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Awards and Honors

Yearly Review 2020

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Mother Teresa Memorial Awardees felicitated

Harmony Foundation hosted the Mother

Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice

on December 27, 2020.

The Awards, in its 16th year, is the only

award endorsed by Sister Prema, the

Superior General of the Missionaries of

Charity, the organization started by Mother

Teresa.

The theme for 2020's awards

was ‘Celebrating Compassion In Times Of

Covid ’.

The awardees include Dr Anthony Fauci, etc.

President presents Digital India Awards 2020

President Ram Nath Kovind virtually

conferred the Digital India Awards 2020

through video conferencing on 30 Dec 2020.

Digital India Awards have been

institutionalized under the ambit of the

National Portal of India to honor exemplary

initiatives/practices in Digital-Governance.

The Awards were initially known as Web

Ratna Awards until 2014 and were re-named

Digital India Awards from 2016.

Rahane becomes 1st recipient of Mullagh Medal

Ajinkya Rahane became the first recipient of

the prestigious Mullagh Medal after India

beat Australia in the 2nd Test match in

Melbourne on Dec 29, 2020.

Johnny Mullagh Medal is a tribute to honour

the captain of Australia’s first sporting team

to tour internationally.

Cricket Australia had earlier announced that

the Player of the match of the Boxing Day

Test will be awarded, Mullagh Medal.

Manikchand Award reinstated by MP govt

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced

that the national award in journalism given by

the state government in the name of

Manikchand Vajpayee Mamaji will be

restarted.

He announced this while releasing a postal

stamp on the birth centenary of Manikchand

Vajpayee Mamaji.

Manikchand Vajpayee was a nationalist and

distinguished journalist of India.

Dhoni: Spirit of Cricket Award of The Decade

MS Dhoni, former India captain, won the

International Cricket Council Spirit of Cricket

Award of The Decade.

The wicketkeeper-batsman won the award

for his decision to call back Ian Bell after the

former England batsman was run out in a

bizarre manner during a Test match in 2011.

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan took home

the T20I cricketer of the decade award.

Arun Jaitley's 6ft tall bronze statue unveiled

Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled a six-foot-

tall bronze statue of former union minister

late Arun Jaitley at Arun Jaitley Stadium,

formerly known as the Feroz Shah Kotla

Stadium, on his 68th birth anniversary

on December 28, 2020.

The statue was designed by the Ram Sutar

Art Creations Pvt. Ltd which designed the

world's tallest statue - Statue of Unity of

Sardar Patel in Gujarat.

Kohli wins ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade

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India captain Virat Kohli has won the Sir

Garfield Sobers Award for the ICC Male

Cricketer of the Decade along with the ICC

Men's ODI Cricketer of the Decade.

He scored 66 out of his 70 international

hundreds.

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry won the

ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade

alongside Female ODI Cricketer of the

Decade and T20I Cricketer of the Decade

awards.

Hemant Kumar Pandey gets an award

Senior scientist Hemant Kumar Pandey has

been honoured with DRDO's 'Scientist of the

Year Award' for his contribution in developing

several herbal medicines, including the

popular drug Lukoskin meant for the

treatment of leucoderma.

He has been undertaking research at the

DRDO lab Defence Institute of Bio-Energy

Research (DIBER) at Pithoragarh in

Uttarakhand for the past 25 years.

Bihar wins Digital India Award

The Bihar govt has won the Digital India

Awards, instituted by the central govt, for

innovative steps in e-governance.

It has been awarded for its initiative to

transfer financial assistance directly to the

accounts of beneficiaries during the COVID-

19 pandemic.

More than 21 lakh stranded workers outside

Bihar were provided financial assistance

through the "Bihar Sahayata Mobile App".

MP CM felicitates sportspersons, coaches

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan felicitated

sportspersons, coaches, and sports

personalities with a state-level sports award

for the year 2019 at Bhopal on 28 Dec 2020.

Olympian hockey player Inam-ur-Rehman

was awarded the Life Time Achievement

Award for the year 2019.

14 players were nominated for Eklavya

Award, 10 for Vikram Award, 3 for

Vishwamitra Award and 1 for Life Time

Achievement Award.

ICC announces Men's Teams of the Decade

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has

announced the men's and women's ODI and

T20I teams of the decade.

Former India captain MS Dhoni has been

named the captain of both the men's ODI and

T20I Team of the Decade which also features

the Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

The ICC also announced the Test team of the

decade and named Virat Kohli as the skipper.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay-NIF book prize

Jairam Ramesh and Amit Ahuja were jointly

awarded the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay-

New India Foundation (NIF) Book Prize for

2020 out of a shortlist of six writers.

The 2020 winners will share the prize money

of ₹15 lakhs for their respective books and

will each receive the trophy.

The award was established in 2018, the first

winner of the prize was the political scientist

Milan Vaishnav

Selena posthumously honoured with Grammy's

LAA

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Selena Quintanilla Perez will be

posthumously honoured with the Grammy's

Lifetime Achievement Award.

The beloved Tejana singer was selected as a

recipient of the Recording Academy's award

to recognize her outstanding

accomplishments in the music industry.

The posthumous award will be presented at

the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on Jan. 31,

2021.

21st Century Icon Awards

The 21st Century Icon Award winners have

been announced in London.

The list of winners includes Shankar

Mahadevan, Adolfo Cambiaso, Mohit

Burman, Chris Gayle, Raman Kant, Christian

Levett, Ajeet Singh, to name a few.

The 21st Century Icon Awards celebrate the

success of the next generation by

recognizing dynamic entrepreneurs and

successful individuals, helping them to keep

growing.

NTPC wins CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2020

NTPC Ltd has been conferred “Excellence” in

the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Awards

2020 in the Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) Domain.

NTPC has been honored in the Corporate

Excellence Category, Commendation for

Significant Achievement.

This is the highest award conferred by CII-

ITC in CSR domain.

NTPC is the only PSU to receive the award in

the Corporate Excellence category.

Dharmendra honoured by New Jersey Senate

Bollywood veteran Dharmendra was

honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award

by the State of New Jersey in the United

States, by a Joint Legislative Resolution

passed by the Senate and the General

Assembly.

The award was conferred upon the veteran

actor via a zoom event organised by

Bollywood Insider, a premier publication of

Hindi Cinema in the United States.

ATP Awards 2020

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael

Nadal and Frances Tiafoe were among the

winners of the ATP’s top awards for 2020.

Djokovic was the year-end No. 1 for a record-

equaling sixth time after winning four titles

including a record eighth Australian Open.

Federer was the singles fans' favourite for a

record-extending 18th straight year.

Nadal received the Stefan Edberg

Sportsmanship Award.

Plant-based mock egg gets an award

The innovation of plant-based mock egg by

Prof. Kavya Dashora, Centre for Rural

Development and Technology, IIT Delhi has

secured first prize at Innovate4SDG contest

by ‘UNDP (United Nation Development

Program) Accelerator Lab India’.

The award included a sum of USD 5000.

The development of the mock egg meets the

protein needs of the diet-specific, vegan, and

vegetarian people.

Ratan Tata honoured with a title

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Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata has

been conferred the title of "Global Visionary

of Sustainable Business and Peace" by the

Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of

Commerce (FIICC).

He has been honoured for epitomising "unity,

peace and sustainability".

He is also a recipient of two of India's highest

civilian awards -- Padma Vibhushan and

Padma Bhushan.

'Legion of Merit' awarded to PM Modi

US President Donald Trump has presented

the Legion of Merit award to PM Narendra

Modi.

He has been awarded for his leadership in

elevating the strategic partnership of the two

countries and the emergence of India as a

global power.

India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh

Sandhu, accepted the award on behalf of

him from the US National Security Advisor

Robert O’Brien at the White House.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2020

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton

has been voted BBC Sports Personality of

the Year 2020.

One of F1s all-time great drivers, he equalled

Michael Schumachers record of seven world

titles with his fourth consecutive

championship in 2020.

It is the second time Hamilton has been

crowned Sports Personality of the Year, he

first won the award in 2014.

IIT Roorkee startup wins Award

Recogsquare, a start-up incubated and

funded by the Indian Institute of Technology

(IIT) Roorkee, has won the ‘Most Innovative

Digital Rollout Award’ at the Global Fintech

Innovation Awards.

Recogsquare is an AI SaaS-backed eKYC

and Video KYC platform that streamlines and

automates individual onboarding and ID

verification.

First Filmfare OTT awards 2020

The first-ever Filmfare Awards for OTT

platforms were given out on 19 December

2020.

'Paatal Lok' won the Best Series Award while

the Best Series (Critics) trophy went to team

'The Family Man's kitty.

Jaideep Ahlawat won the award for 'Paatal

Lok' and Manoj Bajpayee took home the Best

Actor in a Drama Series (Critics) award for

'The Family Man'.

Netaji Bose Museum to open soon in Kolkata

The Government of India has announced

to open a museum on Netaji Subhash

Chandra Bose on January 23, 2022.

Historical documents, photos and other

materials would be brought together at one

place for display.

A museum on Bose was proposed to be set

up in Kolkata as a part of commemorations of

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth

anniversary in 2022.

US Space Force members to known as guardians

The Trump administration celebrated the first

birthday of the U.S. Space Force on

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December 18 by announcing that its

members will be known as “guardians.”

Vice President Mike Pence made the

announcement at a celebratory event tracing

the development of the newest branch of the

military over the past year.

PETA India's hottest vegetarian celebrities

Sonu Sood and Shradha Kapoor bagged the

top spot to be named the People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s

hottest star.

While Sood has been named as the hottest

vegetarian celebrity in the male category,

actor Shraddha Kapoor has been given the

same title in the female category.

Past winners of the award include Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bachchan

etc.

2 Indian films selected for Sundance Film Fest

Filmmaker Ajitpal Singh’s “Fire in the

Mountains” and director duo Rintu Thomas

and Sushmit Ghosh’s “Writing with Fire” are

the two Indian films to have been selected for

the Sundance Film Festival 2021.

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be held

from 28 January to 3 February.

The festival is presented by Sundance

Organisation.

A Malik grabs silver at Wrestling World Cup

India’s Anshu Malik won a silver medal in the

57kg category of women’s wrestling at the

Individual World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.

Anshu, who is coming up from the junior

ranks, clinched her third medal at the senior

level from as many tournaments.

She had won a bronze at the Asian

Championship 2020 in New Delhi and silver

at Mattio Pellicone event in Rome in January

2020.

Indian entrepreneur wins an award

An Indian entrepreneur Vidyut Mohan is

among the seven winners of the “Young

Champions of the Earth” 2020 prize.

The prize is given by the UN environment

agency to global change-makers using

innovative ideas and ambitious actions.

Vidyut Mohan is the co-founder of

“Takachar”, a social enterprise enabling

farmers to prevent open burning of their

waste farm residues.

Steel Authority of India Limited awarded

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has

been awarded the Golden Peacock

Environment Management Award for the

year 2020 in the steel sector by the Institute

of Directors.

It has been the winner of this award for

successive two years.

The award encourages corporates to

enhance their environmental performance

and to compete with peers to set

benchmarks.

UNEP Champions of the Earth award

The UN Environment

Programme announced six laureates of the

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2020 Champions of the Earth award, the

UN’s highest environmental honour.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama of Fiji,

honoured in the Policy Leadership category

for his global climate action work and his

commitment to climate-responsive national

development.

ISRO's Sivan awarded Surya Bhushan intl award

President of the ISRO Dr K. Sivan

was awarded the 'Surya Bhushan

International Award' by Suryadatta Group of

Institutes.

A delegation headed by Chordia, founder

president of Suryadatta, visited ISRO's

Bangalore HQ and honoured K Sivan.

Chordia invited Sivan for the inauguration

ceremony of Suryadatta Institute of Scientific

Research on the occasion of the 23rd

foundation day of 'Suryadatta'.

Big Little Book Award for Rajiv & Sen-Gupta

Author Subhadra Sen Gupta and illustrator

Rajiv Eipe have been named winners of the

Big Little Book Award 2020 for their

contribution to children's literature.

Instituted by the Parag initiative of Tata

Trusts, the chosen language of the fifth

edition of the Big Little Book Award was

English.

Previous winners (authors) are Madhuri

Purandare (Marathi), Nabaneeta Dev Sen

(Bengali), etc.

Prize in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib

The UNESCO has decided to launch an

international prize in the field of ‘creative

economy’ in the name of Bangabandhu

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Starting November 2021, the $50,000 award

will be given away once in two years for

global economic initiatives of the youth.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was

the first President of Bangladesh and later

served as the PM from 1971-1975.

Gates honoured with Lifetime Achievement

Award

Bill Gates was conferred with the Life-time

Achievement Award at the TiE Global

Summit 2020 held virtually.

For this award, Bill was selected by a jury

which comprised of founder NR Narayana

Murthy, President and Chairman, Sparta

Group Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande.

Along with the Life-time Achievement Award,

TiE has announced various awards under

various categories as part of its global

summit.

HelpAge India gets '2020 UN Population Award'

NGO HelpAge India received the "2020 UN

Population Award" in the institutional

category for its contribution towards serving

disadvantaged elderly people and raising

awareness on their cause.

The UN Population Award, established by the

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in

1981, recognises contributions in the fields of

population and reproductive health.

Ashraf Patel: Social Entrepreneur of the year

Ashraf Patel has won the Social

Entrepreneur of the Year award instituted by

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the Schwab Foundation and Jubilant Bhartia

Foundation.

Ashraf Patel is the co-founder of Pravah and

ComMutiny Youth Collective.

In partnership with UNICEF ROSA,

she developed an appreciative enquiry tool to

assess the impact of COVID 19 on the lives

of adolescents in 8 South Asian countries.

Dr Carolina Araujo awarded

2020 Ramanujan Prize for Young

Mathematicians has been awarded to Dr.

Carolina Araujo, Mathematician from the

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics

(IMPA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The prize is awarded annually to a

researcher from a developing country funded

by the Dept of Science and Technology of the

Govt of India in association with ICTP

(International Centre for Theoretical

Physics).

Eric Yuan Time's Businessperson of year 2020

CEO of Zoom, video conferencing platform,

Eric Yuan has been named 'Businessperson

of the Year' by TIME for the growth of Zoom

in a pandemic.

He began at WebEx as a coder and soon

became integral to the creation of his video-

conferencing platform.

Zoom’s software was released in 2013,

promoting a free basic service for different-

size organisations along with many paid

levels.

Rahul Dubey named as TIME's 'Heroes of 2020'

Indian-American Rahul Dubey, on 1 June,

had opened the doors of his home in

Washington, DC, to over 70 protesters who

were demonstrating against the killing of

George Floyd.

His action made him a local hero, and he has

now been hailed among the "Heroes of 2020"

by the TIME Magazine, honouring those who

"went above and beyond the call of duty".

Sood tops 50 Asian Celebrities in The World

Indian actor Sonu Sood has been named the

number one South Asian celebrity in the

world.

He has been honoured for his philanthropic

efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 47-year-old Bollywood star beat off

tough global competition to top the ‘50 Asian

Celebrities in The World’ list.

The list was published by UK-based weekly

newspaper Eastern Eye.

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Book Prize 2020

The New India Foundation (NIF) Kamaladevi

Chattopadhyay Book Prize has

been awarded jointly to two people.

Amit Ahuja has been awarded for his book

Mobilizing the Marginalised: Ethnic Parties

without Ethnic Movements.

Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh has been

awarded for A Chequered Brilliance: The

Many Lives of VK Krishna Menon.

The 2020 winners will share the prize money

of Rs 15 lakhs.

Punjab renames five Government Schools

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The Punjab Government has decided to

rename five educational institutions of the

state after those who sacrificed their lives for

the country.

It was decided under its policy of “honouring

the martyrs and prominent departed

personalities”.

Government High School, Chuslewar of

district Tarn Taran has been renamed as

Shaheed Naik Karamjit Singh Sena Medal

Government High School.

Bajrang Punia bags top honour at FICCI Awards

Wrestler Bajrang Punia and shooter Elavenil

Valarivan -- bagged the top honours at the

FICCI India Sports Awards 2020.

The two athletes, who have had an

impressive 2019-20 season, won the

Sportsperson of the Year awards in their

respective categories.

Cricket legend Anil Kumble received the 'Best

Company Promoting Sports (Private Sector)'

award on behalf of his enterprise - Tenvic

Sports.

World Athletics Awards 2020

Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Yulimar

Rojas of Venezuela are the 2020 Male and

Female World Athletes of the Year.

They are their countries' first recipients of the

prestigious athletics award.

Duplantis is the youngest ever winner of the

Male Athlete of the Year Award after twice

breaking the absolute world record (6.17m

and 6.18m) in Feb 2020.

Dr. Samir selected for Senior Scientist Award

Dr. Samir Damare, Principal Scientist and

Head Analytical Services Division, at CSIR-

NIO, Goa has been selected for the Senior

Scientist Award for 2020, by the

Microbiologists Society, India.

It is presented annually to Microbiologists

working in different fields.

He has received this award in recognition of

his research in the field of microbiology,

extremophiles, and biotechnology.

TCS recognised as UK Superbrand

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been

selected as a superbrand in the United

Kingdom for the sixth consecutive year.

The prestigious annual survey recognised

TCS as one of the strongest brands based on

its excellent brand reputation, notable

business performance, etc.

Women make up 28 per cent of employees in

TCS, much higher than the 17 per cent

average in the UK IT sector.

Invest India wins an award

United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD) has declared Invest

India as winner of the 2020 United Nations

Investment Promotion Award.

The award recognizes and celebrates the

outstanding achievements of the Worlds

best-practice investment promotion

agencies.

The evaluation was based on UNCTADs

assessment of work undertaken by 180

national Investment Promotion Agencies.

Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

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The Department of Chemistry at the

University of Cambridge has been named the

Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry until

2050.

Hamied, 84, who was a student at Christs

College, has retained close links with

Cambridge over the past 66 years.

He is the chairman of pharma major Cipla.

KA Hamied, the father of Yusuf Hamied,

started Cipla in Mumbai (1935).

Raj Kamal Jha wins a prize

Journalist-author Raj Kamal Jha has won the

3rd Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for

his novel, "The City and The Sea".

Jha's book, which is based on the December

2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case, was

chosen from ten shortlisted books.

The Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize was

founded in 2018 by US-based publisher

Bundalo and carries a cash prize of USD

5,000.

BVB wins national crossword contest

The team of V Krishna Sai Gayatri and

Nellore Dharshita from Bharatiya Vidya

Bhavan, Hyderabad, won the grand finale of

the 8th edition of the annual national inter-

school CCCC Cryptic Crossword Contest

(CCCC 2020).

The team from Don Bosco Academy, Patna,

secured the second position while The

Mothers International School, New Delhi,

were at the third spot.

Sanjana Sanghi topped IMDb’s list

Sanjana Sanghi has topped IMDb's list of

breakout stars in Indian streaming content

this year.

She was followed by Isha Talwar, Harshita

Gaur, Swastika Mukherjee and Aahana

Kumra.

She was made her debut in a leading role

with Dil Bechara.

Adar Poonawalla named as 'Asian of the Year'

Serum Institute of India's CEO Adar

Poonawalla has been named among six

people as "Asians of the Year" by

Singapore's The Straits Times.

The five others who made to the list are

Chinese researcher Zhang

Yongzhen, Major-General Chen Wei (China),

Dr Ryuichi Morishita (Japan), Ooi Eng Eong

(Singapore) and South Korean businessman

Seo Jung-jin.

