Awards & Honours - Current Affairs for November, 2016

Iranian film Daughter, directed by Reza Mirkarimi, won the coveted Golden Peacock award at the 47^th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

The film also won the best actor [male] award for Farhad Aslani, who won the Silver Peacock prize and INR 10 lakh in cash.

The best actor [female] award was bagged by Elina Vasca for her performance in the Latvian film Mellow Mud.

Set in South Iran, Daughter is a family drama bringing out intergenerational conflict between a strict father and a young daughter.

IFFI Winners 2016

• Best director award : Soner Caner and Baris Kaya for Turkish film “Rauf”.
• Special jury award: Lee Joon-ik, South Korean director for the film The Throne.
• The ICFT–Unesco Gandhi medal: Cold of Kalandar, Turkish film, directed by Mustafa Kara.
• Centenary Award for best debut feature film : Rara, directed by Pepa San Martin’s.

Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee won the Best Actor award at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards on 24^th Nov 2016.

He beat Nawazuddin Siddiqui who was awarded a special mention in the same category.

He won the best performance for his role as Professor Siras in Aligarh, a powerful, personal drama based on true events.

Nawazuddin received a Special Mention in the Best Performance category for his role in Anurag Kashyap’s “Raman Raghav 2.0”.

The 10^th Asian Pacific Screen awarded were hosted in Brisbane.

Event was hosted by David Wenham and Anjali Rao.

The 2016 edition marks the 10^th year of the award in recognition and promotion of cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing region.

Asia Pacific Region comprises 70 countries.

About the Asia Pacific Screen Awards

• These awards have been given since 2007
• Awards are a global cultural initiative of Brisbane City Council, Australia
• This is the Asia Pacific region’s highest accolade in film

MC Mary Kom, the Olympic bronze medal winning boxer from India, is set to receive the Legends Award on 20th December 2016

She will receive the award from the International Boxing Association/AIBA on its 70th anniversary.

The Olympian and 5 time world champion is also a Rajya Sabha MP.

President Pranab Mukherjee nominated her as a member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament in April 2016.

Mary Kom is also a multiple time Asian champion and was named as an AIBA brand ambassador during the 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships .

Nicknamed Magnificent May, she belongs to the Kom-Kuki tribe of Manipur, India.

Her biography is “Unbreakable”

Mary Kom movie about her life starred Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra in a lead role.

Know Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom

• Mary Kom is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in almost each one of the 6 world championships
• First woman boxer from India to get Asian Games Gold medal in 2014
• Born: 1 March 1983, Churachandpur District

Awards conferred on Mary Kom include:


• Padma Bhushan
• Arjuna Award (Boxing)
• Padma Shree (Sports)
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
• People of the Year- Limca Book of Records

Indian journalist Malini Subramaniam writing for Scroll, a news website has received the International Press Freedom Award for reporting from the Naxal infested Bastar Area - she is one of 4 journalists who won the annual award for commitment to free press

She was honoured by the Committee to Protect Journalists along with El Salvador’s Oscar Martinez and Turkey’s Can Dundar.

Jailed Egyptian photographer Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, was given an award in absentia.

Subramaniam has reported on abuses by police and security forces, sexual violence against women, the jailing of minors, the shutdown of schools, extrajudicial killings, and threats against journalists in the Bastar region in Chattisgarh.

CPJ International Press Freedom Award

• Honours journalists or publications exhibiting courage in defending press freedom despite attacks, threats or imprisonment
• Established in 1991
• Awards given by CPJ, an Independent NGO based in NY
• Burton Benjamin Memorial Award for “lifelong work to advance press freedom” is also conferred by CPJ.

US President Barack Obama on 22nd Nov 2016 presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour to scientists, philanthropists, sports legends,artists and celebs

Among the notable winners were Robert Redford, Bill and Melinda Gates, Tom Hanks and Diana Ross.

List of Winners

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.

Elouise Cobell (posthumous): Blackfeet Tribal community leader and an advocate for Native American self-determination and financial independence.

Ellen DeGeneres: Award-winning comedian who has been hosting her popular daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, since 2003.

Robert De Niro: American actor and producer who has both Italian and American citizenship.

Richard Garwin: American physicist, widely known to be the author of the first hydrogen bomb design.

Bill and Melinda Gates: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.

Frank Gehry: Canadian-born American architect.

