AWARDS MAY 2014

AWARDS MAY 2014

• Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) chairman CS Verma has been named ‘CEO of the Year’ at the 2014 Platts Global Metals Awards. Verma is the first CEO from India to have been conferred with this honour. C.S.Verma accepted the award in London on May 21.The award is in recognition of a comprehensive leadership style demonstrated by C.S. Verma that has placed SAIL on the path of robust growth overcoming challenges such as price volatility and increased competition.
  
• India’s Mobile Governance Initiative (Mobile Seva) on 28 May bags United Nations Public Service Award for 2014. The United Nations Public Service Awards Programme (UNPSA), the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service, rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide. "Mobile Seva", the national mobile governance initiative launched by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Government of India, has bagged the second prize under the category on "Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches in the Information Age" of the United Nations Public Service Awards, 2014. Mobile Seva is the only winner from India across all categories this year. The “Mobile Seva” initiative of Government of India aims at mainstreaming mobile governance in the country as a compelling new paradigm for delivery of public services electronically through the mobile platform. DeitY launched “Mobile Seva” in 2011 as a new countrywide initiative on mobile governance to provide public services to the citizens through mobile phones and handheld devices.
  
• Former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam (82) on 15 May awarded an honorary degree by Scotland's prestigious University of Edinburgh for his contribution to science and technology. The award was presented by the University Principal and Vice Chancellor Timothy O'Shea. The award is in recognition of Dr Kalam's outstanding contribution to science and technology, and his commitment to helping transform India into a developed nation by 2020.Kalam was served as the president of India from 2002 to 2007.University of Edinburgh is Scotland's biggest university and is ranked as one of the world's top 20 universities.
  
• An Indian American student Akhil Rekulapelli (13) has won the coveted National Geographic Bee championship. This championship includes a $50,000 college scholarship. The nationwide contest held in Washington. Akhil Rekulapeklli answered the word "Equatorial Guinea" correctly. Akhil Rekulapeklli is the Eighth grade student. He emerged ahead of more than four million students. The National Geographic Bee is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The bee, held every year since 1989, is open to students in the fourth through eighth grade in participating American schools.
  
• A union communications and IT ministry project on "mobile governance” on 21st May won the second prize at the prestigious United Nations' Public Services Awards. The project, called "mobile seva" was launched by the Dept. of Electronics and Information Technology’s (DeitY) in January 2012, and won in the category "Promoting Whole of Government Approaches in the Information Age" for Asia Pacific. The first prize in the category was bagged by the Korean health and welfare information service.
  
• Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul’s Caparo group on 10th May, won the International Business of the Year award 2014 at the Asian Business Awards Midlands held in Birmingham.
  
• Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2014 has named India as the recipient of the New Frontiers Award 2014 at its annual meet held on 8th May. Devender Singh, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, accepted the award from Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions. Last year, the Philippines had won this award. India was honoured with the New Frontiers Award 2014 by a panel of judges consisting of industry professionals from across the globe. The award was made in recognition of India’s ongoing efforts to rebuild physical infrastructure and its rural tourism economy in the wake of the June 2013 floods and landslides in the northern state of Uttarakhand, and the devastation wreaked by tropical Cyclone Phailin, which touched down in the northeast of the country in October.
  
• Indian-American cardiologist Mitul Kadakia won the prestigious 2014 Gregory Bradeb Memorial Fellow of the Year Award. The Prestigious award was given to him by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Foundation in US on 9th May. Mitul Kadakia is currently a fellow in Interventional Cardiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His clinical and research interests include new devices and therapies for coronary and valvular heart disease and bleeding reduction in acute coronary syndrome. The award, considered a tremendous prestige in the cardiology community, is given to one graduating interventional cardiology fellow per year, out of the thousands in the US.
  
• Two Indian American women namely Manjusha P. Kulkarni and Ranjana Patel have been named as Champions of Change within the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community for their efforts to promote President Barack Obama’s controversial Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) legislation. Manjusha P. Kulkarni and Ranjana Patel were named among the 11 healthcare-related professionals announced by the White House. The purpose of the program is honor and recognizes ordinary individuals who work to promote widespread change and reform in their own respective areas of the country. Kulkarni is the Director of the South Asian Network (SAN), which is a community-based organization in Southern California that is dedicated to advancing the health, empowerment and solidarity of persons of South Asian origin. Ranjana Patel is the Program Manager of the Asian Health Coalition’s partnership consortium, which works towards education, outreach, and enrolment for underserved AAPI communities across the state of Illinois.
  
• A Bihar health official named Martha Dodray, has been selected for the National Florence Nightingale Award 2014 for her extraordinary work to eradicate polio. She had earlier honoured with the United Nations Foundation award. She walked several kilometres each day to reach remote and inaccessible villages to administer polio vaccine to hundreds of children, mostly belonging to the poorest of the poor. The award carries Rs.50, 000 and a merit certificate and is given on the occasion of International Nursing Day as a mark of recognition of the meritorious service rendered by nurses and nursing professionals in the country. The day is observed in the memory of English social reformer Florence Nightingale, who is considered the founder of modern nursing. Last November, Dodray was honoured at the Global Leadership Awards Dinner of 2013 hosted by the UN Foundation. The National Florence Nightingale Award 2014 will be presented by President Pranab Mukherjee in a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi May 12th.

AWARDS APRIL 2014

AWARDS APRIL 2014

• NR Narayana Murthy, the founder and executive Chairman of Infosys was honored with the 2014 Canada India Foundation Chanchalani Global Indian Award in Toronto, Canada on 26th April 2014. This award is for his remarkable vision and leadership in the IT sector. The award that carries a trophy and a cash prize of 50000 US dollars was presented to Murthy by Joe Oliver, the Canadian Finance Minister at the Canada India Foundation annual award function. With this award, Murthy has joined the club of global Indians, who have remained an inspiration to people across the world. The Canada India Foundation Chanchalani Global Indian Award is conferred by the Canada India Foundation and is given to recognize an individual who demonstrates global leadership, vision and professional excellence. This award is one of the most prestigious awards among Indians around the world. 

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• Indian environmental activist Ramesh Agrawal on 27th April won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize that honors heroic grass root environmentalists around the world for their achievements. The Goldman Prize is the largest award for grass root environmental activism given annually by Goldman Environmental Foundation based in San Francisco. Agrawal, who ran a small internet cafe in Raigarh city in India's Chhattisgarh state, has been awarded for his contribution to control the unchecked industrial development throughout India. Agrawal succeeded in shutting down a proposed coal mine by Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL), one of the largest in Chhattisgarh. The social worker will be given an individual cash prize of $175,000. The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by late San Francisco civic leaders and philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman. The prize is awarded to environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions.

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• Veteran vocalist Mathangi Sathyamoorthy has won this year's M S. Subbulakshmi award, instituted by the M.S. Subbulakshmi Foundation and the Varkala-based Sreekrishna Natya Sangeetha Academy. The award, instituted since 2005 in memory of the renowned vocalist M S Subbalakshmi, carries a purse of Rs 10,001 and a statuette. Ms. Mathangi is selected for this award for her overall contribution to carnatic music. 

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• Randstad Awards 2014 was announced on 19th April, to encourage best practices for talent attraction and to identify the best Employer Brand in the country based on perceived attractiveness of a company. Randstad have awarded the software company Microsoft as the most attractive employer in India followed by Sony India as the second one. The award was won by Microsoft for the fourth consecutive year. 

• Special recognition awards were given to Larsen & Toubro as the most attractive employer in the infrastructure industry, State Bank of India in the banking sector, Taj Group in the hospitality and Tata Power in the energy sector.