Writer Ranendra honoured with an award

Writer and critic in Hindi Ranendra has been

honoured with the Shrilal Shukla Smriti

IFFCO Sahitya Samman for the year 2020 by

Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited

(IFFCO).

The award is given annually to a person who

has made an important contribution in the

field of literature.

This award was started in the year 2011 in

the memory of the storyteller Shrilal Shukla.

Prayagraj Student becomes PETA’s ‘VoTY’

The People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals (PETA) India has named O P Jindal

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Global University’s student Ayan Banerjee as

its 2020 ‘volunteer of the year’.

Ayan, an 18 year old student from Prayagraj,

is a vegan and he joined PETA India’s

volunteer ranks two years ago.

During the pandemic, he encouraged

students to join PETA Youth’s online webinar

on vegan eating.

Gitanjali Rao named as Kid of the Year

Indian-American teenager Gitanjali Rao has

been named as TIME magazine's first-ever

"Kid of the Year".

She has been recognised for her works using

'technology to tackle issues ranging from

contaminated drinking water to opioid

addiction and cyberbullying'.

The 15-year-old from Colorado, US was

selected from 5,000 nominees and was

interviewed by Hollywood actress Angelina

Jolie.

'No Dorai' wins Bangladesh best film award

The Bangladesh Ministry of Information has

announced the National Film Awards for

2019.

Films ‘No Dorai’ and ‘Fagun Haway’ jointly

won the best film award.

Taneem Rahman Anghshu who directed the

film ‘No Dorai’ got the Best Director award.

The film ‘No Dorai’ dominated the awards in

several categories including Best

Cinematography, Best Sound

Recording, and Best Screenplay.

Indian teacher wins Global Teacher Prize

Indian teacher Ranjitsinh Disale was named

as the winner of the Global Teacher Prize

2020.

Disale teaches at the Zilla Parishad Primary

School, Paritewadi, Solapur, in Maharashtra

and has been credited for transforming the

lives of young girls.

His name was announced by English actor,

comedian and writer Stephen Fry at a virtual

ceremony broadcast from the Natural History

Museum in London.

J Abraham named as PETA's Person of the Year

John Abraham has been named the Person

of the Year for 2020 by the People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

John Abraham had sent a letter urging an e-

retailer to stop trading in live animals.

He is pushing for a ban on the use of animals

in circuses and is part of a campaign against

keeping birds in cages.

NDA institutes new award

The National Defence Academy has

instituted a new award for cadets.

It has been named after Lt Ummer Fayaz who

was killed by terrorists in 2017 in the Kashmir

valley.

The winner of 1st Commandant's Motivation

Award - Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz, Rajputana

Rifles Regiment Trophy and Silver Medal for

displaying overall improvement in

performance has been awarded to Cadet

Vijay Bahadur.

Four sites in India get a tag of WHIS

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Four sites in India have received the World

Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) tag in

Dec 2020.

The sites are Cumbum Tank, Kurnool-

Cuddapah Canal, Porumamilla Tank

(Anantharaja Sagaram) in Andhra Pradesh

and 490-year-old Dhamapur Lake in

Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.

The International Commission on Irrigation

and Drainage (ICID) recognises these

structures.

'Shameless' becomes India's entry for Oscar

Writer-director Keith Gomes' short film

'Shameless' has been selected as India's

official entry at the 93rd Oscars in the 'Live

Action Short Film' category.

The short film that had released in April last

year was picked from a list of five films that

included Shaan Vyas' 'Natkhat', Aditya

Kelgaonkar's 'Sound Proof', and other short

films 'Safar' and, 'Trapped'.

CMC principal gets WSO award

Jeyaraj D Pandian, principal, Christian

Medical College, was conferred with the

global stroke services award by the World

Stroke Organisation.

He is the first Asian to receive this award at

the recently concluded joint virtual World

Stroke Congress and European Stroke

Organisation Conference held in Vienna,

Austria.

Dr Pandian is also the current vice-president

of the WSO.

Benjamin Netanyahu nominated for Nobel Prize

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin

Zayed Al Nahyan have been nominated for

the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.

They have been nominated for their roles in

establishing diplomatic ties between their

countries.

It was announced in Sept 2020 that Donald

Trump has been nominated for the Prize

following his efforts to broker peace between

Israel and the UAE.

UMANG Awards unveiled

On the occasion of completion of 3 years of

UMANG App, Union Minister Ravi Shankar

Prasad has unveiled the newly instituted

UMANG Awards for Partner Departments of

Centre and States based on average

transactions in the past 6 months across all

services.

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

was conferred with Platinum Partner Award

for registering more than 25 lakh transactions

on UMANG App.

Jallikattu: India's entry for 2021 Oscars

Malayalam film Jallikattu, directed by Lijo

Jose Pellissery, has been selected as India’s

official entry to the Academy Awards, or the

Oscars for this year.

Jallikattu is the second Malayalam film to be

submitted as the country’s entry to the

Oscars.

The film released in Kerala in October 2019,

Jallikattu was premiered at the 2019 Toronto

International Film Festival.

UP's Pilibhit Tiger Reserve bags an award

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Pilibhit Tiger Reserve has bagged the first-

ever international award, TX2 for the

conservation and preservation of tigers.

It was awarded in recognition of its consistent

conservation efforts and more than doubling

the tiger population from 25 in 2014 to 65 in

2018.

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was the first to receive

the award among 13 tiger range countries.

ICC Men's Player of Decade award

Kohli and veteran off-spinner Ashwin are the

two Indians among seven players nominated

for the most prestigious award ICC Men's

Player of Decade.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli is the only player to

feature in all four Men's categories.

The final winners will be decided on the basis

of the number of votes a player receives.

'Delhi Crime' wins top prize at Emmy Awards

Netflix's India Original series "Delhi Crime",

helmed by Indian-Canadian director Richie

Mehta, has bagged the best drama series

honour at the 48th International Emmy

Awards.

The series deconstructs the case of the 23-

year-old physiotherapy intern who was

abducted and gang-raped in a moving bus on

the night of December 16, 2012.

The show was released in the year 2019.

ET Govt Global Smart Cities Forum 2020

In Nagaland, Kohima Smart City

Development Limited, KSCDL has been

declared Winner at the ET Government

Global Smart Cities Forum 2020.

It has been awarded under the category Best

Digital Initiative of the Year (Technology) for

Kohima City Wifi Phase-I Project.

It has activated Wi-Fi Hotspots in 51 locations

of Kohima along with two smart Kiosks as

part of the Kohima Wi-Fi Phase 1 Project.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Award to Sudha Murty

Well-known philanthropist and prolific writer,

Sudha Murty was awarded the 21st Lal

Bahadur Shastri National Award for

Excellence in Philanthropic work.

She was awarded on 21 November 2020 by

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

Anil Shastri, Chairman of Lal Bahadur Shastri

Institute of Management also participated in

the virtual event.

Doctor of Science to ISRO Chairman

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala

presented Doctor of Science honorary

doctorate upon ISRO Chairman K Sivan on

21 Nov 2020.

The Visvesvaraya Technological University

has conferred the doctorate to him.

Sivan has been involved in many space

programmes undertaken in the country.

Sivan was appointed the chief of ISRO in

January 2018.

N.Shah receives A.V Birla Kalashikhar Puraskar

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has

received the Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikhar

Puraskar at Sangit Kala Kendra Awards.

Two emerging stars, Neel Choudhary and

Irawati Karnik, were awarded the Aditya

Vikram Birla Kalakiran Puraskars.

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The Sangit Kala Kendra’s ‘Aditya Vikram

Birla, Kalashikhar Puraskar’ and the

‘Kalakiran Puraskars’, were instituted in

1996.

UN award: Bhutan’s Queen Mother, HelpAge India

Her Majesty Gyalyum Sangay Choden

Wangchuck, Queen Mother of Bhutan, was

announced as the individual laureate for the

2020 United Nations Population Award.

HelpAge India was announced as the

award’s institutional laureate.

She has founded a volunteer organization

called “Respect, Educate, Nurture and

Empower Women”.

She has also been a Goodwill Ambassador

for UNFPA for more than 20 years.

‘Chhapaak' nominated for AACTA awards

Three Bollywood films – ‘Thappad,’

‘Chhapaak,’ and ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada

Saavdhan,’ – have been nominated

for Australian Academy of Cinema and

Television Arts Awards (AACTA).

All three films revolve around different social

issues and bring out the message of the need

to bring a change in society.

Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Chhapaak,’ is based on the

life of a real acid attack survivor.

Krishna: ‘Best Marine District’ in the country

Krishna district has been selected for the

‘Best Marine District’ award in the country by

the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry

and Dairying.

Kalahandi of Odisha has been announced as

Best Inland District and Nagaon of Assam

has been declared as Best Hilly and North

Eastern District.

Vaisakhi Bio Marine Pvt. Ltd, A.P., has been

announced as one among the three Best

Shrimp Hatcheries.

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ awarded

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

‘Nishank’ was conferred with the Vatayan

Lifetime Achievement Award at a virtual

ceremony on November 21, 2020.

It was conferred to him for writing, poetry and

other literary works.

Vatayan International Awards given by the

Vatayan-UK organization in London honours

poets, writers and artists for their exemplary

work in their respective fields.

Douglas Stuart wins 2020 Booker Prize

New York-based Scottish writer Douglas

Stuart has won the 2020 Booker Prize for his

debut novel ‘Shuggie Bain’.

Stuart has won a cash prize of £50,000.

Dubai-based Indian-origin writer Avni

Doshi was shortlisted among the final six

authors for her debut novel Burnt Sugar.

First awarded in 1969, The Booker Prize is

considered one of the leading prizes for

literary fiction written in English.

20 districts get Swachhata Awards 2020

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh

Shekhawat conferred the Swachhata Awards

2020 on the 20 best performing districts.

They were awarded for contributing towards

ODF (Open Defecation Free) Sustainability

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and ODF Plus goals on World Toilet Day on

19 Nov 2020.

Phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission -

Gramin has been launched early in 2020 and

it focuses on ODF sustainability.

James Dyson's sustainability award

A material created from rotting fruits and

vegetables that generates renewable energy

by absorbing UV light from the sun has

received the first James Dyson's

sustainability award.

The "AuREUS" system uses scientific

principles behind the northern lights.

The "Blue Box", a low-cost biomedical device

that can be used to detect breast cancer at

home, has been declared the International

Winner.

NFDB confers four awards to Assam

The National Fisheries Development Board

has conferred four awards to Assam for the

success in the fishery sector.

Assam has got the best state award under

the category of best hilly and North-Eastern

state.

Assam Apex Cooperative Fish Marketing and

Processing Federation Limited (FISHFED)

has been selected under the category of best

hilly and Northeastern government

organization.

AICTE's Lilavati Award-2020 launched

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

“Nishank” virtually launched Lilavati Award-

2020: AICTE's Innovative education program

to empower women on 17 Nov 2020.

With women empowerment as the theme, the

objective of the award is to create awareness

about issues like sanitation, hygiene, health,

nutrition, literacy, and employment among

women.

The theme of the award is women

empowerment.

Emerald won the prestigious JNA award

Emerald Jewel Industry India Ltd based in

Coimbatore has won the title 'Manufacturer of

the year 2020' awarded by JNA.

The JNA Awards programme is one of the

most prestigious awards programmes in the

jewellery and gemstone trade.

It honours companies who uphold innovation,

excellence in the jewellery industry.

VA Tech WABAG bags an award

VA Tech WABAG has bagged the award for

best research innovation adaptation of new

technology for water conservation from the

Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The company was awarded at the second

edition of National water awards organised

by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, department of

water resources recently.

Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Bags First Prize

The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti awarded the

first prize for water conservation

management to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi

Shrine Board.

In the category of best institution, resident

welfare association and religious

organisation for successful campus usage.

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The award was announced during the two-

day 2nd National Water Awards prize

distribution ceremony organized by the

Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Bangladeshi teen wins children's prize

A teenager in Bangladesh has won the

International Children's Peace Prize for his

efforts to educate young people about

cyberbullying.

Sadat Rahman, 17, was inspired to create a

mobile app to help young people report

online abuse.

Create a mobile app after hearing about a 15-

year-old girl who took her own life because of

bullying.

Udhampur conferred with National Award

In Jammu and Kashmir, District Udhampur

has been conferred with National Award for

water conservation under Jeevika Project

launched by the District Administration.

The project aims to increase the assured

irrigation of Agriculture land and conservation

of water.

The project envisages development of

sustainable ecosystems through water

conservation.

Lakhta Center wins Emporis Skyscraper Award

The annual Emporis Skyscraper Awards has

unveiled ten winning tall projects with the new

Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg, Russia

taking the top spot for 2020.

Standing 1,515 feet tall, the Center is the

tallest building in Russia as well as in Europe

and ranks number 14 worldwide.

Besides its unusual design, the jury has

praised Lakhta Center also for its energy-

efficient technologies.

Binny Bansal India’s youngest philanthropist

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, who has

debuted on the 2020 Hurun India and

EdelGive list of top philanthropists, is also the

youngest on the list.

Among the leading philanthropists in the

country, startup consultancy xto10x

Technologies’ Co-founder Bansal was

ranked 109th.

Donated Rs 5.3 crores during the financial

year 2020 for education as the primary

cause.

S Hareesh wins JCB Prize for Literature

Malayalam author S Hareesh has won the

coveted JCB Prize for Literature 2020 for his

novel, Moustache.

It has been translated in English by Jayasree

Kalathil and published by HarperCollins

India.

Originally published as Meesha, S, the novel

addresses a wide range of issues plaguing

the society at large through the symbol of a

moustache, which withholds connotations of

both gender and caste.

Hariharan bags JC Daniel award

Noted filmmaker Hariharan has been

selected for the JC Daniel Award, the state

government’s highest honour for lifetime

contributions to Malayalam cinema.

The award carries a purse of Rs 5 lakh, a

citation, and a sculpture.

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Some of the notable works that won critical

acclaim include 'Panchagni', 'Oru Vadakkan

Veeragadha', 'Naghakshathangal' and

'Sargam'.

Maria Thattil wins Miss Universe Australia

Indian-origin Maria Thattil was crowned as

the Miss Universe Australia 2020 in the first

virtual pageant event of Australia.

The 16th Edition of beauty pageant Miss

Universe Australia 2020 was held on October

28, 2020, at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins,

Melbourne, Victoria.

First runner-up was bagged by Miné Coetser

of Pretoria, followed by Tash Galgut (Sydney)

as second.

Brookfield Properties wins an award

Brookfield Properties has won the

'Excellence Award' for two of its Indian Green

Building Council (IGBC) platinum-certified IT

parks at the recently held Performance

Challenge for Green Built Environment 2020.

The IT Parks are Candor TechSpace G2,

Sector 21, Gurugram and Candor

TechSpace N1, Sector 62, Noida.

One of its other office campuses is also Gold

certified.

Hockey Mizoram named ‘Best’ HI Member Unit

Hockey Mizoram has been named as the

best Hockey India member unit award for

2019-2020.

This award is a recognition to the efforts the

state has taken in order to develop the sport

and encourage more and more youngsters to

take up hockey as a profession.

Hockey India also awarded Rakesh Kumar

as the best employee.

Ruskin Bond awarded

Ruskin Bond has been conferred the Tata

Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award

for 2020.

He has a substantial body of work, close to

100 books, across genres for children and

adults.

He has also been conferred the Padma Shri

and Padma Bhushan.

The award recognises and salutes sustained

and outstanding contribution to writing and

literature in India.

Second National Water Awards to be conferred

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Dept of Water

Resources, River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation is organising the 2nd National

Water Awards 2019 Distribution Ceremony

on 11-12 Nov 20.

The awards are given to motivate the

individuals/organizations who are doing

commendable work in the field of water

resources conservation and management.

The winners will be given a citation, trophy

and cash prize.

IACG Naravane conferred honorary rank of Gen.

Indian Army chief General M M Naravane

was conferred the honorary rank of General

of the Nepali Army by Nepal's President

Bidya Devi Bhandari at a special ceremony in

Kathmandu.

The tradition, which started in 1950, reflects

the strong ties between the two militaries.

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General Naravane was presented with a

sword, insignia and a certificate of

conferment order by the President.

A Maharashtra villager awarded

The Union Ministry of Water Resources has

declared an award for a villager of Sangli

Sampatrao Pawar for his contribution to the

revitalization of the Agrani River.

He was the first person to come up with the

idea of re-circulating the river which had

disappeared due to mud, soil and bushes.

Agrani is a tributary of Krishna river

originating from Tamkhadi village of Sangli

district.

KL Rahul conferred Ekalavya Award

Indian cricketer KL Rahul was awarded by

the Karnataka Government the Ekalavya

Award.

The Ekalavya Award is given by the

Karnataka state government for outstanding

performance in sports.

Veda Krishnamurthy, the Indian Women

Cricket team’s batting all-rounder, has also

been conferred with the prestigious Ekalavya

Award.

J&K: Tributes paid to Major P Purushottam

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,

in a solemn and poignant ceremony held at

the Public Relations Office, Badami Bagh

(BB) Cantonment in Srinagar, all ranks paid

rich tributes to Late Major P. Purushottam

and five brave soldiers, who were martyred in

action on this day in 1999.

On this occasion, wreaths were laid by all

ranks of the unit at the memorial in Public

Relations Office.

6 women led startups win COVID-19 Shri Shakti

Six women-led startups have won COVID-19

Shri Shakti Challenge organized by MyGov in

collaboration with UN Women.

With an objective to encourage and involve

women-led startups to come up with

innovative solutions that can help in the fight

against COVID19 or solve problems that

impact a large number of women.

Launched the COVID-19 Shri Shakti

Challenge in April 2020.

Writer Paul Zacharia chosen for an award

Noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia has

been selected for 2020 Ezhuthachan

Puraskaram, the Kerala government's

highest literary honour.

The award, named after Ezhuthachan, the

father of the Malayalam language, carries a

cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.

He was chosen for his contribution to

Malayalam literature during the past 5

decades.

A 5-member jury selected him for the award.

Oscar Race With Deepa Mehta’s ‘Funny Boy’

Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” will represent

Canada in the race for best international

feature film at the 2021 Oscars.

Based on the best-selling novel by Shyam

Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s

sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the

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turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up

to the civil war.

The film will premiere on Netflix outside of

Canada on Dec. 10.

First actor to play James Bond, dies at 90

Sir Sean Connery, best known for his

portrayal of the fictional James Bond, has

died. He was 90 years old.

It was his performance as an Irish cop in

Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables that

brought him an Oscar.

He also won two Bafta awards and three

Golden Globes in his long and storied career.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in

2000.

India’s Global Himalayan Expedition wins award

An Indian organisation has won a prestigious

UN award for its efforts to combat climate

change amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) is

among the winners of the 2020 UN Global

Climate Action Award.

GHE is one of the world’s first organisations

using tourism and technology to bring solar

energy to remote communities.

Highest civilian award of Bangladesh conferred

The highest national award of Bangladesh

‘Swadhinata Puraskar 2020’ was conferred

on eight distinguished persons and an

educational institute on 28 Oct 2020.

The award carries a gold medal, certificate

and Taka 5 lakh.

The award is given away to individuals and

institutions ahead of Independence Day on

March 26 every year since 1977.

