Current Affairs - Awards In News

Rashtriya Kalidas Samman

  • The legendary santoor maestro and music composer Pandit Bhajan Sopori from Jammu & Kashmir has been awarded the National Kalidas Samman 2020 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh for his enormous contribution to Hindustani Classical Music (Santoor).
  • He belongs to the fabled Sopori Sufiana Gharana of Kashmir, the exclusive traditional Santoor family of the country with its roots spanning over more than 300 years.
  • Among many awards, he is bestowed with Padma Shri, and Sangeet Natak Academy Award.

Ratan Tata to get ‘Asom Baibav’

  • The Assam government has decided to confer the state’s highest civilian award, ‘Asom Baibav,’ on Ratan Naval Tata, for his contributions towards furthering cancer care in the state.
  • The Assam Cabinet had in September 2021 decided to change the nomenclature of the state’s highest civilian awards, to be given in various fields every year. Subsequently, the name of the Asom Ratna award has been changed to “Asom Baibhav”, “Asom Bibhushan” to “Asom Saurav” and “Assam Shree” to “Asom Gaurav”.

UNESCO Award to Indian Conservation Project

  • Delhi’s Nizamuddin Basti has received two awards at the Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation this year.
  • The conservation initiative at Nizamuddin bagged the Award of Excellence and Special Recognition for Sustainable Development Award.
  • The conservation efforts include the restoration of over 20 historic monuments clustered around the 14th century mausoleum of Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

Major Awards at 52nd IFFI

Golden Peacock (Best Film)

  • Ring Wandering (Japan) by Masakazu Kaneko

Silver Peacock

  • Best Director: Vaclav Kadrnka for ‘Saving One Who Was Dead’ (Czech Republic)
  • IFFI Best Actor Award (Male): Jitendra Joshi for Godavari (India)
  • IFFI Best Actor Award (Female): Ángela Molina for ‘Charlotte’ (Paraguay)

Other Awards

  • Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award: Martin Scorsese (American filmmaker) and István Szabo (Hungarian filmmaker)
  • Indian Film Personality of the Year: Hema Malini and Prasoon Joshi

ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal

  • Lingui, The Sacred Bonds - an internationally co-produced drama film recounting the story of the sacred relationship between a mother and daughter and their survival against the harsh laws set by men – won the ICFT-UNESCO Gandhi Medal at IFFI 52.
  • It is a film by Chad filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and was co-produced by Belgium, France, and Germany.
  • Every year at IFFI, ICFT, Paris and UNESCO comes together to present the Gandhi medal to one film.
  • The UNESCO issued commemorative medal in 1994, marking the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. Since then the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Award is being given to a film that best reflects Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of peace, tolerance and non-violence.

6th BRICS Film Festival Awards 2021

The 6th edition of the BRICS Film Festival was held alongside 52nd India International Film Festival (IFFI) from 20-28 November at Goa.

Major Awards

  • Best Film: South African Film ‘Barakat’ by Director Amy Jephta and Russian Film ‘The Sun above Me Never Sets’ by Director Lyubov Borisova shared the Best Film Award.
  • Best Director: Brazilian filmmaker Lúcia Murat was awarded Best Director for her documentary ‘Ana’.
  • Best Actor (Male): Indian actor Dhanush won Best Actor (Male) for his role in ‘Asuran’.
  • Best Actor (Female): Brazilian actor Lara Boldorini was honoured with Best Actor (Female) for her role in ‘On Wheels’.

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2021

Pratham, a civil society organisation dedicated to improving the quality of education among underprivileged children in India and across the world, has been selected for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2021.

Awarded for

  • Pratham was awarded for its pioneering work over more than a quarter century in seeking to ensure that every child has access to quality education, for its innovative use of digital technology to deliver education, for its programmes to provide skills to young adults, for its regular evaluation of the quality of education, and for its timely response in enabling children to learn during the COVID-19 related school closures.

Chair of the Jury

  • Former Chief Justice of India, Justice T.S. Thakur was the chair of the international jury of the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

Last Recipient

  • Sir David Frederick Attenborough, an English broadcaster, natural historian and author was the last recipient (2019).

About Pratham

  • Set up in 1995 in Mumbai by Dr. Madhav Chavan and Ms. Farida Lambay, Pratham started work in Mumbai slums, setting up community based “Balwadis” or pre-schools and offering remedial education for students lagging behind their grade level curriculum.
  • Its Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), based on surveying 6,00,000 rural Indian children, is now used as a model to assess education outcomes and learning deficiencies in 14 countries over three continents.

About the Award

  • The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, is accorded annually by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust to individuals or organisations in recognition of creative efforts toward promoting international peace, development and a new international economic order; ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for the larger good of humanity, and enlarging the scope of freedom.

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021

Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021 was recently presented by the President of India.

