Awards & Honours - Current Affairs for July, 2017

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 26th July 2017 conferred this year's ‘Mahanayak Samman 2017' to veteran actress Shakuntala Barua for her contribution to the world of cinema.

Awards were also presented to Prosenjit Chatterjee, Nusrat Jahan, Arindam Sil, Bickram Ghosh, Soumik Halder and Padmanabha Dasgupta.

Suparnokanti Karati for Bisarjan film and Shiboprasad Mukhopadhyay of Windows Productions for Praktan film were also among the awardees for Best Film and Best Producer categories.

The CM also looks to digitalise Bengal's film records.

V.O. Chidambaranar Port has bagged National Award for Excellence in Cost Management for the year 2016 from ‘The Institute of Cost Accountants of India’ under the category “Transportation and Logistics”.

The award was given category Transportation and Logistics in a function held in New Delhi on 18th July 2017.

The Port is has received this award thrice earlier, during the years 2008, 2012 and 2015 under the category “Service Sector”.

The award has been given for exemplary performance and initiatives of V.O. Chidambaranar Port towards reduction of cost per tonne, optimization of manpower, savings in electricity.

This is by installation of energy efficient LED lightings, implementation of solar energy systems, reduction of overall cost of handling by mechanization in port operation which resulted in improved efficiency, quick evacuation of cargo and reduction in logistics cost to the EXIM Trade.

It is also pertinent to note that during the financial year 2016-17, the operating ratio of the Port was 41.46%, the best among the Major Ports of India.

Guruswamy Jayraman, a 69-year-old Glenwood resident who migrated from Delhi to Australia in 1991, has been awarded Order of Australia for community work.

This is the highest civilian award in Australia.

He works as a senior accountant with Woollahra Municipal Council for a living and has been devoting most of his spare time in community work for the last 25 years.

He has represented various community organisations like Auburn Diversity Services as chair, Hindu Council of Australia as treasurer, Sri Om Adi Sakhi Ashram – a non-for-profit health support system for the elderly, and the community volunteering organisation – Sewa International Australia, among others.

He holds a graduate diploma in health counselling and in medical terminology and counselling.

Other Awards Received

• Outstanding Services to Older Citizens Award from the Auburn Council (2011),
• Service to the Indian Community and Seniors by the India Independence & Australia Day Celebration Committee (2010) and
  Community Services award from GOPIO Sydney (2012).
• He was also awarded for his contributions for seniors in Western Sydney by the Minister for Ageing & Disability.

Writer Preeti Shenoy in the last week of June 2017 was honoured with the Indian of the Year Award at a function organised in New Delhi.

Shenoy was awarded by Brands Academy, one of the most reputed branding companies in India.

The Award is given to recognise the achievements of personalities who have contributed towards building up the reputation of the country.

Preeti Shenoy is one of India’s top five highest selling women authors.

She has been consistently nominated for the Forbes List of the 100 most influential celebrities in India since 2013.

India Today refers to her ‘the only woman in the highest-selling league.'

She is also a self-taught artist who paints with water colours and oils, and also works with mixed media.

Some well known books she has authored are It’s All in the Planets, Life Is What You Make It, It Happens For A Reason, among others.

Two Indian-Americans, Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen (54) and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (39) have been chosen for prestigious Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2017.

They are among 38 distinguished US immigrants representing more than 30 countries of origin around the world honoured with this year’s award for their role in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture.

Some the honourees include Canadian-origin social entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, PayPal cofounder of Ukrainian origin Max Levchin, Iranian-origin philanthropist and entrepreneur Hushang Ansary. Vivek Murthy Murthy was born in the UK. He is alumnus of Harvard and Yale. He was appointed as Surgeon General by former President Barack Obama in 2014, making the first-ever Indian-American and also the youngest to occupy the post.

He was dismissed this in April 2017 by the Trump administration. Shantanu Narayen is a native of Hyderabad.

He holds an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering, a master’s degree in computer science, and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

He is a board member of Pfizer and US-India Business Council.

At present, he is CEO of Adobe Systems.

About Great Immigrants Award: Know More

• The Pride of America Award The award is given annually on the occasion of Independence Day of United States that is, 4th July to naturalised citizens of US for their contribution in advancing US’s economy, society, and culture.
• The award has been instituted by New York-based Carnegie Corporation in 2006. The honourees are recognised with a full-page public service announcement in The New York Times and an online public awareness initiative.
• The Carnegie Corporation was established in 1911 by Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.
• Carnegie Corporation’s founder Andrew Carnegie was one of pioneer American capitalist who had shaped the modern American industry and philanthropy.
• He was the son of impoverished immigrants who had settled in US.