Margaret H. Hamilton: Computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner.

Tom Hanks: American actor, comedian and filmmaker.

Grace Hopper (posthumous): American computer scientist and United States Navy Rear Admiral.

Michael Jordan: American retired professional basketball player.

Maya Lin: Artist and designer who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art.

Lorne Michaels: Producer and screenwriter, best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live.

Newt Minow: Attorney with a long and distinguished career in public life.

Eduardo Padrón: President of Miami Dade College (MDC), one of the largest institutions of higher education in the United States.

Robert Redford: Actor, director, producer, businessman, and environmentalist.

Diana Ross: American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer.

Vin Scully: American sportscaster.

Bruce Springsteen: American singer, songwriter, and bandleader.

Cicely Tyson: American actress nominated for Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress for her performance as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder.

Presidential Medal of Freedom: Highest US Honour

• Bestowed by the President of USA
• Established in 1963 by President John Kennedy
• Can be conferred on civilians as well as military personnel and uniform wearers
• Not limited to US citizens
• Three people are 2 time recipients: Colin Powell, John Kenneth Galbraith and Ellsworth Bunker

Captain Radhika Menon, master of the oil products tanker Sampurna Swarajiya is set to receive the 2016 International Maritime Organisation Award for exceptional bravery at sea for rescuing 7 fishermen from a sinking boat in June 2015.

IMO is a UN specialised agency which safeguards security on the seas and protects marine resources.

Captain Menon was nominated by the Government of India.

The IMO Council, meeting for its 116th session in London, endorsed the decision of a Panel of Judges that Captain Menon displayed great determination and courage in leading the difficult rescue operation in the Bay of Bengal in June 2015 through wave heights of more than 25 feet.

She is the first woman captain in the Indian Merchant Navy and the first woman to receive the IMO award for exceptional bravery at sea.

Veteran journalist Akshaya Mukul on 21st Nov 2016 won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016 for his book “Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India.”

Judges Samanth Subramanian, Mahesh Rao and Janice Pariat, chose Mukul’s book for its “eye-opening and captivating exploration into a parallel literary culture that can often feel at a great remove from English-speaking metropolitan India”.

Mukul also won the best non-fiction book prize at the Ramnath Goenka awards which he boycotted.

The Shakti Bhatt First Book prize was set up in 2008 to encourage authors from the subcontinent.

The book talks about two Marwari businessmen turned spiritualists, Jaydayal Goyandka and Hanuman Prasad Poddar set up Gita Press and Kalyan magazine.

It explains how Gita Press has created an empire that spoke in militant Hindu nationalist voice.

Ideas articulated by Gita Press have played a formative role in furthering Hindu political consciousness.

Infosys Science Foundation on 18th Nov 2016 declared the names of six persons as winners of Infosys Prize 2016.

The prize which has been given to recognise and celebrate the talent and contribution of leading researchers and scientists today is currently in its eighth year.

Winners were selected from 6 categories namely Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

From a total of 250 nominations, 6 persons were chosen by noted academics and scientists such as Prof Amartya Sen and Prof Kaushik Basu.

Here are the names of the winners:

• Prof. V. Kumaran for Engineering and Computer Science
• Prof. Sunit Amrith for Humanities
• Dr. Gagandeep Kang for Life Sciences
• Prof. Akshay Venkatesh for Mathematical Sciences
• Dr. Anil Bhardwaj for Physical Sciences
• Prof. Kaivan Munshi for Social Sciences

Maha Chakri Sirindhom, Princess of Thailand on 21st Nov 2016 has been conferred with the first World Sanskrit Award.

She was honoured for her contribution to the Sanskrit language for the year 2015.

American linguist and Indologist Professor George Cardona was also honoured with this award for 2016.

The World Sanskrit Award was instituted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhom is the second daughter of late Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej who recently passed away. She was given the ceremonial title on Dec 5, 1977.

She holds degrees in history and a doctorate in educational development, teaching history at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.

A skilled performer and promotor of Thai traditional music, she speaks fluent Thai, English, French and Mandarin Chinese. She is also pursuing German and Latin.

In the year 2004, she was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development Award.
She was also the Royal Patron for the 16th World Sanskrit Conference held in Bangkok in 2015.

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, a Bangladeshi hostage killed in the terror attack at a Dhaka Cafe in Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 1, was awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice for 2016.