(Image Source: PIB)

Category/Winner

  • Cleanest State (With more than 100 Urban Local Bodies): Chhattisgarh
  • Cleanest State (With less than 100 Urban Local Bodies): Jharkhand
  • Cleanest City (With less than One Lakh Population): Vita City of Maharashtra
  • Cleanest Small City (1-3 Lakh Population): New Delhi Municipal Council
  • Cleanest Medium City (3-10 Lakh Population): Noida
  • Cleanest Big City’ (10-40 Lakh Population): Navi Mumbai
  • Cleanest District: Surat
  • Cleanest City: Indore
  • Cleanest Ganga Town: Varanasi
  • Cleanest Cantonment Board: Ahmedabad Cantonment
  • Fastest Mover Small City: Hoshangawad, Madhya Pradesh
  • Best Small City in Citizens’ Feedback: Triputi, Maharashtra
  • Top City in Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge: Navi Mumbai

2021 JCB Prize for Literature

  • M. Mukundan's "Delhi: A Soliloquy", translated from Malayalam by Fathima E.V. and Nandakumar K. has won the 2021 JCB Prize for Literature.
  • The JCB Prize for Literature honours distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in English or translated fiction by an Indian writer.
  • The Prize is administered by the JCB Literature Foundation, a not-for-profit company, whose purpose is to promote the art of literature in India.

Two Indians won 2021 International Children’s Peace Prize

  • Two Indian teenage brothers have won the 2021 KidsRights International Children's Peace Prize for tackling pollution from household waste.
  • Vihaan (17) and Nav Agarwal (14) have developed the "One Step Greener" initiative segregating recyclables and organising pickups for trash from thousands of homes.
  • Indian Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, a children's rights activist who won the 2014 Nobel jointly with Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, presented the brothers with the prize run by the Dutch-based KidsRights foundation at a ceremony in The Hague.
  • The International Children’s Peace Prize is given annually by the International children’s rights organization KidsRights based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
  • It is given to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children’s rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children such as orphans, child labourers and children with HIV/AIDS.

National Sports Awards 2021

On 2nd November 2021, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2021.

  • The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan on 13th November, 2021.
  • National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
  • The Selection Committee was headed by Justice (Retd.) Mukundakam Sharma (former Judge of Supreme Court).

About the Awards

  • ‘Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award’: Given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of previous four years.
  • ‘Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in Sports and Games’: Given for good performance over a period of previous four years and showing qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.
  • Dronacharya Award for outstanding coaches in Sports and Games’: Given to coaches for doing outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabling sportspersons to excel in International events.
  • ‘Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games’: Given to honour sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports event after their retirement.
  • ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar’: Given to corporate entities (both in private and public sector), sports control boards, NGOs including sports bodies at the State and National level who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.
  • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Given to overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments.

Awards, Winners and Discipline

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2021
Name of the Sportsperson Discipline
Neeraj Chopra Athletics
Ravi Kumar Wrestling
Lovlina Borgohain Boxing
Sreejesh P.R Hockey
Avani Lekhara Para Shooting
Sumit Antil Para Athletics
Pramod Bhagat Para Badminton
Krishna Nagar Para Badminton
Manish Narwal Para Shooting
Mithali Raj Cricket
Sunil Chhetri Football
Manpreet Singh Hockey

Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games 2021
Name of the Sportsperson Discipline
Arpinder Singh Athletics
Simranjit Kaur Boxing
Shikhar Dhawan Cricket
Bhavani Devi Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Fencing
Monika Hockey
Vandana Katariya Hockey
Sandeep Narwal Kabaddi
Himani Uttam Parab Mallakhamb
Abhishek Verma Shooting
Ankita Raina Tennis
Deepak Punia Wrestling
Dilpreet Singh Hockey
Harman Preet Singh Hockey
Rupinder Pal Singh Hockey
Surender Kumar Hockey
Amit Rohidas Hockey
Birendra Lakra Hockey
Sumit Hockey
Nilakanta Sharma Hockey
Hardik Singh Hockey
Vivek Sagar Prasad Hockey
Gurjant Singh Hockey
Mandeep Singh Hockey
Shamsher Singh Hockey
Lalit Kumar Upadhyay Hockey
Varun Kumar Hockey
Simranjeet Singh Hockey
Yogesh Kathuniya Para Athletics
Nishad Kumar Para Athletics
Praveen Kumar Para Athletics
Suhash Yathiraj Para Badminton
Singhraj Adhana Para Shooting
Bhavina Patel Para Table Tennis
Harvinder Singh Para Archery
Sharad Kumar Para Athletics

Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games 2021
Life-Time Category
Name of the Coach Discipline
T. P. Ouseph Athletics
SarkarTalwar Cricket
Sarpal Singh Hockey
Ashan Kumar Kabaddi
Tapan Kumar Panigrahi Swimming
Regular Category
Name of the Coach Discipline
Radhakrishnan Nair P Athletics
Sandhya Gurung Boxing
Pritam Siwach Hockey
Jai Prakash Nautiyal Para Shooting
Subramanian Raman Table Tennis

Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime achievement in Sports and Games 2021
Name Discipline
Lekha K.C. Boxing
Abhijeet Kunte Chess
Davinder Singh Garcha Hockey
Vikas Kumar Kabaddi
Sajjan Singh Wrestling

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2021
Category Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar, 2021
Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent Manav Rachna Educational Institution
Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility Indian Oil Corporation Limited
  • Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2021:Panjab University - Chandigarh
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