Haryana bags ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for highest wheat production

Haryana State has bagged the ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for Best Performing State in Wheat Category for the year 2011-12. It is for the consecutive second year that Haryana has been chosen for this Award.

Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda received the ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for the State from the President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, at an Award Ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The award consists of Rs one crore in cash, a trophy and citation. Haryana has been given this award for highest wheat production of 130.69 lakh tonnes with productivity of 5182 Kg. per hectare during 2011-12.

Two farmers of Haryana have also been given award of one lakh rupees each along with citation for highest production of wheat per hectare

Malala Yousafzai Honoured with France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom

Malala Yousafzai, 15, the schoolgirl from Pakistan shot by Taliban for campaigning girls’ education, on 9 January 2013 received France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom in Paris. Malala’s father Ziaudin Yousafzai received the honour on her behalf. The award is accompanied with 2.5 million Rupees honorarium.

In the first week of January 2013, Malala Yousafzai got released from the British hospital. She is waiting for the reconstructive surgery to be performed on the skull. Malala was shot by the Taliban in her head after her school bus drove through Mingora town of Swat Valley of Pakistan.

Important Points:

United Nation Declared November 10 as Malala day.

Malala Yousafzai awarded with Bravery Award by World Peace and Prosperity Foundation.

Venkatesh Mannar awarded with Canada’s Highest Civilian Award – the Order of Canada

Mannar a Channai-born Scientist of Indian Origin and President, Micronutrient Initiative, Canada was awarded with Canada’s Highest Civilian Award – the Order of Canada in the last week of December 2012.

Mannar, a Graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a post graduate in chemical engineering from Northwestern University, US, was honoured with the award for his forty years long contribution working towards reduction of debilitating micronutrient deficiencies among the worlds most vulnerable.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Unveiled Cash Transfer Rollout Plan.

Muthunayagam and Saraswat to be awarded with Aryabhatta Award by the ASI

The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) in the last week of December 2012 announced names of former secretary of the Department of Ocean Development, Dr. A.E. Muthunayagam and Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister for prestigious Aryabhatta Award for the year 2010 and 2011 respectively. The two have been selected for the achievement in rocketry.

Oriya novelist Pratibha Ray is Jnanpith award winner of 2011

Leading Oriya novelist and academician Pratibha Ray named for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the year 2011.

Pratibha Ray who has over 40 novels, travelogues and short stories to her credit, was on Thursday named for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the year 2011. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 7 lakh, a citation and a public felicitation. Ray will be the 47th author to be bestowed with the honour. Born in 1943, Pratibha Ray is one of the most widely read Oriya novelists and short story writers. She has 20 novels, 24 short stories, 10 travelogues, two poetry collections and a number of essays to her credit.

Shihab Ghanem became the First Arab to receive India’s Tagore Peace Prize

Emirati poet and translator Shihab Ghanem became the first Emirati and Arab to win the Tagore Peace Prize. The award is given to one person every two years. He said he was led to poetry by his father, brother and uncle, who have each published their own verses.  He had written 31 Arabic poems and 36 English poems and had published 45 books mainly in Arabic verse.

Tagore Peace Prize is instituted by the Indian government to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s poet, philosopher and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Ghanem will officially receive the Tagore award in a ceremony to be held in Kolkata, India on May 6, 2013.

Awards and Honours won by Shihab  Ghanem:

• Rashid Award for Scientific Excellence in 1989

• 1st prize for poetry in the UAE in 1984

• Book prize from the Ruler of Sharjah for poetry translation in 2003 and 2007. 

Ghanem said “Work for your first life as if you will live forever, and for your hereafter as if you will die tomorrow,”

Pandit Ravi Shankar to be Honoured with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2013

Organisers of the Recording Academy announced that Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro would be honoured with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously.

Pandit Ravi Shankar would become first Indian to receive the prestigious award. The award would be presented at 55th Grammy Awards ceremony on 10 February 2013 in Los Angeles.

Pandit Ravi Shankar is a three-time Grammy Award winner.

Pandit Ravi Shankar, 92 had passed away on 11 December 2012 after heart-valve replacement surgery in California.

Bollywood Actress Hema Malini Selected for Bharat Muni Samman

Famous Bollywood actress and Bharatanatyam exponent Hema Malini had been selected for the prestigious Bharat Muni Samman of year 2012 for her outstanding contribution to the field of art and culture. 

Bharat Muni Samman is named after the author of Natyashastra Bharat Muni and has been instituted by Bhubaneswar-based organisation Kalingayana Touryatrikam

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram Selected For K Karunakaran Foundation Award

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram was selected for K Karunakaran Foundation award for his brilliant administration.
The award is being offered in the memory of renowned Congress leader as well as the former Kerala Chief minister K Karunakaran. It includes 1 lakh Rupees as well as citation. 

Life of Pi was given two National Tourism Awards by the Ministry of Tourism

Latest movie of Chinese Oscar winning director Ang Lee, Life of Pi has been awarded with two National Tourism Awards by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India recently for promoting some famous Indian tourist spots including Puducherry and Munnar. The film The Life of Pi, was shot in Puducherry and Munnar in Kerala. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Yann Martel. Both of them were awarded with the awards.

Prez confers Indira Gandhi peace awards to Lula da Silva

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on former President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at a function organized in New Delhi.

The prize has been awarded to Lula da Silva for his contribution to the cause of eliminating hunger and promoting inclusive growth in Brazil, for his advocacy of stronger ties among the developing economies and for his signal contribution to the cause of the India-Brazil partnership.