The Kolkata International Film Festival

The Kolkata International Film Festival

(KIFF), scheduled to be held in November,

has been deferred to January next year due

to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially, the 26th edition of the KIFF, with a

limited number of visitors, was scheduled to

be held from November 5 to 12.

It will now be organised from January 8 to 15,

2021.

Gully Boy wins Best Original Score at AFA14

The 14th Asian Film Awards (“AFA14”) were

announced on 28 October 2020 virtually by

the Asian Film Awards Academy (“AFAA”).

Gully Boy bagged the award for the Best

Original Score at the event.

Bagged the best original music award for

musician Karsh Kale and the Salvage Audio

Collective.

It was India's official entry to Oscars in the

International Feature Film category.

Dr Satish Mishra bags DrTulsi Das Chugh Award

The Orations & Awards Committee of the

National Academy of Medical Sciences

(India), has selected Dr Satish Mishra for

“Dr.Tulsi Das Chugh Award” for 2020.

He will be awarded in recognition of his

research work on Malaria parasite's life cycle

which is a complex process involving two

hosts.

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He is the Principal Scientist, Division of

Molecular Parasitology and Immunology,

CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow.

DBS named Asia's Safest Bank

DBS Bank has been named the 'Safest Bank

in Asia' for the 12th consecutive year by New

York-based trade publication Global Finance.

DBS' rankings as the fourth-safest

commercial bank in the world and 14th safest

bank globally remain unchanged from 2019

and 2018.

DBS was also Global Finance's pick for 'Best

Bank in the World' 2020.

Film on boxer Sarita Devi’s life wins award

A documentary based on boxer Laishram

Sarita Devi’s life titled ‘I Rise’ has won the

‘Best film on Woman, Outstanding

Achievement Award’ at the Tagore

International Film Festival held in West

Bengal.

The 52-min documentary is directed by the

national award-winning filmmaker Borun

Thokchom.

It has already won best film on sports and

best audiography at the 13th Manipur State

Film Awards 2020.

Maharashtra Government presents awards

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh

Koshyari has presented the top awards of a

national level photo competition at Raj

Bhavan in Mumbai.

The photo competition was organized by the

Photographic and Artists Social Foundation.

Sanjay Hadkar, Photographer of Times of

India was presented the 1st prize while

Rajesh Jadhav of Deccan Chronicle won the

2nd prize and Ashpak Killedar won the third

prize.

Om Puri posthumously awarded at IIFF

Late Indian actor Om Puri was honoured with

a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third

edition of the India International Film Festival

of Boston (IIFFB 2020).

The award was received by his wife Nandita

Puri.

The three-day film festival, based in Boston

USA., was held virtually from October 16 to

18.

Centre's National Water Award

Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur and Surajpur districts

have bagged the National Water Award by

the Central government for the revival of

water bodies and water conservation.

This comes under Chief Minister Bhupesh

Baghel's Narwa programme, which ensured

the availability of drinking water,

development of irrigation resources, and

recharge of groundwater.

Young Bangladeshi boy wins a prize

A six-year-old Bangladeshi boy Anzar

Mustaeen Ali won a special prize of USD

1000 for his artwork in the global art

competition organised by the Indian Council

of Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The ICCR had launched a global painting

competition named ‘United Against

CORONA- Express through Art’.

21

It attracted 8000 artwork entries from around

the world.

ISA confers the ISA Solar Awards

The Solar Awards were presented during the

third Assembly of the International Solar

Alliance (ISA), for the first time.

The assembly witnessed the conferment of

the Visvesvaraya award which recognises

the countries with maximum floating solar

capacity in each of the four regions of ISA.

The awards went to Japan for the Asia

Pacific region and the Netherlands for

Europe and other regions.

NTPC ranks first among Indian PSUs

NTPC has featured on the top on the list of

Indian PSUs under 'World's Best Employer

2020', published by Forbes.

The recognition is testimony to the NTPC's

commitment towards inculcating best in class

practices that are thoughtfully designed and

robustly executed.

The final list comprised 750 multinational and

large corporations headquartered in 45

countries.

Award to honour singer Sunanda Patnaik

The Odisha govt has instituted the 'Sunanda

Samman' for excellence in classical music in

the honour of eminent singer Sunanda

Patnaik.

The Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi's award

for classical music will now be named

'Sunanda Samman'.

The 'Sunanda Samman' will have a cash

reward of Rs 2.5 lakh and a citation.

Noted Indian classical singer Sunanda

Patnaik died in January 2020 in Kolkata.

India assisted project in Bhutan wins Award

India-assisted Mangdechhu hydroelectric

project in Bhutan has been awarded the

prestigious Brunel Medal for excellence in

civil engineering by the UK-based Institute of

Civil Engineers.

PM Modi had inaugurated the 720 MW

project on 17 Aug 2019.

The run-of-river power plant, built on the

Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag

district of central Bhutan at a cost of Rs

4,500-crore.

Mandi district bags top position

Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district has

bagged top position among 30 districts of

India in the successful implementation of

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

It has also secured the second position at the

national level for construction of roads under

PMGSY.

6 more districts of Himachal have secured

positions among top 30, which include

Chamba, Shimla, Kangra, Una, Sirmour,

Hamirpur and Solan.

Jajini Varghese named Outstanding Young

Person

Dr Jajini Varghese has been named an

Outstanding Young Person of the World 2020

by a non-profit NGO for her incredible

scientific contributions to diagnosing and

treating breast cancer.

22

She is a UK-based Indian-origin plastic

surgeon.

A Consultant in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery

at Royal Free Hospital and University College

London, she was one of 10 nominations from

the UK for the award.

Mohun Bagan receives I-League trophy

Mohun Bagan received its I-League trophy

on 18 Oct 2020, in the presence of West

Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas and I-

League CEO Sunando Dhar.

Mohun Bagan will also display the trophy

from November 2-5, 2020 for a photo

opportunity by the members of the club and

its supporters.

Mohun Bagan clinched the I-League crown

on March 10, 2020, after defeating Aizawl

FC.

Geetha Manjunath wins an award

Geetha Manjunath, Co-founder and CEO,

Niramai Health Analytix was awarded

'Accenture 'Vaahini' Innovator of the Year' at

the ETPrime Women Leadership Awards

(ETPWLA) 2020.

ETPWLA sets a benchmark of success for

women in business and inspires a million

others to come forward.

The awards recognise women leaders who

have helped create a new and lasting

template for leadership.

Aishwarya Sridhar wins an award in photography

Aishwarya Sridhar became the first Indian to

win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year

award.

The announcement was made on October

13, 2020, at the Natural History Museum in

London.

Aishwarya Sridhar's photo won among

50,000 entries from over 80 countries across

the world.

The image is named 'Lights of passion' and

was captured using one of Canon’s premium

DSLRs -- EOS-1DX Mark II.

Prince William launches £50m Earthshot Prize

Prince William has launched the Earthshot

Prize, which offers £50m in funding for

solutions to the environmental and climate

crises.

The aim of the prize is to provide an incentive

to find solutions to repair the planet over the

next decade.

The prize aims to improve living standards

globally and find environmental solutions that

work on every level through new ways of

thinking.

Rajnath Singh presents Raksha Mantri Trophy

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 16 Oct

2020, presented the Raksha Mantri Trophy

for the Best and Second Best Command

Hospitals of the Armed Forces Medical

Services (AFMS) for the year 2019.

Command Hospital (Air Force) Bengaluru

and Command Hospital (Eastern Command)

Kolkata were judged as the Best and Second

Best Command Hospital for the year 2019

respectively.

Mrs Seema Gupta wins an award

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Mrs. Seema Gupta, Director (Operations),

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited has

been named the winner of GOLD Stevie

Award.

She has been awarded in the Lifetime

Achievement- Business category in the 17th

annual Stevie Awards for Women in

Business.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business

honours women executives, entrepreneurs,

employees, and the companies they

run worldwide.

BoG picks Central Bank of the Year award

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been

honoured at the seventh Central Banking

Awards.

The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison

received the Central Bank of Year award on

behalf of the bank.

The annual Central Banking Awards, now in

their seventh year, recognises excellence in

the central banking community.

The Central Banking Awards trophies are

made of sustainable materials.

Shai Evra bags Sastra Ramanujan prize

The 2020 Sastra Ramanujan Prize will be

awarded to Dr Shai Evra of Princeton

University, USA and the Hebrew University of

Jerusalem, Israel.

The prize is awarded for outstanding

contributions in mathematics by individuals

below 32 years of age.

Shai Evra was chosen for his outstanding

work on high dimensional expanders in the

area of combinatorial and geometric

topology.

GMR Hyderabad Airport receives ACI award

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited

(GHIAL) has received the trophies of the

Airports Council International (ACI), Airport

Service Quality (ASQ) Departures Awards.

It was awarded for being 'Best Airport by Size

and Region' and for 'Best Environment and

Ambience by Size'.

It received these awards in the Asia-Pacific

region in 15-25 Million Passengers Per

Annum (MPPA) category.

Harish Kotecha wins lifetime Achievement award

Indian-origin philanthropist Harish Kotecha

has been awarded the prestigious Sandra

Neese Lifetime Achievement Award.

He was awarded in recognition of his work in

the US for meeting the needs of children and

youth experiencing homelessness.

The lifetime achievement award from the

National Association for the Education of

Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY)

was presented to him on 9 Oct'20.

Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson win Nobel

American economists Paul Milgrom and

Robert Wilson have been awarded the 2020

Nobel Prize in economics.

Milgrom and Wilson, who are professors at

Stanford University in California, were

recognized for theoretical discoveries that

improved how auctions work.

They also designed auction formats for

goods and services that are difficult to sell in

a traditional way, such as radio frequencies.

IN Ships Sahyadri, Kora adjudged as Best

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Fleet Award Function, 2020 was organised to

mark the successful culmination of the

Operational Cycle of the Eastern Fleet of the

Indian Navy, on 10 Oct 2020.

The most coveted trophies of Best Ship were

awarded to INS Sahyadri amongst Capital

ships and INS Kora amongst Corvettes and

similar classes of ships.

Indian Naval Ships Airavat and Kiltan jointly

bagged the ‘Best Spirited Ship’.

8 beaches get Blueflag Certification

All 8 beaches recommended by the

Government have got the coveted

International Blueflag Certification.

No Blueflag nation has ever been awarded

for 8 beaches in a single attempt.

The beaches are Shivrajpur beach in

Dwarka, Ghoghla beach in Diu, Kasarkod

and Padubidri in Karnataka, Kappad in

Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh,

Golden Beach in Odisha and Radhanagar

beach in A&N Islands.

Bryan Stevenson won ‘Alternative Nobel’ Award

An Alabama human rights attorney whose

work for fighting racial injustice was depicted

in the Hollywood movie “Just Mercy” has won

an honour, sometimes referred to as the

“alternative Nobel.”

Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan

Stevenson was named a recipient of the

annual Right Livelihood Award.

The award is presented annually by the

Swedish Right Livelihood Foundation.

World Food Programme wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 was awarded to

the World Food Programme (WFP) for its

efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity

around the globe.

The announcement was made in Oslo by

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Nobel

Committee.

The World Food Program plays a key role in

multilateral cooperation in making food

security an instrument of peace.

Louise Glück wins Nobel Prize for Literature

Nobel Prize for Literature 2020 has been

awarded to the US poet Louise Glück.

Glück, born 1943 in New York, lives in

Massachusetts and is also a professor of

English at Yale University.

She is the fourth woman to win the prize for

literature since 2010, and only the 16th since

the Nobel prizes were first awarded in 1901.

The last American to win was Bob Dylan in

2016.

Nityananda Nayak selected for Sarala Puraskar

Noted Odia poet Nityananda Nayak has been

selected for the prestigious Sarala Puraskar

for his contribution to literature.

The award, constituted by IMFA'S wing

IMPaCT, consists of a citation and a cash

prize of Rs 5 lakh.

Nayak will be conferred with the foremost

literary honour in the state for work of poetry

'Setebelaku Nathiba' which was published in

2017.

Nobel Prize 2020 for Chemistry

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French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier

and American Jennifer A. Doudna have won

the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing a

method of genome editing known as

CRISPR.

The recipients were announced in Stockholm

by Goran Hansson, Secretary General of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The prestigious award comes with a gold

medal and prize money of 10 million krona.

JSPL wins GreenTech CSR India 2020 award

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) was

conferred with GreenTech CSR India 2020

Award for its for outstanding achievements in

promoting healthcare under its CSR

programmes.

The Award was received by Chairperson of

JSPL Foundation, Shallu Jindal, during the

7th CSR India Summit & Expo.

JSPL was declared the winner for this

coveted award in the category of “Promotion

of Health and Healthcare”.

“Man of the Month” safety awards presented

Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South

Central Railway presented “Man of the

Month” safety awards to 45 employees.

He presented the awards during a virtual

safety meeting held from Rail Nilayam,

Secunderabad.

The General Manager held a detailed review

on Business Development Units (BDU’s) and

emphasized on the consistent efforts to

identify the new avenues of freight traffic.

National Start-Up Awards-2020

Two Mumbai-based Start-ups were declared

winners at the first National Start-Up Awards-

2020.

While Taraltech Solutions Private Limited

won the award in the Urban Services

category, Wealthy Therapeutics won the

award in the Health care category.

India is the number three country in the world

in terms of number of Start-ups.

India's 1st awards for startups announced

The government of India announced the

winners of its maiden national awards for

startups and incubators.

A number of startups from 12 different

sectors received the national award from

commerce minister Piyush Goyal.

The winning startup founders got a cash prize

of Rs 5 lakh, the incubators and accelerators

got Rs 15 lakh as the winning amount.

2020 Nobel Prize in Physics announced

Roger Penrose of Britain, Reinhard Genzel of

Germany and Andrea Ghez of the US won

the Nobel Physics Prize FOR 2020.

The physicists were selected for their

discoveries about one of the most exotic

phenomena in the universe, the black hole.

Andrea Ghez is just the fourth woman to

receive the physics prize since 1901 when

the first Nobel prizes were handed out.

IACC presents award to Ratan Tata

The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce

(IACC) presented the lifetime achievement

award to business icon Ratan Tata.

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The IACC leadership bestowed the IACC

Lifetime and Global Excellence Awards to

Tata.

Tata, who grew the revenues for India's

largest conglomerate 'The Tata Group' to

nearly $100 billion by 2011-12, remains an

influential industrialist, philanthropist and

humanitarian to the day.

3 Win Nobel Medicine Prize 2020

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in

medicine for discovering the liver-ravaging

hepatitis C virus.

Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M.

Rice and British-born scientist Michael

Houghton were honoured for their work over

several decades on an illness that still

plagues more than 70 million worldwide and

kills over 400,000 each year.

Swachh Bharat Awards 2020 - I

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh

Shekhawat gave Swachh Bharat Awards -

2020 to States, Districts, Blocks and Village

Panchayats.

The awards were given under the drinking

water and cleanliness categories.

Under the Swachh Sundar Samudayik

Shouchalaya category, Gujarat bagged first

position at state level whereas Tirunelveli in

Tamil Nadu got the Award for cleanliness at

District Level

Swachh Bharat Awards 2020 - II

Khachrod block in Ujjain district in Madhya

Pradesh and Chinnanur Village in Tamil

Nadu bagged the top slot at Gram Panchayat

level.

Under the Samudayik Shouchalaya Abhiyan,

Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh were awarded

best performing states whereas Prayagraj

and Bareilly were the best performing

districts.

In Gandagi Mukth Bharat Mission, Haryana

and Telangana came first.

Kerala receives India Today Healthgiri award

Kerala received India Today's award for the

best state combating COVID-19.

The 'India Today Healthgiri' award was

announced and given by Union health

minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

The award was given considering the

accuracy in granting and spending funds, the

vigilance in bringing down the fatality rate,

good healthcare, and the work of the state

government.

Rana Ayyub to be honoured

Rana Ayyub, the award-winning investigative

journalist will be honoured on 10 October

2020 for her “tenacious reporting on the rise

of authoritarian Hindu nationalism".

She will be honoured by the Muslim Public

Affairs Council, a US-based non-profit that

works to promote pluralism.

In February 2020, she won the 2020 McGill

Medal for journalistic courage.

Vienna wins “Smart City” award from UNESCO

Vienna’s inclusive housing policy has been

recognized by UNESCO.

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UNESCO and Netexplo, a company in the

field of futurology and innovation research,

have awarded ten global cities for their top

performance in certain areas of society.

Vienna received the award for its “innovative,

intelligent, networked and expressly

sustainable” housing policy.

UP govt bags 8 awards

Uttar Pradesh government has bagged 8

awards in Garib Kalyan Rozgar

Abhiyan launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister

on 20th June 2020.

The State has also got overall second rank in

implementation of Gandagi Mukt Bharat

scheme.

The awards will be distributed at a virtual

ceremony by the Minister of State, Ministry of

Jal Shakti on October 2, 2020.

Gan Samragni Lata Mangeshkar award for 2020-

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The Maharashtra government announced the

Gan Samragni Lata Mangeshkar award for

the year 2020-21 to veteran female playback

singer Usha Mangeshkar.

The award is given by the cultural department

of the state government.

Making the announcement, state culture

minister, Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh said the

award include cash prize of five lakh rupees,

a certificate and a memento.

ICC gets recognition for digital initiatives

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has

been recognised for its twin digital initiatives

at the prestigious Leaders in Sports Awards

2019.

The coverage of the women’s T20 World Cup

in Australia and the bold collaboration with

Wimbledon for the One Day in July, both

were recognised as they took home the

awards.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup had 1.1

billion video views on ICC platforms.

Sonu Sood honoured by the UNDP

Sonu Sood has been conferred the

prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian

Action Award by the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP).

He has been awarded for selflessly extending

a helping hand and sending home lakhs of

migrants, helping thousands of stranded

students across geographies abroad,

providing free education and medical

facilities to young children in the COVID-19

pandemic.

I.S. Chahal gets 'COVID Crusader Award-2020'

Iqbal Singh Chahal, IAS, Municipal

Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation

of Greater Mumbai, has become the first

Indian bureaucrat to get 'COVID Crusader

Award-2020'.

The award is given for his contribution in

controlling the novel coronavirus infection in

Mumbai.

The 1989-batch Maharashtra cadre officer

has been conferred the Award by the Indo

American Chamber of Commerce.

Researchers win Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize

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Twelve scientists were given the Shanti

Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, 2020, on the

foundation day of the Council for Scientific

and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Dr Satyendra Datta of IIT-Bombay was

awarded the prize under the ‘Earth,

Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences’

category.

U K Anandvardhanan, also from IIT-Bombay,

was felicitated under the ‘Mathematical

Sciences’ category.

Surat bags UNESCO award

Diamond City Surat has bagged the Netexplo

Smart Cities Award with UNESCO in the

resilience category.

Surat’s mayor will receive the award at the

UNESCO House in Paris, France in March

2021.

Globally, 10 cities were awarded under the

UNESCO - Netexplo Smart Cities

Accelerator Programme.

Surat is the only city from India to have

bagged the award in the resilience category.

15 inspiring school kids received CSIR Award

The Council of Scientific and Industrial

Research celebrated its 79th Foundation Day

on 26 Sep.

The CSIR Innovation Awards for School

Children were announced for 15 incredible

children of India who have developed apps,

devices or products, or come up with

scientific ideas that can help the country.

The children come from a wide range of

backgrounds, from both government and

private schools.

