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Priyanka Chopra wins 2nd People's Choice Award

Priyanka Chopra on 18 January 2017 won the Favourite Dramatic TV Actress at the 43rd People’s Choice Award. 
●    She won the honour for her role in the American drama TV series Quantico.
●    This is the second People’s Choice Award for Chopra. 
●    She had won her first award in 2016 in the ‘Favourite Actress in a New TV series’ category for her role in Quantico.
●    The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show.
●    It recognizes the people and the work of popular culture, voted on by the general public.
●    It has been held annually since 1975.
●    The creator of the award show was Bob Stivers, who produced the first show in 1975.
 

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IIT Kharagpur alumnus Parag Havaldar wins Technical Oscar Award

IIT Kharagpur alumnus Parag Havaldar on 9 January 2017 won the prestigious Technical Achievement Award, popularly called the Technical Oscar which is awarded by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.
●    He was awarded for the development of expression-based facial performance-capture technology at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
●    He will be awarded a certificate from the Academy at Beverly Hills on 11 February 2017.
●    Parag Havaldar graduated from IIT-Kharagpur in 1991 with a degree in computer science and engineering. 
●    Presently, he is a software supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks leading the team in the area of performance capture. 
●    The technology developed by him and his team is being used to create stylized character animations.
 

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Shankar Balasubramanian received Knighthood

Shankar Balasubramanian, an Indian-origin British professor of chemistry and DNA expert at Cambridge University, has received a Knighthood along with Olympic stars Andy Murray and Mo Farah among others by Queen Elizabeth II for their contributions.
●    Prof. Balasubramanian (50), Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Cambridge University, has been recognised for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing, described as the most transformational advance in biology and medicine for decades.
●    Murray, Farah and British track and field athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill are among others honoured in the 2017 New Year Honours list, which also includes big names from the entertainment world, including actors Mark Rylance and Patricia Routledge.
●    Rio 2016 men’s tennis champion Murray and double gold- winning athlete Farah receive Knighthoods, while heptathlete Ennis-Hill becomes a Dame.

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Sahitya Akademi Award 2016 announced

Sahitya Akademi on 21 December 2016 announced the Sahitya Akademi Awards for the year 2016 in 24 languages. Eight books of poetry, seven books of short stories, five books of novel, two books of criticism, one book of essays and a book of play have won the prestigious awards for the year.
●    The awards were recommended by distinguished jury members representing 24 Indian languages and approved by the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, President of the Akademy.
●    The prestigious award will be presented to the winners at a special function to be held on 22 February 2017 in New Delhi. The Award includes a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rs. 100000.
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●    The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India.
●    It is conferred annually on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi.
●    The Award was established in 1954.
●    Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray is designer of the plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi.
 

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Maneka Sanjay Gandhi gives away National Level Awards to 97 Anganwadi workers from across the country 

The Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi gave away National Awards to Anganwadi workers for exceptional achievement for the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 in the presence of Minster of State for Women & Child Development, Smt Krishna Raj. The Awards were given away at a function in New Delhi today. A total of 97 Anganwadi workers (49 for the year 2014-15 and 48 for 2015-16) from different states/UTs were conferred National level awards for the above years. Representatives from various States/UTs and heads of various organizations under the Ministry were also present at the function.
●    Smt Maneka Gandhi exhorted the anganwadi wokers to ensure the following:
●    Spread awareness about BBBP for giving good nutrition & education to the girl child.
●    Ensure that every child & every parent has an AADHAR Card.
●    Give education about cashless payments especially in the villages.
●    Selection of Anganwadi workers for the National Level Awards has been done out of State level awardees and their performance has been judged on the basis of contribution to (i) Supplementary Nutrition; (ii) Child Care; (iii) Convergence with Health Department; (iv) Pre-School Education; (v) Nutrition and Health Education (NHED); (vi) Community Participation; (vii) Cleanliness & Hygiene; and (viii) Innovations.
●    The Award comprises of Rs.25,000/- cash and a citation. National level Awards to AWWs for the year 2011-12, 2012-13 & 2013-14 were given to 118 awardees during a function held last year at New Delhi. Thus, awards pertaining to the last five years have been given.

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Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Presents Digital India Awards 2016 

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Law and Justice presented ‘’Digital India Awards’’ to the distinguished winners here yesterday. The Government of India has initiated the ambitious programme of “Digital India” on its axiom of “Minimum Government and Maximum Governance”. To facilitate Government of India’s effort to promote and uphold the use of World Wide Web for enhancing efficiency and transparency of Government Machinery and encouraging its speedy transition towards Digital India. 
●    For Most Innovative Citizen Engagement, MyGov won the Platinum Award. Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS) for Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) won the Gold Award. The Silver Award was won by Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation. The Jury Choice was given to IT Initiatives of SimhasthKumbh, Ujjain. 
●    In the Outstanding Digital Initiative by Local Body Platinum Award was bagged by Surat Municipal Corporation, followed by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation and Web and Mobile based Integrated Complaint Logging and Resolution Tracking System - Madurai Corporation winning the Gold and Silver award respectively. 
●    The Jury Choice was given e-NagarSewaUP – Electronic Workflow based Reform for ULBs in Uttar Pradesh. 
●    For Best Mobile App, Citizen Cop Mobile App Chattisgarh won the Platinum Award. Mid-Day Meal Mobile App, Himachal Pradesh won the Gold Award. The Silver Award was won by GARV - GrameenVidyutikaran App Ministry of Power. 
●    For Web Ratna - Ministry / Department category, the Platinum was bagged by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Gold by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Silver by Ministry of External Affairs. 
●    For Web Ratna - State/ UT category the Platinum award has been won by Rajasthan followed by Tamil Nadu and Haryana in the Gold and Silver section respectively. For Web Ratna - District category the Platinum award has been won by Website of Collectorate, North Goa, followed by e-Governance friendly website & Initiatives of District Kupwara, J&K and district administration Udham Singh Nagar website, Uttarakhand in the Gold and Silver section respectively. 