BCCI Awards 2011-12: Polly Umrigar Award to Virat kohli

BCCI Awards list:
CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Sunil Gavaskar

Special Award: VVS Laxman

Polly Umrigar Award for Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli

Madhavrao Scindia Award for Most Runs in Ranji Trophy: RobinBist

Madhavrao Scindia Award for Most Wickets in Ranji Trophy: Ashok Dinda

Lala Amarnath Award for the Best All-rounder in Ranji Trophy: Stuart Binny

Lala Amarnath Award for the Best All-Rounder in limited-overs tournaments: Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Legends honoured posthumously: Vijay Merchant, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar, Ghulam Ahmed, Vijay Manjrekar, ML Jaisimha, Dilip Sardesai

MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-16 Cricketer: Mohammad Saif (Uttar Pradesh)

MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-19 Cricketer: Vijay Zol (Maharashtra)

MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-22 Cricketer: Satyam Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh)

MA Chidambaram Award for the Best Senior Lady Cricketer: Anagha Deshpande (Maharashtra)

Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket: S Ravi

Best Association: Delhi & District Cricket Association

Vice President presents Moortidevi Award to Prof Gopi Chand Narang

The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari presented the “Moortidevi Award for 2010” to eminent Urdu scholar Prof. Gopi Chand Narang for his outstanding work ‘Urdu Ghazal aur Hindustani Zehan wa Tehzeeb” at a function organized by Bhartiya Jnanpith.

He congratulated Prof. Narang for receiving this award which he so rightly deserves. He also lauded the Selection Board which has chosen a litterateur whose work fully reflects the purpose and objectives for which the award was instituted.

Yes Bank wins Golden Peacock Global Award

YES Bank, India’s fourth largest private sector Bank, has been awarded the "Golden Peacock Global Award" for Sustainability-2012 at the London Global Convention and Golden Peacock Awards presentation held in London.

The award was based on three key parameters - responsiveness of organisational strategy to needs of different stakeholders, integration of sustainable development issues with corporate functioning and development of innovative partnership models to fulfil social responsibility.

2012 WISE Prize for Education awarded to Madhav Chavan

Dr Madhav Chavan was awarded the WISE prize, which is known as the ‘Nobel prize for Education’. He was felicitated on 13 November 2012 at the WISE summit in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The international award not only felicitated the person himself, but also recognized his efforts to provide lessons in literacy and numeracy for less fortunate and disadvantaged children and adults in India.

The award is decided upon by an international jury, which includes the the US Librarian of Congress, Dr James Billington; the president of Peking University, Prof Zhou Qifeng; former UN high commissioner, Mary Robinson and the chairman of WISE, Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani.

Dr Madhav gave himself up for the cause of social activism and starting helping un educated slum dwellers in Mumbai in the late 80’s once he returned to India after studying in the United States .

RSP bags 'Greentech Environment Gold Award' for 9th year

Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has bagged the prestigious 'Greentech Environment Gold Award' for the ninth consecutive year for achievements in the field of eco-friendly steel making.

The award was presented by A K Hazarika, Former Director of ONGC Ltd, during the 13th Annual Greentech Environment & CSR Global Conference organised at Hyderabad recently.

Literary Critic and Educator Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Got Kyoto Prize

Renowned literary critic and educator Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak on 10 November 2012 was awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize in Kyoto.

Kyoto Prize was instituted by the Inamori Foundation. It honours those personalities who had significantly contributed to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, is professor at Columbia University in the U.S. She won the award in the Arts and Philosophy category for her “deep thinking on humanities against intellectual colonialism in relation to globalisation”.

Also, U.S. computer scientist Ivan Sutherland, regarded as a father of computer graphics, won the Advanced Technology Prize while Japanese molecular biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the Basic Sciences Prize.

Each laureate received a diploma, a 20K gold Kyoto Prize medal and a cash gift of ¥50 million ($630,000).

Aishwarya Gets French Civilian Award on Her Birthday

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was honoured by France with a prestigious civilian award for her contribution to art on her birthday.

Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India was present to confer the honour of 'Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters' (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), the second highest civilian French honour on her.

Aishwarya, who turned 39, took the Miss World crown in 1994 and made her acting debut in 1997. She starred in films in various languages including English, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali. She is a regular on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.

Her father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan was awarded France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'Honneur in 2007.

One can recollect that in 2009, Aishwarya was to be conferred upon the same award but she did not accept it because her father Krishnaraj Rai was unwell.

Delhi Metro Awarded with JICA President Award 2012

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on 29 September 2012 awarded the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Award for 2012 for its outstanding contribution to the development of human resources, society and economy of India and also for promoting mutual understanding between India and Japan.

The award was formally presented to DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh at a function organised at Metro Bhawan in Delhi for Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project (I) – (VI)

Also, a commendation certificate along with a tribute to this effect duly signed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Akihiko Tanaka was presented to Mangu Singh who asserted that it will go a long way in strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.

Indira Gandhi International Airport Got International Certification

The Indira Gandhi International Airport operator, Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL) on 22 October 2012 got an ISO 20000 international certification for eliminating and controlling information technology-related threats. 

With the getting of ISO certification, Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL) became the sixth airport operator to receive the ISO 20000 certification in IT Service Management System (ITSMS) after Dubai, Munich, Abu Dhabi, Incheon and Hyderabad.