1) President conferred Gandhi Peace Prize on ISRO.
- President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014 on Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- On behalf of the organisation the award was received by ISRO’s Chairman AS Kiran Kumar.
- It was awarded for its contribution in development of space technology and satellite-based services like launch of Manglayan, PSLV, and others.
- ISRO was chosen for the prestigious award by a jury headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
About Gandhi Peace Prize:
- The Gandhi Peace Prize was instituted in the year 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- This annual award is given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
- The award carries an amount of one crore rupees, a citation and a Plaque. The Award for every year is selected by a Jury under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister.
2) DRDO scientist Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy conferred with Silver Medal by Royal Aeronautical Society.
- DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientist Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy conferred with the Silver Medal of the prestigious Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).
- Dr. Reddy was conferred with this medal in recognition of his contributions as one of the leading navigation and avionics experts of the Indian Defense research establishment.
- The award will be formally presented to him at the Wilbur and Orville Wright Lecture to be held on 9 December 2015 in the Society`s headquarters in London.
About Royal Aeronautical Society:
- It is a British-founded multidisciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. It is headquartered in London.
- It was established in 1866 and is the oldest aeronautical society in the world.
- It has been honouring outstanding achievers in the global aerospace industry since 1909, when Wilbur and Orville Wright came to London to receive the Society’s first Gold Medal.
3) Mark Tully won the Gopichand National Literary Award-2015.
- The former Chief of the BBC’s Bureau in New Delhi gratefully accepted the Gopichand National Literary Award-2015 from the hands of Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah in the presence of Chairman of Pragna Bharati, T.H. Chowdary, Vice-Chancellor of the English and Foreign Languages University, Sunaina Singh, writer Srilatha and others.
4) We Care Solar won $1 million `Powering the Future We Want` grant of the United Nations.
- We Care Solar won 1 million US dollar ‘Powering the Future We Want’ grant given by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
- We Care Solar provide renewable energy at low cost with a medical device that prevents maternal and child complications during labour in areas without electricity.
- Dr. Laura Stachel, co-founder of We Care Solar, accepted the award at a ceremony held at UN Headquarters in New York.
- Besides, Masdar, a renewable energy company, received a special award, and BYD, an electric vehicle company, was chosen to receive special recognition.
5) Kashi Nath Singh awarded the Bharat Bharti Award, the highest literary award given by the Uttar Pradesh government.
- The 78-year-old litterateur was conferred the award by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
- The award comes with a citation and Rs. 5 lakh in cash.
- Dr. Singh received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2011 for his novel Rehan par Ragghu.
- He is best known for his novel Kashi Ka Assi - an adaptation of which has inspired the Bollywood film Mohalla Assi.
- The novel, portraying life on the Varanasi ghats, the odd-ball characters and the student politicians from the 1970s, is considered to be unique in its detailed portrayal of the colourful life of the spiritual capital of India.
6) Devlina Das has bagged the second prize in a world competition – 2015 RELX Group Environmental Challenge.
- Devlina Das, a CSIR Senior Research Fellow at the university, has come up with a project – SALINO – to convert seawater into drinking water using a unique five-step method powered by solar energy.
- She bagged the $25,000 prize for the project.
- This was the fifth year that RELX Group was giving the awards to support innovative solutions to improve sustainable access to safe water and sanitation.
- The winners also get a year’s free access to Science Direct, a database that includes 3,67,000 articles on environmental science.
7) Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi named for 2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.
- Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi has won the 2015 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
About Aqueela Asifi:
- As a teacher, she has been recognised for her tireless and brave dedication to educate Afghan refugee girls in the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan by overcoming the struggles of life in exile.
- Asifi is a former teacher who fled from Kabul, Afghanistan with her family in 1992 for finding safety in the remote refugee settlement of Kot Chandana in Pakistan.
About UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award:
- Established: in 1954 by UNHCR. It has been named after the intrepid Norwegian polar explorer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and statesman Fridtjof Nansen.
- The award recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work and service of an individual, group or organization towards refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.
- Award carries: Commemorative medal and monetary prize of 100,000 US dollars. The laureate uses the monetary prize to fund a project that complements their existing work