[raj_oct_2002]

Oscar Award (2008)
Oscar for Indian Movie: Sekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
The Indian Movie “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” directed by Sekhar Kapur bagged Oscar for “The Best Costume Design. The movie “No country for old Men” bagged several Oscar awards for the Best Movie, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The awards were presented in 80th Oscar Awards grand function at Kodak Theatre on the eve of Sunday, 24th February, 2008.
List of Oscar Award Winners

Best picture: No Country For Old Men
Best director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Best supporting actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best supporting actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Best foreign language film: The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Best animated feature film: Ratatouille
Best adapted screenplay: No Country For Old Men
Best original screenplay: Juno
Best music (score): Atonement
Best music (song): Falling Slowly, Once
Best documentary feature: Taxi To The Dark Side
Best documentary short subject: Freeheld
Best visual effects: The Golden Compass
Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood
Best art direction: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Best animated short film: Peter And The Wolf
Best short film: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets
Best costume design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Best make-up: La Vie En Rose
Best sound mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best sound editing: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best film editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

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NATIONAL AWRADS
C.V. Raman award for Natarajan:
M. Natarajan, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, received the Sir C.V. Raman birth centenary award-2008 and a gold medal from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the inaugural function of the 95th Indian Science Congress held in Visakhapatnam on January 3.

Defence Awards 2008:
President confers four Ashok Chakras posthumously, four Kirti chakras, 424 gallantry and Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel on the occasion of republic day. Major Raman was decorated with Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime award, and Vinay with Kirti Chakra. Major Shatrujeet Kotwal, Jat regiment/34 Rashtriya Rifles and Major Subhash Chand Punia, 21 Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) have also been honoured with Kirti Chakra.

Sahitya Academy Awards 2007:
Smt. Malathi Rao was selected for Sahitya Academy Award 2007 for her writing in English, “Disorderly Women”. The Author of “Satha Patram” Late Gadiyaram Ramakrishna Sharma (Alampur, Mahabunagar Distrit, A.P) and the author of “Arayan” Shri K.Virabhadrappa (Anathapur, A.P.) are also selected for Sahithya Academy Awards.

Raman Magsaysay Award, 2007, for Sai Nath:
The Hindu Journalist and writer Shri Sai Nath along with six others has been elected for prestigious Raman Magsaysay Award for 2007.
M.F.Hussain was awarded with Raja Ravi Varma Award 2007:
M.F. Hussain was felicitated with Raja Ravi Varma Award 2007 by Kerala Government for his contributions in paintings. This was announced by Kerala Minister for culture and education M.M. Bebi. Rs.1.25 lakhs will be given along with certificate and momento.

Santhi Swarup Bhatnagar Awards:
Eleven scientists who shown exemplary performance in the fields of science and technology are selected for Shanthi Swarup Bhatnagar Awards. The selected will be given Rupees Two lakhs, certificate and memento. The scientists under the age of 45 years are selected for these awards. Upender Sing Bhalla (Biological Sciences), Narayana Swamy Srinivasan (Biological Sciences,), Amalendu Chandra (Chemistry), Ajay Ghosh (Chemistry), Anil Bharadwaj (Space and Astronomy), Rama Govinda Rajan (Engineering), Budaraju Srinivasa Murthy (Engineering), B.V. Raja Rama Bhat (Mathematics), Pundi Narasimhan Ranga Rajan (Medical), Yaswanth Gupta (Physics), Pinaki Majundar (Physics) are the eminent scientists selected for this years.

Param Vishist Sewa Medal_07:
Vice Admiral Punitha Arora has been conferred with Param Vishist Sewa Medal by the President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Jnana Pith Award 2004:
The famous Kasmiri Poet Sri Rehman Rahi has been selected for Jnana Pith Award for 2004 by the panel lead by L.M Sanghvi for his work in development of Kashmiri Language. It is the first time A Kashmiri to win this prestigious award. He also got the "Kendra Sahithya Academy Award" .He was also felicitated with "Padma Sri".


N.T.R. Awards 2003 to 2005:
Government of Andhra Pradesh has announced the N.T.R national awards: Shri G. Krishna famous Telugu Actor for 2003, Shri Ilaya Raja famous Music Director for 2004 and Shri Ambarish famous Kannada Actor and Central Minister, for 2005 are selected by the jury. N.T.R. awards are given in memory of Shri Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao famous Telugu Star and Ex. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is founder Telugu Desam Party. His rolls Shri Krishna, Sri Rama are gods on silver screen.

