Current Affairs January 2017 - Awards

News 1 - Bharatiya Jnanpith announces the Navlekhan Awards 2016

The Bharatiya Jnanpith Navlekhan Award for the year 2016 has been conferred upon Shraddha for her short story, 'Hawa Mein Phadphadati Chitthi' and on Ghyansham Kumar Devansh for his poem 'Akash Mein Deh'.

The award, given to young authors in Hindi for their first creations, consists of a statue of Goddess Saraswati, a citation and a cash prize each. Jnanpith will also publish their work.

News 2 - NHPC CMD honoured at the 10^th ENERTIA Awards 2016

Shri K.M. Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, NHPC Limited has been conferred the Power & Energy Persona’s Award for Individual Excellence at the 10^th ENERTIA Awards 2016, India & South Asia’s Awards for Excellence in ‘Sustainable Energy & Power’.

The award has recognized the contribution of Shri Singh who has over 37 years of rich and vast experience in the field of hydropower. Shri Singh took over the leadership of NHPC in September 2015.

News 3 - British-Indian professor knighted in New Year's honours

Indian-origin British professor, Shankar Balasubramanian, received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his work as a coinventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing, known as Solexa sequencing. Shankar is a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Cambridge

The New Year’s Honours List 2017 also included Olympic stars Andy Murray, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis- Hill. The other Indian-origin academics in the honours list are Kamaldeep Singh Bhui and Anita Thapar.

News 4 - J&K AACL announces the Best Book Award for year 2015

J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages announced the Best Book Award-2015, carrying a cash prize of 51,000 rupees, a citation, a memento and a shawl each, in various languages spoken in the State.

The winners are:

News 5 - The 74^th Golden Globe Awards announced

The 74^th Golden Globe Awards honoured the best in film and American television of 2016. Meryl Streep was announced as the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award honouree.

The key winners are:

News 6 - Amitabh Bachchan honoured with the US Embassy award

To appreciate actor Amitabh Bachchan’s contribution towards US-India partnership and to help in ending tuberculosis in India and the US, the actor was honoured with the US Embassy award. The veteran actor has survived tuberculosis and has been the brand ambassador for this initiative.

The US Ambassador to India Richard R. Verma presented the award to Amitabh Bachchan. The actor has saved and eased the burden of the disease on families, communities, corporations and India as a brand ambassador by supporting the cause.

News 7 - Four Indian American scientists nominated for the Presidential Awards

The outgoing US President Barack Obama has nominated four Indian-American scientists among 102 researchers for the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

The list includes:

• Pankaj Lal − He is an associate professor in the department of earth and environmental studies at Montclair.

• Kaushik Chowdhury − He directs the Next Generation Networks and Systems (GENESYS) Lab.

• Manish Arora − He is an environmental epidemiologist and exposure biologist.

• Aradhna Tripati − Her lab at UCLA uses chemistry of natural compounds as well as models as tools to understand how the Earth works.

News 8 - Tisca Chopra won the Best Actress Award at the Jio Filmfare Short Film Awards

Tisca Chopra won the Best Actress for Chutney at the Jio Filmfare Short Film Awards. Chutney also bagged Best Film (Fiction) award. The director of “Chutney” is Jyoti Kapur Das.

Tisca Chopra is an Indian film and stage actress known for her works in Hindi cinema, and Television. She has won the People's Choice: Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Taare Zameen Par.

News 9 - Joe Biden presented with the America’s highest honour

US Vice-president, Joe Biden was presented with the highest civilian honour ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ by the US President Barack Obama. It was to honour him for his outstanding career in public service. The medal has been given with distinction, an additional honour that has been reserved in recent administrations for just a handful of recipients in the past, including Pope John Paul II.

Biden has served for more than three decades in the Senate, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

News 10 - The 62^nd Filmfare Awards announced

The 62^nd Filmfare Awards were announced at the NSCI Dome, Worli, Mumbai. Veteran Actor ‘Shatrughan Sinha’ was awarded ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Top awards were bagged by movies ‘Dangal’ and ‘Udta Punjab’. Ceremony was co-hosted by Kapil Sharma, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan.

The top awards were:

• Best Actor (Male) − Aamir Khan (Dangal)

• Best Actor (Female) − Alia Bhatt (Udta Punjab)

• Best Director − Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal)

• Best Film − Dangal

News 11 - Pentavalent Bio Sciences honoured with the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge

The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2016-17, a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC), celebrated India’s most promising earlystage social enterprises, which could bring about long-term solutions to India's social needs. Pentavalent Bio Sciences Private from Bangalore emerged as winner for 2016-17 followed by Arogya Medtech from Kolkata as 1^st runner-up and Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO) from Mumbai as 2^nd runner-up.

Prize money worth Rs2.5 lakh was given to winner. The ventures were judged on basis of business model, social impact and sustainability.

News 12 - Kiran Doshi won The Hindu Prize 2016

Kiran Doshi has won The Hindu Prize 2016 at the 7^th edition of The Hindu Lit for Life festival 2017 held in Chennai for his third major work of fiction, Jinnah Often Came to Our House.

The book is set against the political turmoil of the subcontinent from the early part of the 20^th century, ending with the Partition and Independence.

The award carries a citation and a cash prize of ₹5 lakhs.

News 13 - Twenty-five children selected for the National Bravery Awards

Twenty-five children including 13 girls have been selected for the National Bravery Awards 2016. Four of the awards have been given posthumously.

The awards are:

• Bharat Award − Late Kumari Tarh Peju of Arunachal Pradesh. She sacrificed her life while saving two of her friends from drowning.

• Geeta Chopra award − Tejasweeta Pradhan and Shivani Gond of West Bengal.

• Sanjay Chopra award − Sumit Mamgain of Uttarakhand.

News 14 - Padma Awards 2017 announced

Padma Awards are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The President of India has approved the conferment of Padma Awards to 89 persons.

The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 7 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees. Among these, 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 5 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 6 Posthumous awardees.

Some of Padma Vibhushan awardees are Shri K J Yesudas(artist), Sharad Pawar, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

News 15 - Russian President Vladimir Putin honoured with the Hugo Chavez Prize

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro bestowed on Putin the Hugo Chavez Prize for Peace and Sovereignty of the People. It recognized "Putin as a great leader of peace". Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated that Putin is fighter for peace, for balance, and a builder of a pluripolar, multicentric world.

The Hugo Chavez Award doesn't give any prize money, instead honours with a smaller version of the Chavez statue. Putin has earlier received Confucius Peace Prize in 2011.

News 16 - Ashok Chakra awarded to Havaldar Hangpan Dada

The highest peacetime military decoration award - The Ashok Chakra - was given on the 68^th Republic day to Havaldar Hangpan Dada posthumously for his selfless service to the nation. The award was received by his wife Chasen Lowang Dada.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the three service chiefs paid tributes to soldiers at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate by laying wreaths. The ceremony culminated with the national anthem and release of balloons, which lit up the cloudy sky with merry colors.

News 17 - Three Indian origin persons awarded Australia's highest civilian honour

Three Indian origin persons Purushottam Sawrikar, Makhan Singh and Vijay Kumar were awarded Australia's highest civilian honour for their contributions in the field of medicine and community work. Purushottam Sawrikar, a Sydney-based medical practitioner, received Order of Australia medal for the year 2017. Makhan Singh Khangure from Perth was given the award for his service in the field of neuroradiology.

While, Vijay Kumar, was given the award for his service to medical research in the disciplines of nuclear medicine and biology. Over 950 Australians were named in the Australia Day Honours.

News 18 - President announces the Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards 2016

The President of India has approved the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards – 2016 on 36 persons which includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 05, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak to 08 and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 23 persons; 07 awards are posthumous.

Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are given to a person who help in saving the life of a person. The decoration of the award (medal, certificate signed by the Home Minister and demand draft for lumpsum monetary allowance) is presented to the awardee.

News 19 - Keshav Krishna honoured with the National Geoscience Award

Famous Scientist Keshav Krishna was honoured with the National Geoscience Award for 2016 by National Geophysical Research Institute in the presence of the Union Minister of Mines. It was to recognize his efforts in the field of geo-environmental studies.

At present, Krishna is working on environmental risk assessment contaminated soil and bioavailability of contaminants. He has working experience of 16 years in Environmental Geochemistry research in soil and environmental pollutants. He always looks forward to curtail the pollution from environment and make it more safe for survival of population.