Prize, worth nine million Swedish crowns ($1.10 million), will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10.

AWARDS SEPTEMBER 2017

AWARDS SEPTEMBER 2017

• CNR Rao: Eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna Prof C.N.R. Rao awarded as 2017 Von Hippel Award, the highest international prize in materials research. The award will be presented to Prof Rao for his interdisciplinary contributions to the development of novel functional materials, including nanomaterials graphene, superconductivity, 2D materials and colossal magnetoresistance at Boston. He is an eminent scientist and world’s foremost solid state and materials chemists. He has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry. The award recognizes those qualities most prized by materials scientists and engineers brilliance and originality of intellect, combined with vision.
  
• D Roopa: In Karantaka, former DIG D Roopa, who highlighted in a report alleged irregularities at the Central jail in Bengaluru, including preferential treatment to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, was on 17th September conferred the President's Medal. The award was presented to Roopa for her meritorious service by Governor Vajubhai Vala.
  
• Zannah Mustapha: For educating Boko Haram Victims, a Nigerian, Mr Zannah Mustapha, the Director, Future Prowess Islamic Foundation School, has won the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) 2017 Nansen Refugees Award. Mr Mustapha will be presented with his award at ceremony in the Swiss city of Geneva on 2 October.
  
• Prakash Padukone: The renowned Indian Badminton legend Prakash Padukone has been selected for the first life time award by Badminton Association of India. The award carries cash prize of 10 lakh rupees with a citation which will be presented to him at New Delhi very soon.
  
  Padukone had won the 1980 All England, besides bagging a bronze at the 1983 World Championship in Copenhagen. He also won a gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He was bestowed with the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982.
  
• Salman Khan: Salman Khan received a Global Diversity Award at Britain’s House of Commons. The Global Diversity Award is given to people of immense stature in terms of diversity in the world, and he is certainly one of them. The Being Human NGO is run by the Salman Khan.
  
• KT Rama Rao: Minister for IT and Industries, Telangana KT Rama Rao will be honoured with the ‘SKOCH IT Minister of the Year Award’. He will be conferred the award at a ceremony scheduled to take place during the 49th SKOCH Summit on September 9 in New Delhi. SKOCH, since 2003, has been conducting independent assessment of States and it is the only time-line study compiled as ‘Annual Smart Governance Map of India’ available in the country.
  
• Hyderabad Airport: Hyderabad International Airport Limited bagged the National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management at a conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is a company promoted as a joint venture comprising the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Government of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%). The event focused on recognizing companies that are engaged in energy efficiency initiatives and displaying commitment towards energy conservation.
  
• GIFT City: India’s first operational Smart City and IFSC, Gujarat International Finance-Tec City (GIFT City) won the prestigious Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Services Excellence Award.
  
  It was honored for its contribution to the growth of the International Financial Services and Technology Hub in India.
  
  GIFT City, India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), is operational with approximately 10 leading banks, 2 international exchanges (India INX and NSE IFSC), around 100 capital market players and 8 insurance companies having established their operations.
  
• Raja Mouli: SS Rajamouli has been chosen for the Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) National Award 2017, instituted by the Akkineni International Foundation.
  
• Sitaram: The Telangana state government has announced the Kaloji award for the year 2017. Famous poet Sitharam has been declared award winner. Prior to him, Venu Gopal in 2015 and R Goretti Venkanna in 2016 won this award.

AWARDS AUGUST 2017

AWARDS AUGUST 2017

• Devendra, Sardar Singh selected for Khel Ratna award
   Para Athlete Devendra and Hockey player Sardar Singh have been selected for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
  
  Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, Women Cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter P. N. Prakash are among the 17 sportsmen who will be given Arjuna Awards for their outstanding performance.
  
  Seven persons have been chosen for Dronacharya Awards for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.
  
  They include late Dr. R. Gandhi in Athletics, Brij Bhushan Mohanty in Boxing and P.A. Raphel in the field of hockey. Dhyan Chand Award will be given to Bhupender Singh in Athletics, Syed Shahid Hakim in Football and Sumarai Tete in Hockey for their life time contribution to sports development. The awardees will receive their awards from the President Ram Nath Kovind in a special function at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th of this month.
  