• The award was posthumously conferred by the Harmony Foundation, marking the first time this has been done so
• Foundation said it considers it its most humble privilege to posthumously honour Faaraz Ayaaz Hossain, who stood by and refused to leave his friends when terrorists attacked and paid with his life
• Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Faraaz’s mother Simeen Hossain said, “Those who have killed my son were devils, terrorists. And my son, who stood by his friends defying death, represented true Islam.”
• The International award in memory of late Mother Teresa was first introduced in 2005 and Medecines Sans Frontieres, the largest volunteer medical organisation worldwide, receiving it that year.
• Other winners of this award include Malala Yousufzai, Mahathir Mohammad, Dalai Lama and Caroline Cox.

Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Foreign Affairs Minister has been conferred the prestigious Mother Teresa International Award by Mumbai based NGO Harmony Foundation

• The minister is being honoured for work in establishing institutions that protect youth from radicalisation and indoctrination from terrorist groups and persons looking to initiate violence against innocent others
• The minister was chosen for his tremendous contributions in promoting peace and stability in West Asia
• The Mother Teresa Awards aim to honour individuals and organisations that promote peace, social justice and equality and aim to encourage the cause of justice and peaceful coexistence providing an impetus for society to absorb these values
• The Mother Teresa Awards aim to honour individuals in memory of Mother Teresa
• The award has been given once or twice a year since 2005
• This is an initiative of the Harmony Foundation created by Abraham Mathai in Mumbai
• It is the only award in the name of Mother Teresa recognised by the Missionaries of Charity.

The UNSG and South Korean diplomat has received the Legion of Honour from French President Francois Hollande for his contribution towards tackling climate change, on 17th Nov 2016

• Ban Ki-Moon pushed through the 2015 Paris Agreement
• This deal worked towards moving away from fossil fuels to cleaner energies signed by close to 200 countries after 20 years of negotiations
• Legion of Honour was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered one of the leading civilian awards of France
• Ban will step down as head of the 193 member UN after a decade on January 1
• He will be replaced by Portugal’s Antonio Guterres.

The well known Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance for 2016 has been conferred on Maharatna firm SAIL or Steel Authority of India Limited.
Set up by an Institute of Directors India, this award was received at the 16th London Global Convention on Corporate Governance and Sustainability

• SAIL was presented the award for corporate governance and balancing the interests of stakeholders of the company
• This includes shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, government, community and financiers
• SAIL is one of the largest state owned steel firms in India
• It is one of the top steel makers in the world
• It is currently the 24th largest steel producer in the world
• It was founded in 1954 and incorporated in 1973
• Its HQ is in New Delhi- it owns and operates 5 integrated steel plants in Bokaro, Burnpur, Rourkela, Bhilai and Durgapur
• It has 3 special steel plants at Salem, Durgapur and Bhadravathi

Amitav Ghosh has won the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016 as per an announcement on 8th Nov 2016.

• Ghosh is the Indian-American author best known for his English fiction work.
• He is an alumnus of The Doon School along with authors Vikram Seth and Ram Guha.
• He also received degrees from St. Stephen’s College, DU and DSE.
• He was also won the Inlaks Foundation scholarship.
• His debut novel launched in 1986 is The Circle of Reason.
• Other famous works in function include The Calcutta Chromosome,The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, Sea of Poppies and The Hungry Tide.
• Notable non-fiction writings include In An Antique Land, Dancing in Cambodia, At Large Burma, Countdown, The Imam and The Indian.
• His debut book The Circle of Reason won the Prix Medicis etranger, a top literary award in France.
• The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Ananda Puraskar.
• Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
• Government of India awarded him the the Padma Shri in 2007.
• The award was instituted by the festival to recognise and honour outstanding contributions in Indian literary space.
• Past recipients of the award include VS Naipaul, Khushwant Singh, Mahasweta Devi and MT Vasudevan Nair.
• Since its inception, TATA Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest has been constituted to honour achievements by emerging and accomplished Indian writers.

