Dada Saheb Phalke Award

Legendary actor, Pran Krishan Sikand, 93, on 12 April 2013 was awarded with Bollywood’s highest honour in Indian Cinema Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2012. The award is instituted on the name of the Dada Saheb Phalke, the man who made first feature film in India. He is the 44th Dada Saheb Phalke Award Winner. He gave a different and unique frame to the negative and character roles of Indian Cinema with his impressive performances. His contribution to the film industry makes him a celebrated actor of the industry. He brought new mannerism and style, in the arena of acting. Pran got his first break in a Punjabi Film Yamla Jat in 1940 in undivided India. But his debut in Bollywood happened in the film Ziddi, in which he acted alongwith the evergreen hero of bollywood Dev Anand in 1948. Pran served Bollywood for a career span of more than six decades in more than 350 films and is known for his brilliant performances in films like Ram Aur Shyam, Purab aur Paschim, Karz, Zanjeer and Amar Akbar Anthony and many more.

About Pran Krishan Sikand

• He was born in Old Delhi on 12 February 1920

• In 2001 he was awarded with India’s third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan

• In his career span, he received four film fare awards

• He was awarded the title of Villain of the millennium by Stardust in 2000

• In 2010 he was named among the Top 25 Asian Actors of All times by CNN

About the Award

The award is conferred by the Government of India for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl. The award is given on the basis of recommendations of a Committee of eminent persons.

Jnanpith Award 2012

Ravuri Bharadwaja, 86, the Telgu writer on 17 April 2013 was selected for the prestigious Jnanpith Award 2012. He got the award for his contributions to Telgu Literature for over a period of six decades. Ravuri on his credit has written 37 Volumes of Short Stories and 17 Novels. He was selected for the award by the Jnanpith Award Committee chaired by the noted poet Sitakant Mahapatra. Ravuri is the third recipient of the highest literary award from Andhra Pradesh. Before him Dr. Viswanatha Satyanarayana in 1970 for his Srimad Ramayana Kalpavriksham and Dr. C. Narayana Reddy in 1988 for his book Viswambhara received the award.

About Ravuri Bharadwaja

• Ravuri Bharadwaja studied till class eight, but his works and write-ups turned up to be a basis for many research works and are prescribed as text books in Universities

• He is a poet, a playwright, a novelist of distinction and a popular science writer

• He has written six short novels for children namely Kadambari, Pakudurallu, Jeevana Samaram, Inupu Tera Venuka and Koumudi – these novels have been translated into several Indian languages as well as English

• Earlier he has been awarded with awards like Sahitya Akademi Award, Soviet Land Nehru Award, Balsahitya Parishad Award, Telugu Akademi Award,

• He was also awarded with a honarary doctorate from Nagarjuna University

Jnanpith Award

It is the highest literary award of India that was instituted to recognize the works of Indian Citizens in official Indian languages. It carries a cheque for 7 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Indian goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts.

Goldman Prize 2013

An environmental campaigner Rossano Ercolini was chosen as one of the winners for the 2013 Goldman Prize. He is considered to be the driving force behind Italy’s zero-waste movement. Rossano Ercolini convinced Naples to adopt zero-waste goals. Naples is a city gripped by a long running waste crisis.Other winners include an anti-fracking campaigner from Africa and a person from Iraq leading a marsh restoration project.

The Goldman prize is also termed as the Oscars of the environment movement. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in San Francisco. Rossano is an organising member of the Zero Waste International Alliance. His campaign to encourage recycling and waste reduction has resulted into 117 municipalities across Italy closing incinerators and committing to zero-waste strategies.

Olive Crown Awards

Olive Crown Awards 2013 took place in Shangri-La Hotel, Mumbai on 1 April 2013. Grey Worldwide, the New York-based advertising and marketing company was awarded with Agency of the year title. The Olive Crown Awards celebrate the creative excellence in the area of green advertising. Overall 35 awards were given away in the ceremony of the Olive Crown Awards 2013. A total of 18 categories were there which included 31 nominees. Cheil Worldwide for Samsung Printers won the Campaign of the year award. Kewal Kiran Clothing grabbed the Advertiser of the Year Awardfor Green Turn Water Saver Jeans. Padmashri Kartikeya Sarabhaiwon Olive Crown Green Crusader Award. This is a special award which is conferred upon the individual who continuously fights for the idea of going green. The jury of the awards included Vinod Rao, Charles Victor, Sonal Dabral, Ramki, Chax and Pops Sridhar.

About the Olive Crown Awards

• Olive Crown Awards were inaugurated in 2011 and the first event was held at GoaFest 2011.

