1. Mohun Bagan ‘Ratna’ Conferred On Pradip Chowdhury.

Mohun Bagan `Ratna`, the highest honour of the century-old club will be conferred on former India international Pradip Chowdhury at its foundation day programme tomorrow. Goalkeeper Shilton Paul will be awarded the Best Footballer for the year 2017-18.

A former Mohun Bagan captain, Chowdhury was also the India team manager.He made headlines for wrong reasons when he left the India camp days before the 2011 Asian Cup after a reported fallout with the then chief coach Bob Houghton.

Chowdhury will be the 18th recipient of the award first given to Sailen Manna in 2001. Former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya won the prize last year. The awardees also include Sudip Chatterjee (Best Cricketer), Sourav Das (Best Youth Footballer Player) and a special award to Rahim Ali for his performance in the U-17 World Cup

2. ONGC Presented With INFRA Icon Award.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been bestowed with INFRA Icon Award in the `Global Energy` category at the mid-day `INFRA Icons`. ONGC has received the top corporate level award in recognition of its valuable contribution in upgrading the country as a whole.

With the theme being; `Smart cities envisages to take infrastructure development to a next level`, the event was attended by dignitaries and industry veterans from key infrastructure sectors such as construction, ports, power, oil and gas, steel, civil aviation, road transport and many more along with other stakeholders in the ecosystem such as policymakers, financial institutions, industry regulatory bodies amongst others.

The award was presented by Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Pravin Darare. It was received by Executive Director-Head Regional Office, ONGC Mumbai, S. Gopinath.

During the panel discussion, Gopinath said that "to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s vision of 10 per cent hydrocarbon import reduction by 2022, we have to play a huge role to enable energy savings. At the same time, it is important to reduce our carbon footprints".

He also shared about the successful implementation of enterprise, wide paperless project, and helping ONGC reduce its carbon footprint. ONGC is the second largest exploration and production (E&P) company in the world. The `INFRA Icons`, is an initiative by mid-day, designed to bring a change with trendsetters associated with the infrastructure of India. The award recognizes the exemplary performance in the corporate world and felicitates the top companies across various sectors.

3. 3rd BRICS Film Festival Concluded: Complete List Of Indian Winners.

Recently concluded first BRICS film festival which was held in New Delhi in the run up the to the BRICS summit to be held in Goa next month, has left a very positive impact amongst the film critique and film lovers’ community. The success of the Festival can be gauged from the fact that from this year onwards, a specially curated BRICS section would form part of the India International Film Festival which would become a regular feature in the future editions of IFFI.  Participants from all the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) who came together for the Festival were very upbeat at its success and also about the future possibilities; it might open up for forging the long-term alliances to enhance mutual cooperation amongst the participating nations in the field of films, art and culture.

 1. 8-Year-Old Indian-Origin Yoga Champion Named `British Indian Of The Year.

An eight-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy who is the under-11 UK national yoga champion has been named the `British Indian of the Year` in the young achiever category for his accomplishments in the field. Ishwar Sharma has won a string of titles in both individual and artistic yoga, most recently a gold medal representing Great Britain at the World Student Games 2018 in Winnipeg, Canada, in June.

"I believe I am competing with myself rather than anyone else, which makes me challenge myself to do the difficult postures," said the schoolboy, who studies at St Michael`s Preparatory School in Kent. "I will always be a student of yoga and am deeply grateful to my teachers for the wisdom they have shared with me," he said.

He was named British Indian of the Year in the Young Achiever category at the sixth annual awards ceremony held in Birmingham earlier this week. "We feel proud of his achievements and it has improved his academic performance. We want him to inspire adults and other children with this lifestyle habit," said his father Vishwanath, himself a keen yoga practitioner.

"He and I perform Vedic Yoga with choreography to music, which includes Hatha Yoga postures with Acroyoga and artistic yoga," he said. The family is originally from Mysore, home to world-renowned yoga gurus, and travel to the region annually. "He rejuvenates himself there and would love to stay for more time and get yoga training with the teachers there," added Mr Vishwanath.

His son has performed in more over 100 events across the UK and worldwide and among his many skills is the ability to chant up to 50 `shlokas` from the `Vedas` and `Bhagavad Gita`. He won a gold medal at the Euro Asian Yoga Championships in Turkey in May and has also performed at a number of charity events to raise funds for the under-privileged.

Some of his upcoming competitions include one in Chile in December and then Beijing in January next year. He is also training for the World Games in Canada next year. "Ishwar is determined to spread awareness about yoga and its benefits, especially among children," his father said.

 1. ‘The English Patient’ By Michael Ondaatje Declared `Best Booker Prize Winner In 50 Years`.

Twenty six years ago, the panel of judges were so unsure who should win the Man Booker in 1992 that they ended up with a tie: Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth. But on Sunday evening Ondaatje edged ahead, with his bestselling novel The English Patient being named the best winner of the Booker prize of the last 50 years, in a public vote.

The Golden Booker was held this year to mark a half-century of the prize. A panel of judges read all 52 former winners of the award, with each assigned a decade from the Booker’s history. The Observer’s Robert McCrum, taking on the 1970s, chose VS Naipaul’s In a Free State; poet Lemn Sissay, reading the titles from the 1980s, went for Penelope Lively’s Moon Tiger; The English Patient was novelist Kamila Shamsie’s selection from the 1990s; Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall was nominated as the best of the 2000s by broadcaster Simon Mayo, and George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo topped poet Hollie McNish’s reading of the 2010s Booker winners. The five books were then put to a public vote.

Speaking at the close of the Man Booker 50 festival in the Southbank Centre, London, on Sunday, Ondaatje said he had not reread The English Patient, which moves between a nurse tending a horribly burned man in an Italian villa at the end of the second world war and a tragic love affair from his past, since 1992.

 1. Rahul Dravid, 5th Indian To Be Inducted Into ICC Hall Of Fame.

Former cricketer and India U-19 cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid was formally inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in Dublin on Sunday (local time). Former English batswoman Claire Taylor and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting were also inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame.

He is the fifth Indian to be inducted to the prestigious group that includes cricketing legends such as Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble.

Ponting is the 25th player from Australia to do so. Taylor is the seventh woman overall and the third female player from England to be named in the list.

Describing it as a great honour and privilege, Dravid, in his acceptance speech, said " I am thankful to the ICC for giving me this honour. It is a privilege to be among a group of people I have looked up to and I have admired as a young man growing up in the journey as a cricketer. I`d love to be able to thank so many people who have made it possible for me to have a career in the sport and to fulfil my dreams."

"My parents, my family, my two kids, my so many friends, colleagues that I have played with, and played against that enriched my game. My many coaches right from the time I was in school and the coaches I have played for in India have really helped me to develop as a cricketer. I would not be here if not for support and love that they have given me and I`m truly grateful and thankful for it," he added.

2. Artist Anjolie Ela Menon Conferred Kalidas Award.

Noted artist Anjolie Ela Menon, 78 on Saturday received the National Kalidas Samman in Delhi for visual arts from the Madhya Pradesh government.

The award was conferred in recognition of her insightful and sensitive portrayal of the identity and spirit of women through her meaningful paintings in a variety of media.

With her first solo exhibition being held in Delhi in 1958, Menon is counted among India’s most accomplished artists and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards including the Padma Shri. She recently received a doctorate from Rabindra Bharati University.

Artist A. Ramachandran was also conferred with the Kalidas Award on Saturday.