Awards & Recognition

· The Japanese Government recently awarded the “Order of Rising Sun” to a Bengaluru based Japanese teacher, Shyamala Ganesh. She is a Japanese teacher at the Septuagenarian institution and also at the Ohara School of Ikebana in RT Nagar, Bengaluru. She has tutored more than hundreds of students since its inception 38 years ago. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.

· Maria Ressa has been named as the 2021 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The $25,000 prize “recognizes outstanding contributions to the defence or promotion of press freedom especially in the face of danger,” according to UNESCO. The prize was named after Guillermo Cano Isaza, the Colombian journalist.

· Singer Pink will be honoured with the Icon Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs). The award aims to recognize artists who have achieved success on the Billboard charts and left an indelible impact on music. Pink joins previous honourees that include Neil Diamond, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Cher, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Garth Brooks.

· Former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal, has been declared as one of the two recipients of the Arline Pacht Global Vision Award for 2021. The Award will be presented at IAWJ’s Biennial Conference during the virtual opening ceremony on May 7, 2021. She shares the honour with Margarita Luna Ramos from Mexico. Anupam Kher won the Best Actor award for his performance in the short film Happy Birthday at the New York City International Film Festival. The film has been directed by Prasad Kadam and produced by FNP Media. Besides Anupam, Happy Birthday stars Aahana Kumra. The film also won the Best Short Film award at the festival.

· Mumbai born, Dr Tahera Qutbuddin, a professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Chicago, recently became the first person of Indian-origin to win the 15th Sheikh Zayed Book Award. The award is considered to be the Nobel Prize of the Arab world. She won the award for her latest book, “Arabic Oration – Art and Function” published by Brill Academic Publishers of Leiden in 2019.

· Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) has been conferred with the “Green Urja Award” for being the Leading Public Institution in the Financing Institution for Renewable Energy this year by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). IREDA gets the award for the pivotal and developmental role it plays in Green Energy Financing.

· Indian-origin global nutritionist, Dr Shakuntala Hark Singh Thilstad has received the “World Food Award” of the year 2021. She developed a holistic and nutritionally sensitive approach to seafood and food systems and has received an award for his research. The award is also known as the Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture. Every year, the committee selects a person who will be awarded the $ 250,000 title and prize money.

· An environmentalist from Nagaland’s remote Longleng district, Nuku Phom has won this year’s Whitley Awards 2021, also known as the Green Oscar. Nuku Phom’s name, along with that of five others, was announced recently in a virtual award ceremony organized by the UK-based Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN). Nuku and his team want to offer alternatives that engage communities in conservation using the Amur falcon as a flagship.

· The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced the creation of a new award — the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, to recognise players who are making strides in the fight for social justice. Each NBA team will nominate one player for consideration; from there, five finalists will be selected and ultimately one winner. The winning player will receive $100,000 for the charity of his choice.

· International Invincible Gold Medal of this year has been conferred on Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. He has been recognised for his extraordinary commitment and outstanding service to humanity through his writings, social and illustrious public life.

· Los Angeles Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant has been posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was presented at the ceremony in Connecticut by NBA great Michael Jordan and his widow, Vanessa, accepted his induction on his behalf.

· Two British chemists who developed a super-fast DNA sequencing technique that paved the way for revolutionary healthcare advances were awarded Finland’s version of the Nobel science prizes. Cambridge University professors Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman took home the 1 million euro ($1.22 million) Millennium Technology Prize for their work over 27 years creating ever faster and cheaper ways to sequence the human genome.

· The Emmy Award-nominated Indian choreographer Suresh Mukund, has won the 10th Annual ‘World Choreography Award 2020’, (also known as Choreo Awards), becoming the first Indian to win the prestigious honour. He won the award in the ‘TV REALITY SHOW/COMPETITION’ category, for his work on the hit American TV reality show ‘World of Dance’.

· The naturalist Jane Goodall has been announced as the 2021 winner of the Templeton Prize in recognition of her life’s work on animal intelligence and humanity. Goodall built her global reputation on her groundbreaking studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s.

· Hockey India has won the prestigious Etienne Glichitch Award in recognition of its contribution to the growth and development of the sport in the country. The awards were announced by the game’s governing body FIH during the HockeyInvites virtual conference. It was part of its 47th FIH Congress which concluded with the FIH Honorary Awards.

· SpiceHealth, a healthcare company founded by the promoters of SpiceJet, has won the Gold Award at the 2021 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for ‘Most Valuable Medical Innovation’ under Covid19.

· V Karthikeyan Pandian, an IAS officer, and private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was conferred with President’s award by International Hockey Federation through the 47th FIH Congress. He was awarded for his contribution in direction of the event and promotion of hockey in Odisha.

· Padma Bhushan awardee and noted gastroenterologist Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, who is also the chairman of AIG Hospitals, has won the Rudolf V Schindler Award from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). Rudolf V Schindler Award is the highest category in the prestigious Crystal Awards named after Dr Schindler who is considered as “the father of gastroscopy.”

· Noted Indian scientist and Bharat Ratna Professor, C.N.R. Rao has been felicitated with the International Eni Award 2020 (also called the Energy Frontier award). The International Eni Award is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research. He has been conferred the prize for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes and other materials and two-dimensional systems.

· Indian economist and Nobel Laureate, Amartya Kumar Sen has been conferred with the ‘ 2021 Princess of Asturias Award’ by Spain in the social sciences category. Princess of Asturias Awards is annual prizes awarded by the Princess of Asturias Foundation in Spain to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs.

· Corporal Yuvraj Singh, civilian peacekeeper Ivan Michael Picardo, and Moolchand Yadav are among those to be honoured with the UN’s prestigious medal. Corporal Yuvraj Singh was serving at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) while civilian peacekeeper Ivan Michael Picardo was associated with UNAMISS as a civil peacekeeper. Moolchand Yadav was associated with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).