Basava Award 2006-07:
Ex. President of India Shri Abdul Kalam is honored with Basava Award for 2006-07 by the Karnataka State Government. This award is given in the name of famous philosopher Srhi Basaveswarudu

Best Parliamentarian Awards:
The jury headed by Speaker Shri Somanath Chaterji announced the best Parliamentarian Awards, Shri Sarad Pawar for 2003, Smt. Sushma Swaraj for 2004, Shri P. Chidambaram for 2005 and Shri Mani Sankar Ayer for 2006. Previously Shri Manmohan Singh was given for 2002. Shri Sarad Pawar having 40 years of experience as a political leader and four times Chief Minister for Maharastra and also as Minister in Central Government. Smt. Sushma Swaraj, B.J.P. leader having 30years of experience as a political leader. She worked as C.M. for Delhi. Shri P.Chidambaram presently working as Minister for Finance. Shri Manisankar Ayer is presently working as Minister for Panchayath Raj.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Shyam Benagal:
The eminent director Shri Shyam Benagal has been selected for Dada Saheb Award (The prestigious Award) for 2005 for his contribution for the development of film industry. President Prathiba Patil will hand over the award at the end of this year. He has directed for many films. His first movie was Ankur (Hindi, 1974). He was given Padmasri in 1976 and Padma Bushan in 1991. He directed Tele Serials Kadha Sagar, Bharath ki Yatra, Ek Khoj. He has born in the year 1934 and completed education in Hyderabad

[raj_oct_2002]

Jawaharlal Nehru Award
Mr. Olafan Rognar Greemans has been conferred with Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the Jury chaired by the Vice President of India, Honorable Hammid Ansari, for the year 2007. Mr. Olafan Rognar Greemans is working as the President of Iceland third time. He also won the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize in 1987 as a representative of Association of International Parliamentarians.
The Government of India instituted the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1965 as a tribute to the memory of independent India’s first Prime Minister, and his lifelong dedication to the cause of world peace and international understanding. The Award is given to persons for their outstanding contribution to the promotion of international understanding, goodwill and friendship among peoples of the world. The Council acts as the Secretariat for this award which carries a Trophy, Citation and cash prize of Rs. 2.5 million. The Award is presented by Hon’ble President of India at a special function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of Vice-President of India and Prime Minister of India. The list of award winners is given here under.



S.No. Name of the Recipient Year
1 U Thant 1965
2 Martin Luther King Jr (Posthumous) 1966
3 Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan 1967
4 Yehudi Menuhin 1968
5 Mother Teresa 1969
6 Kenneth D Kaunda 1970
7 Josip Broz Tito 1971
8 Andre Malraux 1972
9 Julius K Nyerere 1973
10 Raul Prebisch 1974
11 Jonas Salk 1975
12 Giuseppe Tucci 1976
13 Tulsi Meherji Shrestha 1977
14 Nichidatsu Fujii 1978
15 Nelson Mandela 1979
16 Barbara Ward 1980
17 Alva and Gunnar Myrdal (Jointly) 1981
18 Leopold Sedar Senghor 1982
19 Bruno Kreisky 1983
20 Indira Gandhi (Posthumous) 1984
21 Olof Palme (Posthumous) 1985
22 Not Awarded 1986
23 Javier Perez de Cueller 1987
24 Yasser Arafat 1988
25 Robert Gabriel Mugabe 1989
26 Helmut Kohl 1990
27 Aruna Asaf Ali 1991
28 Maurice F Strong 1992
29 Aung San Suu Kyi 1993
30 Mahathir Bin Mohamad 1994
31 Hosney Mubarak 1995
xx NO AWARD PERIOD 1996-2002
32 Goh Chok Tong 2003
33 Sultan Qaboos Bin Said al Said 2004
34 Prof. Wangari M. Maathai 2005
35 Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil 2006
36 Mr. Olafan Rognar Greemans 2007

[raj_oct_2002]

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS, HONOURS AND MEDALS (2007)
Raman Magsaysay Award, 2007, for Sai Nath: The Hindu Journalist and writer Shri Sai Nath along with six others has been elected for prestigious Raman Magsaysay Award for 2007.
Kiran Desai won the Booker Award: Desai's Second Novel, "The inheritance of loss" was anounced as the clear, "unanimous" choice of the Booker Prize judges . It is the most prestigious literacy award with prize Money of .50000/- pounds. The extraordinary achievement makes the 35 year old Desai the youngest woman ever to win the booker, a distinction previously enjoyed by Arundhati Roy.
Gandhi Peace Award 2005: Desmond Tutu has been honored with Gandhi Peace Award 2005 by the president Abdul Kalam. He worked against the racial discrimination and worked for political, socio and economic changes in South Africa. Rs. 1 crore has been given with the award.