Noted literary critic G. S. Amur passes away

Noted literary critic G. S. Amur, passed away.

One week before his demise, Karnataka

State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)

announced this year’s Nrupatunga award for

lifetime’s work in literary criticism to G S

Amur.

He was awarded the Kendra Sahitya

Akademi award in 1996 and the highest

literary award of Kannada, the Pampa award

in 2006.

Manipur college receives two awards

The National Service Scheme Award 2018-

19 was conferred by the President of India on

24 Sept 2020.

In Manipur, a college located in a remote hill

area has received two awards including Best

Program Officer Award.

Sister Sweta William Parmar, Program

Officer NSS Unit of Don Bosco College

Maram Centre of Senapati District Manipur

has been conferred the Award in the category

of Program Officer.

Kerala Tourism bags PATA Grand Award

Kerala Tourism’s internationally acclaimed

‘Human by Nature’ campaign has bagged the

prestigious PATA Grand Award 2020 for

marketing.

The award, one of the three PATA grand

awards, will give a stimulus to the tourism

industry in the State that is in a crisis for over

six months due to the pandemic.

The awards were announced at a virtual

presentation ceremony in Beijing.

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Gurpreet and Sanju declared winners of AIFF

Indian men’s team goalkeeper Gurpreet

Singh Sandhu and women’s squad’s mid-

fielder Sanju were declared the winners of

the All India Football Federation (AIFF)

Footballer of the Year awards for the 2019-

20 season.

This is the first time Gurpreet has received

the award, and in the process he became the

second goalkeeper after Subrata Paul in

2009 to be named the AIFF Player of the

Year.

Indian-American-led team wins NIH prize

The Cornell researchers' team led by

Saurabh Mehta was awarded the National

Institutes of Health Technology Accelerator

Challenge prize.

It has been awarded for developing a quick,

non-invasive, mobile phone-based system.

It detects infectious diseases, inflammation

and nutritional deficiencies in saliva.

The prize encourages the development of

new, non-invasive diagnostic technologies.

Akkitham conferred with Jnanpith Award

Renowned Malayalam poet Akkitham

Achuthan Namboothiri was conferred with

the Jnanpith award at Kumaranellur on 24

Sept 2020.

Akkitham is the 6th Malayalam writer to

receive the award.

The award includes a cash prize of Rs 11

lakh and a bronze sculpture of Goddess

Saraswati.

He was also honoured with Padma Shri, the

fourth highest civilian award of the

Government of India in 2017.

Nobel Prize winners to get $110,000 more

Winners of the prestigious Nobel Prize for

2020 will receive an extra 1 million crowns

($110,000).

The prize amount has varied over time,

starting at 150,000 crowns and reaching 1

million crowns in 1981.

The value rose sharply in the 1980s and

1990s, jumping to 9 million crowns in 2000

and 10 million a year later.

GAIL wins Leader Award

GAIL India Ltd has won the leader award in

mega large business process sector category

in the 11th edition of Frost & Sullivan and The

Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

Sustainability 4.0 Awards 2020.

The award recognises corporates in

sustainable development practices that

provide a measurable and verifiable

framework for sustainability.

Odisha CM dedicates AZ Award to farmers

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has dedicated

the prestigious AZ Awards-2020 for Odisha's

architectural marvel Krushi Bhavan, to

farmers and artisans of the state.

Bhubaneswar based Krushi Bhawan building

was adjudged as the 'People's Choice

Winner' at the AZ Awards 2020 in Social

Good Category.

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The Krushi Bhawan was the only project from

India at the globally recognized prestigious

award.

President Ram Nath Kovind to confer NSS

Awards

President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the

National Service Scheme, NSS Awards for

the year 2018-19 on 24 Sept 2020 from

Rashtrapati Bhawan through virtual mode.

The NSS Award for the year 2018-19 will be

given to 42 awardees.

They will be awarded in 3 different

categories- University or 2 Council, NSS

Units and their Programme Officers and NSS

Volunteers.

Raaj Sah honors Father Camille Bulcke

Father Camille Bulcke, a Belgium-born

Jesuit, and a pre-eminent Hindi scholar, was

honored by Professor Raaj Sah.

He gifted a plaque to Father Bulcke's

birthplace of Ramskapelle, a village in

Knokke-Heist.

After arriving in India, Father Bulcke spent

most of his life at St Xavier's College, Ranchi.

His contributions include the epics of Lord

Rama, and the peerlessness of Goswami

Tulsidas.

Kalasagar awards 2020 announced

The 11th Kalasagar awards for exemplary

contribution in the field of traditional

performing arts for 2020 have been

announced.

Kalasagar awards are given in honour of

artists in the field of Kathakali,

Bharathanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi,

Ottanthullal, Chakyarkoothu, Koodiyattam,

Thayambaka and Panchavadyam.

The awards will be presented on October 14

at Kunnamkulam Badhani School Palace.

‘Schitt’s Creek’ sets an Emmy Record

In its sixth and final season, the Canadian

comedy ‘Schitt’s Creek’ set Emmy Record.

It got seven primetime awards and nine

Emmys during the ceremony.

“Schitt’s Creek,” created by Eugene and

Daniel Levy, swept the comedy category at

the Emmy Awards.

It was 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Emmys 2020: 24-Year-Old Zendaya Makes History

American actor and singer Zendaya has won

an Emmy 2020 for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress

in a Drama Series’ at the age of 24.

She has created a history by becoming the

youngest female actor to win the prestigious

award in the leading role in drama series.

Zendaya has won the accolade for her

portrayal of Rue Bennett in HBO’s drama

series Euphoria.

PM Narendra Modi awarded Ig Nobel Prize 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been

awarded the Ig Nobel Prize 2020 for Medical

Education.

Modi was awarded the prize for "using the

COVID-19 pandemic to teach the world that

politicians can have a more immediate effect

on life and death than scientists and doctors

can".

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The Ig Nobel Prize is a satirical and parody

award given out by a magazine Improbable

Research every year since 1991.

Margaret Atwood awarded

Margaret Atwood has won the 2020 Dayton

Literary Peace Prize's lifetime achievement

award.

The award celebrates literature's power to

foster peace, social justice and global

understanding.

Atwood is a prolific writer of poetry, fiction,

nonfiction, essays, comic books.

Atwood published her first book of poetry,

Double Persephone, in 1961.

Chef Vikas Khanna to be honoured

Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna will be

honoured with the prestigious 2020 Asia

Game Changer Award.

He will be awarded for feeding millions

across India amid the COVID-19 pandemic

through a massive food distribution drive that

he coordinated from thousands of miles away

in his Manhattan home.

Khanna is the only Indian among the six

honourees named by the leading

organisation.

Second Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

‘Nishank’ virtually conferred Second Utkrisht

Sansthan Vishwakarma Award to 34

institutions in 14 categories.

It was awarded to the Institutions under

AICTE on Vishwakarma Divas Celebration.

AICTE under its Utkrisht Sansthan

Vishwakarma Award (USVA) 2020 has

proposed the theme of the year as “INDIA

FIGHTS CORONA”.

Rome's Fiumicino Airport awarded

Rome's Fiumicino Airport has become the

first airport in the world to earn "the COVID-

19 5-Star Airport Rating" from Skytrax, an

international airport industry rating body.

Fiumicino Airport (FCO), also known as

Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, is the

busiest airport in Italy.

On September 1, 2020, the airport opened a

7,000-square-foot COVID testing centre.

Mira Nair honoured with TIFF Tribute Award

Mira Nair received the Jeff Skoll Award for

Impact Media at a remotely conducted TIFF

Tribute Awards ceremony.

The presentation of the award to Nair was

initiated by Tabu, star of "A Suitable Boy" as

well as the director's critically acclaimed 2006

drama "The Namesake".

Two episodes of her six-part television series

"A Suitable Boy" will close the 45th Toronto

International Film Festival.

Aditya Puri conferred an Award

Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank has been

conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award

by Euromoney Awards of Excellence 2020.

He has been recognised for his skills in

building a world-class Indian bank at a time

where there were no similar institutions in

existence.

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Euromoney's Awards for Excellence were

established in 1992 and were the first of their

kind in the global banking industry.

AICTE Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Awards 2020

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

Nishank presented the 1st-ever AICTE

Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Awards 2020 to

12 faculty members of AICTE approved

institutes.

They were awarded on Engineers Day on 15

Sept 2020.

Visvesvaraya was one of the most eminent

Engineers and Statesmen of India who was

awarded the highest civilian award ‘Bharat

Ratna’ in 1955 for his indispensable

contribution.

Chaitanya Tamhane bags Best Screenplay award

Filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane’s The

Disciple won the Best Screenplay award at

Venice International Film Festival during the

closing ceremony held on 12 Sept 2020.

This is the second award the film got at the

festival.

Earlier, it was honoured with the International

Critics’ Prize awarded by FIPRESCI.

Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland won the

prestigious Golden Lion award at the festival.

Bengal bags WSIS award for a scheme

After Kanyashree scheme, another West

Bengal government project has received a

global prize.

The World Summit on the Information Society

(WSIS) has handed over the winner prize

2020 to the state government for Sabuj Sathi

project through a virtual ceremony.

Sabuj Sathi had contested with 800 projects

from across the globe to become the “winner”

under the e-government category.

Mathematician wins richest prize in academia

A mathematician who tamed a nightmarish

family of equations that behave so badly they

make no sense has won the most lucrative

prize in academia.

Martin Hairer, an Austrian-British researcher

at Imperial College London, is the winner of

the 2021 Breakthrough prize for

mathematics.

It is an annual $3m (£2.3m) award that has

come to rival the Nobels in terms of kudos

and prestige.

CM KCR presents Kaloji literary award

Chief Minister of Telangana K

Chandrashekhar Rao presented the Kaloji

Narayan Rao Literary award to noted writer

and poet Rama Chandramouli at Pragathi

Bhavan.

Terming Chandramouli as the right choice for

the award, the Chief Minister handed over a

cash award for Rs 1,01,116 and honoured

him by offering a shawl.

Government's advisor KV Ramanachary and

chief secretary Somesh were also present

Ramesh Pokhriyal confers CBSE Teachers Award

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

Nishank felicitated and conferred CBSE

Teachers Award to 38 teachers and

33

principals of CBSE affiliated schools during

an online ceremony in New Delhi.

These awards were presented for the year

2019-20 in honour of the teachers and

principals for their valuable contribution

towards improving school education,

innovation and dedication.

Doorstep Banking Services launched

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

inaugurated Doorstep Banking Services by

Public Sector Banks on 9 Sept 2020.

She also participated in the awards

ceremony to felicitate best performing banks

on EASE Banking Reforms Index.

Bank of Baroda, SBI, and Oriental Bank of

Commerce were felicitated for being the top

3 in the ‘Top Performing Banks’ category

according to the EASE 2.0 Index Results.

Kevin, Beth win PFA Player of the Year awards

Kevin De Bruyne was named men’s Player of

the Year while Chelsea forward Bethany

England won the women’s award.

De Bruyne scored 13 Premier League goals

last season and also equalled the league

record with 20 assists which helped him

become the first Manchester City player to

win the award.

Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold was named the

Young Player of the Year.

David awarded with Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

Manmohan Singh conferred the Indira

Gandhi Peace Prize on British broadcaster

David Attenborough.

David is well known for his prodigious

creativity in educating the humankind with

brilliant films and books about the natural

world.

The award was instituted in the memory of

Indira Gandhi by a trust in her name in 1986

and consists of a monetary award of Rs 25

lakh along with a citation.

TN CM presents Dr. Radhakrishnan Awards

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami on

7 Sept 2020 handed over the Dr

Radhakrishnan Award to 15 best teachers

selected from Chennai district.

This was a part of the National Teachers’ Day

celebrations organised by the School

Education Dept.

The award carries a medal and a cash prize

of ₹10,000.

A total of 375 teachers were selected for the

award from across Tamil Nadu for the year

2020.

National Teachers' Awards conferred

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the

National Teachers' Awards to 47 teachers

from across the country on 5 Sept 2020.

They were awarded for their contribution in

developing innovative methods of teaching.

The awards are given on Teachers' Day to

honor those who through their commitment

have not only improved the quality of school

education but also enriched the lives of their

students.

NTPC wins National Management Games 2020

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NTPC has won AIMA-Chanakya National

Management Games 2020.

The victory was also significant since NTPC

won the prestigious National Management

Games for the first time in five years.

The team from NTPC Vallur, Tamil Nadu

achieved the feat of being crowned the

national champion after competing against

teams from 112 organisations from different

parts of the country.

ABB India's Factory to be awarded by IGBC

ABB India has won a gold certification by the

Indian Green Building Council for its

environmentally-friendly smart factory.

By this, it became the first to be certified as a

green building within the Nashik industrial

area which houses about 10,000 factories

across various industries.

The IGBC green factory buildings is the first

rating programme developed in India for the

industrial sector.

President honours 3 RPF personnel

3 Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel

were honoured by President Ram Nath

Kovind with Jeevan Raksha Medals.

Late Jaghir Singh, constable, Northern

Railway, was posthumously awarded the

Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Shiv Charan Singh, constable, Western

Railway was awarded the Uttam Jeevan

Raksha Padak.

Mukesh Kumar Meena was also awarded the

Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra awarded

In a first-of-its-kind virtual summit, World

Digital Awards announced its first edition

awardees in India on 1st September 2020.

Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Mukesh

Ambani and NR Narayana Murthy were

conferred the Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Special Recognition Awards were conferred

to Psychologist Dr Jawahar Surisetti; Debjani

Ghosh; Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna;

Actor Sonu Sood, etc.

AFSCB conferred with an award

Air Force Sports Control Board has

been conferred with ‘Rashtriya Khel

Protsahan Puruskar 2020’.

It was awarded for the outstanding

contribution in helping sportsperson to excel

in their respective disciplines and implement

robust sports welfare measures.

The award is for sustained efforts towards

encouragement and promotion of sports in

the country and IAF in particular.

Hyderabad International Airport wins an award

The Hyderabad International Airport has won

the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) -

Godrej Green Business Centre (GBC)

'National Energy Leader' and 'Excellent

Energy Efficient Unit' award.

The Hyderabad Airport was awarded at the

21st National Awards for 'Excellence in

Energy Management', during the 19th edition

of 'Energy Efficiency Summit', held from

August 6 - 28, 2020.

French star Juliette Binoche to be honoured

35

The 16th edition of annual film gala will be

held from September 24 to October 4, 2020.

Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche will

be the first French artist to receive the award.

She will be presented the honour on

September 30, 2020, at a presentation ahead

of a screening of her most recent film, the

French-language comedy "How to Be a Good

Wife".

Ishika Chaudhary receives Eklavya Award

Indian Junior Women's Hockey team's Ishika

Chaudhary has been awarded the Eklavya

Award by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Chaudhary started playing the sport at the

age of 11 in 2011 and graduated from the

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy.

In 2013, she made it to Madhya Pradesh

Hockey Academy's Junior team which took

part in the third Hockey India Junior National

Championship held in Ranchi.

Hike in prize money of National Sports Awards

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has officially

announced a massive hike in the prize

money in four of the seven categories of the

National Sports and Adventure Awards.

The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna Award has been increased to a

whopping ₹25 lakh from the previous amount

of ₹7.5 lakh.

Arjuna Award has been enhanced to ₹15 lakh

from ₹5 lakh.

A teacher selected for National Award

For the first time, a teacher of Eklavya Model

Residential Schools (EMRS) has been

selected for the National Award to Teachers

(NAT).

Sudha Painuli, a vice-principal of EMRS-

Kalsi, Dehradun, Uttarakhand was selected

for the award.

She made it to the list of 47 outstanding

teachers selected after a three-stage

rigorous online transparent process.

NLCIL wins Swachhta Hi Seva award

PSU NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) has bagged the

‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ 2019 award, for

transforming Neyveli township into a plastic-

free, clean and green campus.

The award was conferred to three units of the

PSU – Township administration office (First

rank), Thermal Power Station -I (second

rank) and Mines Sub-stores (third rank).

NLCIL implemented the Swachhta Hi Seva

programme in two phases.

Marieke Lucas wins International Booker

Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld has

won the 2020 International Booker prize for

debut novel 'The Discomfort of Evening', a

story of childhood grief.

She is the youngest author to win the

prestigious prize.

Rijneveld shares the prize of 50,000 pounds,

about $66,000, with Michele Hutchison, who

translated it from Dutch.

Rijneveld’s book was a bestseller in the

Netherlands in 2018.

Telangana wins Technology Sabha award

B-PoST (Blockchain-Protection of StreeNidhi

Transactions), Telangana's blockchain-

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based solution, has won the Indian Express

Technology Sabha Award 2020.

Director of Emerging Technologies Rama

Devi received the award on behalf of the

State govt.

Technology Sabha Awards are given to govt

departments that demonstrate the innovative

use of technology for distinct benefits to the

stakeholders.

Rossell Techsys receives an award

Rossell Techsys has been named a global

Supplier of the Year by aerospace major

Boeing.

The award in the Production Category is for

being instrumental in the design,

modification, or production of a product, for

2019.

Rossell Techsys is based in Bengaluru, India,

and supplies engineering, manufacturing,

test, and product support solutions to the

global aerospace and defence OEMs.

Awards for Excellence in Public Administration

PM Narendra Modi will confer the PM’s

Awards for Excellence in Public

Administration on 31st October 2020.

The awards will be conferred at the Statue of

Unity in Gujarat.

The PM's Awards portal was launched by

Minister of State in PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh

on 17th July 2020.

Almost 702 districts have registered and

participated in the PM's Awards for

Excellence in Public Administration 2020.

Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash wins a title

Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash, a 21-year-old

boy of Hyderabad has won the title ‘World’s

Fastest Human Calculator’.

He won the first-ever gold for India in Mental

Calculation World Championship at Mind

Sports Olympiad (MSO).

The championship was held in London on

Independence Day, August 15.

He also holds world records and 50 Limca

records for being the fastest human

calculator in the world.

US embassy, WISCOMP honour individuals

The US Embassy in India in partnership with

Women in Security, Conflict Management

and Peace (WISCOMP) on 24 Aug 2020 held

a virtual award ceremony.

It honored people across India for their efforts

in helping make educational spaces safe and

inclusive for all students.

The Sahaas Award ceremony honored the

individuals who have shown exemplary

courage to address gender discrimination.

CAS Appreciation to 51 SAG of NSGs

Army Chief General Manoj Naravane

conferred the Chief of Army Staff Unit

Appreciation to 51 Special Action Group of

the National Security Guards.

It was conferred in recognition of the Group’s

outstanding achievements in combating

terrorism.

The group draws 100% of its manpower from

the Indian Army and has established itself as

an elite Counter-Terrorist Force earning

many Gallantry Awards.

'Abhilash' receives International Award

37

A short film based on lockdown titled

'Abhilash' has bagged an International Award

at the 'Bengal Lockdown online film Festival'

in the Best Social Message Film category.

The festival, organized under the supervision

of organizer Subhamapurva, witnessed

contest from around 135 films from around

the world.

Out of these titles, only 50 titles from 20

countries were officially nominated.

Wabag wins prestigious Global Water Award

Water technology major Va Tech Wabag has

won the Global Water Award for its 45 million

liters a day tertiary treatment reverse

osmosis (TTRO) plant at Koyambedu in

Chennai.

The plant bagged the distinction award under

the 'wastewater project of the year' category.

The TTRO plant is one of the largest and

technologically most advanced water reuse

plants in India.