• Thomas Kailath: The US-based Marconi Society, dedicated to furthering scientific achievements in communications and the Internet, has conferred its Lifetime Achievement Award on Stanford University professor, Thomas Kailath.
  
  Kailath is Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University ( US) and he is the sixth recipient of the award in the Society’s 43-year history. Earlier recipients include Claude Shannon, the ‘Father of Information Theory’ and Gordon Moore of ‘Moore’s Law’ fame.
  
  Kailath will receive his award at the annual Marconi Society Awards dinner in Summit, New Jersey on October 3, where another Indian, former Bell Labs President Arun Netravali, the ‘Father of Digital Video’, will be honoured with the $100,000 Marconi Prize.
  
  The award recognises Kailath’s many contributions over six decades to information theory, communications, filtering theory, linear systems and control, signal processing, semiconductor manufacturing, probability and statistics, linear algebra, matrix and operator theory, which have directly or indirectly advanced modern communications technology. It also recognises his sustained mentoring and development of new generations of scientists. The Indian government conferred the Padma Bhushan on Prof Kailath in 2009.
  
  Kailath earned a Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, in 1956. He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1957. After his doctorate in electrical engineering in June 1961, the first Indian-born student to get one at MIT, he was invited by the late Prof. Solomon Golomb to join the pioneering Digital Communications Research Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  
• KCR: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has been selected for the Agriculture Leadership Award 2017, instituted by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture.
  
  A committee headed by eminent agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan has recommended KCR name. The award will be presented on September 5 in New Delhi.
  
• Magsaysay Awards 2017
   A former president of Japan's Sophia University was named one of six recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards, also known as the Asian Nobel Prize. Yoshiaki Ishizawa is being recognised for his efforts to restore Cambodia's cultural monuments such as Angkor Wat.
  
  The other recipients are Abdon Nababan of Indonesia, Gethsie Shanmugam of Sri Lanka, Tony Tay of Singapore, and Lilia de Lima and the Philippine Educational Theater Association of the Philippines.
  
  Ishizawa began his involvement in the conservation effort when he first visited Angkor Wat in 1961 as a student, and he was instrumental in the 1989 launch of the Sophia University Angkor International Mission.
  
  Nababan, 53, was awarded the honour for his advocacy on behalf of Indonesia's indigenous communities, the foundation said. Shanmugam, 82, was recognised for her efforts over four decades in building Sri Lanka's capacity for psychosocial support.
  
  Singapore's Tay in 2003 organised "Willing Hearts," a volunteer-based, nonprofit organisation, to distribute hot meals to the needy, inspired by his late mother's charity work.
  
  The Philippines' Lilia de Lima is being honoured for her leadership and building of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority from 1995 to 2015.
  
  The Philippine Educational Theater Association was recognised for its "bold, collective contributions in shaping the theater arts as a force for social change."
  
  Sharada: Popular Telugu Film Actress Sharada has been selected for 2017 Prem Nazir Award. The award will be presented to Sharada by Kerala state Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran at a function at Chirayankeezhu on August 15, 2017. Actor T P Madhavan will also be presented Rs 50,000 cash award announced by Chirayankeezhu Panchayat.
  
  The awardees will receive a certificate, a medallion, and a cash prize during a formal ceremony in Manila on Aug 31. At the awards ceremony, the recipients will receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the image of Magsaysay, and a cash prize. The 2017 recipients join 318 other Magsaysay laureates.
  
  The award was created in 1957 in honour of former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, a figure known for his selfless service. He died in a plane crash in the central Philippines in 1957.
  
• Sharada: Popular Telugu Film Actress Sharada has been selected for 2017 Prem Nazir Award. The award will be presented to Sharada by Kerala state Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran at a function at Chirayankeezhu on August 15, 2017. Actor T P Madhavan will also be presented Rs 50,000 cash award announced by Chirayankeezhu Panchayat.

AWARDS JULY 2017

AWARDS JULY 2017

• LK Advani: Former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister L.K. Advani received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions as a parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha.
  
  On the other hand, Janatadal United leader Sharad Yadav received the Lifetime Achievement Award as a Rajya Sabha representative from Vice President Hamid Ansari at a function organised by the Lokmat Media Group to honour distinguished Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members.
  Other awards…
  • Best Parliamentarian- Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premachandran.
  • Best Woman Parliamentarian- Congress leader Kumari Sushmita Dev.
  • Best Debut Woman Parliamentarian- BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi.
  
