Current Affairs August 2016 - Awards

News 1 - Kerala Tourism bags six National Tourism awards

Kerala Tourism walked away with three out of the six National Tourism awards for 2014-15 in the marketing category for states, while it received two more awards, including the one for its Responsible Tourism (RT) initiative in the hilly district of Wayanad.

Kerala and the Spice Routes, a coffee-table book, designed by Stark was a proud winner in the category of Excellence in Publishing in English language. ‘The Great Backwaters’, a brochure in German language, was adjudged for the award in Foreign Language Segment. The third one came for ‘Most Innovative use of Information Technology’ — Social Media/ Mobile App.

News 2 - Anita Gopalan wins 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

Translator and artist Anita Gopalan has been awarded the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant for her English translation of Hindi novel “Simsim” by Geet Chaturvedi. The artist will be honored at the 2017 PEN Literary Awards Ceremony in New York in February. She is the second Indian translator to be selected for the grant.

"Simsim" was first published in 2008. It is a lyrical, award-winning novella and recognized for its groundbreaking contribution to contemporary Hindi fiction.

News 3 - IISc bags maximum number of INSA Medals for Young Scientists

Five faculty members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore have been awarded the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Young Scientists 2016. IISc bagged the maximum number of awards than anu other institute. The winners from IISc this year are: PrabeerBarpanda, Sai Siva Gorthi, Praveen Kumar, AnshuPandey and ChandanSaha.

The INSA, which started in 1974, annually presents the Young Scientist Award to distinguish young scientists who have made notable research contributions in science and technology.

News 4 - Sonam and Nawazuddin win top awards at IFF Melbourne

Sonam Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui won the best actress and best actor awards for their performance in “Neerja” and “Raman Raghav 2.0” respectively at the Indian Film Festival (IFF) of Melbourne 2016.The theme for this year 2016 is ‘Women Empowerment’. Angry India Goddesses, brought the curtains down for the festival on 21^st August.

Winners in other Award categories are:

News 5 - Havildar Hangpan Dada honored with Ashok Chakra posthumously

Havildar Hangpan Dada has been posthumously honored with Ashok Chakra, the country's highest award for gallantry during peace time on the eve of Independence Day. He belonged to the Assam Regiment/35^th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles. Dada had shown exemplary courage, devotion and gallantry beyond the call of duty during an encounter with a group of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

14 Shaurya Chakras have been awarded this year to armed forces personnel. Of them, seven are honored posthumously. These include Lieutenant Colonel NiranjanEk of National Security Guards and Corporal Gursevak Singh of Indian Air Force Security who were martyred in the Pathankot operation. 63 personnel have been honored with Sena Medal and 2 each have been given NaoSena Medal and VayuSena Medal.

News 6 - 948 personnel awarded Police Medals on the occasion of Independence Day

948 personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the occasion of the Independence Day this year. President’s Police Medal for Gallantry have been awarded to seven personnel and Police Medal for Gallantry have been awarded to 170 personnel.

President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service have been given to 88 personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious Service to 683 personnel. President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service have been awarded to two personnel and Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service have been given to 17 personnel.

News 7 - Music Composer A R Rahman honored with Tamil Ratna Award

The America Tamil Sangam has honored Oscar-winning musician, A.R. Rahman with its Tamil Ratna Award. He was bestowed with the honor after his concert to honor M.S. Subbulakshi, the doyen of Carnatic music, at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) chamber.

The previous recipients of its Ratna award include Tamil movie director Bharathi Raja; Bharatha Natyam exponent Kamala Lakshman; Srinivasa Varadhan, the winner of the Abel Prize for mathematics etc.

News 8 - UP announces Rani Laxmi Bai award for Sakshi Malik

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced to honor Sakshi Malik for her bronze medal win at the Rio Olympics with the coveted Rani Laxmi Bai award. She became the first woman Indian wrestler to win a medal in Rio Olympics.

The Rani Laxmi Bai award carries a cash prize of Rs 3.11 lakh, a citation and a statue of Rani Laxmi Bai and is given to meritorious sportspersons who excel at national/international level.

News 9 - Hindi author Sunita Jain conferred 25^th Vyas Samman award 2015

Renowned Hindi scholar and writer Sunita Jain’s poetry collection Kshama has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman 2015. She was conferred the award by West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi. The book "Kshama" was published in 2008.

The award instituted by the K K Birla Foundation carries a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh. It is given annually to outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen. The author who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004 writes in both English and Hindi and has over 100 books to her credit.

News 10 - Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma to be conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award

Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma will be conferred upon with the annual Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000, a memento and a citation.

Shivkumar is the recipient of various awards like the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986, the Padma Shri in 1991 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001. He is believed to be the first musician to have played Indian classical music on the Santoor, a folk instrument from the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

News 11 - BEL head bags top award

Mr. S K Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director of Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), has been awarded as the Most Enterprising CEO in Electronics Sector by the Indo Global Business Council (IGBC), a policy think tank based in New Delhi.

BEL is a government-owned aerospace and defence company. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for the Indian Armed Forces. BEL is one of nine PSUs under the Ministry of Defence of India. It has been accorded Navratna status by the Government of India.

News 12 - Indian-American Renu Khator inducted in the Texas Women's Hall of Fame

Indian origin, Renu Khator has been inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame. She is the chancellor of the University of Houston System and president of the University of Houston. She is the first Indian-American to lead a major research university in the US.

She is a noted scholar in the field of global environmental policy and has received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the President of India. The Texas Women’s Hall of Fame honors native or current Texas residents, living or deceased, who have made significant contributions to the state.