Army Sports Institute selected for an award

Pune-based Army Sports Institute (ASI) has

been selected for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan

Puraskar for 2020.

It will be awarded under the category

‘Identification and Nurturing of Budding and

Young Talent’.

This award is given to corporate entities

- private as well as public sectors - and

individuals who have played a visible role in

the area of sports promotion and

development.

A teacher from Ladakh selected for an award

A govt school teacher from Ladakh has been

selected for the National Awards to

Teachers, 2020.

Head Teacher of Middle School Taknak Sakti

in Kharu block of Leh - Ladakh, Sonam

Gyaltsen, has been selected for the

prestigious National award.

Mr. Sonam Gyaltson made all efforts to build

confidence among the villagers about

government schools and facilitate the

students at the school.

Chitkara University students won an award

Chitkara University Students have won the

Gandhian Young Technological Innovation

(GYTI) Award -2020 in the field of Agricultural

Innovation.

It has become the only non IIT, NIT, and IISc

institution to make it to the award list.

The award was presented to the team

MOKSH from Chitkara University for the

successful commercialization of the on-field

Rice Stubble management machine.

Anand Mahindra to receive Award from USISPF

US-India Strategic Partnership Forum will

honour Mahindra group Chairman Anand

Mahindra and Adobe Chairman Shantanu

Narayen with its 2020 Leadership Awards.

They will be awarded in recognition of their

exemplary vision towards promoting US-

India bilateral ties.

The award would be presented during the

third Annual Leadership Summit, titled “US-

India Week: Navigating New Challenges".

National Sports Awards 2020 announced

38

Government announced the National Sports

Awards 2020 on 22 Aug 2020.

Rohit Sharma, Mariyappan Thangavelu,

Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat are among

others who will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna Award.

In Life-Time Category, Dronacharya Award

will be given to Dharmendra Tiwary for

Archery, Purushotham Rai for Athletics, Shiv

Singh for Boxing, Romesh Pathania for

Hockey, among others.

Abhijit Paul's 'Am I' wins first prize

A Short film titled 'Am I?' directed by Abhijit

Paul won the 1st prize in the Online Patriotic

Short Film Contest organized by the Ministry

of Information and Broadcasting and National

Film Development Corporation, NFDC.

He also won a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

'Ab India Banega Bharat' directed by Debojo

Sanjiv got the 2nd prize and '10 Rupees'

directed by Yuvraj Gokul got the 3rd prize.

Chhattisgarh: Cleanest state of country

Chhattisgarh has been declared as the

cleanest state of the country as per the

Cleanliness Survey 2020 organized by Union

Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Chhattisgarh has bagged 14 national awards

in various categories.

The state had taken many initiatives to

achieve this success.

100% door to door garbage collection was

ensured in the state.

Rajendra S Pawar felicitated with an award

Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman & Co-Founder,

NIIT Group & Founder, NIIT University was

felicitated with the 'Lifetime Achievement

Award' at Dataquest ICT Awards 2019 on 18

August 2020.

The award was presented during a Special

Webinar on '40 Years of ICT Industry and the

Next 10 Years'.

He was felicitated with the award for his

immense contribution in shaping the growth

of the Indian IT sector.

Swachh Survekshan 2020 results announced

The government announced the results of the

annual survey of cleanliness, Swachh

Survekshan 2020 on 20 August 2020.

Indore once again bagged the top spot as the

cleanest city of India, the fourth time in a row.

The second and third positions in the

category were grabbed by Surat and Navi

Mumbai respectively.

This is the fifth edition of the annual

cleanliness survey of the country.

UST Global wins CSR Award

UST Global, a leading digital transformation

solutions company, has won the Project

Management Institute Kerala (PMIK)'s PMI

Kerala Community Project of the Year Award

for 2020.

It was awarded for its 'Adopt a School

initiative'.

Under this, the company adopts and supports

Government or Government-aided schools in

the rural and financially backward

communities.

Dwijing Festival wins 5 awards

39

The 4th edition of the Dwijing Festival with

over 15 lakh tourists attending the 12-day

event has emerged as the winner in 5

categories at the prestigious WOW Awards

Asia, 2020.

It is an annual river festival celebrated in

Assam with various colourful events.

It is organized with the vision to encourage

tourism, boost the will of the promising

indigenous talent, and promote local

products.

Ganesh Vilas awarded Star 2020 Certificate

Solapur based social activist Ganesh Vilas

Lengare has been awarded the Star 2020

Certificate by the World Book of Records,

London.

The organisation, found in 2017, honours

personalities for their outstanding

contribution towards humanity and universal

peace.

Recognizing his efforts to help the needy

during the lockdown, Ganesh Lengare has

been awarded the Star 2020 e-citation

certificate.

IIT Madras wins first place in Atal ranking

IIT Madras has retained its position as the top

‘innovative educational institution’ in the

country for the second consecutive year.

Atal Ranking of institutions on Innovation

Achievements (ARIIA) was announced on 18

Aug 2020 by Vice President M. Venkaiah

Naidu.

ARIIA was launched in 2019 by the

Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education

(formerly Ministry of HRD).

Five nominated for Khel Ratna

5 names have been nominated for Rajiv

Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, while 29 were

recommended for Arjuna, by the selection

committee on 18 Aug 2020.

Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat, Rani Rampal,

Manika Batra and T Mariyappan were

recommended for the highest sporting

honour of the country.

Ishant Sharma, Atanu Das, Dutee Chand,

Manish Kaushik, Manu Bhaker, etc. are

among the 29 in fray for Arjuna.

Physician Ravi Solanki won an award

An Indian-origin physician is among 19

winners of the UK’s Royal Academy of

Engineering President’s Special Awards for

Pandemic Service.

Ravi Solanki, a physician working on

neurodegenerative diseases, along with

Raymond Siems, an engineer working in

machine learning, were awarded for their

volunteer work to help build a website for a

new National Health Service (NHS) charity

HEROES.

Sivakumar Surampudi bags Gramodaya award

Sivakumar Surampudi, Group Head of Agri

and IT Businesses of ITC Ltd, is among the

winners of the Gramodaya Bandhu Mitra

Puraskaras.

The awards were constituted to mark the

150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The other winners include Padmasri SP

Verma, Vilas Shinde, Koosam Rajamouli,

Brig Pogula Ganesham, and Govinda Rajulu

Chintala, Chairman of the Nabard.

40

926 Police personnel awarded Medals

A total of 926 Police personnel have been

awarded Medals on the occasion of

Independence Day.

Police Medals for Gallantry have been

awarded to 215 police personnel for their

conspicuous gallant action.

President’s Police Medals for Distinguished

Service has been awarded to 80 police

personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious

Service to 631 police personnel.

84 gallantry awards for defence personnel

President Ram Nath Kovind has approved 84

gallantry awards for defence personnel,

including 9 Shaurya Chakra.

The Kirti Chakra has been posthumously

awarded to Abdul Rashid Kalas, Head

Constable, Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Those from the Army who have been

awarded the Shaurya Chakra are Lt.Col.

Krishan Singh Rawat from the elite Special

Forces, Major Anil Urs and Havildar Alok

Kumar Dubey.

Gagan Arora wins "CEO Of The Year" Award

Gagan Arora was recently named as "CEO of

the Year - 2020" by Indian Achievers Forum

India.

He is the CEO & Strategic Growth Leader of

Vertex Global Services.

The awards program recognizes

entrepreneurs who demonstrate

extraordinary success and excellence in

areas such as innovation, social, professional

achievements, etc.

Medal for excellence awarded to 121 policemen

121 police personnel have been awarded the

Union home ministry’s “Medal for Excellence

in Investigation” for the year 2020.

Out of these, 15 awardees are from the

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 10

each are from Madhya Pradesh and

Maharashtra Police, eight from Uttar Pradesh

Police and seven each from Kerala and West

Bengal Police.

The list also includes 21 women police

officers.

Sudarsan Sahoo presented Dharmapada award

In recognition of his Life Time Contribution to

Art, Dharmapada Award was presented to

Padma Shri awardee sculptor Sudarshan

Sahoo by Odisha Lalit Kala Academy.

He was given a Plaque, Angabastra along

with a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.

Sahoo also presented the pictorial Book on

his life 'Sudarshan Sahoo - a Legacy Set in

Stone' to Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister of

Odia Literature and Culture.

FSSAI's Eat Right India movement wins a prize

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of

India (FSSAI) has been awarded the Food

System Vision Prize for its 'Eat Right India'

movement's vision.

The prize is for organizations across the

globe that have developed an inspiring vision

of the regenerative and nourishing food

system that they aspire to create by the year

2050.

Its vision aims to create a culture of safe and

sustainable food.

41

President honours 202 freedom fighters

President Ram Nath Kovind has honoured

and felicitated 202 freedom fighters from

across the country on the occasion of 78th

Quit India Day.

Every year, the President hosts a reception

at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the anniversary of

the Quit India Movement to honour freedom

fighters.

He has requested State and UT Govts to

honour and felicitate freedom fighters with a

shawl and angavastram.

Naandi Foundation chosen for Food Vision Prize

US-based Rockefeller Foundation has

selected Naandi Foundation, an NGO, as

one of the top 10 visionaries in the world for

the Food Vision 2050 Prize.

The prize money of USD 200,000 was

announced in New York for it.

The Rockefeller Foundation award

recognised the application of the

'Arakunomics' model in the regions of Araku,

Wardha and New Delhi.

Dipankar Ghose bags Prem Bhatia award 2020

The Indian Express Special Correspondent

Dipankar Ghose has won the Prem Bhatia

Award for political reporting for his work on

issues related to the COVID-19.

The award for reporting on environmental

and development issues was given to the

People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a

journalism website dedicated to reporting on

rural India.

Pakistan to confer award to Turkish lawmaker

Pakistan will confer the country's prestigious

award to a Turkish lawmaker, Ali Sahin, in

recognition of his services to promoting

friendship between the two countries.

President Mr Arif Alvi will present Sitar-e-

Quaid-e-Azam award to him on Aug. 14, on

the country's Independence Day.

Sahin is the chairman of the Pakistan-Turkey

friendship parliamentary group.

CRSI Bronze Medal for IICT Scientist

Senior Principal Scientist in the dept of

Organic Synthesis and Process Chemistry,

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical

Technology, Dr Srihari Pabbaraja, has been

selected for the Chemical Research Society

of India Bronze medal 2021.

He will be honoured for his contributions in

the field of total synthesis of natural products

and method development for new chemical

entities.

IIT Kharagpur researchers awarded

A group of researchers from IIT Kharagpur

has been conferred the "Gandhian Young

Technological Innovation Awards 2020".

They were awarded for developing a

mechanism for generating electricity from wet

clothes left under sunlight to dry.

Another team from the institute was

separately granted the same award for

addressing the problem of energy

conservation and thermal management.

Dalmia Bharat Group wins FICCI CSR Award

42

Dalmia Bharat Group has won an award for

Environment Sustainability at 18th FICCI

CSR award ceremony, organized by FICCI.

The award recognizes efforts of companies in

integrating and internalizing Corporate Social

Responsibility.

So far, Dalmia Bharat Group has promoted

more than 25,000 Solar Household Lighting

Solutions and installed 535 Solar Streetlights.

11 Women entrepreneurs awarded

11 Women entrepreneurs have been

awarded by the Women Entrepreneurship

and Empowerment, WEE cohort.

It is India’s first of its kind initiative to

strengthen women's ecosystem at IIT Delhi,

supported and sponsored by the Department

of Science and Technology.

The cash awards in the form of a grant

totalling Rs 25 lakh have been presented to

11 Women entrepreneurs.

Jordan Henderson won an award

Liverpool’s Premier League title-winning

captain Jordan Henderson was named

England’s Footballer of the Year.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne,

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and

Liverpool pair Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane

made up the rest of the top five.

Henderson has played in 30 of Liverpool’s

league matches so far this season and

scored four goals.

Tribal Affairs Ministry receives an award

Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has received

SKOCH Gold Award for its “Empowerment of

Tribals through IT-enabled Scholarship

Schemes” project of Scholarship Divison of

the Ministry.

The 66th SKOCH 2020 Competition was

entitled “INDIA RESPONDS TO COVID

THROUGH DIGITAL GOVERNANCE”.

MoTA integrated all 5 Scholarship Schemes

with DBT Portal and the initiative was rolled

out on 12 June 2019.

Sunil ydv SS honoured with Karamveer Chakra

Founder of SS Motivation, World record

holder Sunil ydv SS was honoured with

“Karamveer Chakra Award" by Global

Fellowship Award instituted by United

Nations and International Confederation of

NGO (iCONGO).

He was awarded at the ReX ConcLIVE

hosted at IIT Delhi.

He received the award for his relentless

contribution to society through his Telegram

channel “SS Motivation.”

Earth Sciences Mstry announces National

Awards

Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) National

Awards for excellence in Earth System

Science have been announced.

The Life Time Excellence Award is being

awarded to Professor Ashok Sahni for his

significant contribution in the field of Geology,

Vertebrate Paleontology and Biostratigraphy.

The National Award for Atmospheric Science

and technology will be presented to Dr. S.

Suresh Babu.

India’s solar-powered ferry won an honour

43

Aditya, India’s first solar-powered ferry that

commenced operations in 2017 in Kerala’s

Vembanad backwaters, has won the

prestigious Gustave Trouve Award for

Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating.

The ferry was adjudged the world’s best

electric boat in the category of ferries

designed for paid passenger service.

Every day it makes 22 trips with 75 people on

board.

Jamie Vardy wins Golden Boot award

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy bagged the

Premier Leagues Golden Boot award after

netting 23 goals across the 2019/20 season.

Vardy beat Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick

Aubameyang, Southampton's Danny Ings

and Manchester City forward Raheem

Sterling to scoop the prestigious individual

award.

He is the first Leicester City player to claim

the award.

Indian-origin nurse conferred with an award

Singapore govt on July 21, 2020, honoured

an Indian-origin nurse Kala Narayanasamy

with the President's Award for Nurses, the

highest accolade in the nursing profession.

She was awarded for her outstanding

services during the coronavirus pandemic.

The award was given to five nurses.

Each awardee received a trophy, a certificate

signed by President Halimah Yacob and an

SGD$10,000 cash prize.

A Coimbatore scientist awarded

An award-winning scientist at the Institute of

Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding,

Coimbatore has been conferred the National

Award of excellence.

Kannan Warrier made several personal visits

and enumerated 1128 sacred groves in

Alappuzha.

He was awarded for outstanding research in

forestry, including conservation of

endangered sacred groves in the Alappuzha

district of Kerala.

Greta Thunberg named winner of a Prize

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has

been named winner of the inaugural

Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity.

She plans to donate her 1 million euro ($1.14

million) prize to organizations focused on the

environment and climate change.

Earlier, in April 2020, after winning the

Human Act Award, she donated the

$100,000 prize money to UNICEF.

Arnab Chaudhuri to recieve Toonz Media Award

The ‘Legend of Animation’ award will be

posthumously conferred to the legendary

animation director Arnab Chaudhuri.

The award is being presented for his

invaluable contribution to the animation and

entertainment industry of India.

The award was instituted by the Toonz Media

Group (TMG) as part of the Animation

Masters Summit (AMS) 2020 - Digital Edition.

2020 Nelson Mandela Prize winners

44

The laureates of UN 2020 Nelson Rolihlahla

Mandela Prize are Marianna Vardinoyannis

of Greece and Morissana Kouyate of Guinea.

It was announced by General Assembly

President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

Vardinoyannis is a Greek philanthropist

known for fighting childhood cancer.

Kouyate is a Human rights activist known for

her contribution towards violence against

women and girls in Africa.

Kate Winslet to be honoured

Actor Kate Winslet will receive the Tribute

Actor Award during the 2020 Toronto

International Film Festival (TIFF) on 15

September 2020.

The Oscar-winning actor will receive the

honour during the virtual gala following her

latest film, Francis Lee's Ammonite.

In 2019, the inaugural TIFF Tribute Gala

honoured Meryl Streep, Taika Waititi, Mati

Diop, and Joaquin Phoenix.

SC Railway’s Ongole Sub-Division won an award

The Ongole Sub-Division Office of South

Central Railway has bagged the WATER

HEROES AWARD, from Ministry of Jal

Shakti.

The Ongole Sub-Divisional Office of

Vijayawada Division, Andhra Pradesh, South

Central Railway have been declared as

winner in the “Water Heroes Award” for the

month of April 2020.

A contest was organized for the period from

1st September, 2019 to 30th June 2020.

Tata group Chairman to receive an award

Tata group Chairman N Chandrasekaran and

Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet will receive

the USIBC Global Leadership Award 2020.

Every year, the Awards are conferred upon

executives in recognition of outstanding

leadership and for promoting Indo-US trade

and business.

The earlier receivers of this award include

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google CEO

Adena Friedman, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos,

etc.

Shahidul Alam won an award

Noted Bangladeshi photojournalist and

founder of Pathshala Media Institute

Shahidul Alam has been announced as one

of the winners of the 2020 International Press

Freedom Awards.

The Committee to Protect Journalists will

honour Shahidul and three others from Iran,

Nigeria, and Russia with the award.

CPJ will also honour lawyer Amal Clooney

with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award.

G7CR Technologies won an award

G7CR Technologies India Pvt Ltd has won

the Microsoft Country Partner of the Year

2020 Award for India.

It was honoured for demonstrating

excellence in innovation and implementation

of customer solutions based on Microsoft

technology.

The Awards were classified in several

categories, with honorees chosen from a set

of more than 3,300 submitted nominations

from 100 countries worldwide.

Ashok Kumar to receive Mohun Bagan Award

45

Ashok Kumar will be conferred with the

Lifetime Achievement Award by football club

Mohun Bagan on the occasion of its

foundation day.

Pranab Ganguly (Football) and Monoranjan

Porel (Athletics) would also receive

the Lifetime Achievement Award along with

him.

Mohun Bagan Ratna for the year 2020 would

be presented to Gurbux Singh and Palash

Nandi.

Ved Parkash Dudeja awarded

Ved Parkash Dudeja, Vice Chairman, Rail

Land Development Authority (RLDA) was

recently awarded the coveted ‘Infra Business

Leader of the Year’ award for 2020.

He was awarded by the Rail Infra and Mobility

Business Digital Awards (RIMBDA).

RLDA is a statutory authority under the

Ministry of Railways, responsible for the

development of vacant railway land for

commercial use.

ISRO Chief K Sivan named for an award

ISRO chief Dr Kailasavadivoo Sivan

has been named as the recipient of the 2020

Von Karman Award of the International

Academy of Astronautics.

The award which is the highest distinction of

the Academy will be conferred in March 2021

in Paris.

Charles Elachi was the previous recipient of

the award, which has been named after

Theodore von Karman, who was an

aerospace engineer.

A Chhattisgarh app awarded

Chhattisgarh's Mukhyamantri Darpan and

mobile App has been awarded "Elites

Excellence Awards-2020" at the national

level.

The app contains the details of all the flagship

schemes of the Chhattisgarh govt including

the ambitious 'Suraji Gaon Yojna'

Chhattisgarh has been awarded this honour

by the country's prestigious IT institution

Elites Technomedia under the 'Digital India

initiative'.

NTPC's Singrauli Unit 1: Top-performing plant

National Thermal Power Corporation,

NTPC's Singrauli Unit 1 has emerged as the

top-performing unit in the country in the first

quarter of the financial year.

