1) Al Nahyan conferred with prestigious Mother Teresa International Award
- Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Al Nahyan conferred with prestigious Mother Teresa International AwardInternational Cooperation, has been conferred the prestigious Mother Teresa International Award by the Mumbai-based NGO Harmony Foundation.
- Shaikh Abdullah was honoured for his work in establishing institutions that protect youth from being brainwashed and radicalised from terrorist groups and other persons who create violence against innocent people.
- According to Dr Abraham Mathai, President of Harmony Foundation, Shaikh Abdullah was chosen for of his tremendous contribution in promoting peace and stability in the West Asia.
- The Mother Teresa Awards are to honour individuals and organizations that promote peace, equality and social justice, and aim to encourage the cause of justice and peaceful coexistence.
UAE:
President : Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Capital : Abu Dhabi
Currency : United Arab Emirates dirham
2) Amitav Ghosh named for 2016 Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award
- Indian-American author Amitav Ghosh has been named for the 2016 Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian literary space.
- The award will be presented to Amitav Ghosh at Tata Literature Live!’s annual awards ceremony on 20 November 2016 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
- Some of his best known and award winning books include: ‘Ibis Trilogy – Sea of Poppies’, ‘River of Smoke’, ‘The Shadow Lines’, ‘The Calcutta Chromosome’, ‘The Glass Place’, ‘The Hungry Tide’, ‘In An Antique Land’, ‘Dancing in Cambodia’, ‘At Large in Burma’, ‘The Great Derangement: Climate Change and The Unthinkable’.
- Mr Ghosh’s books has been translated into more than 20 twenty languages and he has also served on the Jury of the many Internatinal Film Festivals.
3) Sri Sri Ravishankar gets Dr Nagendra Singh international peace prize
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh honoured Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar with Dr Nagendra Singh International Peace Award for his efforts in ensuring world peace on November 20 2016 at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
- Dr Nagendra Singh :Sri Sri Ravishankar gets Dr Nagendra Singh international peace prize
- Dr Nagendra Singh is the first Indian judge at International Court of Justice, Hague. Later he was also elected as secretary of the International Bar Association.
- The international peace prize award has been instituted in the memory of Dr Nagendra Singh
Sri Sri Ravishankar :
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or “Sri Sri” or Guruji or Gurudev is a spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation created in 1981.
- He established the International Association for Human Values in Geneva to foster shared global values.
- He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in January 2016.
4) Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn conferred with First World Sanskrit Award
- The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has recognized Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand with the first ‘World Sanskrit Award’ for the year 2015 while American linguist and Indologist Prof. George Cardona with World Sanskrit Award for the year 2016 for their exemplary contribution for the promotion of the Sanskrit language.
- The award was presented to both the winners on November 21, 2016 by Vice President Hamid Ansari at a function held in New Delhi.
- The award was instituted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).The award was announced by the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her inaugural speech in the 16th World Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok in June 2015.
5) Azamgarh-born Indian-American philanthropist Frank Islam felicitated with the Interfaith Leadership Award
- Uttar Pradesh born Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam awarded with the Interfaith Leadership Award at the Interfaith Leadership Award Concert on November 20, 2016
- Frank received this award for his contributions towards the arts and higher education and support of interfaith dialogue.
- The Interfaith Leadership Award was instituted by the Inter Faith Conference of Metropolitan Washington
About Frank Islam :
- Frank Islam came to the United States more than four decades ago, founded the information technology company QSS in 1994 and sold it in 2007.
- Later he set up ‘The Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Foundation‘ to support a number of civic, educational and artistic causes and institutions including University of Colorado, Montgomery College, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.S. Institute of Peace and Aligarh Muslim University, Islam’s alma mater.
6)Akshaya Mukul wins Bhatt First Book Prize 2016.
- Senior journalist at the Times of India Akshaya Mukulhas been awarded the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016. He has been awarded for his book “Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India”.
- Akshaya Mukulii. The jury member comprising of Samanth Subramanian, Mahesh Rao and Janice Pariat described the book to be “eyeopening and captivating” in the way it explored the literary trend as if it came from the one who is known to the English-speaking urban India.
- Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize : Shakti Bhatt was a young writer. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize was set up in 2008 to encourage authors from the sub-continent.The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of 2 lakh rupees, and a trophy. It is funded by the Shakti Bhatt Foundation and Priti Paul through the Apeejay Trust.
7) Infosys Science Foundation Announces the Six Winners of the Infosys Prize 2016
- The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) announced the winners of the 8th Infosys Prize in 6 categories – Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.
- Evey one will receive a purse of Rs. 65 Lakhs, a 22 karat gold medallion and a citation certificate at the Awards Ceremony which will be held on January 7, 2017 in Bangalore.
- The winners were shortlisted from over 250 nominations by an esteemed and erudite jury panel, comprising of renowned scientists and professors.