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS, HONOURS AND MEDALS (2008)

Taslima conferred Simon de Beauvoir honour: Hounded out of Kolkata for her allegedly anti-Islamic writings, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been chosen for the prestigious Simon de Beauvoir feminist award in recognition of her writing on rights for women. This honour coming on Beauvoir's 100th birth anniversary gives solace at this period. She is honored in France for her writings and views while facing harassment in Bangladesh and India. Beauvoir, a hallowed name for her views on feminist issues, wrote the much discussed 'Second Sex' in the 1960s.
Irish Peace Prize: Smt. Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated was selected for Irish Peace Prize for the year 2007. She was honored for her efforts to restore the democracy in Pakistan.
Invisible wings bagged the Golden Elephant: 15th Children Film Festival concluded at Lalitha Kala Thoranam, Hyderabd. China Film “Invisible Wings” won the Golden Elephant. The movie was directed by Pheng Jhen Jhi. The story was about a girl who lost both her hands. She never looses her confidence and got success in the life. Amount of Rs.2 lacs is given with the award. 120 movies from the 30 countries are shown in the festival in 9 theatres for a week.

[raj_oct_2002]

G.D. Birla Award 2007

G.D. Birla Award 2007:Shri Santanu Bhattacharya (49Y) has been selected for G.D. Birla Award for 2007. Shri Santanu Bhattacharya, old senior professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry in the Indian Institute of Science, has been selected for the G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research for his contributions in the areas of chemical biology and molecular design.
His investigations on DNA trafficking inside eukaryotic cells in the lipid mediated gene delivery have been cited extensively by experts. Besides proposing the DNA transfer mechanism, he has also developed a new formulation for gene transfection in mammalian cells in the presence of serum.
The G.D. Birla award which carries a cash prize of Rs.1.5 lakh was instituted by the K. K. Birla Foundation in 1991. It is given to young scientists below 50 years of age. The foundation's mission is to promote scientific research in the country by giving recognition to high caliber Indian scientists.

CNN-IBN AWARDS

CNN-IBN AWARDS 2007:
CNN-IBN news channel announced prestigious awards for 2007 in a function attended by former ex. President A.P.J.Abdul kalam and vice President Hamid Ansari. It is time again for the biggest awards in the domain of News television, the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2007. The award recognizes the Indian(s) whose contribution to the country in a calendar year has strengthened the foundation of our society and has helped build Brand India in the process.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Global Indian:
Mr. Arun Sarin, Voda Phone C.E.O., has been selected for piloting more than 11 Billion U.S dollars foreign direct investment in India, one of the largest ever.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Public Service:
Shri E.Sridharan (Public Service) for setting a rare work ethic and transforming the face of transportation by effective time bound execution of the Delhi Metro Rail Project.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Sports:
Grand Master Viswanath Anand has been selected for sports category for being one of the rare Indians to become the undisputed world champion in a sport and making chess a popular sport in India.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Entertainment:
Shimit Amin and Jaideep Sahni, for delivering the year’s Best Idea film, Chak De, and demonstrating how a simple idea can be made a runaway commercial success.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Business:
O. P. Bhatt, Chairman of State Bank of India has been selected in business category for showing how a public sector behemoth could flex enough muscle in the ferociously competitive banking sector.
CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2007 – Politics:
P Chidambaram, Finance Minister, has been selected in political category for engineering a spectacular growth rate and being an astute economic manager despite coalition pressures.

Life Time Achievement Award:
Shri R.K. Laxman, famous cartoonist, has been awarded with Life Time Achieve Award on the hands his friend and ex. President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

[raj_oct_2002]

92nd Pulitzer Awards
92nd Pulitzer Awards treated as international highest honors in Journalism are announced. The journalist team of Washington Post, Mr. Ann Hall, Dana Priest, and Michel Dusile is selected for 2008. Washington Post won prizes also for “Breaking News” and “National News”. These awards are started in 1911 in the Name of American Journalist Mr.Joseph Pulitzer.

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Nobel Prizes
Nobel Prizes for 2007:
According to the BBC, this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Professor Gerhard Ertl of Germany. Peter Grunberg (Germany) and Albert Fert (France) are jointly selected for Nobel for Physics. Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is announced to Americans Mario R. Capecchi and Oliver Smithies along with Briton Sir Martin J. Evans. Britain's Doris Lessing (Swedon) is selected for Nobel Prize for literature. U.S. Vice president Al Gore is honored with Nobel Prize for peace. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is jointly announced to Americans Leonid Hurwicz, Eric S. Maskin and Roger B. Myerson. The winners will collect the prizes at award ceremonies on Dec. 10 in Stockholm and Oslo.

Nobel Prize for peace 06:
Nobel Prize Committee awarded the peace prize to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and his Grameen Bank for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor. The 65 Years old economist also known as "Banker of the Poor" in his country, and the bank he established were cited for their efforts to help and create economic and social development from below in Bangladesh where they have been instrumental in helping millions of poor people improve their standard of living by letting them borrow small sums to start business.

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Padma Awards 2008
Government of India announced Padma Awards 2008 of which 13 are Padma Vibhushan, 35 are Padma Bushan, and 71 are Padma Sri. Padma Awards are civilian awards announced by Government of India every year. Government has not been declaring Bharatna the highest civilian award since 2001.

