current affairs for ias exam 2011 award and prizes august 2010 www.upscportal

8/6/2019 Current Affairs for IAS Exam 2011 Award and Prizes August 2010 Www.upscportal

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Award and Prizes: August 2010

Konkani litterateur Ravindra Kelekar presented Jnanpith Award 2006

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presenting the prestigious Jnanpith Award to octogenarianKonkani litterateur Ravindra Kelekar.

The 42nd Jnanpith Award for 2006 carried a citation, shawl, srifal, a bronze idol of VagdeviSaraswati and a cash prize of Rs. 7 lakh.

Ms. Kumar congratulated Mr. Kelekar and said that his literature reflected culture, principles ofnon-violence and Buddha's teachings.

Pattnaik wins Sand Sculpture Championship for 5th time

Renowned Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the first prize at the 8th InternationalSand Sculpture Championship in Berlin for his sculpture that showcased the effects of globalwarming.

Pattnaik's sculpture that had a crying tree trunk and three monkeys saying, You don't listen,

You don't talk, You don't see, Don't put heads on sand, act now, won the maximum votes.Jaipur's Jantar Mantar inscribed in the World Heritage List

The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is now a World Heritage Monument. The 34th session of the WorldHeritage Committee, presently underway in Brasilia, has inscribed Jantar Mantar in the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's World Heritage List. Thirty-threecountries across the world had submitted 32 sites for consideration this year.

The UNESCO website observes that these structures designed for the observation ofastronomical positions with the naked eye, embody several architectural and instrumentalinnovations.'

Located outside the city palace, this large stone observatory with its many instruments was builtby Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the 18th century. It is one of the one of the four existingastronomical observatories in India. The others are located in Varanasi, Delhi and Ujjain. Thefifth one built in Mathura is not extant. The Samrat Yantra in Jaipur is one of the largestsundials in the world, with its gnomon raising about 73 feet above its base.

India had also submitted the Matheran Light Railway line for consideration as an extension ofthe Mountain Railways of India, which includes the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgirirailway and Kalka-Shimla Railway that are already inscribed as heritage sites.

The other international sites added to the list this year include, 11 Australian convict sites, thepalace ensemble at ad-Dir'iyah in Saudi Arabia, Tabriz historic bazaar complex in Iran and the

natural site of the Central Highlands in Sri Lanka. So far, about 890 properties are included in the list for their outstanding universal value. The

committee also oversees the disbursement of about $4 million annually from the World HeritageFund.

KCHR, British Museum share award

The British Museum and the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala Council for Historical Research(KCHR) have been jointly awarded this year's international partnership award by the BritishAcademy.

The award, which carries a grant of 30,000, is aimed at promoting research collaboration


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between two partner-institutions, one Indian and one British.

The research proposal, titled Indian Ocean Trade: the Archaeology of Technology, by RobertaTomber of the British Museum and P.J. Cherian of the KCHR, was based on majorarchaeological research work at the Pattanam site in central Kerala carried out over the last fourseasons.

Professor Cherian is the Director of the KCHR and of the Pattanam excavations, while notedhistorian K.N. Panikkar is the Chairman of the KCHR. The self-governing and independent

British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the socialsciences. Established by Royal Charter in 1902, it has fellowship of over 800 scholars.

Leelavathi Award for Simon Lehna Singh

Well-known physicist-turned author, journalist and television producer of Indian origin SimonLehna Singh has been selected by the International Mathematical Union for the LeelavathiAward in recognition of his outstanding contribution to public outreach in mathematics.

Named after the immortal mathematical treatise of the great Indian mathematicianBhaskaracharya, the award carries a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh and a citation.

It will be presented at the closing ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians

(ICM), which will be held in Hyderabad from August 19 to 27.

National Film Awards revamped

In a bid to give regional language films a bigger chance to bag the spotlight at the National FilmAwards, the government has decided to introduce a two-tier selection system.

