1) 10th Asian Film Awards announced; The Assassin won maximum awards.
- The 10th Asian film awards were presented in Macau, China.
- `The Assassin`, a movie about a highly trained female assassin bagged prizes for, best actress and best director.
- The movie took home more than half of the prizes, eight out of 15 trophies, at one of Asia`s leading film awards.
- Hong Kong Action Choreographer-director Yuen Wo-ping and Japanese Actress Kiki Kirin received the Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion.
List of winners of the 10th Asian Film Awards
Best Film: The Assassin
Best Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien for The Assassin
Best Actor: Lee Byung-hun for The Inside Men
Best Actress: Shu Qi for The Assassin
Best Newcomer: Jessie Li for Port of Call
Best Supporting Actor: Tadanobu Asano for Journey to the Shore
Best Supporting Actress: Zhou Yun for The Assassin
Best Screenplay: Jia Zhangke for Mountains May Depart
Best Cinematography: Mark Lee Ping-bing for The Assassin
Best Production Design: Hwarng Wern-ying for The Assassin
Best Original Music: Lim Giong for The Assassin
Best Editing: William Chang Suk-ping, Chu Ka-yat, Liao Ching-sung, Wong Hoi, Philip Yung for Port of Call
Best Visual Effects: Prasad Sutar for Bajirao Mastani
Best Costume Design: Lee Ji-yeon and Shim Hyun-seob for The Throne
Best Sound: Chu Shih-yi, Tu Duu-chih and Wu Shu-yao for The Assassin
Lifetime Achievement Award: Yuen Wo-ping and Kirin Kiki
2) Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award conferred on Venkaiah Naidu.
- Union urban Development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu conferred with the Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award at 43rd SKOCH summit held in New Delhi.
- He was selected for the award for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India.
- Besides, IT minister of Telangana State K.T. Rama Rao was awarded the Skoch Award in the Startup India category for his initiative in establishing the path breaking tech incubator T-Hub.
About Skoch Challenger Awards
- These awards were instituted in 2003 as the highest independently instituted civilian honours.
- These were have been conferred on some of the best brains from across the country for their efforts in the area of digital, financial and social inclusion.
3)Geetakshi Arora wins inaugural Noor Inayat Khan Prize.
- An Indian student Geetakshi Arora has been awarded the inaugural Noor Inayat Khan Prize for her excellent dissertation on ``Goddess Myths in Graphic Novels: Reimagining Indian Feminity``.
- Currently, Geetakshi is a post-graduate student of the South Asia Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
About Noor Inayat Khan Prize
- The award has been instituted in the memory of Noor Inayat Khan, famous World War II heroine.
- The award was established by Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust that promote the message of peace, non-violence and religious and racial harmony The award consists of 1,000 pounds and certificate.
About Noor Inayat Khan
- Noor Inayat Khan (also known as ``Nora Baker`` and ``Madeleine``) was of Indian Sufi origin and believed in non-violence and religious harmony.
- Her father was great-grandson of Tipu Sultan. Thus, she was a direct descendant of Tipu Sultan, the e 18th century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore who had refused to submit to British rule and was killed in battle in 1799.
- During the Second World War, she had worked as British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent. She was famously known as Spy Princess.
4) Prime Minister conferred National Krishi Karman Awards 2014-15.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred National Krishi Karman Awards for the year 2014-15 in New Delhi.
- The objective of these awards is to encourage and motivate the states to enhance production and productivity of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals and oilseeds.
Winner States of Krishi Karman Awards 2014-15
Total foodgrain production
Category I States (production greater than 10 million tonnes): Madhya Pradesh.
Category II States (production between 1 and 10 million tonnes): Himachal Pradesh and Odisha.
Category III States (production less than 1 million tonnes):
- Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
- Each award winning state received a trophy, a citation and a cash award of 5 crore rupees.
Individual Crops
Rice: Haryana, Assam
Wheat: Rajasthan
Pulses: Chhattisgarh
Oil Seeds: West Bengal
5)M. Sukumaran chosen for C.V. Kunhiraman Literary Prize.
- Renowned Malayalam writer M. Sukumaran was chosen for the C.V. Kunhiraman Literary Prize. The prize consists of 10001 rupees in cash, a citation, and a statuette designed by artist B.D. Dathan.
About M. Sukumaran
- M. Sukumaran is an author and short story writer in Malayalam.
- He was born at Chittur in Palakkad District, Kerala.
- He won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award in 1976 for his book Marichittillathavarude Smarakangal.
6) Cairn India bags five awards at FICCI Excellence Awards.
- Cairn India has remained in the top deciles of safety performance amongst peer group companies for the FICCI Safety Systems Excellence Award in Manufacturing.
- The awards, which are dedicated for best safety and occupation health systems act as a motivation and a catalyst for adopting best safety practices and systems in the manufacturing sector.
- Cairn India considers safe transportation of its people and its products as an integral part of responsible care. Continuous efforts to improve road and transport safety are therefore part of the company`s overall objective to improve safety performance throughout its business.