• The Randstad Award was instituted globally by Randstad. Randstad is a leading HR services provider. 

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The 61st National Film Awards for 2013 were announced in New Delhi on 16 April 2014. Ship of Theseus directed by Anand Gandhi was selected as the Best feature film. Best popular film award went to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag that was produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra in 2013. Farhan Akhtar played the role of Milkha Singh in the film.
The list of winners who won the National Film Awards 2013 is as follows

1. Best Actor – Raj Kumar for Shahid in hindi and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Perariyathavar in Malyalam

1. Best Actress – Geetanjali Thapa for Liar’s Dance in Hindi

1. Best Direction – Hansal Mehta for film Shahid

1. Best Supporting Actor – Saurabh Shukla for Jolly LLB

1. Best Supporting Actress – Amruta Subhash for Astu in Marathi and Aida El-Kashef for Ship of Theseus

1. Best Film on Social Issues – Gulabi Gang directed by Nishtha

1. Best Children’s Film – Kaphal (Hindi)

1. Best Child Artist – Somnath Avghade for Fandy in Marathi and Sadhana for Thanga Meengal in Tamil

1. Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director – Fandry in Marathi directed by Nagraj Manjule

1. Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration – Thalaimuraigal (Tamil) directed by Balu Mahindra

1. Best Writing on Cinema or Book of the Cinema – Cinema Ga Cinema in Telugu authored by Nandagopal.

• About the Award-

• The National Film Awards are most prominent awards given away to the film fraternity.

• These awards were established in 1954. Annually,

• The national panel is appointed by Government of India to select the winners in different categories.

• For the year 2013, best writing on Cinema or Book of the Cinema – Cinema Ga Cinema in Telugu authored by Nandagopal.

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• The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music were announced on 15 April by Columbia University in New York. India-born poet Vijay Seshadri has won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems “3 Sections”. Seshadri, who was born in Bangalore in 1954 came to America at the age of five and grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He was a Columbia University alumnus. He would receive $10,000 reward for this prize. 

• Seshadri is the fifth person of Indian origin to bag the prestigious Pulitzer award. The first writer who won the award was Gobind Behari Lal in 1937. Lal, a science editor, was awarded the Pulitzer in the Reporting category for his coverage of science at the tercentenary of Harvard University when he was working for Universal Service.

• Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri got Pulitzer for fiction in 2000 for her collection of stories “Interpreters of Maladies”.

• Journalist-writer of Indian origin Geeta Anand was the third person to get the award. Anand was the investigative reporter and feature writer for the Wall Street Journal and won the award in 2003.

• Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjee’s acclaimed book on cancer, ‘The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,’ won the 2011 Pulitzer prize in the general non-fiction category.

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The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Drama, Letters and Music was announced by Columbia University in New York. 
2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners in Journalism are- 

1. Public Service - Two Prizes: The Guardian US and The Washington Post (for revealing the massive U.S. government surveillance effort)

1. Investigative Reporting - Chris Hamby of The Centre for Public Integrity, Washington, D.C.

1. National Reporting - David Philipps of The Gazette, Colorado Springs

1. International Reporting - Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters

1. Breaking News Reporting - The Boston Globe Staff

1. Editorial Writing - The Editorial Staff of The Oregonian, Portland 

• 2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners in Books, Drama and Music are-

1. Fiction - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

1. History - The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton)

1. Biography - Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

1. Drama - The Flick by Annie Baker

1. Poetry - 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri (Graywolf Press)

1. General Nonfiction - Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin (Bantam Books)

1. Music - Become Ocean by John Luther Adams (Taiga Press/Theodore Front Musical Literature) 

• About Pulitzer Prize-

• The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

• It was established in 1917 by the American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.

• Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award.

• The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal. 

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• Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group which is one of the largest employers in Britain, on 10 April, honoured by Queen Elizabeth with a GBE (Knight Grand Cross), one of the UK's highest civilian awards. The honorary British award is for his services to UK/India relations, inward investment to the UK and philanthropy. Tata, 76, is the only Indian among five foreigners to be awarded as part of the 'Honorary British Awards to Foreign Nationals' for 2014, others including Japanese and Greek nationals for services to economic and cultural ties with the UK. Tata, who now holds the honorary position of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, had been conferred a KBE (Knight Commander) by the Queen in 2009 - a year after the Indian conglomerate under his chairmanship had acquired the flagging British luxury car brands Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).The Tata Group has since revived the company and also emerged as one of the largest employers in Britain, employing nearly 60,000 people across the country. Besides his business contributions, Ratan Tata is also recognised for his contributions across various fields in the UK including academia. The, Sir Ratan Tata Fellowship, now in its 18th year, works in collaboration with the London School of Economics to offer an eight-month fellowship to scholars in the social sciences with experience of research on South Asia to work at the LSE Asia Research Centre (ARC).

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• British scientist Prof. Stuart Parkin 9 April, won the 2014 Millennium Technology Prize worth €1m (£824,400) for research that has led to a phenomenal increase in the storage capacity of digital devices and heralded the era of cloud computing. Parkin's major achievement was the application of a phenomenon known as giant magneto resistance (GMR) to create extremely sensitive devices that can detect tiny magnetic fields. This is of great importance in magnetic disk drives where information is stored as "bits" – zeros or ones – represented by regions of the disk magnetised differently. The more sensitive the detector is, the smaller the magnetic regions and fields need to be to store the information. This means more data can be packed on to a hard disk drive. The physicist joins past winners including the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Linux creator Linus Torvalds and pioneer of dye-sensitised solar cells Michael Grätzel. Millennium technology prize was launched in 2004 and presented every two years. The Millennium technology prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland and is backed by Finnish industry and the Finnish state. 

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• The centre announced on 12th April 2014 that legendary poet and film lyricist Gulzar was selected for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013. The award is conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. Sampooran Singh Kalra was his original name. Gulzar was conferred by the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002.He also awarded with Padma Bhushan in 2004. He had won a number of National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards. At the 81st Oscars in 2009; he won the Academy Award for best original song for Jai ho with Rahman.

• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award of India in cinema.

• The award was given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. The award was introduced in 1969.

• Award was introduced to commemorate the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a cash prize of one lakh rupees and a shawl.

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• Actress Suchitra Sen, who died recently has been posthumously given a lifetime achievement award at the inaugural edition of Filmfare Awards East held in Kolkata on 30th March. Suchitra Sen, best known for films like 'Devdas', 'Aandhi' 'Saptapadi' and 'Deep Jele Jai', passed away at the age of 82 in January this year. Legendary Bengali actress Madhabi Mukherjee was also given the lifetime achievement award. To recognise the best of cinematic talent in eastern India, from this year onwards Filmfare has started honouring films in Bengali, Odiya and Assamese languages. 

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• HAL received the "Most Efficient Navratna 2013" award at the fifth Dalal Street Investment Journal Award in New Delhi on 2nd April. HAL Chairman, Dr. R.K. Tyagireceived the award from the jury. The awards were presented to the various PSUs in different categories in recognition of their performance and contribution to the Indian economy. HAL has attained the highest ever turnover of Rs. 15,180 crores for the FY 2013-14 surpassing the previous year’s figure of Rs. 14,324 crores.