NTPC, Singrauli is the oldest Unit and a

flagship power station of NTPC Limited.

NTPC, Singrauli has an installed capacity of

2,000 Mega Watt with five units of 200 Mega

Watt each and two units of 500 Mega Watt

each.

NTPC Limited won an award

National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC

Limited has won the prestigious CII-ITC

Sustainability Award 2019.

It has been awarded under Outstanding

Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence

Category.

The company has also received

Commendation for Significant Achievement

in the category of CSR.

CII-ITC Sustainability Awards recognizes and

rewards excellence in sustainability

practices.

46

Indian battalion won UNIFIL environment award

An Indian battalion stationed with the United

Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)

has won an environment award.

It has been awarded for a project that aims to

decrease waste generation, reuse plastic,

build greenhouses and compost pits.

UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force

Commander Major General Stefano Del Col

gave the annual environmental awards to

seven Missions entities.

Kezang D Thongdok won Dada Saheb Phalke

Award

Kezang D Thongdok, a filmmaker,

has bagged the prestigious Dadasaheb

Phalke Award 2020.

Thongdok's short documentary Chi

Lupo artfully sketches the custom of honey

hunting practised in the Shertukpen

community wherein 'Chi' means honey and

'Lupo' means hunters.

Presently, Thongdok is working on his new

project, a documentary film titled 'Khiksaba',

an unexplored festival of Shertukpen tribe.

Nadaun Police Station ranked as one of best

Nadaun Police Station of Hamirpur district in

Himachal Pradesh has been ranked as one

of the best Police Stations of the country.

Certificate of Excellence was provided to this

Police Station by Union Home Minister Amit

Shah.

Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu

presented this Certificate of Excellence

received by him from Union Home Minister to

the Chief Minister in Shimla 9 July 2020.

Sachin Awasthi honoured with an award

President of National Media club Sachin

Awasthi bagged Top Publicist honour under

Global Humanitarian Award 2020.

He is one of the 100 awardees nominated

from 35 different countries and 7 continents.

The awards were announced under the

initiative Honouring the Honourable by the

Global Humanitarian Award 2020 to honour

people, who are selflessly working to improve

society and the world.

IOC received Green Building Leadership Award

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

announced that its new headquarters in

Lausanne has been awarded the European

2020 US Green Building Council (USGBC)

Leadership Award.

Olympic House, which also holds the

rigorous LEED Platinum certification, is one

of the most sustainable buildings in the world.

The award has been given to five

organisations.

Quinton de Kock named cricketer of the year

Quinton de Kock was named men’s cricket of

the year at the Cricket South Africa annual

awards, his second such honour after 2017.

De Kock, who is captain of the South African

national team in limited-overs cricket, also

bagged the Test cricketer of the year award.

Opener Laura Wolvaardt was adjudged the

women’s cricketer of the year and the ODI

cricketer of the year.

Kritika Pandey won a prize

47

India’s Kritika Pandey has been awarded the

5,000 pound Commonwealth Short Story

Prize 2020 for “The Great Indian Tee and

Snakes” in a virtual ceremony in London.

The Asian Regional Winner beat challengers

from four other contenders in the final round.

This year’s competition received 5,000

entries from 49 countries.

13-year-old girl from Delhi received an award

Freya Thakral, a student of The British

School, New Delhi has been recognised with

the Diana Award for her humanitarian efforts.

She was added to the roll of honour on

Princess Diana’s birthday on 1 July 2020.

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of

Wales, the Award is given out by the charity

of the same name and has the support of The

Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.

REC Group won Prestigious Intersolar Award

REC Group has announced that its flagship

REC Alpha solar panel has won the

prestigious Intersolar Award 2020 in the

"Photovoltaics" category.

This marks the second time REC Group has

won the award, with the REC TwinPeak

Series earning the recognition in 2015.

The Intersolar Award is presented to

companies making a substantial contribution

to the success of the solar industry.

Two renowned Indian-Americans honoured

In the United States, two renowned Indian-

Americans are among the 38 immigrants

honoured by a prestigious American

foundation ahead of US Independence Day

commemoration 2020.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist

Siddhartha Mukherjee and Professor of

Economics at Harvard University Raj Chetty

have been named by the Carnegie

Corporation of New York as '2020 Great

Immigrants' honorees.

C. Rangarajan got an award

Former RBI governor C Rangarajan has

been conferred with the lifetime achievement

award for his contribution to statistics.

He was awarded on the occasion of Statistics

Day.

Besides heading RBI and the Prime

Minister’s Advisory Council, Rangarajan was

chairman of the National Statistical

Commission, set up in 2000 to review the

statistical system.

Popstar Beyonce honoured with an award

The 20th annual BET Awards took place on

28th June 2020.

The BET Awards honoured Beyoncé with the

2020 Humanitarian Award for her

philanthropy and passion for social justice.

The BET Awards also paid tribute to the lives

of many that were lost in the entertainment

industry such as rapper Pop Smoke, Little

Richard, Jas Fly, and several others who

unfortunately passed away.

MyGov Corona Helpdesk won 2 awards

India’s MyGov Corona Helpdesk has bagged

2 awards at the Global Leadership Summit

48

and Festival of AI and Emerging Technology,

CogX 2020.

It was awarded under categories of Best

Innovation for Covid-19 - Society and

People’s Choice Covid-19 Overall Winner.

The recently held CogX 2020 is a prestigious

Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI

and Emerging Technology held annually in

London.

Mon District Administration awarded

In Nagaland, Mon District Administration has

been conferred the SKOCH Awards under

three different categories at the 65TH

SKOCH Summit.

The district administration was awarded for

its initiative on financial inclusion, District

Response to COVID-19 and skill

development.

The SKOCH Crucible Award for ‘Financially

Inclusive Mon’ was also conferred to the

district administration.

UN honours Kerala Health Minister K.K Shailaja

Kerala Health Minister K.K Shailaja was

honoured by the UN on June 24, 2020.

She was one among several leaders across

the world invited to speak on the occasion of

United Nations Public Service Day.

She was honoured for her efforts to fight the

COVID pandemic in her state.

She was the only speaker from the country to

speak on the strategies adopted by Kerala to

curb COVID-19 transmission.

Sansad Ratna Award for Srikakulam MP

Srikakulam TDP MP K Ram Mohan Naidu

has created a record as he is the youngest

MP to be honoured with Sansad Ratna

Award 2020.

Ram Mohan Naidu has been nominated for

the ‘Jury Committee Special Award’ for his

overall qualitative performance and individual

efforts.

8 MPs from the Lok Sabha and 2 from the

Rajya Sabha have been selected for the 11th

edition of Sansad Ratna Awards.

Gulabbai Sangamnerkar to get lifetime honour

The Maharashtra government has

announced the Vithabai Narayangaokar

lifetime achievement award to folk artist

Gulabbai Sangamnerkar.

The Annasaheb Kirloskar award will be

conferred upon veteran theatre actress-

singer Madhuvanti Dandekar.

The award carries the cash prize of Rs 5 lakh,

a citation and a memento.

Sangamnerkar has been performing since

the age of nine.

Himachal Pradesh won e-Panchayat Puraskar

2020

Himachal Pradesh has secured first prize

under e-Panchayat Puraskar-2020, given by

the Union ministry of Panchayati Raj.

The award is conferred to those states who

have ensured maximum use of IT for

monitoring the various works of the

panchayats.

Himachal Pradesh has been selected for this

award for effective implementation of an e-

application developed by the Centre.

49

Six District Hospitals of J&K UT won an award

6 District Hospitals of Jammu and Kashmir

have bagged Kayakalap award claiming

notable positions in the best hospitals

category 2019-20.

Four of these District Hospitals are from

Jammu division including DH Reasi which

has clinched the top spot winning a cash

award of Rs. 50 lakh.

The Kayakalp Award was instituted as part of

the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' on 15 May

2015.

Golden Globe awards postponed to February

2021

The annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony

for film and television has been postponed to

February 2021.

The Golden Globes ceremony, which kicks

off Hollywood’s awards season, will now take

place on 28 Feb 2021.

The decision follows the postponement by

two months of the Oscars to 25th of April

2021 because of Coronavirus pandemic.

Minerva Academy FC recommended for an award

Minerva Academy Football Club has been

recommended for 2020 Rashtriya Khel

Protsahan Puruskar by the Punjab

government and Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry

(FICCI).

The club has been recommended under the

category of ''identification and nurturing of

budding talent''.

The award carries a citation and a trophy.

There is no cash prize.

Amartya Sen won Peace Prize

Nobel-laureate Indian economist Amartya

Sen has won the prestigious Peace Prize of

the German Book Trade for his decades-long

work on "questions of global justice".

He has been awarded for his pioneering work

addressing issues of global justice, social

inequality in education and healthcare.

He has been a professor of economics and

philosophy at Harvard University since 2004.

J&K conferred with three prestigious awards

Jammu & Kashmir has been conferred with

three prestigious Deen Dayal Upadhyay

Sashaktikaran Puraskar awards.

It has been awarded for its outstanding

contribution to the socio-economic

development of the Gram Panchayats across

the Union Territory.

Panchayat Rathal and Panchayat Badakana

and Panchayat Meej of Pulwama district

were adjudged the best performing

panchayats

AIFF recommended IM Vijayan for Padma Shri

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has

recommended former skipper IM Vijayan for

Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest

civilian award.

Vijayan, a former India striker, scored 40

goals in 79 matches for India since he

made his debut in the early 90s.

He was awarded the Arjuna award in 2003.

He was also awarded the Indian 'Player of the

Year' in 1993, 1997 and 1999.

Deccan Development Society won an award

50

Deccan Development Society has won the

Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Award,

one of the most coveted environmental

awards in the world for the year 2020.

It was announced by the Prince Albert II of

Monaco Foundation Vice President and

CEO, Olivier Wenden.

It has been awarded “in recognition of the

work of DDS women to rehabilitate degraded

lands and promote biodiversity”.

Hima Das nominated for Khel Ratna Award

Hima Das has been nominated for the Khel

Ratna by the state government of Assam.

She is one of the youngest nominees for Khel

Ratna 2020.

She is India's first track athlete to win a global

title at U20 World Championship in Tampere,

Finland in 2018.

She will compete with Neeraj Chopra, Vinesh

Phogat, Manika Batra, Rani Rampal

and Rohit Sharma for country's highest

sporting honour.

ZestMoney awarded as technology pioneer

India's first AI-driven digital financing

platform ZestMoney has been selected as

one of the World Economic

Forum's technology pioneers.

It was founded by Lizzie Chapman, Priya

Sharma and Ashish Anantharaman in 2015.

ZestMoney is built as a platform that can

meaningfully improve the lives of more than

300 million households in the country, who

currently have no access to credit cards.

Chef Angad Singh Rana won a competition

Chef Angad Singh Rana has been

announced as the winner of New Zealand’s

first ‘Virtual’ Chef competition – the ‘Quality

NZ Culinary Cup’ held in India.

Launched in response to the Covid19

outbreak to help keep chefs motivated and

connected during a challenging time, the

competition had more than 120 entries.

He won the Cup along with INR 50,000 worth

of QualityNZ lamb and seafood.

Shobha Sekhar conferred with an honour

Shobha Sekhar, founder of Kalakruthi, music

organisation in Australia, will be conferred the

Medal of the Order of Australia later in 2020.

The Montreal-based artiste and lecturer,

University of Melbourne, figures in the

Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List.

Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of

Australia and Michael Clark, cricketer, are

among those nominated.

Rattan Lal got 2020 World Food Prize

Eminent Indian-American soil scientist

Rattan Lal has been named the recipient of

the 2020 World Food Prize.

He has been awarded for developing and

mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to

increasing food production that conserves

natural resources and mitigates climate

change.

He will receive the 2.5 lakh dollar award that

honours his contribution throughout his

career spanning 5 decades.

Asian Peace Prize cancelled due to COVID-19

51

A Philippine peace award has been cancelled

for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This marks only the third disruption in six

decades for the annual prize regarded as an

Asian Nobel.

The awards were also cancelled due to a

financial crisis in 1970 and a disastrous

earthquake in 1990.

They are named after a popular Philippine

president who died in a 1957 plane crash.

Renjith Kumar honoured with “NASA Medal”

Renjith Kumar, an aerospace entrepreneur

hailing from Kerala, has been bestowed with

NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

He is only the second Indian after R K Chetty

Pandipati to win the coveted award.

During his 30-year long association with

NASA, Kumar had helped redesign the

International Space Station (ISS).

India’s solar ferry shortlisted for an award

India’s first solar-powered ferry, Aditya has

been shortlisted for the Gustave Trouvé

Award as the only entrant from Asia.

Aditya has been an icon on the Vaikom-

Thavanakadavu route in Kerala for being the

first solar-powered ferry in the country.

The ferry was built by Naval Solar and

Electric Boats, Kochi and is currently being

operated by the Kerala State Water

Transport Dept (KSWTD).

Javed Akhtar bagged Richard Dawkins Award

Javed Akhtar has been named 2020's

recipient of the Richard Dawkins Award.

Akhtar became the first Indian to be given the

honour for critical thinking, advancing human

progress and humanist values.

Every year, the award recognises a

distinguished individual from the field of

science, scholarship, education, or

entertainment.

Gold rating for Trichy Railway Junction

The Trichy Railway Junction has been given

the Gold rating by the Confederation of

Indian Industries (CII) for implementing

various environment-friendly measures.

The rating was awarded in accordance with

the Green Railway Station Rating System.

This system takes into consideration the

implementation of various national priorities

like water conservation, handling of waste,

etc.

Hyderabad airport received ACI recognition

Hyderabad Airport has received the highest

Platinum Recognition in the Airports Council

International (ACI) Asia-Pacific Green

Airports Recognition 2020 in the 15-35 million

passengers per annum category.

The airport has a large reservoir with a water-

holding capacity of 6,00,000 cubic meters,

which is sufficient to meet the considerable

quantum of airport’s requirement throughout

the year.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw won an award

Biocon Ltd announced that its Executive

Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has

been named the EY World Entrepreneur of

the Year 2020 (WEOY).

52

She has been honoured with the title from

among a distinguished list of 46 EOY country

award winners from 41 countries and

territories.

In the award's 20-year history, Mazumdar-

Shaw is the first woman entrepreneur from

India and the third Indian to win it.

Delhi-based NGO won WHO award

WHO has conferred the World No Tobacco

Day Award 2020 to the Socio-Economic and

Educational Development Society (SEEDS),

an NGO.

It was awarded for its efforts to ban pan

masala, gutkha, e-cigarettes and hookah in

Bihar and Jharkhand.

It has been working closely with the Union

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on

prevention and control of smokeless tobacco

use.

Neeraj Chopra nominated for Khel Ratna

The Athletics Federation of India has

confirmed recommending star javelin thrower

Neeraj Chopra for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna Award, country’s highest sporting

honour.

Asian Games gold medallists Arpinder Singh

(triple jump) and Manjit Singh (800m) and

reigning Asian champion middle-distance

runner P. U. Chitra were recommended for

the Arjuna Award, besides Dutee Chand.

Indian writer won an award

Indian writer Kritika Pandey has won the

Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

She won it for 'The Great Indian Tee and

Snakes'.

It talks about love in an age of hatred and

prejudice.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is

awarded for the best unpublished short

fiction.

Pandey had been previously nominated for

the Pushcart Prize.

Amit Panghal nominated for Khel Ratna

The Boxing Federation of India has

nominated Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan

for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

Panghal (52kg), also an Asian Games

champion, has not won any national sports

award.

Commonwealth and Asian Games gold-

medallist Krishan won the Arjuna award in

2012.

The BFI has nominated trio of Lovlina

Borgohain, Simranjit Kaur and Manish

Kaushik for the Arjuna awards.

BCCI nominated Rohit Sharma for an award

BCCI has nominated India vice-captain Rohit

Sharma for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna Award 2020.

Meanwhile, the board has also nominated

Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Deepti

Sharma for the Arjuna Award.

Named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for

2019, Rohit became the first player in the

history of the game to score five ODI

centuries in one edition of the World Cup.

TCS won two Stevie Awards

53

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won

two Stevies in the 2020 American Business

Awards, the nation's premier business

awards program, for the 2019 TCS New York

City Marathon app.

TCS received a Gold Stevie® in the category

Mobile Marketing Campaign of the Year and

a Silver Stevie in the category Best User

Experience.

The app was created by TCS Interactive in

2019.

Quarraisha Abdool Karim won a French prize

Acclaimed HIV researcher Professor

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, has been awarded

one of France's top science prizes.

She won the €500 000 Christophe Merieux

Prize for her work for the Durban-based

Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research

in South Africa (Caprisa), which she heads.

She is best known for a study that found that

a topical gel could stop many women

catching HIV.

Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award

Women peacekeepers from India and Brazil

have jointly won the United Nations Military

Gender Advocate of the Year 2019 Award.

Major Suman Gawani of the Indian Army and

Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro

Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer, have been

chosen for the award.

They received the award during an online

ceremony presided over by UN Secretary-

General António Guterres on 29 May 2020.

Mirabai Chanu nominated for Arjuna award

Lifter Mirabai Chanu has been nominated for

the Arjuna award by the national federation.

She is already a recipient of Khel Ratna,

country’s highest sporting honour.

The Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF)

has nominated Chanu along with Ragala

Venkat Rahul and Punam Yadav.

She was also awarded the Padma Shri, the

country’s fourth-highest civilian award.

Major Suman Gawani to be awarded

Major Suman Gawani has been selected for

the prestigious United Nations Military

Gender Advocate of the Year Award (2019).

She is an Indian Army officer and woman

peacekeeper who has served with the United

Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

She has been awarded for her outstanding

contribution to peacekeeping efforts in the

UNMISS.

IBM scientist bags inventor of the year award

Indian-American inventor Rajiv Joshi has

bagged the prestigious Inventor of the Year

award.

He was awarded in recognition of his

pioneering work in advancing the electronic

industry and improving artificial intelligence

capabilities.

Dr Joshi, who is a master inventor with more

than 250 patented inventions in the US,

works at the IBM Thomson Watson Research

Center in New York.

Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar won an award

Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar, the National

Hydrographer to the government of India, has

54

been honoured with the 2019 Alexander

Dalrymple Award.

He was awarded in recognition of his

outstanding contribution to Indian

hydrography and across the wider Indian

Ocean region.

The award is named after the first

Hydrographer of the Admiralty, Alexander

Dalrymple.

Pakistan's journalist nominated for UK award

Pakistan's first Sikh female journalist,

Manmeet Kaur, has been nominated for a

prestigious award in the UK.

Manmeet Kaur has been selected as one of

the 100 most influential Sikh personalities

under 30 years of age around the world by

the UK based 'The Sikh Group'.

The Sikh Group is a global organisation

which awards people belonging to the

community who serve the people in different

ways.

Naval awards presented

Lieutenant Commander Akshay Kumar of the

Anti-Submarine Warfare School of the

Southern Naval Command in Kochi was

awarded the Vice Admiral G.M. Hiranandani

Memorial Rolling Trophy for the year 2020.

He was awarded at the Maritime Warfare

Centre, Kochi on 13 May'20.

The trophy was instituted in 2013 for the

officer performing best in tactics during the

year-long warfare specialisation course.

Anjum Moudgil nominated for Khel Ratna

The National Rifle Association of India

(NRAI) has nominated Anjum Moudgil for the

Khel Ratna -- the country's highest sporting

honour.

Jaspal Rana was recommended for the

Dronacharya Award for the second year in a

row.

