Awards & Honours - Current Affairs for March, 2017

India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on March 28, 2017 received Garfield Sobers Trophy for being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year as well as the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year.

Ashwin received the award the award from former India captain and ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar respectively.

During the voting period, which ran from 14 September 2015 to 20 September 2016, the 30-year-old from Chennai played eight Tests in which he took 48 wickets and scored 336 runs.

Ashwin also claimed 27 wickets in 19 T20Is.

Ashwin had finished 2015 as the number-one ranked Test bowler in the world, a position he twice reclaimed in 2016.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher will be honoured with the Kala Ratan Award by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Anupam Kher was honoured him the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts.

The actor who has worked mainly in Hindi films has also appeared in acclaimed international films like

• Bend It Like Beckham,
• Bride and Prejudice,
• The Mistress Of Spices,
• Ang Lee’s Lust,
• Caution, and David O. Russell’s 2013 Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook.

He also joined Harry Potter actor Jason Isaac and Dev Patel for another film Hotel Mumbai.

His new movie in Bollywood is the Taapsee Pannu starrer Naam Shabana where actor Akshay Kumar will have a cameo.

Anupam Kher: Know More

• Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in over 400 films and many plays.
• Mainly working in Hindi films, he has also appeared in acclaimed international films.
• Born: 7 March 1955, Shimla
• Spouse: Kirron Kher

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and author Fareed Zakaria are among 6 Indian Americans nominated for the Ellis Island Medal of Honour 2017– the highest civilian award in the US for immigrants.

The awardees include 88 recipients, of which four other Indian Americans are Harman International Industries CEO and Chairman Dinesh Palliwal, Dr. AS Kini, Yashvant Patel, Mohan H Patel and Pakistani American Dr. Adil Haider.

Nooyi has been the PepsiCo CEO since 2006 and chairman since 2007.

She was previously president and CFO as well as senior VP for two roles at the company.

Zakaria hosts CNN's “Fareed Zakaria GPS” and is a columnist for The Washington Post.

He has also served as a columnist and senior editor at Newsweek and editor-at-large of TIME magazine.

Paliwal has served as president and CEO at Harman since 2007 and became chairman in 2008.

Ellis Island Medal of Honour

• Highest civilian award for US immigrants.
• Founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organisations
• Given to individuals whose accomplishments in field and service to country are commendable
• Medal was conceived in 1986
• It has been official recognised since then by both Houses of Congress as one of the nation's most prestigious awards
• NECO honoured diverse Americans including six presidents of the US.
• Other notable winners include former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, performer Frank Sinatra, sportsperson Muhammad Ali and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel

The NDTV anchor won the first Kuldip Nayar journalism prize for promotion of independent thinking, democratic values and civil rights.

Instituted by journalist Kuldip Nayar and the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the prize is given to journalists in Indian languages who “promote independent thinking, democratic values and civic rights” through their work.

The award was set up to honour those working in vernacular media. It will be awarded every year from now on and carries a plaque along with a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh.

NDTV: Know More

• CEO: K. V. L. Narayan Rao (Oct 2016)
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founders: Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has taken the decision to award the Abel Prize for 2017 to 77-year-old Yves Meyer.

The mathematician of the École normale superiéure Paris-Saclay France was honoured with the award for his role in the development of the mathematical theory of wavelets.

The winner of the 2017 Abel Prize was announced by Ole M. Sejersted, the President of the Norwegien Academy of Science and Letters.

Yves Meyer led the modern development of theory, joining mathematics, IT and computational science.

Wavelet analysis has been applied in the following arenas:

• Applied and computational harmonic analysis
• Data compression
• Noise reduction
• Medical imaging
• Archiving
• Digital Cinema
• Deconvolution of the Hubble space telescope images
• Recent LIGO detection of gravitational waves by black hole collision

Yves Meyer is to receive the prize from His Majesty King Harald V at an award ceremony in Oslo on May 23rd, 2017.

The Abel Prize recognizes and acknowledges contributions of depth and influence to mathematical sciences.

He has been annually awarded since 2003.

This carries a cash award of 6 million NOK.