AWARDS MARCH 2014

AWARDS MARCH 2014

• Shigeru Ban, Japanese architect known for his creative and inexpensive designs for disaster relief shelters, has won the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The annual award, considered the most prestigious prize in the world of architecture, is given to designers who have “significantly contributed to humanity” and for “excellence in built work.” The prize has recognised for the first time an architect for his contribution to the critical, but often overlooked, area of housing disaster victims. Architectural awards in general favour designers who construct monumental, novel and expensive buildings. Shigeru Ban, 56, started his involvement in disaster relief structures in 1994 in Rwanda. In 1995, he set up a non-governmental organisation, Voluntary Architects’ Network, for taking up work in Sri Lanka, India, Haiti, Italy and New Zealand .The jury, which included Ratan Tata who has studied architecture, said Mr. Ban’s works “strive for appropriate products and systems that are in concert with the environment and the specific context, using renewable and locally produced materials.” The prize, instituted by Hyatt Foundation, carries $100,000 grant, a citation and a bronze medallion. Mr. Ban would be the seventh Japanese architect to receive the prize when it is given away on June 13 in Amsterdam.
  
• Gyan Correa, the debutant director of Gujarati movie 'The Good Road', has been selected for the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award 2013. The film was selected from 20 nominations across many languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and Kannada, a press release from the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Foundation told on 16 March in Hyderabad. The award has been instituted in memory of Late Gollapudi Srinivasa, who died while directing his first film Prema Pustakam (Book of Love) in 1992. 'The Good Road' is the first ever Gujarati film selected to represent India at the Oscars. Besides, it has bagged the Best Gujarati film award at the 60th National Film Award. The award would be presented to the winners on August 12, the day on which Srinivas passed away.
  
• The prestigious G D Birla award for scientific research for 2013 has been given to Rajesh Gopakumar(46), a theoretical physicist at the Harish Chandra Research Institute in Allahabad. Gopakumar has been awarded for his contribution in the Quantum Field Theory and String Theory. The G D Birla award for scientific research was instituted in 1991 by K K Birla Foundation to recognise significant scientific research undertaken by Indian scientists below the age of 50, working in India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh and a citation. He is a recipient of several other awards, including B M Birla Science prize in 2004.
  
• Indian journalist and founder of CGnet Swara, a mobile news service, has won the 2014 Freedom of Expression Award. The award, organised by the UK-based Index on Censorship, was conferred on Shubhranshu Choudhary for the service that allows tribal’s in remote parts of India to receive and share news in the local language. More than 100 citizen journalists trained by Choudhary produce audio news reports that are hosted on a website, giving them a global reach. Index on Censorship - an international organisation that promotes freedom of expression and challenging censorship - gave the awards on 20 March, in London. Choudhary was selected in a public vote for the 'Digital Freedom' award contended by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden; TAILS (The Incognoto Amnesiac Live Operating System), an open-source encryption tool that can help protect the free online communication of journalists and sources in any country; and China's Free Weibo - an uncensored version of China’s biggest social network, SinaWeibo. CGNet Swara, a mobile-based news service developed with the help of Microsoft Research India, helps the Tribals of central India's Chhattisgarh state to tell their version of stories, in their language (Gondi), which Choudhary said is often ignored by the mainstream media. Choudhary's CGNet Swara is rooted in sensitive tribal areas in Chhattisgarh from where Maoists insurgents have been fighting the Indian state in a civil war for more than 40 years.
  
• Famous poets Javed Akhtar (Urdu), Subodh Sarkar (Bengali) and Ambika Dutt (Rajasthani) were among the literary giants who were felicitated by the Sahitya Akademi at the ongoing annual “Festival of Letters” in New Delhi on 11 March.Novelists Mridula Garg (Hindi), Manmohan (Punjabi) and R.N. Joe D’ Cruz (Tamil) were among those who accepted the awards from the Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. The award winners included Rabindra Sarkar (Assamese), Anil Boro (Bodo), Sita Ram Sapolia (Dogri), Temsula Ao (English), Chinu Modi (Gujarati), C.N. Ramachandran (Kannada), Mohi-ud-Din Reshi (Kashmiri), Tukaram Ram Shet (Konkani), Sureshwar Jha (Maithili), M. N. Paloor (Malayalam), Makhonmani Mongsaba (Manipuri) and Satish Kalsekar (Marathi).
  
• Czech priest and intellectual Tomas Halik has won the 2014 Templeton Prize, the John Templeton Foundation announced on 13 March. The 65-year-old Roman Catholic scholar has scooped the £1.1 million prize, which honours a living person who has made “an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.”
  
• Hollywood stars participated at the Dolby Theatre on 2 March as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year's Oscars winners.
  The award winners are:
  Best picture -"12 Years a Slave”
  Actor in a leading role -Matthew McConaughey - "Dallas Buyers Club"
  Actor in a supporting role Jared Leto - "Dallas Buyers Club"
  Actress in a leading role -Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"
  Actress in a supporting role -Lupita Nyong'o - "12 Years a Slave"
  Directing -Alfonso Cuaron - "Gravity"
  Writing (adapted screenplay)" -"12 Years A Slave" - John Ridley
  Writing (original screenplay) -"Her" - Spike Jonze
  Animated feature film -"Frozen"
  Documentary (feature) -"20 Feet From Stardom"
  Music (original song) -"Let it Go" - "Frozen" - Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
  Music (original score) -"Gravity" Steven Price
  Visual effects -"Gravity"
  Cinematography -"Gravity"
  Costume design-"The Great Gatsby"
  Makeup and hairstyling -"Dallas Buyers Club"
  Film editing -"Gravity"
  Documentary (short subject) -"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life"
  Foreign language film -"The Great Beauty" - Italy
  Short film (live action) -"Helium"
  Short film (animated) -"Mr. Hublot"
  Production design -"The Great Gatsby"
  Sound editing -"Gravity"
  Sound mixing -"Gravity"
  
  
• Indian writer Pankaj Mishra is one of eight writers from seven countries winning a $150,000 Yale University prize each in recognition of their achievements and to support their ongoing work. Mishra, an Indian essayist, memoirist, travel writer and novelist, won the Windham Campbell Literature Prize in non-fiction category, The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale announced on 8 March.“Pursuing high standards of literary style, Pankaj Mishra gives us new narratives about the evolution of modern Asia,” the institution said.Mishra’s work “expands our understanding of the encounter between Western and Non-western culture,” the announcement said. In addition to a novel, “The Romantics”, Mishra has published four works of nonfiction: “Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India“; “An End to Suffering: the Buddha in the World“; “Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond”; and “From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia.” “From the Ruins of Empire”, his most recent book, attempts a re-visioning of the geo-politics of the late nineteenth and twentieth century’s from multiple Asian perspectives. Other winners in the three categories are: in fiction, Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone), Nadeem Aslam (Pakistan), and Jim Crace (United Kingdom); in non—fiction John Vaillant (United States/Canada); and in drama, Kia Corthron (United States), Sam Holcroft (United Kingdom) and Noelle Janaczewska (Australia). All eight writers will accept the prize in person at a ceremony at Yale on Sep 15. The ceremony will be followed by a three-day literary festival celebrating the work of the prize recipients.

AWARDS FEBRUARY 2014

AWARDS FEBRUARY 2014

• The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2013 has been awarded to eminent Gandhian and environmentalist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt. The Jury for the Prize met under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 18th February 2014 and decided upon his name.
  Chandi Prasad Bhatt, born in 1934, is a noted Gandhian environmentalist and social activist. He was one of the pioneers of the Chipko movement for which he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982. He is also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 2005. One of India’s first modern environmentalists, today he is known for his work on subaltern social ecology.
  
• Chennai-born M. Madan Babu, attached to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K., on 23 February won the Protein Society’s Protein Science Young Investigator Award for 2014. He is the first LMB scientist to win this award. The award recognizes an important contribution to the study of proteins by a scientist still in the early stages of an independent career. The Society represents a global community of researchers dedicated to the understanding of proteins. A media release from the MRC Laboratory noted that Dr. Madan is being recognized specifically for his contributions to the understanding of the principles of regulation in biological systems, especially in the fields of intrinsically disordered proteins and gene regulation. He was appointed in 2006 as one of the youngest independent group leaders in the Structural Studies Division at the LMB. He currently heads the group on Regulatory Genomics and Systems Biology. Dr. Madan took his B. Tech from Anna University in Chennai in 2001.
  