The NRAI has sent the names of champion

pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and

Abhishek Verma for the prestigious Arjuna

Award.

Bengaluru airport voted best regional airport

The Kempegowda International Airport,

Bengaluru has won SKYTRAX Award 2020

for Best Regional Airport in India and Central

Asia.

The airport was voted by customers as the

Best Regional Airport in India & Central Asia

for the third time in four years at the 2020

World Airport Awards.

The Awards are based on the World Airport

Survey questionnaires.

Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award

The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth

Varadarajan is among the 17 journalists from

14 countries who are being presented the

Deutsche Welle’s Freedom of Speech Award

2020.

It is awarded annually to a person or initiative

that has shown outstanding commitment to

human rights and freedom of expression in

the media.

The awards are being presented since the

year 2015.

Centre awarded 12 startups

55

The government on 8 May 2020 gave awards

to 12 startups for finding innovative solutions

to address problems faced by the animal

husbandry and dairy sector.

Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and

Dairying Giriraj Singh announced the winners

of 'Startup India-Animal Husbandry Grand

Challenge'.

Under value-added products category, the

winner was Krushak Mitra Agro Services Pvt

Ltd.

IIT Bombay professor received an award

Professor Saurabh Lodha from Electrical

Engineering, IIT Bombay, has received the

Young Career Award in Nano Science and

Technology for the year 2020.

The award was instituted by the Department

of Science and Technology (DST).

The award recognised his pioneering

contributions in the development of logic

transistor technologies beyond silicon and

nano-electronic devices.

World War II medal to Kim Jong-un

Russian President Vladimir Putin has

honoured North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

with a commemorative World War II medal to

mark the 75th anniversary of victory over

Nazi Germany.

The medal was awarded to Kim for the role

he played in safeguarding the memories of

Soviet soldiers who died in the territory of

North Korea.

3 Indian Photojournalists won Pulitzer

Three photojournalists from Jammu and

Kashmir are among the 2020 Pulitzer Prize

winners.

The awards were announced virtually on 4

May 2020 owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

Mukhtar Khan, Yasin Dar and Channi Anand

- working with the Associated Press (AP) -

won the top honours for their work.

Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious awards

in American journalism, are

being given since 1917.

Thomas Cook India won an award

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. has won the silver

award for Asia's Best Integrated Report at the

5th Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards

(ASRA).

The ceremony hosted virtually on April 29,

2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was

broadcast live from Singapore.

The winners were selected from 461 entries

received from 16 countries in Asia.

Sania Mirza nominated for Fed Cup Heart Award

Sania Mirza has become the first Indian to be

nominated for the Fed Cup Heart Award from

the Asia/Oceania zone along with

Indonesia's Priska Madelyn Nugroho.

Sania had recently made a comeback to Fed

Cup after four years.

The winners of the Heart Awards will be

determined by online voting by fans which will

go live on May 1 and will go on until May 8,

2020.

IIT-Madras Professor chosen for an award

56

IIT Madras faculty Prof. T. Pradeep has been

chosen for the Nikkei Asia Prizes 2020 in

‘Science and Technology’ category for his

work in nanotechnology-based water

purification.

He was honoured with the Padma Shri earlier

in 2020 and is credited with developing

nanotechnology-enabled water filters.

They have helped to deliver clean water for

at a cost of just 2 paisa per litre in India.

Manipuri doctor conferred with an honour

A doctor from Manipur has been conferred

the 'Order of Rising Sun' by the Japan

government.

He has been honoured for promoting a better

understanding of Japan in India and

deepening ties between the two countries.

The 'Order of the Rising Sun' is conferred on

persons with achievements in international

relations, promotion of Japanese culture,

environmental preservation, and welfare.

CSS Corp won an award

CSS Corp has won the Outsource Partner of

the year 2020 award by the Business

Intelligence Group at their Excellence in

Customer Service Awards.

The company was named as the winner at

Philadelphia on April 20, 2020.

CSS Corp was awarded for emerging as the

premier outsourcing partner of the year.

CSS Corp is a new-age IT services and

technology company.

J&K bagged three national awards

Jammu and Kashmir UT has bagged

3 national awards under separate

categories.

The awards were given under three different

categories -Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya

Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar (NDRGGSP),

Gram Panchayat Development Plans

(GPDP) Award, Child-friendly Gram

Panchayat Award by Ministry of Panchayati

Raj, Govt of India.

The awards are aimed to strengthen the

institution of Gram Sabhas.

Adam Higginbotham won William E. Colby Award

Adam Higginbotham's "Midnight in

Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's

Greatest Nuclear Disaster" has won a $5,000

prize.

Higginbotham has received the William E.

Colby Award, given for an outstanding book

on military or intelligence history.

The Colby award was established in 1999.

Previous winners include Karl Marlantes'

novel "Matterhorn" and Dexter Filkins' "The

Forever War."

Algerian novel won a prize

The Spartan Court by Abdelouahab Aissaoui

has won the 13th International Prize for

Arabic Fiction.

Aissaoui is the first Algerian to win the prize.

He won USD $50,000 (£39,950), as well as

funding for the English translation of the

novel.

The prize is sponsored by the Dept of Culture

and Tourism for Abu Dhabi and is run with

support from the Booker Prize Foundation in

London.

57

Naveen Patnaik honoured by Peta India

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has been

honoured by Peta India for his exemplary

nobility in allocating funds to feed animals.

CM Patnaik will be awarded ‘Hero To Animals

Award’ for showing compassion towards

animals.

He approved of Rs 54 lakhs from a relief fund

to feed animals of the community.

The initiative undertaken to feed animals is

being conducted in five municipal

corporations.

Winners of the Adhunik Gram program

Indigram Labs Foundation has announced

the winners of its smart village program -

'Adhunik Gram', an initiative to empower

agribusiness in rural India.

The winner, IndusTill FarmeTech Pvt.

Ltd., won a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh.

The 1st runner up, Urdhvam Environmental

Technologies Pvt. Ltd., won Rs. 50,000 and

the 2nd runner up, Impagro farming solutions

Pvt. Ltd. won Rs. 30,000.

Zoya Akhtar honoured with an Award

8th India International Film Tourism Conclave

(IIFTC) honoured filmmaker - Zoya Akhtar

with IIFTC Tourism Impact Award 2020.

She was awarded for her outstanding

contribution to world tourism through her

cinema.

Another winner at the event was, Tamil

Director, K. S. Ravikumar, who has directed

43 films with starring mega stars including

Sarath Kumar, Kamal Hassan and

Rajinikanth.

The Abel Prize Laureates 2020 announced

The Abel Prize 2020 has been awarded to

Hillel Furstenberg and Gregory Margulis "for

pioneering the use of methods from

probability and dynamics in group theory,

number theory and combinatorics".

The prize is one of the highest honours in

maths and carries a prize money of around

$400,000.

The Prize recognises extraordinary

contributions to the sector of mathematics.

Chameli Devi Jain Award conferred

The Chameli Devi Jain Award for an

Outstanding Woman Journalist was awarded

jointly to Arfa Khanum Sherwani, senior

editor, The Wire and Rohini Mohan, a

Bengaluru-based independent journalist.

Rukmini S., an independent data-journalist

from Chennai, received an Honourable

Mention.

The Media Foundation instituted

the Award in 1980, named after Chameli

Devi Jain, a legendary freedom fighter.

Rajesh Chaplot honoured

Distinguished NRI businessman, Mr. Rajesh

Chaplot was honoured with the Highest

Civilian Award (Golden Jubilee Medal-

Civilians) of Uganda.

The award was presented by President of

Uganda, Mr Yoweri Museveni in a ceremony

in Kampala.

The accolade was bestowed upon him for his

excellence in the field of Business &

Commerce, Social Service and for fostering

better India – Uganda ties.

58

V Praveen Rao won MS Swaminathan Award

V Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Professor

Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural

University (PJTSAU), has won the seventh

Dr MS Swaminathan Award for the period

2017-2019.

He has been recognised for his contributions

in the fields of agricultural research, teaching,

extension and administration.

The award will be conferred on him in June

2020.

Nari Shakti Puraskar conferred

President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the

Nari Shakti Puraskar to 15 women in

Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of

International Women's Day on 8 March 2020.

The Award is given annually to individuals, or

groups in recognition of their exceptional

work towards the cause of women

empowerment.

Some of the awardees include 103-year-old

athlete Mann Kaur, and Environmentalist

Chami Murmu.

WTI Awards to be conferred on 8 March

NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship

Platform is organising the 4th edition of the

Women Transforming India (WTI) awards on

International Women’s Day, 8 March.

The WTI awards will recognize 30 finalists

and 15 winners will be felicitated.

On this occasion, the Women

Entrepreneurship Platform also completes

two years since its inception.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the

Chief Guest.

Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2019

World champion shuttler PV Sindhu

was named Sportsperson of the Year at the

fourth Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA)

2019 in New Delhi on 5 March 2020.

She also bagged the Unbreakable Spirit of

Sports award.

Former India football captain Bhaichung

Bhutia was given the Lifetime Achievement

award.

National badminton coach Pulella Gopichand

won the Mentor of the Year award.

Jadav Payeng won an Award

Environmental activist Jadav Payeng,

popularly called the 'Forest Man', was named

as the 128th Commonwealth Points of Light

Award winner.

Queen Elizabeth II has honoured Payeng for

his exceptional voluntary service to

environmental conservation.

The Points of Light Award recognises people

across the 53 Commonwealth nations for the

difference they are making in their

communities and beyond.

Lalit Kala Akademi's awards conferred

Lalit Kala Akademi's 61st annual awards

were conferred by President Ram Nath

Kovind to 15 artistes at the Rashtrapati

Bhavan on 4 March 2020.

Lalit Kala Akademi awards are given to

recognise the outstanding work in the field of

art.

The awardees will be honoured with a

plaque, a shawl and prize money of 1 lakh

rupees during the felicitation ceremony.

59

Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award presented

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

was presented with the Dr Syama Prasad

Mukherjee award 2020 for Politics at the 6th

India Ideas Conclave on Feb 28, 2020.

The award was presented by External Affairs

Minister S Jaishankar and Speaker of

People’s Majlis of Maldives Mohamed

Nasheed.

The award carries a citation, a specially

designed trophy and a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh.

Sreekar Prasad in the Limca book of records

Veteran editor Sreekar Prasad has entered

the Limca Book of Records for ‘films edited in

most number of languages’.

He has edited films in 17 languages,

including Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu,

Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Bengali,

Assamese, Marathi, etc.

One of the most acclaimed editors of the

country, Sreekar Prasad holds eight National

Awards including a Special Jury Award.

Jadav Payeng honoured with an award

Forest Man of India Jadav Payeng has been

awarded Swami Vivekananda Karmayogi

Award.

The ceremony organized by My Home India

took place at the Constitution Club in New

Delhi on February 29, 2020.

He was also honoured with a Padma Shri a

few years ago.

He made his own identity by planting and

tendering trees on a sandbar of the

Brahmaputra River and turned it into a forest

over the years.

Gujarat Assembly to start ‘Best MLA’ award

Gujarat Assembly will start giving ‘Best MLA’

award for MLAs.

Speaker Rajendra Trivedi has made this

announcement in the State Assembly on 28

Feb 2020.

The award will be in the lines of Outstanding

Parliamentarian Award given to Members of

Parliament and Best MLA awards being

given in some other states.

R Pokhriyal presents Chatra Vishwakarma Award

Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal

Nishank presents Vishwakarma Awards

2019 to the winners in New Delhi.

The valedictory function of Vishwakarma

Awards 2019 was organised in All India

Council for Technical Education.

A total of 23 teams under various

subcategories were the recipient of the

Chatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA).

Best marching contingent trophy to CISF

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh presented

trophies of best marching contingents for

Republic Day Parade-2020.

The Indian Air Force contingent was

adjudged the best among the three services.

The Central Industrial Security Force was

named the best marching contingent among

the Central Armed Police Forces.

The trophy was received by DG of CISF

Rajesh Ranjan and Deputy Commandant PS

Singh.

Dr.Niti receives SERB Women Excellence Award

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Dr.Niti Kumar receives the SERB Women

Excellence Award-2020 and it will be

presented by the President of India during

National Science Day Celebrations on

February 28, 2020.

She is a Senior Scientist from Division of

Molecular Parasitology and Immunology,

CSIR-CDRI.

This award is presented to women scientist

below 40 years of age who have received

recognition from national academies.

‘RailMadad’ won DARPG e-Governance Award

RailMadad, the grievance redressal portal of

Indian Railways, has been awarded Silver

under Category II of the National e-

Governance Awards – ‘Excellence in

providing Citizen-centric Delivery.’

This award was conferred during the 23rd

National Conference on e-Governance which

was held in Mumbai.

RailMadad is the single portal for grievance,

inquiry, and assistance for all railway

customers.

Ahmer Khan won AFP’s Kate Webb Prize

Ahmer Khan was named the winner of the

2019 Agence France-Presse Kate Webb

Prize on 20 Feb 2020.

He was awarded for his coverage on the

ground in Kashmir during the lockdown of the

region.

The award, named after one of AFP's finest

correspondents, recognises journalism by

locally hired reporters in Asia operating in

risky or difficult conditions.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw won an award

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and MD,

Biocon, was named the EY Entrepreneur of

the Year 2019 at the 21st edition of the

awards.

She will now represent India at the EY World

Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in

Monte Carlo between June 4-6, 2020.

Mazumdar-Shaw was named the winner by

an eight-member jury panel, led by Kotak

Mahindra Bank Managing Director and CEO

Uday Kotak.

Manoj Kumar felicitated

Veteran actor Manoj Kumar has been

felicitated by the World Book of Records,

London with the WBR Golden Era of

Bollywood honour

He has been honoured for being a legendary

actor and for his contribution to Indian

cinema.

He was honoured with the Padma Shri by the

Government of India in 1992.

He has been conferred the 47th Dadasaheb

Phalke Award for the year 2015.

BRICS CCI announced awards

BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry

(BRICS CCI), organised the second Annual

Direct Tax Summit & Awards 2020 in

association with Achromic Point.

Dharampal Satyapal Limited won the award

for Best In-House Direct Tax Team of the

Year.

The day-long summit saw an eminent list of

delegates discussing recent trends and

issues in the field of International Tax.

P V Sindhu won Sportsperson of the Year award

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World champion shuttler P V Sindhu on 20

Feb 2020 won the ESPN's Female

Sportsperson of the Year award for a third

consecutive time.

Young shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged

the honour in the male category.

Sprinter Dutee Chand became the first

winner of the Courage award for being

inspirational both on and off the field.

Koneru Humpy won the award for the

Comeback of the Year.

2011 world cup moment: Laureus best moment

Sachin Tendulkar being carried on the

shoulders of his team mates following India's

world cup triumph in 2011 was voted as the

Laureus best sporting moment in the past 20

years.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh

presented the trophy to Tendulkar on 17 Feb

2020.

First held in 2000, the Annual Laureus Sports

Awards honour the greatest and most

inspirational sporting triumphs of the year.

Filmfare Awards 2020- I

The 65th Filmfare Awards were held on 15

Feb 2020 at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium,

Guwahati, Assam.

Gully Boy, directed by Zoya Akhtar, was

awarded the Best Film.

Ranveer Singh recieved Best Actor in a

Leading Role for Gully Boy.

Alia Bhatt was awarded Best Actress in a

Leading Role for Gully Boy.

Zoya Akhtar was awarded Best Director for

Gully Boy.

Filmfare Awards 2020- II

Critics Best Film was awarded to Article 15

and Sonchiriya.

Critics Best Actor in a Leading Role was

awarded to Ayushmann Khurrana for Article

15.

Critics Best Actress in a Leading Role was

awarded to Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee

Pannu for Saand Ki Aankh.

Best Playback Singer Male was awarded to

Arijit Singh, while Best Playback Singer

Female was awarded to Shilpa Rao.

Indian Achievers Awards 2020

Renowned astrologer Dr Sohini Sastri, has

been graced with prestigious Indian

Achievers Award, wherein she was adjudged

the Best Astrologer of the Year.

The Indian Achievers Awards are aimed at

identifying significant personalities for the

year 2020.

The award was presented by Union HRD

Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal, in a

ceremony conducted at Vigyan Bhawan in

New Delhi.

Gita Sen won Dan David Prize 2020

India's pioneering feminist scholar and

activist Gita Sen, has won the Dan David

Prize.

She won the award for her expansive work in

the fields of population policies, reproductive

and sexual health, women's rights, poverty,

labour markets and global governance.

The award carries a prize of US$ 1 million for

achievements having an outstanding

scientific, technological, or social impact.

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Genome Valley Excellence Award announced

BioAsia has announced the Genome Valley

Excellence Award.

It will be bestowed upon Dr Carl H June and

Dr Vas Narasimhan for their contributions to

life sciences.

Dr Carl H June will be awarded for his work

in immunotherapy.

Dr Narasimhan has been selected for his

new vision in the pharmaceutical business in

digital technology and healthcare.

President's Colour to INS Shivaji

President Ram Nath Kovind on 13 Feb 2020

presented 'President's Colour' to the INS

Shivaji at a ceremony in Lonavala.

INS Shivaji was commissioned in 1945.

It is now the premier technical training

establishment of the Indian Navy with the

motto Kar-masu Kaushalam.

It imparts training in engineering discipline to

personnel of the Navy, Coast Guard, other

sister services and allied countries.

HP Governor decorated 58 personnel

Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru

Dattatraya decorated 58 personnel with

medals at the 'Investiture Ceremony' held

in Shimla on 11 Feb 2020.

The Governor awarded President Police

Medal for distinguished services to A.P.

Siddique, Ram Dev, Parshotam Chand and

Ashok Tiwari.

Three Correctional Service Medals were

awarded for meritorious services to Sushil

Kumar, Hari Dutt and Pankaj Sharma.

Pullela Gopichand honoured with an award

Pullela Gopichand has been given an

honourable mention at the International

Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coaches

Lifetime Achievement Awards 2019.

He received the mention in the male category

of the awards.

Gopichand has been previously honoured

with the Dronacharya award for coaching and

has also received Padma Bhushan - India's

third-highest civilian award.

Oscars 2020- I

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony was

held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angles, the

United States on 9 Feb 2020.

Renee Zellweger won the best actress

for “Judy”.

Joaquin Phoenix picked up the best actor

trophy for his performance in "Joker".

Brad Pitt won the Best Supporting Actor

for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood".

Laura Dern won the best-supporting

actress for "Marriage Story".

Oscars 2020 - II

'Parasite' was awarded the Best Picture.

Bong Joon-ho won the Best Director for the

film Parasite.

"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from

Rocketman won in the Music category.

Film '1917' won in the visual effects category.

Roger Deakins won Best Cinematography

for '1917'.

The Neighbors' Window won in the Live-

action short film category.

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Veteran journalist Raikar awarded

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

presented an award to senior journalist

Dinkar Keshav Raikar for his contribution to

journalism.

Raikar, currently consulting editor of Lokmat

group, was conferred with the lifetime

achievement award instituted by the

Mantralaya and Vidhimandal Vartahar

Sangh.

Raikar has completed 50 years in

journalism.

Assam district won an award

The district of South Salmara Mankachar of

Assam has received a National Award for

implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru

Vandana Yojana scheme.

It was awarded in the category of State/UT

having a population of more than one crore.