Padma Vibhushan:
Sachin Tendulkar (cricket), Viswanath Anand (Chess), Pranab Mukherji (Central Minister), I. Sridharan (Engineer), Edmand Hillary (Everest Mountaineer), R.K. Pachouri (Recipient of Nobel Peace Prize), P.R.O.S. Oberay (Hotel Industrialist), Ratan Tata (Industrialist), Justice A.S. Anand (Chairman of Human Rights Commission),A.L.N. Mittal (Industrialist) Narayana Murthy (INFOSYS), P.N. Dhar (P.S to Indira Gandhi) and Asha Bonsle (Singer) are the recipient of Padma Vibhushan Awards. Shri Pranab Mukherji is the first man to receive Padma Vibhushan as a Central Cabinet Minister.

Padma Bhushan:
P.Susila (Singer), Sunitha Williams (Astronaut), Shri K.V. Kamat (Chairman of I.C.I.C.I Bank), Siva Nadar (Chairman H.C.L. Technologies), Baba N. Kalyani (C.M.D. Bharath Forge, Suresh Kumar Niotia (Chairman Gujarat Ambuja Cements), Shri Vikram Pandit (Chairman of City Bank), Jas Dev Sing (Commentator) Shri Padma Nabhaiah (I.A.S. Officer), Dominic Lapiar (International Journalist for Paris Mach Magazine and author), are among the recipients of Padma Bushan Awards.

Padma Sri:
Bollywood Star Madhuri Dixit, Hollywood Producer Manoj Night Syamalan, Actor Tom Alter, Foot Ball Captain (India) Bichung Bhutia, Swimmer Bula Choudary, Rajdeep Sardesai (C.N.N.I.B.N.), Barkha Dutt (Political Editor, N.D.T.V), Vinod Duva (N.D.T.V), Ella Venkateswara Rao (Mridungam), Dr. Kutikuppala Surya Rao (Efforts made for controlling AIDS), Dr. Amit Mithra (FICCI) Colet Madhur (World Economic Forum) and Jonnala Gadda Gurrappa Chetty (Arts) are among the recipients of Padma Sri Awards for 2008.

[chanda_s]

thats a good collection of information, raj_oct_2002.

[raj_oct_2002]

Agri Kola Award for Prime Minister

Food and Agricultural Organization a unit of United Nations Organization (UNO) honored Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, with highest distinction “Agri Kola Award” for his contribution in development of Agriculture and social welfare.

Shri Singh is the first Indian to receive this award after it has been instituted in 1976.

Previous recipients of the Agricola Medal include

• King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand,
• French President Jacques Chirac,
• Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
• Chinese President Jiang Zemin,
• Pope John Paul II,
• Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
• Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar,
• and German President Johannes Rau.

[raj_oct_2002]

Booker Prize for “Midnights Children”

Salmond Rashdi’s writing “Midnights Children” was selected by SMS voters for prestigious “Best of the Booker” prize. 7801 readers participated in the voting. 36% voters voted for “Midnights Children”. Mr. Salmond Rashdi had already won the Booker Prize in 1993.

[raj_oct_2002]

Miss Dayana Mendoza crowned as Miss Universe

Miss Dayana Mendoza of Venezula crowned as Miss Unverse by last year’s Miss Universe Rio Morry, at Convention Center - Diamond Bay NhaTrang City in Vietnam.

22 years of Miss Dayana Mendoza is selected among the 80 contestants from various countries.

Miss Columbia Taliana Vargas was the first runner up followed by Miss Dominican Republic Marianne Cruz second runner up, Russia Vera Krasova third runner up and Miss Mexico Elisa Najera fourth runner up.

Miss India Simron Kour disappointed the Indians.

Miss Venezuela answered for a question, “Men always go to the straight point while women choose another way. Women should do like man do as some are not daring to express their thoughts for many reasons”.

[raj_oct_2002]

Dr. Yalavarthi Nayudamma Award 2007

Brahmos C.E.O, M.D., Dr. Sivathanu Pillai has been selected for Dr. Yalavarthi Nayudamma Award 2007. Dr. Sivathanu Pillai played a key roll in designing Super Sonic Cruise Missile and other Missiles. This Award will be given at the native place of Yalavarthi Nayudumma, Tenali, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh on 2nd February, 2008.

Previously this Award has been given to

• Dr. Nori Dathathreyudu (Cancer Specialist),
• Sam Pitroda (President of World Tell) for the development of Telecom Industry,
• Madhavan Nair (Chairman, ISRO),
• Kota Harinarayana (designer Light Combat Flights),
• V.K. Athre (Adviser to Ministry Difence) and
• R. Chidambarm (Scientist in Nuclear Power)