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel received Israel's highest civilian honor on 25 February for her "unwavering commitment" to the country. President Shimon Peres awarded Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Distinction in a ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem.Merkel was given the award – comparable to France's Legion d'Honneur or Washington's Presidential Medal of Freedom – for "standing by" Israel and her fight against anti-Semitism and racism. Past recipients of the medal include U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, as well as Israel Philharmonic Orchestra director Zubin Mehta and Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Elie Wiesel.Merkel received the award during her visit to Israel with fellow government members.
  
• Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on 25 February, presented the prestigious 'Order of Friendship' award to BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai for his contribution towards Indo-Russian friendship. The award, the highest Russian honour bestowed on foreign citizens, was conferred on Pillai by the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin for his great contribution towards strengthening of friendship and cooperation between India and Russia.During the award ceremony, Pillai briefed the Russain Deputy Prime Minister on the latest achievements and progress the joint venture has made in the recent years. Pillai thanked the Russian Government for the trust bestowed on the joint venture .BrahMos Aerospace is a successful joint venture between India and Russia. Both the governments recently agreed to continue their partnership in the BrahMos missile programme by extending the Inter-Governmental Agreement for an indefinite period.
  
• Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India on 15 February 2014 presented the International Gandhi Award for the year 2013 to Dr. Vijaykumar Vinayak Dongre (VV Dongre) and Prof. Guocheng Zhang at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.They were awarded for making outstanding contributions in the field of leprosy to eradicate the disease through treatment, training and research.
  • The International Gandhi Award was instituted by the Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation that was established in 1950 to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s service and scientific approach towards leprosy.
  • It recognizes the commendable contributions of individuals and institutions in ameliorating the quality of life of people afflicted with leprosy.
  • Every alternate year, two awards are given to individuals/institutions for making outstanding contribution in the field of leprosy.
  
  
• Killa, a Marathi film on 17 February 2014 won the Crystal Bear, for the best film award by the Children’s jury in Generation Kplus section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. The film has been directed by Avinash Arun. The jury in its citation for the award to the film said that the film deals with the universal conflict of migration and how it impacts the lives of people, especially children made them want to discover India. In the entire history in Berlinale, Killa is the third Marathi film to be selected and is the first Indian film to win this award.
  
• Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Environment & Forests conferred the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar-2010 awards in New Delhi on 19 February. Two awards “organization” category and three awards under “individual” were given away; The Details of awardees are as follows:
  The 21st Battalion, the Jat Regiment of the prestigious Indian Army was conferred the Puraskar in recognition of its outstanding contribution to environmental conservation, afforestation and awareness in various districts of Assam, particularly in deforested and flood-affected areas of Dhubri district. Under its ‘Go Green’ Mission, for instance, 300 soldiers of the regiment also planted4,47,874 tree saplings in an area of 140 hectares at Dhubri, Assam in 24 hours on 12-13th June 2009.
  The Joygopalpur Gram Vikas Kendra, set up by a few youth of Joygopalpur Village, Basanti Island, South Sunderbans, was awarded the Puraskar in recognition of its outstanding contribution to environmental protection, regeneration and awareness in the region.
  Dr. Anil Sharma is presently the Director of ‘SATHI’, an NGO which he set up in 1992 for social development as well as environmental up gradation of the Ghinni-Ghad region of Sirmour District, Himachal Pradesh, through which he implements various programmes for environmental conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems. Kartick Satyanarayanan, New Delhi, co-founder and Chairperson of a NGO, the ‘Wildlife SOS India’, established in 1998, was conferred the Puraskar in recognition of his outstanding contribution to wildlife protection, awareness and environmental conservation. Dr. N. Ramesh, an Engineer in Puducherry Pollution Control Committee, was awarded in recognition of his contribution to environmental protection and awareness.
  
• This apex National Award in the field of environment was instituted by the Ministry, in the year 1987 in memory of the late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi to give recognition to those having made or having the potential to make a measurable and major impact in the protection of the environment. Along with the cash prize, the Awardees were given a Silver Lotus Trophy, a Scroll and a Citation. The Awardees were selected by the 7-member Environmental Prize Committee headed by the Hon’ble Vice President of India from among a total of 97 nominations received by the Ministry.
  
• Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have been jointly given the award for the First Prize in the category of “Best State/UT: Comprehensive Development of Tourism.” The second and third prizes in this category have gone to Kerala and Gujarat respectively. Jammu & Kashmir was awarded in the category of Best State/UT under the North-East and J&K Region. Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, UP won the prize for the Best Civic Management of a tourist destination in Category ‘A’ city. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Mr. Hugh & Ms. Colleen Gantzer, who are an Indian, writer-photographer, husband-and-wife team. They launched the first travel column in a national daily in India in August, 1977.The best Tourism Film Award went to M.P. State Tourism Development Corporation TV Commercial “Rang Hai”. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad was awarded for the Best Airport (Class ‘X’ cities). Department of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala was awarded for Most Innovative use of Information Technology/Website/Portal. Bangalore city Railway Station was awarded for Best Tourist Friendly Railway Station. Andhra Pradesh won the prize for best Film Promotion-friendly State. The National Tourism Awards are given annually by the Ministry of Tourism to felicitate outstanding work both in the public sector and the private sector under different fields associated with tourism.
  
• The President inaugurated the World Congress of Agro Forestry in New Delhi on 10 February. President in this congress emphasized the immense promise of agro forestry in enhancing productivity of land in sustainable manner. He also called for greater research in this field. The President gave away Krishi Karman Awards to states excelling in different aspects of food production. He also presented World Agro forestry Congress awards to two Indian children. Progressive farmers from different States were also given awards. The President presented Krishi Karman Awards to Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Meghalaya and agriculture Ministers of other nine States for excellence in food grain production. For total food grain production, Madhya Pradesh gets the award in large category (food grain production more than 10 million tones), Odisha in medium category (food grain production 1 to 10 million tones) and Manipur in small category (food grain production less than 1 million tones). In individual food grain crops, Chhattisgarh gets the award for rice, Bihar for wheat, Jharkhandfor pulses and Andhra Pradesh for coarse cereals. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura get commendation prizes for total food grain production. Maharashtra gets commendation prize for rice, Assam for pulses and Punjab and Haryana for rice and wheat.
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has received Rotary’s highest award - “Award of Honour”, a recognition for Heads of countries or governments who have rendered unique service to the humanity and served the country and its people upholding values reflected in Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self”. The award was presented by Mr. Ron Burton, President of Rotary International at Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 11, 2014.Mr. Ron Burton conveyed greetings and admiration of Rotarians across the world to Mukherjee for the leadership he has provided and the country’s victory over Polio.
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the International Gandhi Award for the year 2013 to Dr. Vijaykumar Vinayak Dongre and Prof. Guocheng Zhang for making outstanding contribution in the field of leprosy on February 15, 2014 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The President extended his heartiest congratulations to the recipients of the International Gandhi Award for Leprosy– Prof. Guocheng Zhang and Dr. V. V. Dongre who have both dedicated several decades of their lives to eradicating leprosy through treatment, training and research. The International Gandhi Award was instituted by the Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s service and scientific approach towards leprosy. The two awards are given every alternate year to individuals/institutions for making outstanding contribution in the field of leprosy.
  