Union Minister for Women and Child

Development Smriti Irani gave away the

award in a prize distribution meeting held in

New Delhi.

Manoj Das to receive Mystic Kalinga Award

Celebrated Odia and English writer Manoj

Das will receive the Mystic Kalinga Literary

Award (Indian and Global Languages).

He will also deliver the festival's keynote

address on "Divine Madness: Knowledge,

Ecstasy, and Transformation".

He was recently conferred Padma Bhushan,

the country's third-highest civilian award for

his contribution in the field of literature and

education.

Adi Godrej to be awarded

EY, the global professional services

organisation, will felicitate Adi Godrej,

chairman of the Godrej group, with the

Lifetime Achievement Award at its 21st

Entrepreneur of the Year - India (EOY) 2019

Awards.

The consulting firm has also shortlisted 17

entrepreneurs as finalists for the awards,

from among 225 nominations.

Together, the 17 finalists have combined

revenues of Rs 100,000 cr.

International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy

The International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy

was awarded to Dr N.S. Dharmashaktu and

the Leprosy Mission Trust in New Delhi on 6

Feb 2020.

The award was presented by President Ram

Nath Kovind.

The International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy

commemorates the compassion that

Mahatma Gandhi possessed and his

services towards people with leprosy.

Shaktikanta Das named best central banker

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has been

named the Central Banker of the Year, Asia-

Pacific 2020, by the Banker magazine, a unit

of Financial Times (FT).

The award is given to central bankers who

have “best managed to stimulate growth and

stabilise their economy.”

Jorgovanka Tabakovi, National Bank of

Serbia, was adjudged the winner as the

Global Central Banker of the Year.

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Waheeda Rehman honoured

Waheeda Rehman was conferred the

Madhya Pradesh government's National

Kishore Kumar Samman on 4 Feb 2020.

The award, for the year 2018, was given to

Rehman at her Bandra residence in Mumbai

by Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister

Vijaylaxmi Sadho.

The award carries a Rs 2 lakh cash prize and

citation.

Vinod Shukla bagged an award

Noted Hindi poet-novelist Vinod Kumar

Shukla has bagged the inaugural

Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award for his

translated book “Blue Is Like Blue“.

The stories in Blue Is Like Blue, translated

into English by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and

Sara Rai, deal with common people and their

daily struggles.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh,

a plaque, and a certificate.

DTC awarded for lowest accident rate

Delhi's public transporter DTC has received

the Transport Minister's Road Safety Award

2018-19 for the "lowest" accident rate.

A trophy and a cheque of ₹1 lakh was

presented to Delhi Transport Corporation

(DTC) MD Manoj Kumar by Transport

Minister Nitin Gadkari

The award was presented at the 3rd

International Conference and Exhibition on

Public Transport Innovation (ICEPTI) 2020.

Vinesh, Mary Kom nominated for BBC awards

Vinesh Phogat, P.V. Sindhu and M.C. Mary

Kom will compete for the inaugural BBC

Indian sportswoman of the year award after

being nominated for the honour.

Dutee Chand and Manasi Joshi are the other

nominees for the award, the winner of which

will be announced on the 8 March 2020.

The nominees were picked up by a panel of

40 eminent sports journalists.

War drama ''1917'' dominated BAFTA 2020

British filmmaker Sam Mendes' war drama

"1917" ruled the 2020 edition of BAFTA

awards with seven wins, including best film,

best British film and best director.

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's

"Parasite" won two awards for original

screenplay and best foreign language film.

The award for best adapted screenplay went

to writer-director Taika Waititi for "Jojo

Rabbit".

Madhya Pradesh bagged first position

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the first

position for the implementation of Pradhan

Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.

Indore district has also bagged the first place

for better performance of the scheme.

The main objective of the scheme is to

provide incentives of Rs 5000 for the loss of

wages of working women and to ensure their

proper rest and nutrition during pregnancy.

Yusuf Jameel won PEN Gauri Lankesh Award

Kashmiri reporter Yusuf Jameel has received

the second edition of an award set up in the

memory of journalist Gauri Lankesh.

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The inaugural “PEN Gauri Lankesh Award for

Democratic Idealism” was given to cartoonist

P Mahamood in September 2018.

Jameel was given the 2019-2020 award for

showing an “exemplary commitment to

professional integrity and the ideals of

democracy”.

Theatre artist Sanjana Kapoor to be honoured

Well-known theatre person Sanjana Kapoor

received the prestigious French honour of

‘Chevalier dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres

(Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters).

She was honoured for her outstanding

contribution to the field of theatre.

French Minister of Culture Franck Riester,

conferred it on her on January 28, 2020 at the

French embassy in New Delhi.

Rani Rampal won Athlete of the Year' award

Indian women's team captain Rani Rampal

became the first-ever hockey player to win

the prestigious 'World Games Athlete of the

Year' award.

In 2019, India won the FIH Series Finals, and

Rani was named Player of the Tournament.

Rani was also recently named among the

Padma Shri awardees.

The World Games announced the winner on

30 Jan 2020.

She has won with 1,99,477 votes.

Pavan Sukhdev won 2020 Tyler Prize

Renowned Indian environmental economist

and UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

Goodwill Ambassador Pavan Sukhdev has

won the 2020 Tyler Prize.

It is regarded as the "Nobel Prize for the

Environment".

He was awarded for his groundbreaking

"green economy" work.

Sukhdev will receive the award alongside

conservation biologist Gretchen Daily on 1

May 2020.

Honorary D.Lit to Abhijit Bandyopadhyay

The Calcutta University conferred Honorary

D.Lit. Degree to Nobel Laureate Prof. Abhijit

Binayak Bandyopadhyay at its Annual

Convocation on 28 Jan 2020.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University Ms

Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee presented the

Degree to him.

Mr Monoranjan Bapari received Rabindra

Nath Tagore Memorial Medal for his

outstanding contribution in the field of

Literature.

Dr. N Kumar honoured with Harit Ratna Award

Dr N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu

Agricultural University, has been conferred

'Harit Ratna Award 2019'.

It is organised by the All India Agricultural

Students Association.

He was awarded for the dissemination of Rs

30-crore entrepreneurship project in agri-

business and also for motivating students

towards the agriculture sector in Tamil Nadu.

Assam tableau won first prize

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave away

Best Tableaux awards for Republic Day

Parade, 2020 in New Delhi on 28 Jan 2020.

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Assam's tableau which portrayed the unique

craftsmanship and culture of the state has

been chosen as the best tableau.

The tableaux of National Disaster Relief

Force and Jal Shakti Mission were chosen as

the best among the Ministries and

Departments.

The Hindu Group chairman N. Ram honoured

Eminent journalist and chairman of The

Hindu Group of Publications N Ram has been

selected for the Kerala Media Academy's

national media award for his outstanding

contribution to journalism.

The award carries a purse of Rs 1 lakh, a

citation and a memento.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would

present the award during a media conclave in

March 2020.

Sneha Pamneja won award

Graphic designer Sneha Pamneja was

awarded Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize

at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival for

designing the cover of "Tiffin: Authentic

Recipes Celebrating India's Regional

Cuisine".

She was felicitated with a trophy and a cash

prize of Rs 1 lakh.

The book is written by Sonal Ved and

published by Roli books.

Jagbir Rana awarded Police Medal for Gallantry

Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable

Jagbir Rana was awarded Police Medal for

Gallantry posthumously by President Ram

Nath Kovind on Republic Day.

He saved three children from being run over

by Hoshiarpur Express in April 2019.

2 RPF and Railway Protection Security Force

(RPSF) men have also been awarded

President''s Police Medal for distinguished

services.

62nd Annual Grammy Awards- I

The 62nd annual Grammy Awards took place

in Los Angeles on 26 Jan 2020.

Album of the year was won by "When We All

Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” by Billie

Eilish.

Record of the year was won by “Bad Guy" by

Billie Eilish.

Song of the year was won by “Bad Guy” by

Billie Eilish.

Billie Eilish won in the new artist category.

62nd Annual Grammy Awards-II

Pop Solo Performance was won by “Truth

Hurts” by Lizzo.

Pop Vocal Album was won by “When We All

Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” by Billie

Eilish.

Comedy Album was won by “Sticks &

Stones” by Dave Chappelle.

“Social Cues” by Cage the Elephant won in

the Rock Album category.

“This Land” by Gary Clark Jr. won in the Rock

Song category.

Two Bangladeshis get Padma awards

Bangladeshi Career Diplomat late Syed

Muazzem Ali and veteran museologist

Enamul Haq have been nominated for the

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Padma Awards by the government of India

for 2020.

Syed Muazzem Ali has been honoured with

the Padma Bhushan award posthumously.

He was the High Commissioner of

Bangladesh to India.

Renowned Museologist from Bangladesh

Enamul Haq has been nominated for the

Padma Shri award.

Two Sri Lankan women receive Padma awards

Among the Padma Shri award recipients for

2020 are two women from Sri Lanka for their

pioneering contributions in their individual

fields and for strengthening India-Sri Lanka

ties.

The awards have been conferred on Dr.

Vajira Chitrasena for her contribution to

dance and Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake for

her contribution to Hindi literature.

Government announced 141 Padma Awards

The government announced 141 Padma

Awards for the year 2020 on the occasion of

71st Republic Day.

The list comprises of 7 Padma Vibhushan, 16

Padma Bhusan and 118 Padma Shri awards.

34 awardees are women and 18 foreigners.

12 persons are awarded posthumously.

Former Union Ministers George Fernandes,

Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will be

awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

104 personnel awarded Fire Service Medals

A total of 104 personnel have been awarded

Fire Service Medals on the occasion of the

Republic Day 2020.

Of these, President’s Fire Service Medal for

Gallantry have been awarded to 13

personnel, Fire Service Medal for Gallantry

have been awarded to 29 personnel.

49 personnel have also been awarded Home

Guard and Civil Defence Medals on this

occasion.

Jeevan Raksha Padak Series of Awards

President Ram Nath Kovind has approved

the conferment of Jeevan Raksha Padak

Series of Awards 2019 on 54 persons.

This includes Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha

Padak to seven, Uttam Jeevan Raksha

Padak to eight and Jeevan Raksha Padak to

39 persons.

5 awards are posthumous.

Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are

given to a person for meritorious act of

human nature in saving the life of a person.

DMMC and Munnan Singh jointly awarded

Disaster Mitigation And Management Centre

(DMMC), Uttarakhand and IPS officer Kumar

Munnan Singh have been named as the

winners of Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda

Prabhandan Puruskar.

The government has instituted the annual

award in the year 2019.

The awards are announced every year on

January 23 on the birth anniversary of Netaji

Subhash Chandra Bose.

HealthSetGo CEO Priya Prakash won award

Priya Prakash, the founder and CEO of

HealthSetGo, has won the Cisco Youth

Leadership Award for 2019.

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She was awarded for her school health

programme that aims at providing 360-

degree healthcare support to children.

The prestigious award honours an individual

aged 18 - 30 who is bringing about a positive

change in the world by solving some of its

biggest global challenges.

Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awards conferred

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar,

2020 on 22 Jan 2020.

The Bal Puraskar is given by the govt every

year to recognize the exceptional

achievements of children in various fields.

These fields are innovation, scholastic

achievements, social service, arts and

culture, sports and bravery.

26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards-I

Winners of the 26th Annual Screen Actors

Guild Awards have been announced.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor

in a Drama Series was awarded to Jennifer

Aniston.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in

a Drama Series was given to Peter Dinklage.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in

a Comedy Series was given to Tony

Shalhoub.

26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards-II

The event was held on 19 Jan 2020 at the

Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA.

The award honours the year’s biggest

achievements in TV and film.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are

presented by SAG-AFTRA, which made its

debut in 1995.

Sam Rockwell received Outstanding

Performance by a Male Actor in a Television

Movie or Miniseries.

Ramnath Goenka Awards presented

Ramnath Goenka Excellence Awards were

presented on 20 Jan 2020.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the

awards in New Delhi.

The Awards, instituted in 2006, honour

journalists from print, broadcast and digital

media, who have shown extraordinary

strength of character and integrity while

reporting news accurately under dangerous

circumstances.

It carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.

‘Castle of Dreams’ got Best Film Award

The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed

by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award

in Asian Competition section of the 18th

Dhaka International Film Festival.

The festival concluded on 19 Jan 2020.

In the Asian Competition segment, Sri

Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s film

‘Children of the Sun’ won Special Jury

Award.

Best Actor Award went to Lousie Abuel fo film

‘Edward’.

Sakya Singha Sen awarded

Sakya Singha Sen from National Chemical

Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune, has been

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awarded "Merck Young Scientist Award

2019".

Sen and his research team specializes in

main group chemistry and involves in the

synthesis of compounds with main group

element and their catalytic application.

All the catalysts currently used mostly belong

to precious metals platinum, palladium,

iridium etc.

17th edition of Crossword Books Awards held

The 17th Crossword Book Awards were held

in Mumbai on 14 Jan 2020.

The award is the only forum in India that gives

a face to Indian authors and Indian literature.

Twinkle Khanna won the popular Best Fiction

Award for her novel ‘Pyjamas Are Forgiving’.

Jayasree Kalathil and N Prabhakaran

bagged the best book in the Indian Language

Translation category for Diary of a Malayali

Madman.

Rukmini S. won award for an article

Chennai-based journalist Rukmini S. has

won the Likho Awards for Excellence in

Media 2019 for an article on attitudes towards

homosexuality in India.

The awards were instituted by the Humsafar

Trust to recognize exemplary works by

journalists who have a fair representation of

the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,

intersex and queer community (LGBTQ).

Rukmini won in the print category.

Vasdev to be conferred with Saraswati Samman

Eminent Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be

conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman.

He has been selected for this prestigious

literary award for his short stories collection-

Chequebook.

Saraswati Samman carries a cash award of

15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque.

Mr Mohi has authored 25 books of poetry,

stories and translations.

He has also received Sahitya Akademi

Award.

ICC Awards 2019 announced

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has

announced the list of winners of its annual

awards of 2019.

Ben Stokes won the prestigious Sir Garfield

Sobers Trophy for the ICC Player of the Year

after a stunning 2019.

Indian opener Rohit Sharma was awarded

the ODI player of the year.

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has been

named the Test Player of the Year.

President Kovind will present RNG award

President Ram Nath Kovind will present

the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in

Journalism Awards in New Delhi on 20 Jan

2020.

The awards are administered by the

Ramnath Goenka Memorial Foundation and

are now in their fourteenth year.

This time, the awards have 11 categories

covering critical areas in print, digital and

electronic media, including business and

economics, political reportage, etc.

National Highway Excellence Awards 2019

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Road, Transport and Highway Minister, Nitin

Gadkari presented the National Highway

Excellence Awards 2019 in New Delhi on 14

Jan 2020.

The award was instituted in the year 2018.

It aims to recognize the well-performing

companies in the field of construction,

operations, maintenance, toll collection and

road safety on National Highways.

Jasprit Bumrah to receive Polly Umrigar Award

Jasprit Bumrah will receive the prestigious

Polly Umrigar Award for his super

performance in international cricket in the

2018-19 season.

He made his Test debut during India's tour of

South Africa in Jan 2018.

Former India captains Krishnamachari

Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra will be

presented with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime

Achievement Award and the BCCI Lifetime

Achievement Award for women.

Two Agricultural Scientists awarded

Dr M S Swaminathan and Dr Gutta

Muniratnam were chosen as the 1st

recipients of Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu

National Award for Excellence and

Muppavarapu National Award for Social

Service, respectively.

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan was awarded for his

contributions to the field of agriculture while

Dr G Muniratnam for his contribution in

improving quality of people’s lives through

social service.

Jasbinder bagged UK children's book award

India-born author Jasbinder Bilan has

bagged a coveted UK children's book award

for her debut novel 'Asha and the Spirit Bird'.

Bilan will receive 5,000 pounds as the winner

of the award.

Bilan's book was shortlisted from 144 entries

alongside 'Crossfire' by Malorie Blackman, 'In

the Shadow of Heroes' by Nicholas Bowling

and 'Furious Thing' by Jenny Downham.

Innovation Awards Presentation Ceremony

Innovation Awards Presentation Ceremony

will be held on the 8th of January 2020.

These awards will be conferred at the 12th

edition of Global Intellectual Property

Convention in New Delhi.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and

former Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu will

be the chief guests at the event.

More than 500 delegates from about 25

countries will participate in 3 day conference.

Golden Globes Awards 2020

The 77th annual Golden Globes

Awards were held on 5 Jan 2020 in Beverly

Hills, California.

Best motion picture — Drama was won by

'1917'.

Best performance by an actress in a motion

picture — Drama was won by Renee

Zellweger for "Judy".

Best performance by an actor in a motion

picture — Drama was won by Joaquin

Phoenix for "Joker".

Best Director was won by Sam Mendes for

'1917'.

Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman

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Information and Broadcasting Minister

Prakash Javadekar will confer the 1st

Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas Media

Samman to 30 media houses in New Delhi

on 7 Jan 2020.

The awards will be conferred under

3 categories.

The award will consist of a special medal,

plaque, trophy and a citation.

The awards were instituted in June 2019 to

mark the contribution of media in spreading

the message of Yoga.

Ronaldo bagged best men’s player title

Cristiano Ronaldo was named the year’s best

men’s player at the Dubai Globe Soccer

Awards.

Ronaldo has now earned the title for the sixth

time of its nine years of existence.

The ‘best agent’ award was won by

Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes.

England International Lucy Bronze was

crowned the year’s best female player.

Sucheta won Global child prodigy award 2020

A Dubai-based Indian girl, who can sing in

120 languages, has won the 'Global Child

Prodigy Awards 2020'.

Sucheta Satish, known as the Dubai Indian

High School's nightingale, won in the singing

category.

The Global Child Prodigy Award is a platform

to celebrate children's talent and power in

different categories.

The award ceremony was in New Delhi on 3

Jan 2020.

Swarna Jayanti Fellowships awarded

Swarna Jayanti Fellowships have been

awarded to 14 Scientists associated with

projects containing innovative research idea

and with the potential of making an impact on

R&D in the respective disciplines.

The Swarna Jayanti Fellowships scheme

was instituted by Government of India to

commemorate India's fiftieth year of

independence.

Krishi Karman Awards presented

PM Narendra Modi distributed Krishi Karman

Awards and Commendation Awards to states

at a public meeting in Tumkur Karnataka on

2 Jan 2020.

He also gave away Agriculture Minister’s

Krishi Karman Awards for Progressive

Farmers.

The event also witnessed the release of the

3rd instalment of PM Kisan (Pradhan Mantri

Kisan Samman Nidhi) of Rs 2000 for the

period December 2019-March 2020.

Sanjay Gupta to be honoured an award

Sanjay Gupta, the editor-in-chief of ‘Jagran’

will be honored with “Lokmanya Tilak

National Journalism Award” for his great

contribution in the field of Journalism.

The award will be conferred on him in Pune

on 4 Jan 2020, coinciding with the 139th

Foundation Day of 'Kesari' -- the newspaper

started by Lokmanya Tilak.

The award consists a cash prize Rs 1 lakh

and a memento.

Indore continues to top Swachh Survekshan

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Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs,

Hardeep Singh Puri announced the results of

Swachh Survekshan League 2020, for first

and second Quarters in New Delhi on 31 Dec

2019.

In the 10 lakh plus population category,

Indore secured first place in both the

quarters.

Madhya Pradesh Capital Bhopal got the

second and Surat in Gujarat third spot in first

Quarter.