1. Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute bags PM’s Yoga Award.

PM’s Yoga Award was instituted at the 2nd International Day of Yoga celebrations at Chandigarh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Prime Minister had instituted the award for promoting the ancient Indian spiritual discipline. The Ministry of AYUSH framed guidelines for the awards and constituted two committees, namely, screening committee (for preliminary evaluation) and evaluation committee (Jury). 

The Institute has been selected from among 85 nominations and 15 more recommended by the Screening Committee. The Award was recommended by an Evaluation Committee (Jury) under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary. 

Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has worked to spread Yoga both domestically and internationally over a period of four decades. It has also published a number of books on yoga which has been translated into multiple languages.

2. Indian agricultural microbiologist Shrihari Chandraghatgi conferred the Ministry of Environment Award for 2017 in Japan.

Indian agricultural microbiologist Shrihari Chandraghatgi has been conferred the Ministry of Environment Award for 2017 in Japan for developing cutting edge technologies to address burning environmental problems.

Chandraghatgi, who is President and CEO of EcoCycle Corporation, is the first foreigner to be given the Ministry of Environment Award, the highest award in environmental sector in Japan, a company release said.

The Ministry of Environment Award is the highest honour given in the environmental sector every year jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun (a media group).

The award was given away recently by State Minister of Environment, Japan, Seki Yoshihiro, at a ceremony at Kasumegaseki, Tokyo.

Chandraghatgi, hailing from Siddapura in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, has been residing in Tokyo for almost two decades. He has over a dozen patents against his name. These patented technologies have been applied over 400 sites in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, India, China and the US, the release said.

 3. West Bengal Honoured with UN Public Service Award.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has received the highest prize in United Nations Public Service Award for the state government’s Kanyashree Prakalpa (Girl Child) scheme in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme of West Bengal came first among the 552 project nominations received by the UN from 62 countries. 

West Bengal has been awarded in the Asia-Pacific group for the category: ‘Reaching the Poorest and Most Vulnerable through Inclusive Services and Participation‘.

4. Nisha Dutt bags Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Nisha Dutt, Chief Executive Officer of Intellecap has become the first Indian woman leader to have been honoured with the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award at The 7th Asian Awards in London. 

Nisha Dutt has been honoured in recognition of her work in making Intellecap a globally known enterprise that focuses on social capital. Her key contribution lies in integrating technology with challenges of healthcare, financial services, incubation and conceptualising programs such as Innovations Labs.

The previous winners of the award include Ratan Tata, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Asha Bhosle, Zayn Malik etc. In the Social Entrepreneur category, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Masa Kogure and Vikram Patel have been honoured with the award in the past.