Current Affairs - Awards In News

• Superstar Rajinikanth will be conferred with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2019.
• Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, known professionally as Rajinikanth, is primarily works in Tamil cinema. In addition to acting, he has also worked as a producer and screenwriter.
• K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal was his debut film.
• Among other notable awards, he is honored with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and the Padma Vibhushan (2016) by the Government of India.
• Prior to Rajinikanth, in 2018, Amitabh Bachchan was conferred this award.
• The first recipient of this award was Devika Rani in 1969.
• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for "outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema".
• The award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate the contribution of Dadasaheb Phalke - regarded as "the father of Indian cinema" - who directed India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913.

• Mahinder Giri, range officer of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (Uttarakhand) is the only ranger from Asia to win the prestigious International Ranger Award for his contribution towards conservation.
• The award has been announced for 10 professionals across the world by the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN and World Commission on Protected Areas WCPA.

• Well known Hindi writer Prof. Sharad Pagare will be conferred with the prestigious Vyas Samman - 2020 for his novel 'Patliputru Ki Samragi.'
• He is the first Hindi writer from Madhya Pradesh to get this award.
• The Vyas Samman, started in 1991, is given by K K Birla Foundation for an outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years.

• The Gandhi Peace Prize for the past two years ( 2019 and 2020) will be conferred on late Omani Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said and Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman respectively.
• Late Sultan Qaboos is being recognised for his “unparalleled vision and leadership” in strengthening India-Oman relations and his efforts to promote peace and non-violence in the Gulf.
• Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is being recognized for his “immense and unparalleled contribution” in “inspiring the liberation of Bangladesh, bringing stability to a nation born out of strife, laying the foundation for the close and fraternal relations between India and Bangladesh, and promoting peace and non-violence in the Indian subcontinent”.

About the Prize

• The prize is given annually by the Govt. of India for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
• A jury consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and one other eminent person decides the awardee each year.
• Note: A special exception was made for the award to be conferred on the two leaders for the year 2019 and 2020, as the selection procedure for the prize does not allow it to be awarded posthumously.

The 67th National Film Awards for the year 2019 were announced on 22nd March 2021.

The chairman of the Jury was N. Chandra.

Major Awards/Awardees in different Categories

Feature Film

• Best Film: Marakkar Arabikkadilinte Simham (Malayalam) - directed by Priyadarshan
• Best Director: Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan (for Hindi film Bahattar Hoorain)
• Best Actor: Manoj Bajpayee (Hindi movie Bhonsle) and Dhanush (Tamil Movie Asuran)
• Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (for Manikarnika -The Queen of Jhansi and Panga).
• Best Male Playback Singer: B Praak (for song Teri Mitti in Hindi Film Kesari)
• Best Female Playback Singer: Savani Ravindra (for song Rann Petala in Marathi Movie Bardo)
• Best Music Director: D Imman (for his songs in Tamil Fim Vishwasam)
• Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Taj Mahal (Marathi) - directed by Niyaz Mujawar
• Best Film on Other Social Issues: Anandi Gopal (Marathi) - directed by Sameer Vidwans
• Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: Water Burial(Monpa) -directed by Shantanu Sen
• Best Children's Film: Kastoori (Hindi) – directed by Vinod Uttreshwar Kamble
• Best Hindi Film: Chhichore – directed by Nitesh Tiwari

Non Feature Firm

• Best Non Feature Film: An Engineered Dream (Hindi) directed by Hemant Gaba
• Best Animation Film: Radha – directed by Bimal Poddar
• Best Art and Culture Film: Shrikhetra ru Sahijata (Odia) - directed by Ashutosh Pattnaik
• Best Environment Film: The Stork Saviours(Hindi) – directed by Ajay Bedi & Vijay Bedi
• Best Film on Social Issues:Holy Rights (Hindi) – directed by Farha Khatun
• Best Educational Film: Apples and Oranges (English) – directed by Rukshana Tabassum

Other Awards

• Most Film Friendly State: Sikkim
• Best Book on Cinema: A Gandhian Affair: India's Curious Portrayal of Love in Cinema - by Sanjay Suri

• French architects and educators Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal were selected as the laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2021, the highest honour in the field of architecture.
• Anne Lacaton became the first French female architect to win the prize and the 6th woman to receive the prize since it was established in 1979.
• The Prize was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation in 1979.

