Awards and Honours 2013

Amartya Sen honoured with France’s highest civilian award 

The French president Mr Francois Hollande honoured the Amartya Sen with the France’s highest civilian award, ‘Commandeur de la Legion d’Honneur’ (Legion of Honour) after delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on 15 February 2013.The prestigious honour is the reason for his enormous contribution to the field of economics and for his exchanges with French academic institutions would also be recognised.

Kerala CM Won UN Public Service Award

i. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s Mass Contact Programme has won the prestigious United Nations Public Service Award for 2013.

ii. Chandy’s mass contact programme has been widely lauded as a unique democratic experiment in which the CM of an Indian state met thousands of people directly without any intermediaries.

iii. CM’s Mass Contact Programme bagged the first prize from the Asia-Pacific region, while South Korea came second.

iv. Italy and Slovania won the first and second prize respectively from Europe and North America

Sathwik Karnik Wins National Geographic Bee Contest

i. Sathwik Karnik, an Indian-origin boy from Massachusetts has won this year’s National Geographic Bee contest after gruelling rounds.

ii. National Geographic Bee is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society since 1989.

iii. To clinch the title, Karnik correctly named Chimborazo as the mountain in Ecuador that represents the farthest point from the Earth’s centre.

Asom Ratna Award (posthumously) to Late Smt. Indira Goswami

i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Asom Ratna Award (posthumously) to Late Smt. Indira Goswami

ii. The President also welcomed the recognition, by the Government of Assam, of the contribution of Late Smt. Indira Goswami by awarding her the Asom Ratna Award posthumously.

Srimanta Shankardeva Award to Smt. Sharmila Tagore

i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Srimanta Shankardeva Award for the year 2008 to Smt. Sharmila Tagore on May 13, 2013 at a function at Guwahati, Assam.

ii. The President congratulated Sharmila Tagore for her rich contribution to India’s cultural life.

iii. He said as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and Chairperson of the Indian Film Censor Board, Smt. Sharmila Tagore has used her influence to promote initiatives aimed at bringing positive change in our society.

Ratan Tata receives E&Y lifetime award

Former Tata Group head Ratan Tata is this year’s recipient of the ‘life time achievement award’ instituted by Ernst & Young, for ‘asserting a greater role for Indian entrepreneurs on the global business landscape’.The entrepreneur of the year (2012) award went to Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej.The entrepreneur of the year is the only business award to be based on self-nomination.

Matt Prior wins England Cricketer of the year

i. Matt Prior has been named the England cricketer-of-the-year for 2012/13

ii. The 31-year-old is one of the first names on the team sheet after England captain Alastair Cook and the latest demonstration of his worth to the side came with his match-saving unbeaten hundred in the drawn third Test against New Zealand in Auckland in March.

Malala Yousafzai nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Malala Yousafzai, who was shoot by the Talibans against the girl education was nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, as the deadline expired on 01 February 2013. French, Canadian and Norwegian MPs have all separately nominated Malala.This year’s award will be announced in early October, but speculation was already underway as the deadline for nominations ran out on 1 February .

L. N. Tallur won Skoda Art Prize 2012

On 1 February Karnataka artist L. N. Tallur, whose works depict majorly the underbelly of India, has won the Rs 1 million Skoda Prize 2012 for contemporary art, from among a shortlist of four artists including an artist collective.

Anupam Kher Won Asian Award

i. Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was honoured with the Asian Award.

ii. Anupam Kher won award for his performances in movies like “Silver Linings Playbook“, “Bride & Prejudice“, and “Bend it Like Beckham“.

iii.The 3rd Asian Awards ceremony took place on 16 April 2013 in London.

NOTE: The Asian Awards is the only event in Britain that celebrates achievements of individuals originating from the Asian continent, including those residing in Britain, India, China, Japan, and Singapore

13th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) Awards

Sustainable Development Leadership Award :- The Seychelles President, Mr James Michel has been awarded the Sustainable Development Leadership Award at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit . Georgescu roegen Award : The award is Kozo Mayumi (Professor at Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokushima). The co-winners of the Georgescu-Roegen Award (bioeconomic practice) are Accion Ecologica and Oilwatch.

High Power” bags Yellow Oscar Award

i. Indian short film ‘High Power’, has won the ’Yellow Oscar’ award at the Uranium Film Festival at Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil.

ii. This film (made in 2012) is based on the project- affected people of Tarapur Atomic Power Station. The film depicts the woes of the people displaced by the nuclear power plant built in 1960s.

iii. Pradeep Indulkar is the producer-director of this film accepted the award.

South Sudan Bishop Taban won UN Peace Award

On 9 February A South Sudan’s Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban has won a coveted 2013 UN peace prize ( Sergio Viera de Mello Prize ) in recognition of his efforts to build trust among warring communities in the conflict-torn region.Vieira de Mello, the UN’s former human rights chief, was killed in a bombing in Iraq in 2003. The annual prize in his honour is awarded to a person, community or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to reconciliation of communities or groups in conflict, and whose example can be duplicated elsewhere.

Pandit Ravi Shankar honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award

Sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, which was jointly accepted by his daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones on 9 February 2013.He was posthumously awarded the best world music album trophy at the 55th Grammys, a day after being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award by The Recording Academy.He got “55 Grammy award for his album ‘The Living Room Sessions Part 1’ .

Lydia Davis Won Man Booker Prize

i. American writer Lydia Davis has won the 5th Man Booker International Prize.

ii. A professor of creative writing at the University of Albany, Ms. Davis is also an accomplished translator. Her works include ‘The End of the Story’ and ‘Varieties of Disturbance’.

iii.  Lydia Davis is also known for her work as a translator of French literature and philosophy, most notably of Marcel Proust and Gustave Flaubert.

National e-Governance award for Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh had been conferred upon the prestigious National e-Governance Gold Award for 2012-13, for its ‘Sparsh Abhiyan’ aimed towards the disabled and the aged.

Paul Hansen Won “2012 World Press Photo “ Award

On 15 February Swedish photographer Paul Hansen has won the “2012 World Press Photo award” with a picture of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral.The picture shows a group of men marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City.World Press Photo, one of photojournalism’s most prestigious contests, issued awards in nine categories to 54 photographers of 32 nationalities.

63rd Berlin Film Festival Awards

The awarding ceremony of the 63rd Berlinale ended on 16 February in Berlin.Romanian film “Child’s Pose” won the Golden Bear, the top jury prize awarded to the best film in the Berlin International Film Festival.

Best Film :- Child’s Pose ( Romania )

Best Actor :- Nazif Mujic in “Life of an Iron Picker” (Bosnia/France/Slovenia)

Best Actress :- Paulina Garcia in “Gloria” (Chile/Spain)

Best Director :- David Gordon Green for “Prince Avalanche” (US)

Best ScreenPlay :- Jafar Panahi for “Parde” (Closed Curtain) Iran.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award to Pran 

i. Shri Pran Krishan Sikand, popularly known as Pran, the veteran film actor, has been conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2012.

ii. He is the 44th Dada Saheb Phalke Award Winner.

iii. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl.

Ela Bhatt honoured with Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), was presented with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2011 by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 18 February 2013.Ela Bhatt was honoured for her life time achievements in empowering women, promoting grassroot level entrepreneurship and for her contribution towards promoting equitable development and peace.

Kalam gets Wernher von Braun Memorial award

i. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was conferred with the US-based National Space Society’s (NSS) Wernher von Braun Memorial Award in San Diego.

ii. The award instituted by NSS, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the creation of a space faring civilization

iii. The honour is given to recognise excellence in management and leadership in a space-related project, where the project is significant and successful and the manager commands the loyalty of a strong team that he has created.

iv. Award was conferred on Kalam at the International Space Development Conference.