• Bangladesh’s Kamar Ahmad Simon’s documentary Are You Listening? won the Golden Conch Award on 9 February 2014 at the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF). The documentary was awarded the Golden Conch Award as the Best Documentary Award. Are You Listening? is a 90 minutes documentary that is a set in the coastal belt of Bangladesh. The documentary reveals the alarming effects of climate change and deftly captures the fighting spirit of a community and their will to survive, which is a powerful and beautifully photographed film. The award comprised of the Golden Conch trophy and 5,00,000 rupees cash prize of which 3,00,000 rupees for the Director (Kamar Ahmad Simon) and 2,00,000 rupees for the producer (Sara Afreen).
  
• The Vice President M. Hamid Ansari presented the 26th “Moorti Devi Award” to Haraprasad Das, one of the most influential contemporary poet and thinker in Odia Literature at a function organized in New Delhi on 4 February. The award consists of a Citation and a cash prize of Rs. 4 Lakhs. Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that Haraprasad Das is amongst the most versatile literary figures in contemporary Indian literature and his versatility and prolificacy can be gauged from his creations. He opined that Bharatiya Jnanpith and the distinguished jury, chaired by Dr. Veerappa Moily deserve full credit for an excellent choice for the Award. Besides his literary genius, Haraprasad Das has been a distinguished Civil Servant. He also served as an expert on several UN Bodies, for around 10 years. He has published until now thirteen volumes of poetry, four volumes of literary criticism and critical thought, one volume of ethnic history, one book of fiction and three works of translation.
  
• The Vice President M. Hamid Ansari presented an “Amazing Indian Award” instituted by Times Now channel to Arunima Sinha, a brave girl who scaled Mount Everest despite being physically challenged, at a function held in New Delhi on 6 February.
  
• Vishwanath Tripathi (82), the eminent Hindi writer has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year 2013. He has been chosen for his memoir 'Vyomkesh Darvesh' that is a biography of the noted Hindi scholar Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. Tripathi has around 20 publications by his name that includes memoirs, novel and poetry collection. Surya Prasad Dikshit, the Hindi litterateur headed the selection committee for the award. The Vyas Samman 2012 was given to Hindi litterateur Narendra Kohli for his historical novel Na Bhooto Na Bhavishyati published in 2004 that is based on Swami Vivekananda and the era he belonged. Vyas Samman was instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991 and is awarded annually in recognition of the Hindi literary work published in past 10 years in genres like plays, novels, poetry, short stories, critiques and others. The award carries Rs 2.5 lakh and a citation and a plaque.
  
• Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived after being shot in her head by Taliban was nominated for the World Children’s Prize in Sweden for championing education rights for girls on 6 February 2014. The World Children's Prize (WCP) is also known as the Children's Nobel Prize and was founded in 2000 with an aim to raise awareness of children's rights in 60,000 schools in 110 countries through educational programs. Malala in 2013 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her crusade for the right of all children to an education. She has been nominated for the 2014 award for her courageous and dangerous fight for girls’ right to education.

AWARDS JANUARY 2014

AWARDS JANUARY 2014

• Anand Kumar, a mathematician and founder of Super30 classes was conferred with the 2014 Ramanujan Mathematics Award in Rajkot on 27 January 2014. The award was given to him at the Eighth National Mathematics Convention organised in Rajkot. Ramanujan Mathematics Award is an annual award that is given to a person who has at least three papers published in international journals and is involved in teaching mathematics. Other Indian to be awarded with the prize is Ramdorai Sujatha, India in 2006. Anand is a native of Bihar and a founder of an institution named Super30. The institution was established in 2002 in Patna under the banner of Ramanujan School of Mathematics by Anand Kumar. The institution gives free residential mentoring to 30 selected students from underprivileged families to appear in the entrance exam of IIT-JEE. Super30 has achieved international recognition for social awakening. Time Magazine selected Super30 in the list of the Best of Asia 2010.
  
• The President Pranab Mukherjee presented awards for the year 2012-13 to various States and Cities for outstanding performance in different categories under the flagship schemes of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in New Delhi on 21st January. Vishakhapatnam, Ahmadabad and Durg received the awards for best cities under Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (IHSDP) amongst Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Large States and Union Territories, Sonamura in Tripura and Jiribam in Manipur received awards for being the Best Cities in implementation of IHSDP for ULBs in Small & Special Category States and Union Territories. Thiruvanantapuram and Thane jointly shared awards for Best Community Mobilization efforts under BSUP and IHSDP. Thiruvanthapuram City was also adjudged the Best City for use of Cost Effective Building Technology in construction of Houses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM). Chandigarh got the award for Best City for Planned Habitat for Urban Poor. Ajmer for the Best City for Outstanding efforts for Preparation of Slum-Free City Plan of Action& Pilot Projects under Rajiv Awas Yojana. Vishakhapatnam for the Best city in Effective Enforcement of 3 pro-poor reforms. Amongst the States, Mizoram got the award for Best Performing State under JnNURM in North East and Special Category States and Union Territories (UTs) and Karnataka got the award for the Best Performing State under JnNURM in amongst Large States and Union Territories, Tamil Nadu received the award for the Best State in Effective Enforcement of Three Pro -Poor Reforms under JnNURM. Further, under Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), in Large States and Union Territories, Andhra-Pradesh received the Award for the Best State for promoting Community Organisations, Bihar got the award for the Best State for Skill Training of Urban Poor. Odisha got the award for the Best State for providing Self-Employment to Urban Poor and amongst the Small States and Union Territories and Mizoram got the Award for Best State for overall performance. Under JnNURM, the awards for the cities comprised a trophy, a letter of appreciation and cash incentive of Rs. 3.00 lakhs and the States a trophy, a letter of appreciation and cash incentive of Rs. 5.00 lakhs.
  
• The Vice President M. Hamid Ansari presented “Pandit Haridutt Sharma Award” to Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas & Environment and Forests in New Delhi on 22 January. Addressing on the occasion Ansari said that given Dr. Moily’s achievements as a distinguished literary figure and his decades of public service to Karnataka and to the nation, it is appropriate that Pandit Haridutt Sharma Award has being conferred upon him. His knowledge and skills in governance and administration were recognized by the Government of India as he was appointed as Chairman of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission. The Vice President said that Pandit Haridutt Sharma was himself a renowned Hindi journalist besides being a social worker and an active political leader. He brought out a newspaper in pre-independence period which was a very difficult profession at that time. He applauded Pandit Haridutt Sharma Memorial Trust for honoring distinguished personalities in the field of journalism, literature and social service as a tribute to the legacy of Pandit Sharma.
  
• The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai has been selected for the National Communal Harmony Award 2013 in the Organization category. Dr. Mohinder Singh of Delhi and Dr. N Radhakrishnan of Kerala have been selected for this Award in the individual category. These awards are announced on 25th January. Established in 1996, the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) is a Mumbai based organization working to promote peace, secularism and communal harmony in the country. It has also been working on human rights issues and issues of the marginalized and deprived sections of the society. Dr. Mohinder Singh, aged 72 is a scholar and presently member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions. Earlier, he was also Member of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities from 2005 to 2007.Dr. N Radhakrishnan, aged 69 is a well known academic, a Gandhian scholar and a peace worker. He initiated the Shanti Sena programme at the Gandhigram University and extended this work to other parts of the country. He has been actively working to restore peace in communally tense areas of Tamilnadu and Kerala. His campaign ‘Himsamukth Bharat Andolan’ motivates people to become foot soldiers in campaigning for peace and sustainable development. The National Communal Harmony Awards were instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an autonomous Organization set up by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, for promoting communal harmony and national integration. The Award has been instituted with a view to demonstrating due appreciation and recognition of the efforts of individuals and Organizations for promotion of communal harmony and national integration in a sustained manner over a sufficiently long period of time. In addition to a citation in each category, the Award carries a cash award of Rupees Five Lakh for ‘Individuals’ and Rupees Ten Lakh for ‘Organizations’.
  