• At the 63rd Grammy Awards on 14th March 2021, Beyoncé made history as she earned her 28th win, making her the show's most-decorated female artist. She surpassed Alison Krauss' previously held record of 27 wins.
• Beyoncé is now tied with Quincy Jones for the second-most Grammy wins, while conductor Georg Stolti holds the record with 31 Grammys.
• This year, Beyoncé received the most nominations with nine, followed by Dua Lipa, Roddy Ricch, and Taylor Swift with six each. Beyoncé also received the most awards with four.

• Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, who lost his life during the Galwan Valley clash last year, was posthumously awarded with Maha Vir Chakra.
• The Maha Vir Chakra is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air.

The President of India has approved conferment of 119 Padma Awards including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).

• The awards comprise 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards.
• 29 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 16 posthumous awardees and 1 transgender awardee.

About Padma Awards

Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

• The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
• These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.
  • ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service;
  • ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order; and
  • ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.

List of Awardees

Padma Vibhushan

• Shri Shinzo Abe - Public Affairs - Japan
• Shri S P Balasubramaniam (Posthumous) - Art - Tamil Nadu
• Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde - Medicine - Karnataka
• Shri Narinder Singh Kapany (Posthumous) - Science and Engineering - United States of America
• Maulana Wahiduddin Khan - Others - Spiritualism - Delhi
• Shri B. B. Lal Others - Archaeology - Delhi
• Shri Sudarshan Sahoo - Art - Odisha

Padma Bhushan

• Ms. Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra - Art - Kerala
• Shri Tarun Gogoi (Posthumous) - Public Affairs - Assam
• Shri Chandrashekhar Kambara - Literature and Education - Karnataka
• Ms. Sumitra Mahajan - Public Affairs - Madhya Pradesh
• Shri Nripendra Misra - Civil Service - Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Ram Vilas Paswan (Posthumous) - Public Affairs - Bihar
• Shri Keshubhai Patel (Posthumous)- Public Affairs - Gujarat
• Shri Kalbe Sadiq (Posthumous) Others - Spiritualism- Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Rajnikant Devidas Shroff - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra
• Shri Tarlochan Singh - Public Affairs - Haryana

Padma Shri

Art

• Shri Gulfam Ahmed (Uttar Pradesh)
• Shri Rama Swamy Annavarapu (Andhra Pradesh)
• Shri Subbu Arumugam (Tamil Nadu)
• Ms. Bhuri Bai (Madhya Pradesh)
• Shri Radhe Shyam Barle (Chhattisgarh)
• Shri Biren Kumar Basak (West Bengal)
• Shri Peter Brook (United Kingdom)
• Shri Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat (Assam)
• Shri Narayan Debnath (West Bengal)
• Ms. Dulari Devi (Bihar)
• Ms. Radhe Devi (Manipur)
• Ms. Purnamasi Jani (Odisha)
• Shri Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane (Maharashtra)
• Matha B. Manjamma Jogati (Karnataka)
• Shri Damodaran Kaithapram (Kerala)
• Shri Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia (Duo) * (Posthumous) (Gujarat)
• Shri K Kesavasamy (Puducherry)
• Shri Ghulam Rasool Khan (Jammu and Kashmir)
• Shri Lakha Khan (Rajasthan)
• Shri Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar (Goa)
• Ms. Lajwanti (Punjab)
• Shri Ramachandra Manjhi (Bihar)
• Shri Dulal Manki (Assam)
• Shri Rewben Mashangva (Manipur)
• Shri Kartar Paras Ram Singh (Himachal Pradesh)
• Shri Kartar Singh (Punjab)
• Shri K C Sivasankar (Posthumous) (Tamil Nadu)
• Ms. Nidumolu Sumathi (Andhra Pradesh)
• Shri K K Ramachandra Pulavar (Kerala)
• Shri Kanaka Raju (Telangana)
• Ms. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath (Tamil Nadu)
• Shri Satyaram Reang (Tripura)
• Shri Wayan Dibia (Indonesia)
• Ms. Sanjida Khatun (Bangladesh)

Sports

• Ms. P. Anitha (Tamil Nadu)
• Ms. Mouma Das (West Bengal)
• Ms. Anshu Jamsenpa (Arunachal Pradesh)
• Shri Madhavan Nambiar (Kerala)
• Ms. Sudha Hari Narayan Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
• Shri Virender Singh (Haryana)
• Shri K Y Venkatesh (Karnataka)

