1) Tejinder Pal Singh named as Australian of the Day by Commonwealth Bank.
- An Indian-origin Sikh migrant driver in Australia has been named `Australian of the Day` for feeding the homeless in Darwin for the past three years.
- Tejinder Pal Singh has dedicated the last Sunday of the month to feed the poor and homeless locals of northern Darwin after he finishes his shift as a cabbie.
- He cooks up 30 kilogrammes of Indian cuisine to feed the homeless after his night shift.
- The free lunch that Singh offers comprises chickpeas, rice and vegetarian curry.
- His van carries a signature written as `Free Indian food for hungry and needy people, provides Sikh family`.
- Commonwealth Bank has sponsored the Australian of the Year Awards for over 35 years, recognizing extraordinary Australians who have made a big difference to the country.
2) India won UNESCO`s Award of Excellence 2015 for conserving Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple.
- India has won the top UNESCO prize `Award of Excellence` 2015 for the remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala.
- The Award of Excellence for the conservation of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, won this year`s top prize in the Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
- The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from vastu shastra focusingon architecture and construction.
- As such, the tangible attributes of the temple are inextricably linked with its intangible heritage which dates back generations, thus ensuring that "spirit of place" resonates throughout the site.
- A 150-year-old Sino-Portuguese former residence of a Thai aristocrat, which has been converted into a historic inn and local museum, has been awarded UNESCO`s "Award of Merit" in Heritage Award.
3) Haryana bagged Skoch Order-of-Merit National award for implementing e-governance initiatives.
- Haryana is taking strides towards the implementation of six e-governance and IT-related programmes in the state.
- The state has bagged the `Skoch Order-of-Merit` national award in implementation of six e-governance and IT initiatives in the state.
- The award will be presented to the state government during the 41st Skoch Summit - Transformative Governance, scheduled to be held on 22-23 September 2015 in New Delhi.
- The information in regard to the award was provided by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the state assembly on the second day of the monsoon session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
4) Acclaimed writer Jhumpa Lahiri awarded with 2014 National Humanities Medal by White House.
- Short story writer and novelist Jhumpa Lahiri was named as a recipient of the 2014 National Humanities Medal by the White House, United States.
- The medal will be conferred onto her by President Barack Obama at a ceremony at the White House later in September 2015.
- Lahiri was among 10 recipients of the award.
- Other awardees are: Annie Dillard (author), Everett L. Fly (architect and preservationist), Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (philosopher and novelist), Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (historian), Fedwa Malti-Douglas (scholar), Larry McMurtry (novelist), Vicki Lynn Ruiz (historian) and Alice Waters (author and food activist).
5) Hyderabad airport bags Energy Management Award 2015.
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has conferred Energy Management Award 2015 to GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) in the ‘Buildings’ category. Hyderabad airport has won this award twice in a row.
- Ajay Mathur, director general of Bureau of Energy Efficiency presented this award to Buddhadeb Shome, associate vice president - Technical Services, GHIAL in Hyderabad.
6) Anupam Kher conferred with Honoured Guest of Texas award.
- Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been presented with the “Honoured Guest” award by the U.S. state of Texas for his contribution to cinema and art.
- This honour comes just days after he was conferred with a ``Senate Proclamation`` by The Texas State Senate.
- Kher has been honoured with various awards and recognition for his contribution to cinema and art following a resounding success of the repeat show of his play Mera Matlab Woh Nahin Tha and back-to-back shows in 15 other US cities and in Canada.
- Kher was earlier appointed UN ambassador for the ``HeforShe`` campaign for gender equality initiated by UN Women.
7) Award for L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad.
- L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&T MRH) has announced that its chief executive and managing director, V.B. Gadgil, has been conferred the ``Infrastructure Person of the Year`` award and L&TMRH was awarded the ``Upcoming Metro Rail Project of the Year`` in a glittering ceremony held at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai, during the Fifth Construction Week India Awards.
- The Construction Week India Awards recognise and reward achievements of the best in the construction and infrastructure business.
September 8
8) Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit of South Africa selected for 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award.
- Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) of South Africa selected for the 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award in the inspiration and action category.
- The Black Mamba APU was selected for its courage in comabatting poaching and community led initiatives in protecting wildlife in the Balule Private Game Reserve of South Africa.
- The award will be conferred during the Sustainable Development Goals summit that is scheduled to be held on 27 September 2015 in New York.
- Champions of the Earth award is United Nation`s top environmental accolade awarded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
About Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit:
- It was founded in 2013 to protect wildlife in the Balule private game reserve.
- It is a unit of 26-members of which majority of women. It is part of the Greater Kruger National Park that is spread over 2 million hectares of protected areas.
- The area that they protect is home to an abundance of wildlife - including not only rhino but leopards, lions, elephants, cheetahs and hippos.