The 39th Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation Awards for 2016 were conferred on 7th Nov 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• Eminent Gandhian and President of Tunisia’s Ennahdha Party, Sheikh Rached Ghannouchi was awarded this honour.
• Other recipients of the award were Mohan Hirabai Hiralal. Bon Behari Vishnu Nimbkar, and Nannapaneni Manga Devi.
• Hiralal is the founder and convenor of Vrikshamitra.
• Nimbkar is the founder of Nimbler Agricultural Research Institute.
• The fourth awardee, NM Devi is the founder secretary of Sri Venkateswara Bala Kuteer and Chetana Charitable Trust.
• This is an Indian award for promoting Gandhian values, social development and community services.

Meryl Streep has won the Golden Globes Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 to be given at the annual ceremony in January.

• Streep is a three time Oscar winner.
• She will be presented the Cecil B DeMille award for 40 years in the film industry.
• Streep was in a 2016 comedy Florence Foster Jenkins most recently.
• The 67-year-old actress has won the Oscar three times- for "The Iron Lady," "Sophie’s Choice" and "Kramer vs Kramer".
• She has received a record 19 Oscar nominations during her 4 decade career.
• Streep joins Denzil Washington, George Clooney, Jodie Foster and Woody Allen as recipients of this award.

26-year-old Upma Virdi, an Indian from Punjab settled in Australia received the Business woman of the Year award at the India Australia Business Community Awards.

• This award ceremony was held in Sydney.
• Virdi, a lawyer, has set up Chai Walli selling tea blended with different flavours.
• Art of Chai workshops are also held by her in Australia.
• She was inspired by her grandfather who was an Ayurvedic doctor and took to making tea for the family resulting in the perfect blend.
• She hails from Chandigarh in Punjab.
• Virdi aims to educate the Australian society about Indian culture through tea.

Indian actress Rekha will be honoured by the Dubai International Film Festival with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

• The festival will be held in Dec 2016.
• Rekha has been honoured for her 40-year career and participation in more than 180 movies.
• Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she started her career in the 1960s as a child actor.
• Her film debut as a lead was in the movie Sawan Bhadon.
• She has appeared in mainstream as well as parallel cinema.
• She is also a winner of three Filmfare Awards.
• The National Film award winning actress was honoured in 2010 with a Padma Shri by GoI.
• The Dubai International Film Festival is the leading festival conceived in 2004.
• The festival has served as an influential platform for filmmakers in the Arab world.
• The ruler of Dubai and UAE Vice President and PM His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the patron of this festival.

In Oct 2016, Indian researcher Shamik Chowdhury was awarded the German Green Talent Award.

• 25 researchers were conferred this award.
• Shamik won the award for his innovative approach to sustainable development.
• He has also pioneered resource efficiency, cleaner production and eco-innovation research.
• His main area of focus is in creating green technologies based on renewable feedstocks to enhance living quality.
• His award winning research on carbon capture uses innovative absorbents.
• The Green Talent Award is hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research each year to promote global change for innovative green ideas.
• The year 2016 saw the eighth edition of the award being conferred.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu announced that South Korean director Im Kwon-taek will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th International Film Festival of India in Goa.

• IFFI will take place from 20-28th November 2016.
• The festival will play special tribute to late Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda and late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.
• The 47th edition of the IFFI will have its country focus on Republic of Korea under which the best of Korean films will be showcased.
• Im Kwon-taek is one of the most renowned film directors in South Korea.
• His films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success.
• He has directed over 100 films and was awarded the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Best Director award in 2002.

Indian National Award winning documentary Daughters of Mother India won the first prize in the Documentary Film category at the sixth CAM International Film Festival.

• This festival was organised by Arabic Egyptian Society for Culture, Media and Arts in Cairo.
• Movie portrays the story of India’s resolve, hope and courage in fighting against sexual abuse and violence.
• It frames the aftermath of the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder on camera.
• CAM International Film Festival was held from Oct 8-13 2016.
• It is organised each year to promote cinema as a means of combating ignorance, terrorism and poverty.
• This year’s edition featured around 92 films from 33 nations in 3 categories: Short Fiction, Documentary and Animation.
• India was the guest of honour at the film gala with 12 entries.
• Egypt is a country linking NE Africa with the Middle East dating to the time of the pharaohs.
• Millennia old monuments site along the fertile Nile River Valley including Giza’s colossal Pyramids and Great Sphinx as well as Luxor’s hieroglyph lined Karnak temple and Valley of Kings tombs.
• Capital Cairo is home to Ottoman landmarks such as the Muhammad Ali Mosque and the Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities.
• The Egyptian currency is a pound while the President is Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.