News 13 - Andhra Pradesh announced a reward of Rs. 3 crores cash prize to PV Sindhu

The Andhra Pradesh Government has announced a cash reward of 3 crore rupees for badminton player PV Sindu who has created history by becoming the first ever Indian woman to win silver in badminton at the Olympics.

A reward of 50 lakh rupees was announced for Indian badminton chief coach Pullela Gopichand as well. The Cabinet also decided to offer a Group-A job in State services to Sindhu. The reward was announced by the state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

News 14 - CLRI Scientist P Shanmugam honored with A P J Abdul Kalam award

Central Leather Research Institute's Principal Scientist P Shanmugam was honored with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award for meritorious services in the Higher Education Department of Tamil Nadu.

On the occasion of 70^th Independence Day celebrations held at Fort St George, Scientist P Shanmugam was presented with a certificate, Rs five lakh cheque and eight gram gold medal by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

News 15 - Shubha Mudgal to be honored with Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award

Veteran Indian classical musical singer will be honored with the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award for her outstanding contribution in classical singing. The award ceremony to be held at an event on August 20 at Jawahar Bhawan auditorium. The singer will be presented a citation and cash award of Rs 10 lakh.

The award is given on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the late Prime Minister. This will be the 23^rd edition of the award.

News 16 - Kamal Hassan to receive France’s Chevalier de L’Ordre Arts et Lettres

Actor Kamal Hassan has been appointed Chev alier de l'Ordre des Arts Arts et Lettres (Knight in the National Order Arts and Letters) by the Minister of Culture and Communication, France. The Order is part of France’s premier award, the Legion of Honor.

The award is recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields. Other Indians who have been conferred the Chevalier Order include veteran musician Balamuralikrishna, and actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das and Shah Rukh Khan.

News 17 - IOA Chief N Ramachandran honored with the Olympic Order award

President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), N. Ramachandran, has been awarded the Olympic Order for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. He was presented the award by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.

Ramachandran was elected President of the IOA in February 2014. He is the second sports administrator from Tamil Nadu to receive the award after the late B.S. Adityan, a former IOA president, in 1995.

News 18 - Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami selected for the Asian Filmmaker Award posthumously

Late Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami has been selected for the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the 21^st Busan International Film Festival. Kiarostami passed away on July 4 at the age of 76 years.

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) gives the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award to Asian cineastes or organisations that have shown the most outstanding contribution to developing the Asian film industry and culture.

News 19 - Telangana Aarogyasri Trust bags FICCI award

The GPS enabled mobile app of the Telangana Aarogyasri Healthcare Trust bagged Federation of Indian C hambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)’s healthcare excellence award for 2016. The app has already been awarded with the ‘Elite Smart Healthcare Conclave’ for being the most important mobile app in the nation.

The app enables any patient to locate the network hospital within 10 km radius through a map. It will also show the nearest route to the hospitals networked under Healthcare Trust.

News 20 - G Satheesh Reddy conferred first IEI-IEEE Award 2015

The Institution of Engineers (India) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Asia Pacific region, during the latter’s 50^th anniversary presented the G. Satheesh Reddy with the first IEI-IEEE Award for engineering excellence 2015 in recognition of his ‘significant national contributions towards missiles and aerospace technologies’.

G Satheesh Reddy is a renowned aerospace and navigation scientist and the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and DRDO's DG (Missiles & Strategic Systems). As director of DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat, he led the indigenous development of denied sensor and avionics technologies related to Indian missile navigation and other programmes.

News 21 - Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award to be conferred to Silvanus Dungdung

Former Olympian Silvanus Dungdung of Jharkhand will be conferred with the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award. Dungdung will be honored by President Pranab Mukherjee on 29^th August with Rs five lakhs as reward and a citation.

Dungdung is referred to as the "Ironman of Hockey". He was a member of the gold medal winning Indian hockey contingent in Moscow Olympics 1980. Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player, who is considered as one of the greatest field hockey players of all time.

News 22 - Lalita Babar and Shardul Gagare to be awarded with SJAM awards

Maharashtra’s sixth Chess GM Shardul Gagare, and steeplechase specialist Lalita Babar have been chosen for the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai’s (SJAM) Golden Jubilee Annual Awards 2016. Gagare will receive the Sportsman of the year award while Lalita will receive the Sportswoman of the year award.

Other notable awardees include:

• Ajinkya Rahane − International Cricketer of the Year award

• Rohit Sharma − special award for making the highest ODI score at Kolkata in 2014

• Shardul ThakurM and Shreyas Iyer − Ranji Trophy Cricketer of the year award

• Mumbai Cricket Association − Team of the year award

News 23 - Shri Pranab Mukherjee awards Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee awarded the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award to Shri Harbhajan Singh, IG, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), in recognition of his life time contribution in the field of mountaineering. Shri Harbhajan Singh is 12^th Himveer of the ITBP to be awarded with this respected adventure honour.

Shri Singh participated in 3 successful Mt. Everest Expeditions of ITBP. He also led 16 Indian and International level expeditions and has climbed and unfurled National Flag on different mountain peaks, to become one of the accomplished mountaineers of the Country.

News 24 - Padma Sachdev gets Saraswati Samman for 2015

Eminent author Padma Sachdev was awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography 'Chitt-Chete' in Dogri language. The award carries a sum of Rs 15 lakh besides a citation and a plaque. The award is given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen, published during the last 10 years.

Sachdev, the first women poet in Dogri language, is a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for her poetry book 'Meri Kavita Mere Geet.' She has 60 books to her credit and recited poems in several regional languages.