Meyer carried out award winning work on harmonic analysis. His work has relevance for maths, IT and computer science.

It has useful real world applications. Collaborating with Stéphane Mallat, the work he has done is a pioneering piece of research.

About Yves Meyer: Know More

• Born 19th July, 1939.
• Nationality : French
• Entered École normale supérieure de la rue d’Ulm in Paris in 1957
• Obtained PhD from University of Strasbourg in 1966
• He was professor of Mathematics at Université Paris-Sud, then École Polytechnique and Université Paris Dauphine.
• Then, he moved to the ENS Paris-Saclay where he worked at the Centre of Mathematics and its Applications
• He was a member of the French Académie des Sciences since 1993.
• In 1994, he was elected foreign honorary member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• He became foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2014.
• Yves Meyer became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012.
• He has won the 1970 Salem and 2010 Gauss prizes for advance in maths

The Abel Prize: Know More

This prize is awarded by the Norwegien Academy of Science and Letters.

The choice of the laureate is on the basis of Abel Committee recommendations

5 current mathematicians on the current committee are:

• John Rognes
• Marta Sanz-Solé
• Luigi Ambrosio
• Marie-France Vignéras
• Ben Green

Photojournalist Raghu Rai was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award on 22nd March 2017 by the I&B ministry for his contribution to the field.

Rai was honoured with the award by I&B minister M. Venkaiah Naidu at the 6th National Photography awards organised by the ministry.

A total of 13 photographers were awarded. Among the winners were Ravinder Kumar, Atul Choubey, Dipayan Bhar and KK Mustafah.

National Photography Awards is an annual event organized by the ministry to promote art, photography technique and encourage photographers from all corners of the country.

Raghu Rai: Know More

• Rai began his career at the age of 23.
• He has been a photographer for over 50 years.
• He is a Padma Shree awardee and served on the jury of World Press Photo and UNESCO's International Photo Contest.
• He is best known for his book “ Raghu Rai's India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections In Black and White.”
• He has 18 titles as part of his collection.
• This includes Raghu Rai's Delhi, The Sikhs and Calcutta.
• He garnered acclaim for his series on Great Masters of the Indian classical music, Mother Teresa and Satyajit Ray.
• Rai was awarded Photographer of the Year award by the US in the 1990s.

President Pranab Mukherjee on 20 March 2017 presented the KCK International Award for excellence in Print Journalism.

The awards were organized by Rajasthan Patrika in New Delhi.

The award for the year 2014 was conferred upon Wanjohi Kabukuru’s team for the story How East Africa Lost Its Innocence that was published in New African magazine, London.

The award for the year 2015 was awarded to Rakesh Sharma and his team for an investigative news series Sexual Harassment in Nari Niketan, published in Amar Ujala.

The award carries the cash prize of USD 11000. Journalism has had a long history in India.

Print Journalism in India

• It has been closely associated with India’s struggle for independence and social reforms.
• The history of Indian journalism has been that of progressive reform, social renaissance and anti-colonialism.
• The contribution of print journalism to an evolving Indian society and nationhood was immense beginning with the ‘Samvad Kaumudi’ brought out by Raja Rammohun Roy in 1819.
• Others include ‘Samachar Chandrika’ and ‘Mirat-Ul-Akhbar’, Harijan and Young India edited by the Mahatma.
• Print journalism has its own impact because journalists through their columns or stories find a permanent place in the minds of readers.

Five Indians, including Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Shruti Shibulal of The Tamara Hospitality, have made it to the World Economic Forum's 100 Young Global Leaders list.

The other individuals who represented India in the list include Ambarish Mitra Founder and CEO Blippar, a mobile phone app business valued at USD 1.5 billion.

Also part of the list were Hindol Sengupta Editor-at large Fortune India and Rwitwika Bhattacharya - Agarwal Founder and CEO Swaniti Initiative.

There were nine global leaders from South Asia, out of which five are from India.

Besides, there are some persons of Indian origin in the US and Europe were also named in the list.

Each year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) selects 100 young leaders, under the age of 40, who are tackling the world's most complex challenges with innovative approaches.

