1) President Pranab Mukherjee to get the highest award of Ivory Coast.
President Pranab Mukherjee will be presented National Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, during his two days visit to the nation. He is going to visit the country starting from 14th of June.
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- This is the highest award of the West African Country. It is the first time when any highest level dignitary from India is going to visit the Ivory Coast.
- President Pranab Mukherjee has been invited by Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. There he will have the discussion with Ouattara followed by delegation level talks.
- Mr. Mukherjee`s visit to the nation is a part of his 6 days visit to Ghana, Cote d`Ivoire and Namibia. During his trip, Mukherjee will be accompanied by a Minister of State, four Members of the Parliament, senior officials and a business delegation.
- The President will have meetings with the respective Heads of three nations and a number of bilateral agreements are also likely to be signed during the visit which includes agreements on a joint Commission and renewal of Cultural Exchange Programme between India and Ghana.
- He will also unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi gifted by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in Ghana.
2) Russia honours UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.
- Russia has honoured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with Order of Friendship Award.
- He was bestowed with this award for his special merits in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between peoples.
- In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree awarding the Order of Friendship to Ban Ki-moon.
3) Ridley Scott to receive American Cinematheque Award.
- English Director Ridley Scott will be honoured with the 30th American Cinematheque Award at the Beverly Hilton.
- Scott was the unanimous choice of the Cinematheque Board of Directors selection committee.
- Ridley Scott is one of the greatest directors in the history of the motion picture.
4) Author Akhil Sharma Wins International Dublin Literary Award.
- An Indian American author Mr. Akhil Sharma has won the prestigious 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award for his novel `family life`.
- The Award is organised and sponsored by Dublin City Council and at €100,000 is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English. The winner has announced at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House.
- The Delhi-born Mr. Sharma has moved to the United States with his family when he was eight years old. The winning novel was chosen from a total of 160 titles, nominated by libraries in 118 cities in 43 countries.
- Akhil Sharma is the third American author to win the prize in its 21-year history. He is also the author of An Obedient Father, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
5) Two Indian-Americans Shortlisted For White House Fellows Programme.
- Two Indian-Americans have been named finalists for the prestigious White House Fellows programme that offers first-hand experience of working at the highest levels of the US federal government.
- Tina Shah, a physician from the University of Chicago and Anjali Tripathi, an astrophysics Ph.D candidate at Harvard University, has been shortlisted for the White House Fellows Programme, the White House.
- Shah and Tripathi were among the 30 finalists selected for the programme, founded in 1964 by President Lyndon B Johnson.
6) Tata Power Solar bagged the MNRE award.
- Tata Power Solar has bagged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) award for rooftop solar power projects.
- The company has won the award in the Channel Partner/ EPC contractor category at the National Excellence Awards 2016 instituted by MNRE for the first time.
- As per MNRE, the awards are presented to encourage efficiency and give positive feedback to various government bodies as well as private sector. The Tata Power Solar has commissioned 112.5 MW of rooftop projects till 2016.
- However, the rooftop power plants are expected to constitute 40% of the Government’s 100 GW target solar capacity to be achieved by 2022.
7) AAI conferred national award for best performing central PSU for Green Energy initiatives.
- The Airport Authority of India has been awarded the National Award for Best Performing Central PSU for Roof Top Solar Power initiatives at a function in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The award has been awarded by Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy.
- The AAI has received the award because of its efforts towards the Solar Roof Top Projects which was initiated in 2010 with a visionary approach towards "Invest in the Sun" Solar Revolution and commitment to sustainability reduce carbon emission.
- AAI has been successful in Green India initiative complying with the commitment made for Solar Roof Top by installing 4.8 MWp rooftop solar plants at 13 airports and further work for 4.9 MWp at 14 airports is likely to be completed by December 2016.
- The solar energy generation so far is 51 Lakhs units from the completed solar power plants at various airports.
8) Indian short film `Leeches` wins at Seoul film gala.
- Indian short film "Leeches", starring Sayani Gupta, won the Audience Choice Award at the Seoul International Women`s Film Festival (SIWFF).
- "Leeches" is a film about two Hyderabadi sisters who live in the interiors of the city where a lot of orthodox practices are still prevalent.
- The story is about an older sister who hatches a dangerous and improbable plan to save her younger sister from becoming a one-day bride and their fight against the prevalent culture and its practices.
9)Priyanka Chopra nominated for Choice TV Breakout Star in 2016 Teen Choice Awards.
- India`s bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was nominated for 2016 Teen Choice Awards.
- She got her final nomination in the category of Choice TV Breakout Star.
- She was nominated for her role as FBI trainee Alex Parrish in American TV series, Quantico.
- Earlier, she also won the Favourite Actress title in a New TV series award at the People’s Choice Awards 2016 for her debut role on an American TV show.
10) Indian Diabetes specialist Shashank S Shah wins Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016.
- Pune-based diabetes specialist Shashank S. Shah was conferred with the Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award 2016.
- He was awarded at the ADA’s 76th Scientific Sessions from 10 June to 14 June 2016 in New Orleans.
- The award was given by American Diabetes Association (ADA) for his pioneering research on diabetes in South Asia.
- He was selected for his research titled Gastric Bypass vs. Medical/ Lifestyle Care for Type 2 Diabetes in South Asia with BMI 25-40 kg/m2.
- It is one of the pioneering bariatric surgeons in India and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in Asia.
- The first Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award was awarded to Dr. Vijay Viswanathan who was Diabetologist and Director of MV Hospital for Diabetes, Chennai in June 2014.
11) Indian-American Author Akhil Sharma wins 2016 International Dublin Literary Award.
- Indian American author Akhil Sharma won the prestigious 2016 International Dublin Literary Award for his semi-autobiographical novel ``Family Life``.
- His novel was shortlisted out of an initial 160 nominations by a panel of judges of award that included novelists Ian Sansom, Juan Pablo Villalobos and Carlo Gebler.
- Family Life is Sharma’s second novel and took him 13 years to write. The novel traces the journey of a family that emigrates from New Delhi to New York, where one brother is left severely brain-damaged after a tragedy strikes.
12) Ivory Coast honours President Pranab Mukherjee with its highest civilian Award.
- President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded with Grand Cross National Order of the Republic of Cote D`Ivoirie in a ceremony at the President`s Palace in Abidjan. It is the highest civilian award of Ivory Coast.
- He received many honorary degrees but, it is the first such honour accorded to him by a country.
- The President was honoured during his two days visit to the Country from 14 June to 15 June 2016.
- It was the first visit of any Indian President to Ivory Coast. In fact, it is the first ever high level visit from India to Ivory Coast.
13) Anvitha Vijay: 9-yr-old Indian-origin youngest at Apple`s WWDC.
- Anvitha Vijay, a nine-year-old Indian-origin girl is the youngest attendee at the Apple`s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
- She has built several apps including Smartkins Animals and Smartkins Rainbow Colours, which helps kids, recognise over 100 animals and learn about different colours respectively.
- Vijay is among the 350 developers selected for Apple`s scholarship.