Current Affairs December 2019 - Awards

1 - President of India presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2019 to Lini Puthussery, the nurse from Kerala who died due to Nipah virus that she contracted while treating a patient last year during the Nipah outbreak.

President Kovind presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to the nursing community yesterday on International Nurses Day. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced 2020 as the year of the nurse and mid-wife.

2 - ET Lifetime Public Service Award to Former FM (Late) Arun Jaitley

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was conferred posthumously the Lifetime Achievement award for Public Service at the Economic Times Award 2019. The award was received by Arun Jaitley's spouse Sangeeta Jaitley. Late Arun Jaitley was the former Finance Minister of India.

Arun Jaitley worked as Minister of Corporate Affairs, Minister of Defence, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Minister of Law and Justice as well as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

3 - Awards given for short film competition on environment

The Ministry of Environment gave away awards for a short film competition on environment. Additional Secretary in the Environment Ministry, Ravi Agrawal presented the awards to several school students and professionals for their documentaries and films.

Toon Club & Ecole Mondiale World School won 1^st prize for Clean and Green title. Nishant Kumar Nishu, college student, won 2^nd prize for ‘One life’ title. Kushagra Gaur won ‘special mention’ for ‘Our world’ title. The award distribution ceremony was the culmination of the four day festival where all the shortlisted films were showcased.

4 - “Shilpa Shetty App” won 2019 Google Play Awards

Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s fitness and wellness app “Shilpa Shetty App” was awarded Google Play’s Best Apps of 2019 at 2019 Google Play Awards in the ‘Personal Growth’ category. This health and fitness app contains yoga routines to help you increase focus and maintain a healthy balance in life.

Shilpa Shetty App has 15+ programs which includes a 21-Day Weight Loss Program, Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss Program, Daily Yoga Routine, Office Yoga Routine and Flat Belly Program amongst others. The app also has yoga and meditation programmes to relax and rejuvenate the mind.

5 - Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed received Nobel Peace Prize

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has received the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve international peace and co-operation. This year's Nobel Peace Prize was the 100^th to be awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a cheque for nine million Swedish kronor (850,000 euros).

Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his efforts to resolve the long-running conflict with neighboring foe Eritrea.

6 - 4 eminent diplomats honoured with 2019 ‘Diwali – Power of One Award

Four prominent diplomats were honoured with ‘The Diwali – Power of One’ award 2019 in recognition of their work, especially at the United Nations, for a secure and peaceful world.

Diplomats who were honored were:

• Former foreign minister and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN: Kairat Abdrakhmanov.

• Former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations: Nicholas Emiliou.

• Former Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly and Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN: Frantisek Ruzicka.

• Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations: Volodymyr Yelchenko.

7 - Gurgaon-based startup, Blue Sky Analytics, won ‘Space Oscar’

Gurgaon-based startup, Blue Sky Analytics, has won Copernicus Masters award, also dubbed as ‘Space Oscars’. The award was given for its application, Zuri. It is AI-enabled platform that uses satellite data for improved monitoring, supply chain and pricing analysis as well as allocation of crop waste for use in other industries as raw material.

The prize is also dubbed as ‘Space Oscars’. Seven groups got the prize in different categories. Zuri was selected under social entrepreneurship category.

8 - President of India presented Visitor’s Awards 2019

President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented the 5^th Visitor’s Awards at the conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities, Directors of IISERs.

9 - CBI officer B. P. Raju wins India Cyber Cop of the Year 2019 award

CBI officer B P Raju won the 'India Cyber Cop of the Year 2019' award by NASSCOM-DSCI during the Annual Information Security Summit held at Gurgaon, Haryana. He won for cracking a fraud case in an online entrance exam conducted by an engineering college in Rajasthan.

While investigating the case, Raju had arrested nine accused persons and collected incriminating evidence from digital devices, which revealed the modus operandi adapted by the accused.

10 - Amitabha Bagchi won 2019 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

Amitabha Bagchi's novel Half The Night Is Gone won the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019 among six shortlisted authors and novels. Bagchi’s novel is a post-colonial saga that unfolds over three generations and explores human relationships. It has inventive use of language, and its memorable well defined characters make it an outstanding read. It weaves together three parallel stories, interrogating the relationships.

The DSC Prize has always encouraged diverse voices that bring alive the layered nuances of South Asian life.