In this year's class of 100 Young Global Leaders, half the intake come from emerging economies, reflecting a trend towards greater diversity in global leadership.

Selected into a five-year programme, this year's class of 100 Young Global Leaders is split evenly between business and not-for-profit sectors building a global community of peers who can capitalise on diverse talents, experiences and networks to bridge divides that exist in society and achieve more together than they could separately.

From the public sector, the list features Aja Brown the youngest mayor to be elected in Compton, California.

Among those representing the private sector is Katie Hill, an innovator who leads Apple's ambitious new clean energy programme, converting the company's manufacturing worldwide to renewable energy.

Alia Bhatt won the Best Actor Female Award at the Zee Cine Awards 2017.

Amitabh Bachchan won the Best Male Actor Award. Alia was honoured for her stellar performance in Udta Punjab while Amitabh Bachchan won his award for his role in Pink.

Salman Khan won the Best Actor Male (Viewer's Choice) while the Female Best Actor (Viewer's Choice) award was won by Anushka Sharma.

Rishi Kapoor won two awards– Best Supporting Male and Best Actor in Comic Role Categories for his film Kapoor and Sons.

Shabana Azmi won the Best Actor in Supporting Role (Female) award for Neerja. The Best Film award was won by Pink. Best Film Award (Viewer's Choice) was Dangal.

Well known Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail has been honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel ‘Hawthan’.

The 74-year-old writer’s novel, published in 2009, was shortlisted from 22 books written in as many languages.

The selection for the award is given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen and published during the last 10 years.

It is made by a jury presided by former chief justice A S Anand.

The award carries a cash prize of 15 lakh and a citation.

Goa-based Sail is a renowned bilingual writer. He has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit.

He has also written five short stories and a novel in Marathi.

His book ‘Hawthan’ is a well-researched work of fiction presenting the cultural map of the traditional potter community of Goa.

Recipients of Saraswati Samman

The previous recipients of the Saraswati Samman, instituted by K K Birla Foundation include:

• Former Union minister M Veerappa Moily,
• S L Bhyrappa,
• K Aiyappa Panickar,
• Vijay Tendulkar,
• Padma Sachdev and
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was honoured with the best actress award for her performance in 'Sarbjit' at the International Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA).

In the biopic movie, the 43-year-old actress portrayed Dalbir Kaur.

She is the sister of Sarabjit Singh, fighting against the system to bring back his brother from Pakistan jail.

'Sarbjit,' based on the story of Sarbjit Singh, an Indian national who was punished by Pakistan's Supreme Court on charges of spying.

The Omung Kumar directed movie also starred Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadda and Darshan Kumar.

Sarabjit Singh: Know More

• Born: 1963, Bhikhiwind
• Died: 2 May 2013, Lahore, Pakistan
• Spouse: Sukhpreet Kaur
• Pakistani SC judgement: Capital punishment

Danish toymaker Lego plans to honour five women scientists, engineers and astronauts who worked for US space agency NASA.

The aim is to release figurines of the pioneering women that its creator hopes will inspire more girls to pursue careers in science.

The women include computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, astronaut Sally Ride and Katherine Johnson.

Johnson is one of three black female mathematicians whose work on the U.S. space programme in the 1960s is captured in Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures.

Maia Weinstock, a science editor and the winner of a Lego competition for new sets created by fans, said she wanted to recognise women who made significant contributions at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

There are people whose stories have not really been told who have made seminal contributions to the NASA programmes.

After submitting her design idea to a Lego website, Ms. Weinstock said it only took 15 days before her proposal garnered 10,000 public votes and attracted attention from the toymaker.

The set, which will also pay tribute to astronomer Nancy Grace Roman and astronaut Mae Jemison, will feature a mini version of the Hubble Space Telescope which was sent into space in the 1990s to collect data and take photographs.

It will also include a space shuttle.

Lego: Know More

• CEO: Bali Padda (since 1 Jan 2017)
• Headquarters: Billund, Denmark
• Founder: Ole Kirk Christiansen
• Founded: 10 August 1932, Billund, Denmark
• Type: Privately held company

India Test captain Virat Kohli will be awarded with the Polly Umrigar Award at the BCCI award ceremony in Bangalore on March 8, 2017.