Infosys Prize 2016 winner list :
- Engineering and Computer Science : Prof. V. Kumaran, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore,
- Humanities Prof. Sunil Amrith, Mehra Family Professor of South Asian Studies, Professor of History, Harvard University, US
- Life Sciences: Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.
- Mathematical Sciences: Prof. Akshay Venkatesh, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, US
- Physical Sciences: Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, Director, Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
- Social Sciences: Prof. Kaivan Munshi, Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, UK
8) Barack Obama Presents the Presidential Medals of Freedom
- President Barack Obama awarded the United States highest civilian award ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ to 21 outstanding actors, musicians, athletes and innovators who inspired him over the years on November 22, 2016 in the White House East Room.
- Mr. Obama has given more Presidential Medals of Freedom than any previous President of the nation. He has awarded about 114 individuals with the honorary award
- It recognizes those people who have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private achievements.
9) Sunny Leone named in BBC’s list of 100 most influential women 2016
- The famous Bollywood Actor Sunny Leone and 4 other Indian women have been named in the BBC’s list of 100 most influential women 2016.
- Sunny Leone . BBC has been presenting this list for the past 4 years and focuses on women who have made outstanding contribution in their respective fields.
- Sunny Leone (Karenjit Kaur Vohra), 35, is a Canadian and also a leading Indian film actress and model.
The other four Indian includes
- Gouri Chindarkar: 20-year-old computer engineering student from Sangli Maharashtra, was one of the first children in India to experience a unique learning experience presently known as ‘School in the Cloud’.
- Mallika Srinivasan : 57, CEO of Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE), also known as the ‘Tractor Queen of India’ has grown her family company into the third largest tractor manufacturer in the world.
- Neha Singh: 34-year-old actor and writer, founded a movement to encourage women to walk the streets in Mumbai to defy harassment.
- Saalumarada Thimmakka: The oldest woman on the BBC 100 women list, Saalumarada Thimmakka ,105-year-old environmentalist from Karnataka has planted more than 8,000 trees in 80 years.
- The list also includes some high profile women including singer-songwriter Alicia Keys; US gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles and French politician Rachida Dati.
10) Malini Subramaniam conferred with International Press Freedom Award
- Malini Subramaniam, an Indian journalist has been conferred with the International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) for her reporting from the Naxal-hit Bastar area, in Chhattisgarh.
- Three more journalist were also honoured including Oscar Martinez of El Salvador, Turkey’s Can Dundar and Abou Zeid of Egypt.
- The four brave journalists have taken great risk to their life to report to their societies and the global community about critical news events
- Subramaniam, a reporter of the news website Scroll 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.
- Martinez investigated into the killings of eight gang suspects by police for which see received death threats and also forced to flee El Salvador.
- Dundar was arrested on November 26, 2015 and sentenced 5 years imprisonment, after publishing an article alleging the government intelligence service sought to send weapons to Syrian rebel groups
- Zeid has been jailed since August 14, 2013, on charges of weapons possession, illegal assembly, murder and attempted murder though he denied all charges.
- The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honor journalists or their publications around the world who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.
11) Australia’s former women’s captain Karen Rolton inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame
- Australia’s former women’s captain Karen Rolton has been inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame on November 24, 2016 at a ceremony during the dinner break on the opening Karen Roltonday of the third day/night Test between Australia and South Africa.
- Rolton was presented with a personalised cap by ICC Chief Executive David Richardson
- She has become the 81st player to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and the sixth woman to receive the award.
- Rolton is the first out of the four legendary cricketers who will be formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame this season.
- The other three are Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, Australia’s Arthur Morris and England’s George Lohmann.
- The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognizes the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket’s long and illustrious history. It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) of Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA).
12) Manoj Bajpayee Awarded Best Performance Award at 10th Asia Pacific Screen Award
- Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee on November 24, 2016 won the Best Performance Award by an Actor at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, held in Brisbane.
- The event was hosted by Australian actor David Wenham and presenter Anjali Rao.
- Manoj was awarded for his role as Professor Siras in “Aligarh”, directed by Hansal Mehta, a powerful and personal drama based on true events.Manoj Bajpayee Asia Pacific Screen Award
- Besides, Nawazuddin Siddiqui also received a Special Mention in the Best Performance category for his role in Anurag Kashyap’s “Raman Raghav 2.0”.
- In addition to the main awards, a jury grand prize special mention award was also given to eight-year-old Sunny Pawar from India for his role of young Saroo Brierley in “Lion” directed by Garth Davis.
About Asia Pacific Screen Awards
- The Asia Pacific Screen Awards is the highest award for films in Asia Pacific region and was given in 2007 for the first time.
- The awards is organized by the international cultural initiative of the Brisbane City Council, Australia to honor films, actors, directors, and cultures of the Asia-Pacific region.
- Winners of the awards are determined by an international jury and films are judged on cinematic excellence.
- The 2016 edition of the awards marked the 10th year of the awards in recognizing and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region comprising of 70 countries.