• The President of India on 25th January, approved conferment of 127 Padma Awards including one duo case (counted as one) as per the list below. The list comprises two Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and 101 Padma Shri Awardees, among which 27 of the are women and also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and Posthumous Awardees. Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.
  
  Padma Vibhushan

  Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
  1.	Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
  2.	Shri B.K.S. Iyengar	Others-Yoga	Maharashtra

  
  Padma Bhushan

  Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
  	Prof. Gulam Mohammed Sheikh	Art - Painting	Gujarat
  	Begum Parveen Sultana	Art - Classical Singing	Maharashtra
  	T.H. Vinayakram	Art - Ghatam Artist	Tamil Nadu
  	Kamala Haasan	Art-Cinema	Tamil Nadu
  	Justice Dalveer Bhandari	Public Affairs	Delhi
  	Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
  	Prof. Jyeshtharaj Joshi	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
  	Dr. Madappa Mahadevappa	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
  	Dr. Thirumalachari Ramasami	Science and Engineering	Delhi
  	Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma	Science and Engineering	Delhi
  	Dr. Radhakrishnan Koppillil	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
  	Dr. Mrityunjay Athreya	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Ms. Anita Desai	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Dr. Dhirubhai Thaker	Literature and Education	Gujarat
  	Vairamuthu Ramasamy Thevar	Literature and Education	Tamil Nadu
  	Ruskin Bond	Literature and Education	Uttarakhand
  	Pullela Gopichand	Sports - Badminton	Andhra Pradesh
  	Leander Paes	Sports - Tennis	Maharashtra
  	Vijayendra Nath Kaul	Civil Service	Delhi
  	Late Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma	Public Affairs	Uttar Pradesh #
  	Late Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh #
  	Prof. Anisuzzaman	Literature and Education	Bangladesh*
  	Prof. Lloyd I. Rudolph	Literature and Education	USA*$
  	Prof. Susanne H. Rudolph	Literature and Education	USA*$
  	Dr. Neelam Kler	Medicine - Neonatology	Delhi

  
  Padma Shri

  Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
  	Mohammad Ali Baig	Art - Theatre	Andhra Pradesh
  	Nayana Apte Joshi	Art -	Maharashtra
  	Musafir Ram Bhardwaj	Art - Instrumental Music - Pauna Manjha	Himachal Pradesh
  	Sabitri Chatterjee	Art - Film	West Bengal
  	Prof. Biman Bihari Das	Art - Sculptor	Delhi
  	Sunil Das	Art - Painting	West Bengal
  	Elam Endira Devi	Art - Manipuri Dance	Manipur
  	Vijay Ghate	Art - Instrumental Music - Tabla	Maharashtra
  	Rani Karnaa	Art - Kathak	West Bengal
  	Bansi Kaul	Art - Theatre	Jammu & Kashmir
  	Ustad Moinuddin Khan	Art - Instrumental Music-Sarangi Player	Rajasthan
  	. Geeta Mahalik	Art - Odishi Dance	Delhi
  	Paresh Maity	Art - Painting	Delhi
  	Ram Mohan	Art - Film Animation	Maharashtra
  	Sudarsan Pattnaik	Art - Sand Artist	Orissa
  	Paresh Rawal	Art - Cinema and Theatre	Maharashtra
  	Wendell Augustine Rodricks	Art - Fashion Designing	Goa
  	Prof. Kalamandalam Sathyabhama	Art – Mohini Attam	Kerala
  	Anuj (Ramanuj) Sharma	Art - Performing Art	Chhattisgarh
  	Santosh Sivan	Art - Film	Tamil Nadu
  	Supriya Devi	Art-Bengali Cinema	West Bengal
  	Sooni Taraporevala	Art- Script Writing	Maharashtra
  	Vidya Balan	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
  	Durga Jain	Social Work	Maharashtra
  	Rama Rao Anumolu	Social Work	Andhra Pradesh
  	Brahm Dutt	Social Work	Haryana
  	Mukul Chandra Goswami	Social Work	Assam
  	J.L. Kaul	Social Work	Delhi
  	Mathurbhai Madhabhai Savani	Social Work	Gujarat
  	Tashi Tondup	Public Affairs	Jammu and Kashmir
  	Dr. Hasmukh Chamanlal Shah	Public Affairs	Gujarat
  	Sekhar Basu	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
  	Madhavan Chandradathan	Science and Engineering	Kerala
  	Prof. Sushanta Kumar Dattagupta	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
  	Dr. Ravi Bhushan Grover	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
  	Prof. Eluvathingal Devassy Jemmis	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
  	Ramkrishna V. Hosur	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
  	Dr. Ajay Kumar Parida	Science and Engineering	Tamil Nadu
  	Dr. Malapaka Yajneswara Satyanarayana Prasad	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
  	Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin	Science and Engineering	Gujarat
  	Dr. Brahma Singh	Science and Engineering	Delhi
  	Prof. Vinod Kumar Singh	Science and Engineering	Madhya Pradesh
  	Dr. Govindan Sundararajan	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
  	Ramaswamy R. Iyer	Science and Engineering	Delhi
  	Dr. Jayanta Kumar Ghosh	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
  	Shri Ravi Kumar Narra	Trade and Industry	Andhra Pradesh
  	Rajesh Saraiya	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
  	Ms. Mallika Srinivasan	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
  	Pratap Govindrao Pawar	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
  	Dr. Kiritkumar Mansukhlal Acharya	Medicine - Dermatology	Gujarat
  	Dr. Balram Bhargava	Medicine - Cardiology	Uttar Pradesh
  	Prof. (Dr.) Indra Chakravarty	Medicine - Health & Hygiene	West Bengal
  	Dr. Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande	Medicine - Oncology	Maharashtra
  	Prof. (Dr.) Pawan Raj Goyal	Medicine - Chest Disease	Haryana
  	Prof. Amod Gupta	Medicine - Opthalmology	Haryana
  	Prof. (Dr.) Daya Kishore Hazra	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
  	Prof. (Dr.) Thenumgal Poulose Jacob	Medicine - Vascular Surgery	Tamil Nadu
  	Prof. (Dr.) Shashank R. Joshi	Medicine - Endocrinology	Maharashtra
  	Prof. Hakim Syed Khaleefathullah	Medicine - Unani Medicine	Tamil Nadu
  	Dr. Milind Vasant Kirtane	Medicine - ENT Surgeory	Maharashtra
  	Dr. Lalit Kumar	Medicine - oncology	Delhi
  	Dr. Mohan Mishra	Medicine	Bihar
  	Dr. M. Subhadra Nair	Medicine - Gyneacology	Kerala
  	Dr. Ashok Panagariya	Medicine - Neurology	Rajasthan
  	Dr. Narendra Kumar Pandey	Medicine - Surgery	Haryana
  	Dr. Sunil Pradhan	Medicine - Neurology	Uttar Pradesh
  	Dr. Ashok Rajgopal	Medicine - Orthopaedics	Delhi
  	Dr. Kamini A. Rao	Medicine - Reproductive Medicine	Karnataka
  	Dr. Sarbeswar Sahariah	Medicine - Surgery	Andhra Pradesh
  	Prof. Om Prakash Upadhyaya	Medicine -	Punjab
  	Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Verma	Medicine - Dental Science	Delhi
  	Dr. J.S. Titiyal	Medicine- Opthalmology	Delhi
  	Dr. Nitish Naik	Medicine- Cardiology	Delhi
  	Dr. Surbrat Kumar Acharya	Medicine- Gastroentrology	Delhi
  	Dr. Rajesh Kumar Grover	Medicine-Oncology	Delhi
  	Dr. Naheed Abidi	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
  	Prof. Ashok Chakradhar	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Shri Chhakchhuak Chhuanvawra	Literature and Education	Mizoram
  	Shri Keki N. Daruwalla	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Prof. Ganesh Narayandas Devi	Literature and Education	Gujarat
  	Prof. Kolakaluri Enoch	Literature and Education	Andhra Pradesh
  	Prof. (Dr.) Ved Kumari Ghai	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
  	Smt. Manorama Jafa	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Prof. Rehana Khatoon	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Dr. Waikhom Gojen Meeitei	Literature and Education	Manipur
  	Shri Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri	Literature and Education	Kerala
  	Prof. Dinesh Singh	Literature and Education	Delhi
  	Dr. (Mrs.) P. Kilemsungla	Literature and Education	Nagaland
  	Ms. Anjum Chopra	Sports - Cricket	Delhi
  	Ms. Sunil Dabas	Sports - Kabbadi	Haryana
  	Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu	Sports - Mountaineering	Delhi
  	Ms. Dipika Rebecca Pallikal	Sports - Squash	Tamil Nadu
  	H. Boniface Prabhu	Sports - Wheelchair Tennis	Karnataka
  	Yuvraj Singh	Sports - Cricket	Haryana
  	Smt. Mamta Sodha	Sports - Mountaineering	Haryana
  	Ms Parveen Talha	Civil Service	Uttar Pradesh
  	Late Dr. Narendra Achyut Dabholkar	Social Work	Maharashtra#
  	Ashok Kumar Mago	Trade and Industry	USA*
  	Dr. Siddharth Mukherjee	Medicine-Oncology	USA*
  	Dr. Vamsi Mootha	Medicine - Biomedical Research	USA*
  	Dr. Sengaku Mayeda	Literature and Education	Japan*