• Olive Crown Awards 2013 was the third edition of these awards.

• The Olive Crown Awards are instituted by the India chapter of the International Advertising Association.

• These awards aim towards celebrating the concept of green advertising.

Padma Awards 2013

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee gave 54 Padma Awards at the function in Darbar hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 20 April 2013. Among those who were conferred with the awards were cricketer Rahul Dravid and actors Sridevi and Sharmila Tagore. While Rahul Dravid and Sharmila Tagore were conferred with the Padma Bhushan, Sridevi received Padma Shri, which is the fourth highest civilian award of India. Prof Yashpal, the scientist and sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra received the second highest civilian award of India, Padma Vibhushan.

Padma Bhushan, on the other hand was conferred upon Defence Research and Development Organisation chief V K Saraswat. Other Padma Bhushan awards recipients included S G Patil (public affairs), Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (literature and education) and Hemandra Singh Panwar (civil service). No one received the Bharat Ratna for 2013. The last awardee for Bharat Ratna was late Bhimsen Joshi who had won in 2008. Out of the total of 54 Padma award, 2 were the Padma Vibhushan awards, 10 were the Padma Bhushan awards and 42 were the Padma Shree awards.

2013 Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA)

The 2013 Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) ceremony took place in BC Place, Vancouver on 6 April 2013. The top winner of the awards was Barfi! which bagged the best film, best director, best actor and best actress trophies.

The list of the awards is as follows:

• TOIFA Best film- Barfi!

• TOIFA Best Actor-Ranbir Kapoor (for Barfi!)

• TOIFA Best Actress- Priyanka Chopra (for Barfi!)

• TOIFA Best Supporting Actor Male- Annu Kapoor (for Vicky Donor)

• TOIFA Best Supporting Actor Female- Dolly Ahluwalia (for Vicky Donor)

• TOIFA Best Actor in Negative Role- Rishi Kapoor (for Agneepath)

• TOIFA Best Actor in a Comic Role- Abhishek Bachchan (for Bol Bachchan)

• TOIFA Best Debut Actor Male- Ayushman Khurana (for Vicky Donor)

• TOIFA Best Debut Actor Female- Ileana D’Cruz (for Barfi!)

• TOIFA Best Director- Anurag Basu (for Barfi!)

• TOIFA Best Music Director- Ajay Atul (for Agneepath)

• TOIFA Best Lyricist- Gulzar (for Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

• TOIFA Best Playback Singer Male- Sonu Nigam (for Agneepath song Abhi Mujhme Kahi)

• TOIFA Best Playback Singer Female- Shalmali Kholgade (for Ishaqzaade song Shalmali Kholgade)

• TOIFA 2013 Best Actor Male (Critics) - Irfaan Khan (for Paan Singh Tomar)

• TOIFA 2013 Best Actor Female (Critics) - Deepika Padukone (for Cocktail)

• TOIFA 2013 Best Debut Director (Critics) - Gauri Schinde (for English Vinglish)

NDTV Business Leadership Awards 2013

The National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd was conferred with the Business Leader in the Power Sector at the NDTV Business Leadership Awards in New Delhi on 9 April 2013. The award was given by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Other top business leaders of India were also awarded on the occasion.

About National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC)

• National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) is the largest power company of India. It was established in 1975 for accelerating the power development in India.

• In the 2012 Forbes Global 2000 ranking of World’s biggest companies, NTPC was ranked at 337th position.

• By 2032, NTPC has an aim of becoming 128000 MW Company from the present capacity of 40674 MW.

Most Efficient Maharatna in Manufacturing for the Year 2012 Award

The National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd, the largest power utility of India was awarded the most Efficient Maharatna-in Manufacturing for the year 2012 award by Stock Magazine at 4th DSIJ Award in the last week of March 2013 in New Delhi. Director (Commercial), NTPC received the award from Union Minister of Civil Aviation. In its future initiatives, NTPC started green initiatives. NTPC is working on setting up the Solar Plants in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as well as Greater Noida regions. The 5 MW Solar Project in Andaman is coming up near the Port Blair Airport. On the other hand, 5 MW Greater Noida project is in its final construction phase. NTPC also targets to add 1000 MW of Solar and Wind Capacity in the country in coming few years. The Wind Power Projects will come up in certain states including Karnataka. Solar Power Generation Projects on the other hand, will come up in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. At present, there are seven Maharatna companies, after inclusion of BHEL and GAIL and these companies are - ONGC, Indian Oil, SAIL, NTPC and CIL. NTPC was conferred with the Maharatna status in 2010. The core business of NTPC is construction, engineering as well as operation of power generating plants. It also provides power utilities in India as well as abroad.