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Shah Rukh Khan chosen for Yash Chopra Memorial Award

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan featured in some of the biggest hits helmed by filmmaker Yash Chopra.
●    Now he has been selected for an award instituted in the memory of late Bollywood legend.
●    The 'Badshah of Bollywood" will receive the fourth National Yash Chopra Memorial Award.
●    The award jury, comprising Chopra's wife Pamela, filmmaker Boney Kapoor, Simi Garewal, Padmini Kohlapuri, Subbarami Reddy, Any and Shashi Ranjan, announced.
●    The award - whose previous recipients were Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachchanand Rekha - will be presented on February 25.
●    Pamela said the two biggest reasons why the 51-year- old actor was chosen are that he was extremely close to Chopra - he did four films with Shah Rukh, which were all big hits - and also because of the iconic status that SRK enjoys.
 

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National Commission for Protection of Child Rights gets SKOCH Awards for POCSO e-Box 

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) of Ministry of Women and Child Development has been conferred the Skoch Silver and Skoch Order-of Merit award. The award was received by NCPCR Chairperson Smt. Stuti Kacker from Sh. Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT at an event attended by representatives of Technology Companies, Govt. Departments, Public Sector Undertaking, Research Organisations in New Delhi last week. 
●    The two awards were received by NCPCR for applying technology to develop an electronic drop box, POCSO e-Box for registering complaints on Child Sexual Abuse. Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Kacker said that everybody should stand up against Child Sexual Abuse, a heinous crime that leaves permanent scars on the psyche of the child.
●    The competition saw more than 3000 participants and NCPCR’s project, POCSO e-box was considered among the top 30 entries.
●    POCSO e-box is a unique endeavour by NCPCR for receiving online complaint of Child Sexual Abuse directly from the victim. The system maintains confidentiality of the victim/ complainant. Through a well defined procedure complaints are directly followed up by a team which counsels the victim, providing further guidance for required legal action. 
●    Through a short animation film embedded in the e-box it assures the victim not to feel bad, helpless or confused as it’s not her fault. With the e-box, it is easy to register complaint through a step-by-step guided process.
●    According to a study, conducted by Ministry of Women & Child Development during 2007, about 53% of children surveyed, reported having faced one or the other form of sexual abuse in their lifetime.  It has been found that in most cases, the offender is a family member/near relative or an acquaintance.  The child victim in such cases generally does not report such incidences. 
 

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Digital India Awards 2016 – Healthy Ministry wins gold in the Web Ratna Category 

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare won gold in the Web Ratna category in the recently concluded Digital India awards, 2016, conferred by the Ministry of Electronics & IT to promote more innovative e-governance initiatives by the government entities.  
●    Hon'ble Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad presented the award. Digital India awards, earlier known as the Web Ratna Awards, were instituted under the Ambit of National Portal of India. 
●    The award acknowledges exemplary initiatives of various government entities in the realm of e-governance. Shri Jitendra Arora, Director, e-Governance, at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare received the award.
●    Web Ratna award felicitates a Ministry or Department of the Government of India which has a comprehensive web presence and display the level of accountability in terms of quantity, quality, spectrum of coverage, and innovation ascertaining user satisfaction. Level of convenience provided to the citizen for availing the services, usability and accessibility are also assessed.
●    The website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conforms to the UUU trilogy. It is totally bilingual as per the directions of Parliamentary Committee of official languages and is accessible to all.  Special features have also been incorporated in the website for visually challenged users.
 


 

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Sunil Gavaskar bestowed with SJAM’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Sunil Gavaskar was today conferred with the Golden Jubilee Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Mumbai (SJAM) in Mumbai.
●    The award was presented by former India captain Ajit Wadekar and former India player Madhav Apte at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.
●    Gavaskar was presented with a citatation and a certificate which has details of all his 34 centuries. 
●    Gavaskar narrated incidents how West Indies great Gary Sobers touched him for luck.
●    The awards was given in the Cricket Club of India, by former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar and former Indian cricketer Madhav Apte.
●    Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai on December 11, 2016 on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee Award awarded these prizes.
●    Sunil Manohar Gavaskar is the full name of Sunil Gavaskar.
●    He was born on July 10, 1949 Mumbai (Maharashtra).
●    Sunil Gavaskar was the student of St. Xavier's School and St. Xavier's College.
●    Sunil Gavaskar in 125 test matches with 34 Test centuries scored 10122 runs.
●    He represented India in 108 ODIs and scored 3000 runs.
●    He recorded the highest 34 centuries and 10,000 runs in Test cricket, the world's first player.
●    He also played in the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy.
 

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