  Note: * Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs.
  # indicates awardees in the posthumous category.
  $ indicates one duo case. (Treated as one award.)
  
• Kerala has won a UN award for sustainable and eco-friendly tourism, registering a first for India. The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Ulysses Award, announced on 23 January, in Spain, has recognized the initiatives launched by the state-run Kerala Tourism around the backwaters of Kumarakom. The prize is for “Innovation in Public Policy and Governance”. The Centre too applauded the state. “We are proud that Kerala has got the award. Developing eco-friendly and responsible tourism a project is the priority of the tourism ministry,” said Anand Kumar, joint secretary in the Union tourism ministry. Last March, the Kumarakom initiative had bagged India’s national award for the best rural tourism project and topped it up with other global honors. “Kerala, a popular eco-tourism destination, portrays responsible and sustainable tourism in an exceptional manner,” UNWTO secretary- general Taleb Rifai said in Madrid.
  
• An India-born engineer-scientist, Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj who was disdained by the Indian system despite his yeoman contribution to the country's naval defense, and whose subsequent work in the United States is at the heart of the current high speed WiFi and 4G mobile systems, has been awarded the 2014 Marconi Prize, a Nobel equivalent for technology pioneers on 23rd January in Washington. Coimbatore-native and Stanford University Professor Emeritus Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj, simply known as ''Paul'' to his legion of friends and admirers, has been recognized for his work in inventing and advancing MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, a key enabler of wireless broadband services that has revolutionized high speed delivery of multimedia across the world. The Marconi Prize, whose previous winners include world wide web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee, Internet legendVint Cerf, Google search maestro Larry Page, and cell phone inventor Martin Cooper, comes with a $ 100,000 prize, but prestige and recognition worth a lot more for these people who are already millionaires. Uncommonly, the Marconi Prize comes just three years after Paulraj was honored with the other major Telecom technology award - the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal for his work on theoretical foundations of MIMO.
  
• Reticent author Cyrus Mistry on 19 January won the $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature for his book “Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer”. Mr. Mistry’s book is a story of marginalized community and looks at larger questions about life and death, which makes it a different read.The prize, is given to the best work or translations of a work on or about the South Asian region. Last year the award was won by Jeet Thayil for his debut novel “Narcopolis”. Mr. Mistry was presented with the award at a ceremony at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Noted writer, editor and literary critic Antara Dev Sen chaired the five member jury which first announced a long list of 15 names and then came up with a shortlist of six from which Mr. Mistry was chosen.
  
• Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will confer the National Bravery Awards to 25 young children this year on the eve of Republic Day. Among the awardees 9 are girls. Five awards will be given posthumously. Announcing this at a press conference organized at Indian Council for Child Welfare, New Delhi, on 17 January, Mrs Gita Siddhartha, President, ICCW, said that the coveted Bharat Award has been conferred on 8 ½ year old Kumari Mahika Gupta of Delhi who saved her brother from floods at Kedarnath (Uttarakhand). The prestigious Geeta Chopra Award has been conferred to 16 year old Kumari Maleka Singh Tak of Rajasthan who displayed rare grit and determination in fighting off her molesters. The Sanjay Chopra Award has been given to 17 year old Master Shubam Santosh Chaudari of Maharashtra who saved two children when their school van caught fire. Master Sanjay Navasu Sutar (17 ½ years) of Maharashtra, Master Akshay Jairam Roj (13 years) of Maharashtra, Late Kum. Mausmi Kashyap (11 years) of Uttar Pradesh and Late Master Aryan Raj Shukla (14 years) of Uttar Pradesh has been given the Bapu Gaidhani Awards. The children will receive their Awards from the Honble Prime Minister of India prior to Republic Day 2014 and will participate in the Republic Day Parade. The awardees will receive a medal, certificate and cash. Recipients will also be granted financial assistance until they complete their schooling.
  
• Andhra Pradesh was adjudged as the best State for Oil and Gas Conservation in view of the performance by the A.P. Civil Supplies and other Departments. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily presented the award to Civil Supplies Commissioner Sunil Sharma in New Delhi on 17th January.
  
• President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award of 2012 and 2013 on 11th January 2014 to two eminent Bengali poets, namely Nirendranath Chakraborty and Sankha Ghosh, respectively. The awards were given at a function at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata. The Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award was instituted by a cultural organization The Bengal in 2012 following his death. Gangopadhyay had a talent of bringing in the historical research works into his writings.
  
• The President of India Mr .Pranab Mukherjee on 9th January has conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards to thirteen NRIs, PIOs and Organizations for their outstanding and illustrious contribution in the country of their residence as well as to India in different spheres of their activity.
  
  The names of the awardees and their country are:

  Name	Country	Description
  Ms Lisa Maria Singh	Australia	Public service and fostering friendly relations between India and Australia.
  Mr. KurianVarghese	Bahrain	Business for enhancing India’s image and for Promotion better understanding of India abroad.
  Mr VasdevChanchlani	Canada	Community service and fostering ties between India and Canada and efforts in promotion Indian culture and heritage.
  Ramakrishna Mission	Fiji	Community service and philanthropic activity and enhancing India’s prestige abroad.
  Mr.SatnarainsingRabinBaldewsingh	Netherlands	Public service and developing closer ties between India and South Africa.
  Mr. Bikas ChandraSanyal	France	Education and culture and enhancing India’s image.
  Mr SasindranMuthuvel	Papua New Guinea	In the field of Public service.
  Mr. ShihabudeenVava Kunju	Saudi Arabia	Community service and promoting ties between India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  Ms. Ela Gandhi	South Africa	Public service, enhancing India’s image and promoting ties between India and South Africa.
  ssDr.Shamsheer VayalilParambath	United Arab Emirates	Health business and in promoting Better understanding of India United Arab Emirates.
  Mr. ShaileshLakhman Vara	United Kingdom	Public service and in promoting ties between India and the people of U.K.
  Dr.Parthasarathy Chiramel Pillai	USA	Science and for fostering closer relationsbetween Indiaand USA.
  Ms. Renu Khator	USA	Education and enhancing India’s prestige abroad.

