Current Affairs March 2018 - Awards

1 - President presented Nari Shakti Award to 29 women

President Ram Nath Kovind presented Nari Shakti Awards for 2017 on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The awards were presented to 29 women and 9 institutions in recognition of their efforts in rendering distinguished services for the cause of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.

The Awards were initiated in the year 1999. Ministry of Women and Child Development announces these national awards every year for eminent women, organizations and institutions.

2 - Oscar Awards 2018 held at USA

Los Angeles, the USA hosted the 90^th Annual Academy Awards (also known as Oscar Awards).

3 - Shatrughan Sinha honoured with lifetime achievement award in UK

UKs Parliament honoured Indian actor ‘Shatrughan Sinha’ with the lifetime achievement award for his immense contribution to the fields of arts, movies and politics. It is an award given by Britain's Asian Voice weekly newspaper to honour individuals who show valuable impact on public life or make a difference in their local communities.

Shatrughan Sinha is an Indian film actor turned politician. He has served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare (Jan 2003-May 2004) and Shipping (Aug. 2004). He has received various awards such as Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, IIFA award, Zee Cine Award etc.

4 - Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi won 2018 Pritzker Prize

Balkrishna Doshi became the first Indian to win the Pritzker Prize, the premier global award for architecture. The Pritzker Prize is also known as the Nobel for architects.

Doshi won the Pritzker Prize 2018 for being able to interpret architecture and transform it into buildings that respect Eastern culture. He is widely known for designing extensive low-cost housing projects and public institutions. Previous winners include world-renowned architects like Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, IM Pei, and Shigeru Ban.

5 - India Won "Best Exhibitor Award" at ITB – Berlin

India has won the "Best Exhibitor Award " at ITB – Berlin. ‘ITB- Berlin World Tourist Meet’ was convened at Berlin, Germany from 7^th March to 10^th March, 2018. More than 100 countries participated in the ITB- Berlin meet with their respective Tourism Ministers.

India's Incredible India (Ministry of Tourism) presented a short film named "Yogi of the Racetrack " in the meet. The said short film has got 3.2 million hits in 60 hours.

6 - India-UK Joint Team won the Newton-Bhabha Fund

An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin. The Department of Science and Technology has undertaken the project with the Natural Environment Research Council, UK.

The Newton Bhabha Fund aims to bring together the UK and Indian scientific research and innovation sectors. The British Council provides the fund. The project will be conducted from three sites - Bijnor and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Nadia in West Bengal.

7 - ICMR won the 2017 Kochon Prize for TB research

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has won the 2017 Kochon Prize for establishing the India TB Research Consortium to accelerate R&D efforts in the country. ICMR won $65,000 as prize money. It merged the winner from amongst 18 nominations.

The Kochon Prize has been given annually for the past 11 years to individuals and/or organizations that have made a highly significant contribution to end TB. It is given by Kochon Foundation, a non-profit organisation from Korea. ICMR is India’s agency specializing in funding coordination and promotion of biomedical research.

8 - DRDO Pavilion adjudged as most informative at the 105^th Indian Science Congress

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) received the ‘Most Informative Pavilion’ Award in Pride of India Expo organized as a part of the 105^th Indian Science Congress held at Imphal.

DRDO participated in the expo showcasing cutting-edge indigenous defence technologies with over 150 exhibits and models from 18 DRDO laboratories. The participation of DRDO in the Indian Science Congress reaffirmed the message to masses that strength of ‘science and knowledge’ and the resultant self-reliance by converting this knowledge into technologies and systems through innovation were essential to ensure peace and national security.

9 - Canadian Mathematician Robert Langlands Wins Abel Prize

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters honored the Abel Prize for 2018 to Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA, for his visionary program connecting representation theory to number theory.

The Norwegian government in 2002 on the 200^th anniversary of Niels Henrik Abel’s birth established the Abel Prize. The Abel Prize recognizes contributions to the field of mathematics that are of extraordinary depth and influence. The Abel Prize is a Norwegian prize awarded annually by the Government of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.

10 - NHAI received best design Pavilion Award at the 105^th Indian Science Congress

The NHAI pavilion at the 105^th Indian Science Congress- Pride of India Expo held at Imphal was adjudged as BEST DESIGN PAVILION. The NHAI had put up an exhibition stall to display its Projects and other initiatives like Electronic Toll Collection, Wayside Amenities, Incident Management, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Road Safety etc.

Apart from displaying the Projects, a Selfie Point was created with a good Highway Projects at the background. Besides this, NHAI Exhibition stall at "Destination Bihar Expo 2018" held at Patna was ranked at third position in “Government Sector category”.