11 - Sahitya Akademi announced annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages

Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages for the year 2019. In Hindi, Nand Kishore has been awarded for his Poetry ‘ Chheelate Hue Apne Ko’ and in English Dr Shashi Tharoor has been awarded for his Non-Fiction ‘An Era of Darkness’.

In Tamil, Cho Dharman has been awarded for his Novel ‘Sool’ and in Gujarati, Ratilal Borisagar has awarded for his Essays ‘Mojama Revu Re’. In Sanskrit, Penna Madhusudan will get the award for his Poetry ‘Prajnachakshusham’ and in Urdu, Shafey Kidwai will be awarded for his Biography ‘Sawaneh-E-Sir Syed: Ek Bazdeed’.

12 - Portugal announced Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize

Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, has announced setting up of Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize, each year inspired by his different thoughts and quotes. The prize was announced to help perpetuate Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals. The first edition of this prize will be dedicated to animal welfare.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa made the announcement while attending the second meeting of the National Committee for the Commemoration Mahatma Gandhi’s 150^th Birth Anniversary chaired by President Ram Nath Kovind. He is the only foreign Prime Minister to be a part of the committee.

13 - Malayali boy Aditya bags top bravery award

Aditya K. of Kozhikode, Kerala won most prestigious of the National Bravery Awards, given away by the Indian Council for Child Welfare. With this, he became the first child from the State to bag the Bharat Award for bravery. Aditya showed bravery in rescuing 20 people from a bus carrying members of the Calicut University Pensioners’ Forum and their families when it caught fire coming down a steep mountain road.

Other recipients’ of this award were Muhammed Mohsin and Fatah, for saving the lives of three children and rescuing a woman and a girl from an approaching train respectively.

14 - Major Anoop Mishra awarded Army Design Bureau Excellence Award

Major Anoop Mishra was awarded Army Design Bureau Excellence Award by the Army Chief for indigenously developing Sarvatra Kavach’, a bulletproof jacket to develop his bulletproof jacket the day hit by a stray bullet during an operation. The jacket is developed at the College of Military Engineering in Pune.

Sarvatra Kavach can provide full-body protection against sniper rifle bullets even 10 meters. The sniper attacks the Line of Control and Kashmir valley for which the full-body protection will be provided to the soldiers.

15 - Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu conferred 66^th National Film Awards

The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu conferred National Film Awards for the year 2018 in various categories at its 66^th edition.

The list of key winners is:

16 - Kamareddy won UNICEF-2019 Award for Swachh Bharat implementation

Kamareddy district of Telangana won United Nations International Children’s and Education Fund (UNICEF)-2019 Award for Swachh Bharat implementation in water sanitation and hygiene sectors for the year 2019. Kamareddy district worked hard in construction of individual sanitary lavatories, swachh darpan wall paintings, swachh survekshan, swachh sundar shouchalay and many other activities.

The award was result of combined efforts of district rural development organisation, district panchayat office, mandal praja parishads, panchayat secretaries, sarpanches and field assistants of Kamareddy district.

17 - Indian Actress Priyanka Chopra won UNICEF's Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra was honored with UNICEF's Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by the United Nations Children's Fund at the 15^th annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball. She was honored for her work as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights. Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg handed over the award to the actor.

Priyanka Chopra is the global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights and is known for raising her voice for children’s education. Danny Kaye was UNICEF's first celebrity goodwill ambassador who made a commitment for helping the world's children.

18 - AAO bestows Life Achievement honour to Dr Santosh G Honavar

Dr. Santosh G Honavar was conferred with the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) highest award Life Achievement honor that is given to its members. He became the first Indian chosen for the honour. Dr Santosh G. Honavar is a Hyderabad-based Indian ophthalmologist chosen for its highest award to recognize his contributions to the Academy, its scientific and educational programs, and to the advancement of ophthalmology.

American Academy of Ophthalmology, founded in 1896 and headquartered in San Francisco is the world's largest association of eye specialists.

19 - Amitabh Bachchan honoured with Dada Saheb Phalke award

Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan received the Dadasaheb Phalke award for his outstanding contribution to the film industry. President Ram Nath Kovind presented the award to the actor in New Delhi. Amitabh Bachchan has appeared in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades.

The award, named after the father of Indian cinema, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, was instituted in 1969. The award is conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema. It consists of a Swarn Kamal and a cash prize of ten lakh rupees.