1) 5th National Photography Awards.
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting led by Arun Jaitly who also the chief of finance Ministry gave away National Photography Awards of fifth edition in New Delhi.
- The aim of this award is to promote Nation’s Art, Culture, Development, Heritage, History, Life, People, and Society and to encourage professional and amateur photographers across the country.
- The Official theme of 5th National Photography Award is Save Mother Earth for Professional Photographers and Festivals of India for Amateur Photographers.
- In addition to the Life Time Achievement Award, a total of 12 awards were presented on this occasion to various amateur and professional photographers.
Recipients of major awards
Bhawan Singh: Life Time Achievement Award
Javed Ahmed Dar: Professional Photographer Award
Himanshu Thakur: Amateur Photographer
2) Hockey India Annual Awards: Sreejesh, Deepika walks away with honours.
- Late Captain Shankar Laxman won the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award while goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh and Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award for Men and Women respectively at the Hockey India (HI) Annual Awards.
- The best hockey players in India and former greats of the game came together for the awards, whose total prize money was in excess of Rs. 2 crore.
- The first set of awards marking important milestones in the careers of players began the proceedings.
- The Milestone Awards were presented to Dharamvir Singh, Kothajit Singh, Birendra Lakra and Sushila Chanu for making 100 appearances for India and were presented with a cheque of Rs. 50,000.
- Gurbaj Singh and V.R. Raghunath were awarded for turning out in India colours 200 times and were presented with a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh each.
- The second set of awards were given in recognition of individual achievements.
- The winners of the Individual Achievement Award for goal on debut were Devindar Walmiki, Harjeet Singh, Nilam Xess, Mohammad Umar, Gaganpreet Singh and Preeti Dubey.
- Raghuprasad RV was also felicitated for making his 100th appearance as an umpire internationally at the 2015 Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final in Belgium. The winners of the Individual Achievement Award received a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each.
3) Bengal: Now, a wax statue of Michael Jackson in Rajarhat.
- Visitors to Mother’s Wax Museum in New Town will be able to see a statue of pop icon Michael Jackson.
- After seeing statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Maradona, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Mother Teresa, Amitabh Bachchan and many others, statue of pop icon Michael Jackson placed
- In addition, they will also be able to see statues of various Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie, who is a familiar face in India. These would become possible after the museum undergoes an expansion.
- Hidco authorities have decided to add 12,000 square feet to the existing museum. The tender process is over and work has already begun. If things go as per planned, then the phase II of the museum will be completed and commissioned in six months from now.
- The existing wax museum is also spread across 12,000 square feet and is located on the sixth floor of the Finance Centre building which is located opposite Eco Park.
- The phase 2 of the museum will be located a floor below the existing museum. After expansion, the museum will have a total area of 24,000 square feet. Besides Hollywood stars, the expanded museum will have a place dedicated to statues of well-known personalities of the West.
4) 63rd National Film Awards, 2015 announced.
- The 63rd National Film Awards 2015 were announced by the Chairpersons of the three juries on Feature Films, Non Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema. The Feature Film Central panel was headed by Shri Ramesh Sippy, a popular director & producer in Hindi cinema. The Central panel comprised of 11 members including Chairman.
- The Non Feature jury was headed by Shri Vinod Ganatra and comprised of 7 members including the Chairman. The jury on Best Writing on Cinema was headed by Ms. Advaita Kala and comprised of 3 members including the Chairperson.
- Baahubali The Beginning (Tamil, Telugu) directed by S.S. Rajamouli was selected as the Best feature film.
- Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Hindi) directed by Kabir Khan was selected as the Best Popular film providing wholesome entertainment.
The 63rd National Film Awards in the various categories are as follows
Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Piku).
Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns).
Best Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani).
Best Film on Social Issues: Niranayakam (Malayalam) directed by V.K. Prakash.
Best Supporting Actor: Samuthirakani for the film Visaranai (Tamil).
Best Supporting Actress: Tanvi Azmi for the film Bajirao Mastani (Hindi).
Best Children’s Film: Duronto (Hindi) directed by Soumnedra Padhi.
Best Child Artist: Gaurav Menon for the film Ben (Malayalam).
Special Jury Award: Margarita with a Straw (Hindi) directed by Kalki Koechlin.
Best Cinematography: Remo D’Souza for the film Bajirao Mastani (Hindi).
Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Neeraj Ghaywan for the film Masaan (Hindi).
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Nanak Shah Fakir (Punjabi) directed by Sartaj Singh Pannu.
5) Delhi`s Aditi Arya crowned Miss India 2015.
- Delhi girl Aditi Arya was crowned fbb Femina Miss India World 2015 at a glittering ceremony at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai.
- Afreen Racheal Vaz was adjudged first runner-up while Vartika Singh second runner up at the grand finale of 52nd year of fbb Femina Miss India.
- Aditi will represent the country at Miss World pageant and the runners-up Afreen and Vartika will compete for various international titles.
- The event was judged by eminent personalities from the industry like John Abraham, Manisha Koirala, Sonu Nigam, Anil Kapoor, Firoz Nadiadwala, Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla, Shilpa Shetty, Sonali Bendre, Shiamak Davar and Chitrangada Singh.
- The 2015 edition saw electrifying performances by Bollywood stars - Kareena Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandes, Shahid Kapoor and famous singers like Kanika Kapoor, Meet Brothers, and Shalmali Kholgade.