Literature and Education

• Shri Prakasarao Asavadi (Andhra Pradesh)
• Shri Dharma Narayan Barma (West Bengal)
• Shri Sujit Chattopadhyay (West Bengal)
• Shri Dadudan Gadhavi (Gujarat)
• Shri Jai Bhagwan Goyal (Haryana)
• Shri Jagadish Chandra Halder (West Bengal)
• Shri Mangal Singh Hazowary (Assam)
• Shri Namdeo C Kamble (Maharashtra)
• Shri Rajat Kumar Kar (Odisha)
• Shri Rangasami Lakshminarayana Kashyap (Karnataka)
• Shri Chandrakant Mehta (Gujarat)
• Ms. Usha Yadav (Uttar Pradesh)
• Shri Chaman Lal Sapru (Posthumous) (Jammu and Kashmir)
• Shri Arjun Singh Shekhawat (Rajasthan)
• Shri Ram Yatna Shukla (Uttar Pradesh)
• Ms. Mridula Sinha (Posthumous) (Bihar)
• Shri Kapil Tiwari (Madhya Pradesh)
• Shri Imran Shah (Assam)
• Shri Balan Putheri (Kerala)
• Shri Nanda Prusty (Odisha)
• Shri Srikant Datar (United States of America)
• Father Vallés (Posthumous), Spain
• Shri Nicholas Kazanas (Greece)
• Literature and Education- Journalism
• Shri Roman Sarmah (Assam)
• Shri Solomon Pappaiah (Tamil Nadu)

Social Work

• Ms. Lakhimi Baruah (Assam)
• Ms. Sangkhumi Bualchhuak (Mizoram)
• Shri Jagdish Chaudhary (Posthumous), Uttar Pradesh
• Shri Tsultrim Chonjor (Ladakh)
• Ms. Shanti Devi (Odisha)
• Chutni Devi (Jharkhand)
• Ms. Prakash Kaur (Punjab)
• Ms. Niru Kumar (Delhi)
• Shri Shyam Sundar Paliwal (Rajasthan)
• Shri Jitender Singh Shunty (Delhi)
• Guru Maa Kamali Soren (West Bengal)
• Shri Marachi Subburaman (Tamil Nadu)
• Ms. Sindhutai Sapkal (Maharashtra)
• Shri Girish Prabhune (Maharashtra)
• Ms. Birubala Rabha (Assam)

Trade & Industry

• Ms. Rajni Bector (Punjab)
• Shri P Subramanian (Posthumous) (Tamil Nadu)
• Ms. Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat (Maharashtra)
• Shri Sridhar Vembu (Tamil Nadu)

Public Affairs

• Bijoya Chakravarty (Assam)
• Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir (Bangladesh)

Science and Engineering

• Shri Rattan Lal (United States of America)

Others-Grassroots Innovation

• Shri Ali Manikfan (Lakshadweep)

Others- Agriculture

• Shri Nanadro B Marak (Meghalaya)
• Shri Prem Chand Sharma (Uttarakhand)
• Ms. Pappammal (Tamil Nadu)
• Shri Chandra Shekhar Singh (Uttar Pradesh)

Medicine

• Dr. Rattan Lal Mittal (Punjab)
• Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav (Delhi)
• Dr. J N Pande (Posthumous), Delhi
• Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Singh Sanjay (Uttarakhand)
• Dr. Thiruvengadam Veeraraghavan (Posthumous), Tamil Nadu
• Dr. Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo (Kerala)
• Shri Ashok Kumar Sahu (Uttar Pradesh)
• Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi (Odisha)
• Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh (Bihar)

For the year 2021, (i) Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (in the institutional category) and (ii) Dr. Rajendra Kumar Bhandari (in the Individual category) have been selected for the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar for their excellent work in Disaster Management.

• Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) has done commendable work in building community resilience to disasters. It has been working towards disaster readiness, response, and rehabilitation, building local capacities and enabling risk reduction at the community level in different States of India.
• Dr. Rajendra Kumar Bhandari is among the pioneers in India who laid the foundation of scientific studies on geo hazards in general and landslides in particular. He established India’s first laboratory on landslide studies at CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), and three other Centres.

About the Award

• To recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by individuals and organizations in India in the field of Disaster Management, Government of India has instituted an annual award known as Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar.
• The award is announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
• The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 51 lakh and a certificate in case of an institution and Rs. 5 lakh and a certificate in case of an individual.