  
  
• 71st Golden Globe Awards were announced at Los Angeles on 11 January 2014. The event was organized by Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It is one of the few awards ceremonies that span both television and motion picture achievements. The winners in the various categories are as follows- -
  • Best Motion Picture, Drama: 12 Years a slave
  • Best Director - Motion Picture: Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity
  • Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine
  • Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama: Mathew Mc Conaughey for Dollas Buyers Club
  • Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - American Hustle
  • Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy - Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
  • Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Amy Adams – American Hustle
  • Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Musical or Comedy - Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
  • Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, Musical or Comedy Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
    Woody Allen won a lifetime achievement award for more than four decades of writing, producing and directing films.
    
• A prestigious journalism award, instituted by a trust founded by Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, will be conferred on Mammen Mathew, Chief Editor and Managing Director of Malayala Manorama. The Lokmanya Tilak National Award for Excellence in Journalism, instituted by the Kesari-Mahratta Trust, consists of Rs.1 lakh and a memento. It will be given away at the 133rd foundation day celebrations of the trust at Tilakwada, Pune, on January 4. Deepak Tilak, Trustee-Editor of Kesari, said Mr. Mathew was selected for his exemplary work in journalism.
  
  One of the senior most journalists in India with 44 years of experience, he worked with reputed publications in India and abroad. He served as president of the Editors Guild of India and the Indian Newspaper Society, an association of newspaper owners. He was also a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He was a Director Trustee of the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, which runs the international news agency, Thomson Reuters. Mr. Mathew is the first Indian Director Trustee of the 150-year-old company.

AWARDS DECEMBER 2013

AWARDS DECEMBER 2013

• Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, has been awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’ for safety management. The award was in recognition of its effective implementation of occupational health and safety management systems from the British Safety Council for health and safety works at the airport. The ‘Sword of Honor’ is considered to be the Oscar of the Safety World. RGIA is the first Indian airport to receive this honor in the world.SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, in a statement said: "The ‘Sword of Honor’ places a huge responsibility on us to sustain the initiatives and take our safety management system to the next higher level.’ The award was presented recently in London.
  
• The prestigious CSI Nihilent National e-Governance Awards 2012-13 was awarded to the Project Lakshya - EMPOWERING CONSUMERS: Transparent Supply Chain and Efficient Subsidy Administration on 14th Dec 2013, at Vishakhapatnam as part of 48th Annual Convention of Computer Society of India (CSI-2013). The award was received by Dr. Neeraj Mittal, Joint Secretary Marketing, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, at the ceremony along with the team of officers from the Oil Marketing Companies. This award is recognition of the IT initiatives undertaken by ministry to improve LPG distribution system efficiency by bringing transparency and competition in LPG marketing and by plugging the subsidy leakages in LPG Supply Chain.
  
• Eminent historian Bipan Chandra on 17 December 2013 was awarded Itihas Ratna from Asiatic Society Bihar. He was honoured by O.P. Jaiswal, the Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bihar in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Campus, New Delhi. Some of his books are: India after Independence, In the Name of Democracy: JP Movement and Emergency, Essays on Colonialism, Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India, Communalism and the Writing of Indian History, History of Modern India, The Epic Struggle, Essays on Indian Nationalism. Bipan Chandra is the fourth historian to be honored with the Itihas Ratna by the society. The three others, who have been honoured with the Itihas Ratna are: Ram Sharan Sharma, Irfan Habib, J S Grewal.
  
• IRCON International Limited, the country’s largest construction, Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of Ministry of Railways, has been awarded the prestigious India Pride Awards for Excellence in Central PSUs in India Image Enhancement. The Award was received by Mohan Tiwari, CMD, IRCON, from Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Union Minister for Human Resources Development at a function in the capital. The Award was instituted by Dainik Bhaskar group in 2009 to honour the PSUs in their areas of excellence. IRCON had achieved a PBT of more than Rs. 1,000 crore in the fiscal 2012-13. During the last five years, the Company has achieved phenomenal growth and has recorded a compounded annual growth rate of 44.61% in terms of PBT with five-fold increase in foreign share of business. The Company has earned total foreign exchange of Rs. 2,117 crore in the last five years. IRCON has so far completed over 100 projects in more than 20 countries.
  
• Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, Bengali poet Subodh Sarkar, and Bodo poet Anil Boro are among those selected for this year's Sahitya Akademi Awards, which were announced on 19 December. In all there are eight poetry books, four essays, three novels, two short stories and travelogues each, and one each of autobiography, memoirs and plays selected for this prestigious literary award, an Akademi statement said. The awarded poetry books include Akhtar's "Lava" (collection of Urdu poetry), Sarkar's "Dwaipayan Hrader Dhare" (Bengali), Boro's "Delphini Onthai Mwdai Arw Gubun Gubun Khonthai" (Bodo), Sitaram Sapolia's "Doha Satsai" (Dogri), and Radhakant Thakur's "Chaladuravani" (Sanskrit). The awards were recommended by jury members representing 22 Indian languages and approved by the executive board of the Sahitya Akademi which met on 18th December, under the chairmanship of Academy president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. The winners of the Akademi awards in Assamese and Gujarati languages will be declared later. The authors will be awarded March 11 next year during the Festival of Letters organised here by the Sahitya Akademi. They will be honoured with an engraved-copper plaque, a shawl, and a cheque of Rs.100,000. Temsula Ao's Laburnum for My Head (English) and Mohi-ud-Din Reshi's "Aina Aatash" (Kashmiri) won in the short story section while M.N. Paloor was awarded for his autobiography "Kathayillathavante Katha" (Malayalam). Satish Kalsekar won the award for his essay "Vachanaryachi Rojanishee" (Marathi). This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
  
• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category as announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on November 29, 2013. The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma expressed his happiness and congratulated officers and staff on winning 2013 eASIA Award. This award is administered by AFACT. e-BRC project launched on June 5, 2012 created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all Bank Realization related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. It was made mandatory with effect from August 17, 2012. e-BRC project enables banks to upload Foreign Exchange realization information relating to merchandise goods exports on to the DGFT server under a secured protocol. So far 89 banks operating in India, including foreign banks and cooperative banks have uploaded more than 64 lakh e-BRCs on to the DGFT server. This initiative has reduced the cost of transaction for exporters by eliminating their interface with bank (for issuance of BRC purposes) and enhanced the productivity of banks and DGFT.
  
• A well-known Pakistani student activist and an anti-slavery campaigner from Mauritania are among the winners of the 2013 United Nations Human Rights Prize, it was announced on 5 December. The Prize, which is bestowed once in every five years, is an honorary award given to individuals and organisations in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights. Previous recipients include Amnesty International and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela. The six winners announced today are: Biram Dah Abeid of Mauritania, a son of freed slaves who works to eradicate the heinous practice; Hiljmnijeta Apuk of Kosovo, a campaigner for the rights of people with disproportional restricted growth (short stature); Liisa Kauppinen of Finland, President emeritus of the World Federation of the Deaf; Khadija Ryadi, Former President of the Morocco Association for Human Rights; Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (the Constitutional Court); and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes and is now a renowned education activist. The award ceremony will take place at UN Headquarters in New York on 10 December 2013, as part of the annual commemoration of Human Rights Day, which will this year include the observance of the 20th anniversary of the creation of OHCHR and the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.