Current Affairs March 2017 - Awards

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News 1 - JNU won the award for the Best University

Jawaharlal Nehru University has won the annual visitor’s award for the Best University 2017. Dr. Deepak Pant from the Central University of Himachal Pradesh won the visitor’s award for innovation, while the visitor’s award for research has been jointly won by Dr. Shyam Sunder from the Banaras Hindu University and Professor Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University.

The Best University will receive a citation and a trophy, while winners of the visitor’s award for innovation and research will receive a citation and cash award of one lakh rupees.

News 2 - Singer Rihanna honoured with the 2017 Humanitarian Award

Harvard University honoured veteran singer Rihanna with the 2017 Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year award. She was honoured for her contribution towards people for curing breast cancer. She built the Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine to diagnose breast cancer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year award praises public-spirited leaders of various fields such as Physician, Statistician, etc., every year, in the memory of late Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes.

News 3 - 'Most Popular Tourism Destination Award' to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has won the "Most Popular Tourism Destination Award" at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China for the second consecutive year.

China has been Sri Lanka's second largest source market for tourism since 2014. The GITF is South China’s leading travel Expo drawing affluent travel enthusiasts every year from mainland China. 19 Travel and tour agents from Sri Lanka participated in the Travel Fair.

News 4 - M P Veerendra Kumar presented with Moortidevi award

The Bharatiya Jnanpith presented the 30^th Moortidevi award to eminent Malayalam author and journalist M P Veerendra Kumar for his Malayalam travelogue 'Hymavathabhoovil', which dwells upon ancient trails of Indian culture, myth, literature and people strewn in the plains, valleys and mountains of India". The award carries an amount of Rs. 4 lakh, a statue of Saraswati and a plaque.

Kumar is the Chairman and Managing Director of the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi and a Rajya Sabha MP.

News 5 - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the best actress award at the International Film Festival

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has won the Best Actress Award at the International Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA) for her character in the film Sarabjit. She played the role of Sarabjit Singh’s sister Dalbir Kaur.

The film was based on the story of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national who was punished by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on the charges of spying. The film was directed by Omung Kumar. Randeep Hooda portrayed the role of Sarbjit Singh.

News 6 - SERB Distinguished Fellowship Award to Lalji Singh

The Former Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Lalji Singh, has been selected for the award of SERB Distinguished Fellow in recognition of his continued outstanding performance and for mentorship young researchers.

The award is given by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) which is a statutory body of the Government of India. It carries an amount of Rs. 60,000 a month and a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh a year for a period of three years.

News 7 - Textiles Minister announces the Kamaladevi Chattopadhya National Awards

The Union Textiles Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani announced the ‘Kamaladevi Chattopadhya National Awards’ on the International Women’s Day. It is a new category of awards specially for women handloom weavers and women handicraft artisans.

The Textiles Minister also launched an online “Handloom Weaver MUDRA Portal” in association with Punjab National Bank. She also distributed the Buniyaad Reeling Machines to woman silk-reelers.

News 8 - The Prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskars given away to 33 women by the President

The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Nari Shakti Puraskars 2016 at a special ceremony/function held in New Delhi on the International Women’s Day. The awards were presented to 33 awardees in recognition of their efforts in rendering distinguished services for the cause of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.

Some of the major awardees are:

• State of Rajasthan
• Chhanv Foundation (Sheroes Café), Delhi
• Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (M.H.I.P), Mizoram
• Sadhana Mahila Sangha, Karnataka
• Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti, Rajasthan
• Tripunithura Kathakali Kendram Ladies Troupe, Kerala

News 9 - PM Modi presented the Swachh Shakti Awards 2017 to Women Sarpanches

On the International Women’s day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the Swachh Shakti 2017 awards – A Convention of Women Sarpanches to 10 women Sarpanches, held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat to honor Sarpanches, who have contributed immensely to the movement towards a Clean India.

The 10 Women Awardees were Manju Maurya (UP), Uttara Thakur(Chhatisgarh), Neelam (Haryana), Shivani Dakoy (WB), Asha Putri (Rajasthan), Sumitra Kumari (Assam), Ramila Ben (Gujarat), Akkama Harval (Karnataka), M. Malika (Tamil Nadu) and Sushila Kurkute (Maharashtra).

News 10 - Mahabaleshwar Sail honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2016

Eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail has been honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel 'Hawthan'. The book was published in 2009 and shortlisted from 22 books written in as many languages.

The award carries a cash prize of Rupees 15 lakhs and a citation. The award is given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen and published during the last 10 years. It is instituted by the K K Birla Foundation.

News 11 - IIT-M Solar Inverter System wins the 2017 IEEE Spectrum Technology Award

Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has won the 2017 IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award for its solardirect current (DC) inverter system.

The system, developed using micro grid technology, converts in-home power distribution from 230V Analog Current to 48V DC to directly power appliances and devices. The system is also equipped to tap rooftop solar power, making it the most energy efficient solution for homes and offices.

