Current Affairs February 2017 - Awards

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News 1 - National Entrepreneurship Awards 2016 presented by the Home Minister

Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh presented the First National Entrepreneurship awards 2016 in New Delhi, to recognise the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth and encourage more young Indians to become entrepreneurs. Winning individuals/enterprises were given a prize amount of Rs. 5 lakhs, while the winning organisations were given Rs. 10 lakhs each.

Lucideus Tech was awarded under the IT & ITES, Financial category and JETSETGO Aviation Services under the E-commerce services. Swadha Energies was awarded for their Engineering Services.

News 2 - Order of the British Empire Honour to Alastair Cook

England Cricketer Alastair Cook was honoured with the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), for his remarkable performance in cricket field. He has scored over 10,000 runs in Tests. He was awarded the CBE at the Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles.

Cook was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to cricket.

News 3 - Indian-Origin Sculptor Anish Kapoor won $ 1 Million Israeli Prize

Indian-origin British sculptor Anish Kapoor has won Israel’s prestigious $1 million Genesis Prize for his commitment to Jewish values. The prize is also called as the Jewish Nobel.

The award recognises individuals whose actions and achievements express a commitment towards Jewish values, the Jewish community and the State of Israel. Mr Kapoor also created the Holocaust Memorial for the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London and the 70 candles for Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain in 2015.

News 4 - GMR Hyderabad Airport bags the CAPA award

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), has bagged the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’s (CAPA) Chairman’s Order of Merit for its focus on environmental sustainability during the CAPA 12 Annual India Aviation Summit held in Mumbai.

The GHIAL became the first airport in the Asia Pacific region to become carbon neutral. The Airports Council International (ACI) has certified the Hyderabad International Airport with a Level 3+ Neutrality under its Airport Carbon Accreditation program.

News 5 - Yo-Yo Ma bagged the Best World Music Grammy

The 59^th Grammy Awards honoured Indian table player Sandeep Das for category 'World Music', who composed Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Sandeep Das was presented with a trophy. Das was a part of the Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble 'Sing Me Home,' which also had artists from different parts of the world.

Yo-Yo Ma’s set up ‘The Silk Road Ensemble’ brings together musicians from the various folk musical route and connects the Middle East and Asia to find artistic talent together.

News 6 - BAFTA 2017 Awards honours La La Land

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) honoured many cinemas such as ‘Manchester by the Sea’, ‘Lion’, Arrival, I Daniel Blake, Fences, Jackie, and Hacksaw Ridge. The movie which took the maximum awards was Damien Chazelle’s musical cinema 'La La Land'.

Some major awardees are as follows:

• Best Film − ‘Manchester by the Sea’, ‘Lion’, I Daniel Blake, La La Land and Moonlight.

• Best Actor − Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Viggo Mortensen.

• Best Actress − Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman.

News 7 - Indian-Origin Shand Panesar received a top Scotland Yard award

Indian-origin, Shand Panesar has been awarded with the Outstanding Bravery of the Year Award 2017 for risking his life to rescue a couple from a burning building in London in September 2016. Panesar is a constable with Scotland Yard of the British Police. He won the award along with colleague Craig Nicholson.

Thousands of Londoners took part in the public vote to choose the winner of this year's Outstanding Bravery of the Year Award.

News 8 - AIIMS, New Delhi won the First Prize for Sanitation & Hygiene under the Kayakalp Awards

The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi won the first prize of Rs. 5 Crores under the Central Government Hospitals category of the Kayakalp awards for maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene.

The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong got the second prize of Rs. 3 Crores and the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh received the third prize of Rs. 1 Crore. Commendation awards of Rs. 50 lakh each were given to AIIMS – Raipur, AIIMS – Jodhpur and National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (NITRD), Delhi.

News 9 - Veteran Hindi Novelist Surendra Verma selected for the 2016 Vyas Samman

Veteran Hindi Novelist Surendra Verma has been selected for 2016 Vyas Samman for his novel "Kaatna Shami Ka Vriksha Padma Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se", published in year 2010.

Mr. Verma is the 26^th recipient of the award. Mr. Verma would be presented a cash prize of Rs. 3.50 lakhs, a citation and a logo for the prestigious award instituted by K K Birla Foundation. He has also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1996.

News 10 - 10. Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar honoured with the 'Legendary Award ' 2017

Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar has been honoured with the 'Legendary Award ' 2017 by Brand Laureate. The Brand Laureate Awards recognises world-class achievement in branding amongst individuals and companies.

In 2012, actor Shah Rukh Khan was honoured with the Brand Laureate Legendary Award for his unmatched contribution to Indian Cinema. The Brand Laureate Legendary Award has been earlier given to the likes of former South African President Nelson Mandela, Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus, Indian businessman Ratan Tata, Late Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs, Facebook CEO Marck Zuckerburg and F1 ace Michael Schumacher.

News 11 - Indian Movie “Newton” and “Aaba” Won top Honours at the Berlin Film Festival

Indian movie "Newton" won the International Federation of Art Cinemas (CICAE) award at the 67^th Berlin Film Festival. The movie starring Raj Kummar Rao and Anjali Patil is a political satire. The movie is directed by Amit V Masurkar.

Amar Kaushik's short film, Aaba, won the Special Prize of Generation KPlus International Jury for Best Short Film. It is a tale about the bond between a grandfather and granddaughter.

News 12 - EDII wins the International Mercury Award 2016-17

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has received the prestigious International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17 for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report.

EDII is an Ahmedabad-based National Resource Institute for Entrepreneurship Education, Research, Training and Institution-building. The International Mercury Awards honour for outstanding achievement in professional communications in around 80 countries. The award is instituted by MerComm, Inc. and founded in 1987. It promotes excellence, quality and performance in the various fields of public relations.

News 13 - Tata Steel's Katamati iron mine wins Best Green Organisation of the Year Award

Tata Steel’s Katamati iron mine was conferred the Best Green Organisation of the Year Award at the Global Green Future Leadership Awards organised by World CSR Day in recognition of its environmental protection measures.

The Global Green Future Leadership Awards is for any organisation that participates in environmentally friendly or green activities to ensure that all its processes, products and manufacturing activities adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit.

News 14 - Vivek Chaand Sehgal of Motherson Sumi Systems received EY Entrepreneur of The Year Award

Vivek Chaand Sehgal of Motherson Sumi Systems has been named Indian entrepreneur of the year 2016 by EY. Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for spearheading India’s Aadhaar project as head of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Motherson Sumi’s revenue soared from Rs100 crore in 2000 to around Rs35,000 crore currently. Sehgal will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo from June 7 to 11.

News 15 - OSCAR AWARDS 2017

The 89^th Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

The winners are: