Awards & Honours - Current Affairs for May, 2016

Indian-American scientist Arnab De in May 2016 received the prestigious Springer Theses award. He was awarded for his research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumor-suppressor called A20. His thesis was nominated by New York’s Columbia University.

• He dedicated his PhD thesis to cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and his alma mater, Kolkata’s Presidency University.
• The Springer Theses Award is awarded by Springer, a leading global publisher of renowned scientific journals and books, to recognise outstanding PhD research.

Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on 26th May 2016 received the 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award

• He was one of the five recipients of the year
• Others include Mary Callahan, CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management, Alan F. Horn chairman of Walt Disney Studios and W James McNerney Jr, retired chairman of Boeing Company. Another recipient was worldwide MD of Bain & Company and chairman and cofounder of the Bridgespan Group.
• He is the founder, chairman and group CEO of Bharti Enterprises with interests in telecom, financial services, retail and agri business.
• He was listed as the eighth richest person by Forbes recently

Pakke Tiger Reserve on 22nd May 2016 received the Indian Biodiversity Award in one of 4 categories in Mumbai in a reserve in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.

• Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme of the Pakke Tiger Reserve was awarded the prize under conservation of threatened species category
• Besides this, Hong Niitii, Lower Subansiri was awarded under the category IV Biodiversity Management Committee award
• Hornbill Nest Adoption programme is a collaboration of State Forest departments, Nature Conservation Foundation and Ghora Aabhe Society
• Under this programme, urban citizens contribute money to protect hornbill nests around Pakke Tiger Reserve.
• This is a major step forward towards conservation of 4 hornbill species found in the adjoining areas of the Tiger reserve
• Awards are a joint initiative of Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry National Biodiversity Authority and UNDP.

Technology Academy Finland (TAF) on 24 May 2016 declared American innovator Frances Arnold as winner of the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize.

• The 1 million euro prize is awarded biennially and Arnold is the first female winner in its 12-year history.
• Biochemical engineer Arnold received the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of directed evolution, which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory. The internationally recognised American scientist and engineer is known for her innovations.

Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling was conferred the ‘Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award’ by Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India.

• Siddhicharan Shrestha Academy organised an event in Kathmandu on the occasion of 105th birth anniversary of the late poet Shrestha.
• The award carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of NRs 100,000.
• Sikkim is located in Himalayan Mountains. Sikkim is the only state with Nepali Majority. Its economy is largely depends on agriculture and also tourism.
• As per Census 2011, Sikkim has the lowest population among all the Indian states.

Veteran British director Ken Loach won his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival when I, Daniel Blake, his latest social-realist drama, took the Best Picture award on May 22.

• Loach, 79, is one of only nine directors to have won the top prize at Cannes twice. Loach had won in 2006 with The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
• I, Daniel Blake, shows how Britain’s social security system conspires to drive a downtrodden carpenter and a single mother of two into poverty in the northeastern city of Newcastle.
• The Iranian film Forushande (The Salesman) by Asghar Farhadi received two awards, for Best Screenplay and for Best Actor, won by Shahab Hosseini.
• Canadian director Xavier Dolan, who won the Jury Prize with Mommy in 2014, received the Grand Prix for his Juste la Fin du Monde (It’s Only the End of the World).
• The Jury Prize went to American Honey by British director Andrea Arnold, while Olivier Assays, director of Personal Shopper and Cristian Mungiu who made Bacalaureat (Graduation) tied for Best Director.
• Jaclyn Jose won Best Actress for her role in Ma’ Rosa, a brutal dive into the Manila underworld directed by Brillante Mendoza.
• Jean-Pierre Leaud, one of the most famous faces of the French New Wave, received the Palme d’Or d’Honneur, a lifetime achievement award.

Indian-American Syamantak Payra, a 15 year-old from Friendswood, Texas, in May 2016 won Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards of 50000 US dollar.

• He was awarded for developing a low-cost electronically aided knee brace that allows an individual with a weakened leg to walk more naturally.
• He shared the 50000 US dollars award with Kathy Liu of Salt lake City, Utah who was awarded for developing an alternative battery component that could significantly improve battery performance and safety.

S. Korean author Han Kang has won the Man Booker Intenrnational Prize with “The Vegetarian,” an unsettling novel in which a woman’s decision to stop eating meat has devastating consequences.

• Literary critic Boyd Tonkin, chair of the panel that chose the winner from 155 entries, said Han’s book combined “tenderness and terror” in a tale of “volcanic, visceral intensity.”
• The award is the counterpart of the Booker prize in the world and is open to authors whose works have been translated into the English language
• Prize will be split between Han and translator Deborah Smith who helped in the book
• This is one of the first books by the author to be translated into English.

Four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian, who laid down their lives while serving in the U.N. peacekeeping operations last year, will be honoured along with other 124 personnel with a prestigious U.N. medal awarded posthumously for their courage and sacrifice.

• Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav, Rifleman Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik Rakesh Kumar and Gagan Punjabi made the supreme sacrifice.
• U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will begin the commemoration by laying a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nurses from across the country on the occasion of International Nurses Day at the Rashrapati Bhavan

• The Health Ministry also spoke of several initiatives for strengthening the nursing cadre namely Upgradation of institutions from School of Nursing to College of Nursing, Training of Nurses, and Development of Nurse Practitioner Courses for Critical Care and Primary Healthcare services.

Bureaucrat turned politician NK Singh has been honoured with the second highest decoration The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star.

• He won the honour for strengthening Indo-Japanese ties in the field of trade and investment
• Award citation hailed Singh’s role in improving Indo-Japan economic ties especially in promoting Japanese investments into India
• Awards were conferred to around 91 eminent personalities including 8 foreign recipients

Pope Francis has been presented with the International Charlemagne Prize, one of Europe’s most prestigious prizes, for his “message of hope and encouragement.”

• It is awarded annually
• The Charlemagne prize is awarded annually by the German city of Aachen for contributions to European unity.
• Previous winners include former U.S. President Bill Clinton and St John Paul II, who received a special edition of the prize in 2004.

Indian author Parashar Kulkarni has won the regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2016. His story 'Cow and Company' about four men in search of a cow was adjudged the best from Asia.

• Kulkarni, an assistant professor in Social Sciences at Yale NUS College Singapore, writes about the intersection of religion and political economy. "
• Cow and Company is politically grounded, funny and interesting

The agriculture project Harita Priya of AP on May 3 2016 won the World Summit on Information Society 2016 prize in the e-agriculture category.

• The prize was announced in Geneva by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
• Harita-Priya stands for Harmonized Information of Agriculture, Revenue and Irrigation for a Transformation Agenda - Precision Technology for Agriculture.
• It meant to collect very specific climate data from farms and give farmers personalised information through SMS

President Pranab Mukherjee on 3 May 2016 conferred National film awards for the year 2015 in various categories at the 63rd National Film Awards Function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

• The President also conferred 2015 Dada Saheb Phalke Award to Manoj Kumar.
• Amitabh Bachchan received the Best Actor honour for his role of a father in Piku and Kangana Ranaut received the Best Actress Award for Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
• Best Feature Film - Baahubali: The Beginning
• Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film Of A Director - Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan
• Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment - Bajrangi Bhaijaan
• Best Children's Film - Duronto
• Best Direction - Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani
• Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration - Nanak Shah Fakir
• Best Film on Environment / Conservation / Preservation - Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal
• Best Film on Social Issue - Niranayakam
• Best Actor - Amitabh Bachchan for Piku
• Best Actress - Kangana Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu Returns
• Best Supporting Actor - Samuthirakani for Visaranai
• Best Supporting Actress - Tanvi Azmi for Bajirao Mastani
• Best Child Artist - Gaurav Menon for Ben
• Best Male Playback Singer - Mahesh Kale for Katyar Kaljat Ghusali
• Best Female Playback Singer - Monali Thakur for Moh Moh Ke Dhaag (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
• Best Cinematography - Sudeep Chatterjee for Bajirao Mastani

Pune-based Venture Center (Entrepreneurship Development Center), the technology business incubator hosted by the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, has bagged the National Award for Technology Business Incubation for 2016

Tabassum Adnan, a women’s rights activist from Swat valley of Pakistan, on 28th April 2016 won the prestigious Mandela - Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016 in Bogota, Colombia.

• She won the award for the individual activist category on the concluding day of the International Civil Society Week held from 25 April to 28 April 2016.
• A victim of child marriage, Tabassum Adnan was married at the age of 13. She divorced her abusive husband.
• She is the founder of Khwendo Jirga (Sister's Council), the first women-only jirga in Pakistan.
• The council meets weekly to address issues of women's right, including honour killings, and acid attacks.

A graduate of Yale University, she also served as a Wall Street Journal correspondent and she and her colleagues were presented with the prestigious E.A Poe Award during the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

• Annual award by the White House Correspondents Association honours work of national or regional significance.
• Washington based journalist Banerjee has joined Inside Climtate News and was a energy and environmental reporter for the LA Times Washington Bureau.
• Award was shared by Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post who explored issue of high lead poisoning among African American children in Baltimore.
• Misha Euceph, a Pakistani radio journalist from Rawalpindi was among 18 journalists selected for the WHCA annual scholarship
  Judges for journalism award included Indian American Indira Somani.

Former bureaucrat and parliamentarian N. K. Singh will receive one of Japan’s highest civilian honours for promoting economic, educational and cultural ties between India and Japan.

• Mr. Singh, who is a former Member of the Planning Commission, will receive the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver’ and is among 91 foreign recipients to be honoured during the 2016 Spring Imperial Decoration of Japan on May 10.
• An agreement with a leading tour operator for increasing tourism arrivals from India which is one of the fastest markets in the region.