  
• PV Sindhu: P V Sindhu won the 'Sportsperson of the Year' award during the ‘Maruti Suzuki Sportsperson of the Year’ Charity Gala Awards. Sindhu’s coach P Gopichand received the Coach of the Year award.
  
  Young India cricketer K L Rahul made a mark in the last Test series against Australia was awarded Gamechanger of the Year award.
  
• Water Health International: It is a US-based company with operating headquarters in Hyderabad has been awarded the Unilever Global Development Award, for its efforts in providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water to the undeserved and marginalised communities in India, Ghana and Nigeria.
  
  The award was presented at the 20th Responsible Business Awards ceremony attended by over 1,200 global business leaders, held at The Royal Albert Hall, London, on July 4. Its an annual event organised by the Business in the Community (BITC), a part of the Prince of Wales’ Responsible Business Network.
  
• Swayam Shikshan Prayog:
  Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) awarded the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize. It is the only Indian organization to win the award, making the cut from more than 800 nominations across 120 countries.
  
  The 15 prize winners will receive $10,000 each and a chance to participate in a week-long summit in New York during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.
  
• Guruswamy Jayraman:
  Guruswamy Jayraman, an Indian-origin Glenwood resident, migrated from Delhi to Australia in 1991. He has been awarded "Order of Australia" for community work, the highest civilian award in Australia. Jayraman has received a number of awards, such as Outstanding Services to Older Citizens Award from the Auburn Council (2011), Service to the Indian Community and Seniors by the India Independence & Australia Day Celebration Committee (2010) and Community Services award from GOPIO Sydney (2012). He was also awarded for his contributions for seniors in Western Sydney by the Minister for Ageing & Disability.

AWARDS JUNE 2017

AWARDS JUNE 2017

• Mamata Banerjee : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the highest prize in United Nations Public Service Award for the State Government’s Kanyashree Prakalpa (Girl Child) scheme in The Hague, Netherlands.
  
  Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme of West Bengal came first among the 552 project nominations received by the UN from 62 countries. West Bengal has been awarded in the Asia-Pacific group for the category is 'Reaching the Poorest and Most Vulnerable through Inclusive Services and Participation'.
  
  About scheme
  Department of Women Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal (DWD&SW) has designed the Kanyashree Prakalpa - a conditional cash transfer scheme with the aim of improving the status and well being of the girl child in West Bengal by incentivizing schooling of all teenage girls and delaying their marriages until the age of 18, the legal age of marriage. Kanyashree Prakalpa is a West Bengal Government sponsored scheme which will be implemented henceforth in all districts of the State.
  
• Ankit Kawatra: Anti-hunger activist Ankit Kawatra has been awarded the Queen’s Young Leaders Award for 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in the Buckingham Palace.
  
  The award recognises exceptional work towards solving hunger and malnutrition in India.
  
  Ankit Kawatra is the founder of Feeding India, an organisation which works towards eradicating hunger and food wastage in India. The organisation which was established in 2014 functions across 43 Indian cities with the help of 4,500 volunteers serving 8 million meals to the needy.
  
• Rural Development Ministry gives 144 awards to states under various categories
  The Rural Development Ministry has given away 144 awards under various categories to states and other organisations in a function in New Delhi.
  
  Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)', Bihar was awarded for constructing the highest number of rural roads while Madhya Pradesh got the award for use of non-conventional construction material in constructing roads.
  
  The ministry said in a statement in New Delhi that Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka received a special prize for completing more than 95 per cent of their targets.
  
  Tripura’s Dhalai and South districts and a gram panchayat were awarded in recognition of effective implementation of national flagship programme- MGNREGA.
  
  District Magistrate of Dhalai district Vikash Singh and District Magistrate of South district CK Jamatia,and Gram Pradhan of Sachindra Nagar Rakhal Das received the respective awards in a programme held in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan.
  
  Apart from Tripura, the other States which received awards were Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Sikkim, Karnataka and West Bengal under different categories.
  
• Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways announced as the World's Best Airline at SKYTRAX 2017 World Airline Awards. Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services) is a United Kingdom–based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site. The Doha-based carrier won the Best Airline of the year title for the fourth time.
  