News 12 - Zee Cine Awards 2017 announced

Amitabh Bachchan was adjudged as the Best Actor for his role in "Pink", while Alia Bhatt bagged the Best Actress award for her role in "Udta Punjab" at the Zee Cine Awards 2017.

Major Winners are:

News 13 - 2016 Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar presented

Ramakrishna Ashram, situated in the South 24 Parganas of West Bengal, was conferred with the national-level Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan protsahan Puraskar for 2016. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 25 lakhs. In addition to it, 11 awards of Rs. 2.25 lakhs each at the regional level were also awarded.

“Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar” has been launched since year 2016 is the birth centenary year of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, pioneer of Antyodaya.

News 14 - Indian-American Indrani Das won Top Science Prize

Indian-American Indrani Das won the top prize of $2,50,000 in the Regeneron Science Talent Search competition in the United States (US) for her research on treating brain injuries and diseases. Arjun Ramani, also an IndianAmerican, won the third prize of $1,50,000/- for his project on networks using mathematical field of graph theory and computer programming.

The award is also reckoned as the "Junior Nobel Prize". It is the oldest US science competition for students.

News 15 - Canadian teacher won $1M Global Teacher Prize

Maggie MacDonnell of Canada has won a $1m Global Teacher Prize for “changing the lives of her students and transforming her community”. She was among 10 finalists chosen from 20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries.

She has taught for the past six years in the Inuit village of Salluit, Québec, in the Canadian Arctic. Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Haroub had won the award last year. The prize is set up by Dubai-based Varkey Foundation.

News 16 - ABB India bags award for restoring 1,035 MW Sharavathi plant in Karnataka

ABB India has won the The India Smart Grid Foundation (ISGF) innovation award for restoring and modernising the critical 1,035 MW Sharavathi hydropower plant in Karnataka. The plant accounts for 25% of Karnataka Power Corporation’s generation.

The ABB team with the support from KPCL management could restore the entire plant in just six months. The restoration and modernisation will help lower overall costs.

News 17 - Major Rohit Suri awarded with the Kirti Chakra

Major Rohit Suri who was a part of the surgical strikes in PoK was awarded the second highest peacetime gallantry award ‘Kirti Chakra’ by President Pranab Mukherjee during the military investiture ceremony.

Some of the other awardees are:

• Lieutenant General Eastern Army Commander Praveen Bakshi − Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the highest Distinguished Service Medal

• Nb Sub Vijay Kumar − Shaurya Chakra

• Corporal Gursevak Singh of Indian Air Force − Shaurya Chakra (posthumously)

News 18 - Indian-American Computer Scientist Anshumali bagged NSF’s CAREER Award

Indian-American computer scientist, Anshumali Shrivastava bagged National Science Foundation (NSF)'s prestigious CAREER award for his research on redesigning the current machine-learning processes. National Science Foundation (NSF)'s prestigious CAREER award praises the research and educational development of young scholars who inspire to become leaders in their fields.

The award is given to about 400 scholars each year. Anshumali Shrivastava has abilities to enable faster, more scalable computations required by big data and machine-learning technologies.

News 19 - Raghu Rai conferred with Lifetime Achievement award

The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6^th National Photography Awards to photojournalist Raghu Rai for “his remarkable contribution to the field.” The ministry felicitated a total of 13 photographers.

The main winners were:

• Professional Photographer of the year award to Shri K.K. Mustafah
• Amateur Photographer of the year award to Shri Ravinder Kumar

The theme for this year’s awards for Professional category was “Skilled India”, while in the Amateur category the topic was “Swatch Bharat”.

News 20 - Yves Meyer wins the 2017 Abel Prize

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awarded the 2017 Abel Prize to French mathematician Yves Meyer for his work on wavelets, a mathematical theory with applications in data compression, medical imaging and the detection of gravitational waves.

Meyer will receive 6 Million Norwegian Krone (about £600,000) for the prize. The award recognises outstanding contributions to mathematics and is the maths equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

News 21 - The 8^th Laadli Media Awards 2016

The 8^th Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2016 (Northern and Eastern Region) were awarded to Anima Pookkunnyil, Assistant Editor with BusinessLine, and Shreya Ila Anasuya, a Delhi-based freelance journalist for their critical gender-sensitive reportage. Ila Anasuya was awarded for her report on Suzette Jordan. Anima Pookkunnyi was awarded for her story about Kamlesh Kairi’s petition to the Supreme Court against the unjust laws.

The award is organised by Population First to recognise efforts by those in the media and advertising industry who work to end gender prejudice.

News 22 - Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha honoured with the Sikh Jewel Award

Indian-origin British Director Gurinder Chadha has been honoured with the Sikh Jewel Award for 2017 for her immense contribution to British cinema. Chadha is well known for her films like Bhaji on the Beach, Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice. Her latest film is “Viceroy’s House”.

Jasminder Singh, OBE, Chairman and founder of Edwardian Hotels, Jagjeet Singh Sohal, a writer, broadcaster ad communications consultant, and Khalsa Aid founded in 1999, also received the Sikh Jewel Awards.