Kohli, who received the award in 2011-12 and 2014-15, becomes the first Indian cricketer to get it on the third occasion.

The award is given to the international cricketer of the year by the Indian cricket board.

In another first, all-rounder R Ashwin will also become the first Indian to receive the Dilip Sardesai award twice.

Earlier, The BCCI Annual Awards committee consisting of N Ram, Ramachandra Guha and Diana Edulji had nominated Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar for the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mumbai Cricket Association has been chosen as the State Association of the Season (2015-16) for winning the Ranji Trophy, the CK Nayudu Trophy and also the Women’s Plate League Group.

They were runner-up in the Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19), the Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) and the Women’s One-Day Elite Group.

Complete List of Winners: BCCI Awards

Dilip Sardesai award (For India’s best cricketer in the West Indies series 2016): R Ashwin	Jalaj Saxena of Madhya Pradesh
Best Umpire in Domestic cricket in 2015-16:	Nitin Menon
Jagmohan Dalmiyra Award (Best Woman cricketer (Jr.) of 2015-16):	Deepti Sharma of Uttar Pradesh
Jagmohan Dalmiyra Award (Best Woman cricketer (Sr.) of 2015-16):	Mithali Raj of Railways
Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in domestic limited-overs competitions, 2015-16:	Axar Patel of Gujarat
Madavrao Scindia Award (Highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16):	Shreyas Iyer of Mumbai
Madavrao Scindia Award (Highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16):	Shahbaz Nadeem of Jharkhand
M.A. Chidambaram Trophy (Highest scorer in (U-23) Col. CK. Nayudu Trophy 2015-16:	Jay. G. Bista of Mumbai
M.A. Chidambaram Trophy (Highest wicket-taker in (U-23) Col. CK. Nayudu Trophy 2015-16:	Satyajeet Bachhav of Maharashtra
NKP Salve Award (Highest scorer in (U-19) Cooch Behar Trophy in 2015-16):	Arman Jaffer of Mumbai
Raj Singh Dungarpur Award ( Highest wicket-taker in (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2015-16):	Abhishek Sharma of Punjab
Raj Singh Dungarpur Award ( Highest scorer in (U-16) Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2015-16):	Abhishek Sharma of Punjab
NKP Salve Award (Highest wicket-taker in (U-19) Cooch Behar Trophy in 2015-16):	Ninad Rathva of Baroda
Polly Umrigar Award:	Virat Kohli
BCCI special award:	VV Kumar, Late Ramakant Desai
BCCI Lifetime achievement award for women:	Shantha Rangaswamy
Col. CK. Nayudu Lifetime achievement award:	Rajinder Goel, Padmakar Shivalkar

In a move that will potentially give a much-needed impetus to Women’s Cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has introduced the women’s category in their Lifetime Achievement Awards.

This is recognising the stellar contribution of Indian women cricketers to the sport in India.

The first awardee in the category, who will be felicitated on International Women’s Day on March 8, is former India captain Shanta Rangaswamy.

Apart from Mr. Vaman Viswanath Kumar and late Ramakant Desai have been nominated for the BCCI Special Award in recognition of their yeoman services to Indian Cricket.

About Shanta Rangaswamy

• Chennai-born Rangaswamy played 16 Tests between 1976 and 1991, and 19 ODIs between 1981 and 1986.
• In her Test career, she captained eight of the matches in 1976-77 and four in 1983-84, and scored 750 runs at 32.60 including the first ever century scored by a woman cricketer against New Zealand, in 1986.
• In her ODI stint, she captained 16 matches and scored 287 runs.
• The right-handed batter and bowler who bowled at a medium pace took 21 wickets at a bowling average of 31.61, and clocked a best analysis of 4-42 against England.
• The 63-year-old has also won the Arjuna award in 1976, and continues to contribute to the cricketing sphere as a cricket writer, coach, and selector for the women's team.
• She also holds an executive position, namely General Manager, at Canara Bank, for its Bengaluru Region.