• Soumitra Chatterjee: Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee has been selected for France's highest civilian award, Legion of Honour, for his outstanding contribution to cinema and theatre. 82-year old Chatterjee is the first Bengali actor to be chosen for the award.
  
  The honour comes almost 3 decades after the same recognition was conferred on master director Satyajit Ray in 1987.
  
  French government representatives will go to Kolkata later this year to confer the award.
  
  Chatterjee has acted in several of Ray’s films including ‘Apur Sansar’, ‘Debi’,’ Aranyer Din Ratri’, ‘Ghare Bairey’ and ‘Ganashatru’. Earlier recipients of the Legion of Honour include sitar aestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amatabh Bachaan, Shahrukh Khan and Kamal Hasan.
  
  Chatterjee was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2012.
  
• Haraprasad Das conferred with Kalinga Literary Award
  Poet and essayist Haraprasad Das conferred with Kalinga Literary Award for his work and contribution to literature at the fourth edition of Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF).
  
  This year the KLF introduced two new awards namely the Kalinga International Literary Award, Kalinga Karubaki Award.
  
  The Kalinga International Literary Award was received by Anand Neelakantan for his contribution towards literature, and the Kalinga Karubaki Award was given to Paramita Satpathy for her contribution to Odia poetry.
  
• Yeshe Dorjee Thongshi conferred Bhupen Hazarika National Award
  The Fifth Bhupen Hazarika National Award, 2017 has been conferred on eminent writer from Arunachal Pradesh Yeshe Dorjee Thongshi.
  
  The prestigious Award, instituted by Sarhad,a Maharashtra-based organization, is honouring a person every year since 2012, who has rendered an outstanding literary work at national and international level.
  
  The award consists of 51,000 rupees, a memento and a certificate. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi who belongs to West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, was graduated from prestigious Cotton College, Guwahati and did his MA from Guwahati University.
  
  He started his literary pursuit from his childhood days. Although his mother tongue is Sherdukpen, he started writing in Assamese because it was then the medium of instruction in schools in North-East Frontier Agency or NEFA.
  
  He has so far written about a dozen novels, and numerous short stories and plays, all in Assamese, a language over which he has a wonderful command. His most important novel is Mauna Onth Mukhar Hriday (Silent lips, murmuring hearts) which won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2005.
  
• David Grossman won the Man Booker International Prize
  Israeli author David Grossman won the Man Booker International Prize for his novel "A Horse Walks Into a Bar".
  
  David Grossman, the first Israeli author to win the Man Booker International Prize. He will share the £50,000 ($64,000) award money with his translator Jessica Cohen. Other important works of David Grossman includes The Yellow Wind, To the End of the Land.
  
• Annabel Mehta: national Social activist Annabel Mehta, a British, has been awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her work and service to the underprivileged. The award will be presented to her at Buckingham Palace in London later this year. She worked for upliftment of underprivileged communities in Mumbai, and the NGO, Apnalaya.
  
  Annabel has been recognised and honoured for over 40 years of service to under-privileged communities in India.
  
• JP Nadda:Union Health Minister J P Nadda was conferred the WHO Director-General's Special Recognition Award for accelerating India's tobacco control initiatives and taking bold measures to protect people against hazards of tobacco use.
  
  The global recognition was presented to Nadda by Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, at the 'National Consultation on Accelerating Implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for Achievement of SDGs'.
  
• United Nations warns of Clean Water Shortages by 2050
  United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that by 2050 global demand for fresh water is projected to grow by more than 40%. A Quarter of the world's population will live in countries with a chronic or recurrent lack of clean water.
  
• Satyabrata Rout:
   Satyabrata Rout, professor from the Department of Theatre Arts, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016.
  
  Rout has developed "a unique method of teaching and practicing direction and design, which has been achieved through a long and continuous work experience with eminent theatre practitioners and scholars''.
  
  The Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award) is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists.
  
• 'The Square' won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival
  Swedish satire "The Square", a send-up of political correctness and the confused identity of the modern male, won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival.
  
  Sofia Coppola became only the second woman in history to win best director for her battle-of-the-sexes thriller "The Beguiled" with Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell.
  
  Kidman, who appeared in four different projects at the French Riviera festival, accepted a special anniversary award from the jury.
  
  Three-time Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix nabbed best actor for his turn as a hammer-wielding hitman in "You Were Never Really Here".