The decision has been taken on the basis of recommendations submitted by an expert committeeheaded by filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

Five regional panels will be constituted to select the best films in their own areas, followingwhich a central jury will make the final award decision. The northern region will include filmsin English, Punjabi, Dogri, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani and central Indian languages, while the

western region will consist of films made in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Konkani.

The southern part of the country has been divided into two regions, of which one will includeTamil and Malayalam films, while another will consist of films made in Kannada, Telegu andTulu. Films made in Bengali, Assamese, Oriya and the dialects spoken in the northeastern partof the country will all be included in the Eastern region.

The central jury will have a chairperson and ten other members, of which half will be the chairsof the regional juries.

All screenings will be held in Delhi.

E.C.G. Sudarshan shares Dirac Medal with Italian

An Indian-American professor at the University of Texas, Austin, has won the prestigious DiracMedal for his contribution to the understanding of theoretical physics.

Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan, 78, shares the Dirac 2010 with Italian physicist NicolaCabibbo.

Professor Sudarshan's contributions to theoretical physics include the discovery of the V-Atheory of weak interactions, which opened the way for full description of the unifiedelectroweak theory.

The Dirac Medal of ICTP is awarded by the Abdus Salam International Centre for TheoreticalPhysics (ICTP) on renowned physicist P.A.M Dirac's birthday August 8. It was first awarded


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in 1985. The winners also receive a prize of $5,000.

One of the criteria that the recipients must qualify is that they should not have won a Nobelprize, the Fields Medal or the Wolf Foundation prize till the Dirac Medal was conferred onthem.

Both Professor Cabibbo and Professor Sudarshan were passed over by the Nobel committeeearlier. The Italian physicist in 2008 and Professor Sudarshan in 1979 and 2005.

The ICTP was set up by Pakistani-born physicist in 1964 to foster advanced studies andresearch in physics and mathematics, especially in developing countries.

Major Jyotin Singh awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously

Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, who sacrificed his life in the February terror attack in Kabul thisyear, has been awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award announced ,the eve of 64th Independence Day.

The Ministry of Defence also announced the Kirti Chakra posthumously to Captain DavinderSingh Jass and Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Choubey.

It is probably the first time that the Ashok Chakra has been awarded to an officer for an act ofbravery while on a foreign land.

Major Jyotin Singh, 38, from Manipur, was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps in 2003and selected to serve on deputation to the Indian Medical Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan.

BEL staffer gets Shram Ratna award

Nagaraja, Senior Technical Assistant of the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore, hasbeen chosen for the Shram Ratna for 2008, the country's highest award given by the Ministry ofLabour and Employment.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs.2 lakh and a Sanad (citation).

The Ministry also awarded Shram Bhushan to four persons, Shram Vir/Shram Veerangana to 17

and Shram Shree/Shram Devi Awards to 30 persons. The Shram awardees include two women.

The Prime Minister's Shram Awards is being given to altogether 52 workers employed in thedepartmental undertakings and public sector undertakings of the Central/State governments andprivate sector units employing 500 or more workers.

The awards are in recognition of their distinguished performances, innovative abilities,outstanding contributions in the field of productivity and exhibition of exceptional courage andpresence of mind.

Parliamentarians must work to meet people's expectations

With disruptions in Parliament apparently weighing heavily on her mind, President Pratibha

Patil said its functioning must meet an exacting standard to set an example for the rest of theworld.

Ms. Patil was speaking after conferring the Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards to the formerUnion Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi; senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh; andBharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009respectively.

Modern Family,' Mad Men' sweep the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards

Mad Men,' a dark period drama set in the 60's New York, and comedy series Modern Family,'a mockumentary about three families, won the top honours at the 62nd Primetime Emmy


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Awards.

Mad Men' won the Emmy for best television drama for the third time in a row, while ModernFamily' took home the trophy for outstanding comedy at the awards presented.

Top Chef,' hosted by Indian model Padma Lakshmi, won the Emmy for outstanding realityseries, beating off competition from The Amazing Race,' which has been winning in thecategory for the past seven years.

current affairs for ias exam 2011 award and prizes august 2010 www.upscportal

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