PADMA AWARDS 2013

President has approved the conferment of  108 Padma Awards. These comprise 04 Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and   80 Padma Shri Awards. 24 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 11 persons in the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and  Posthumous awardees.

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, 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. ‘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. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The awards are conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.

                                                                Padma Vibhushan

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
1.	Shri Raghunath Mohapatra	Art	Orissa
2.	Shri S. Haider Raza	Art	Delhi
3.	Prof. Yash Pal	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
4.	Prof. Roddam Narasimha	Science and Engineering	Karnataka

Padma Bhushan

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
	Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Smt. Sreeramamurthy Janaki	Art	Tamil Nadu
	Dr. (Smt.) Kanak Rele	Art	Maharashtra
	Smt. Sharmila Tagore	Art	Delhi
	Dr. (Smt.) Saroja Vaidyanathan	Art	Delhi
	Shri Abdul Rashid Khan	Art	West Bengal
	Late Rajesh Khanna	Art	Maharashtra #
	Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti	Art	Punjab #
	Shri Shivajirao Girdhar Patil	Public Affairs	Maharashtra
	Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Dr. Ashoke Sen	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. B.N. Suresh	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Prof. Satya N. Atluri	Science and Engineering	USA *
	Prof. Jogesh Chandra Pati	Science and Engineering	USA *
	Shri Ramamurthy Thyagarajan	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
	Shri Adi Burjor Godrej	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Dr. Nandkishore Shamrao Laud	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Shri Mangesh Padgaonkar	Literature & Education	Maharashtra
	Prof. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak	Literature & Education	USA*
	Shri Hemendra Singh Panwar	Civil Service	Madhya Pradesh
	Dr. Maharaj Kishan Bhan	Civil Service	Delhi
	Shri Rahul Dravid	Sports	Karnataka
	Ms. H. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom	Sports	Manipur

Padma Shri

Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
	Shri Gajam Anjaiah	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Swami G.C.D. Bharti alias Bharati Bandhu	Art	Chhattisgarh
	Ms. B. Jayashree	Art	Karnataka
	Smt. Sridevi Kapoor	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Kailash Chandra Meher	Art	Orissa
	Shri Brahmdeo Ram Pandit	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Vishwanath Dinkar Patekar alias Nana Patekar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Rekandar Nageswara Rao alias Surabhi Babji	Art	Andhra Pradesh
	Shri Lakshmi Narayana Sathiraju	Art	Tamil Nadu
	Smt. Jaymala Shiledar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Suresh Dattatray Talwalkar	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri P. Madhavan Nair alias Madhu	Art	Kerala
	Shri Apurba Kishore Bir	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Ghanakanta Bora Borbayan	Art	Assam
	Smt. Hilda Mit Lepcha	Art	Sikkim
	Smt. Sudha Malhotra	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Ghulam Mohammad Saznawaz	Art	Jammu and Kashmir
	Shri Ramesh Gopaldas Sippy	Art	Maharashtra
	Ms. Mahrukh Tarapor	Art	Maharashtra
	Shri Balwant Thakur	Art	Jammu & Kashmir
	Shri Puran Das Baul	Art	West Bengal
	Shri Rajendra Tikku	Art	Jammu & Kashmir
	Shri Pablo Bartholomew	Art	Delhi
	Shri S. Shakir Ali	Art	Rajasthan
	Sh. S.K.M Maeilanandhan	Social Work	Tamil Nadu
	Ms. Nileema Mishra	Social Work	Maharashtra
	Ms. Reema Nanavati	Social Work	Gujarat
	Ms. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury	Social Work	Bangladesh *
	Late Dr. Ram Krishan	Social Work	Uttar Pradesh #
	Late Manju Bharat Ram	Social Work	Delhi #
	Prof. Mustansir Barma	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Shri Avinash Chander	Science and Engineering	Delhi
	Prof. Sanjay Govind Dhande	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Prof. (Dr.) Sankar Kumar Pal	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
	Prof. Deepak B. Phatak	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Dr. Mudundi Ramakrishna Raju	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
	Prof. Ajay K. Sood	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Prof. Krishnaswamy Vijayraghavan	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
	Dr. Manindra Agrawal	Science and Engineering	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Jayaraman Gowrishankar	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
	Prof. Sharad Pandurang Kale	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
	Smt. Vandana Luthra	Trade and Industry	Delhi
	Ms. Rajshree Pathy	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
	Shri Hemendra Prasad Barooah	Trade and Industry	Assam
	Shri Milind Kamble	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Ms. Kalpana Saroj	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
	Dr. Sudarshan K. Aggarwal	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. C. Venkata S. Ram alias Chitta Venkata Sundara Ram	Medicine	Andhra Pradesh
	Dr. Rajendra Achyut Badwe	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Dr. Taraprasad Das	Medicine	Orissa
	Prof. (Dr.) T.V. Devarajan	Medicine	Tamil Nadu
	Prof. (Dr.) Saroj Chooramani Gopal	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Gulshan Rai Khatri	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Ganesh Kumar Mani	Medicine	Delhi
	Dr. Amit Prabhakar Maydeo	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Dr. Sundaram Natarajan	Medicine	Maharashtra
	Prof. Krishna Chandra Chunekar	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
	Dr. Vishwa Kumar Gupta	Medicine	Delhi
	Prof. (Capt.) Dr. Mohammad Sharaf-e-Alam	Literature & Education	Bihar
	Dr. Radhika Herzberger	Literature & Education	Andhra Pradesh
	Shri J. Malsawma	Literature & Education	Mizoram
	Shri Devendra Patel	Literature & Education	Gujarat
	Dr. Rama Kant Shukla	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Prof. Akhtarul Wasey	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Prof. Anvita Abbi	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Shri Nida Fazli	Literature & Education	Madhya Pradesh
	Shri Surender Kumar Sharma	Literature & Education	Delhi
	Dr. Jagdish Prasad Singh	Literature & Education	Bihar
	Late Shaukat Riaz Kapoor Alias Salik Lakhnawi	Literature & Education	West Bengal #
	Prof. Noboru Karashima	Literature & Education	Japan *
	Shri Christopher Pinney	Literature & Education	UK *
	Smt. Premlata Agrawal	Sports	Jharkhand
	Shri Yogeshwar Dutt	Sports	Haryana
	Shri Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha	Sports	Karnataka
	Subedar Major Vijay Kumar	Sports	Himachal Pradesh
	Shri Ngangom Dingko Singh	Sports	Maharashtra
	Naib Subedar Bajrang Lal Takhar	Sports	Rajasthan
	Ms. Ritu Kumar	Fashion Designing	Delhi
	Dr. Ravindra Singh Bisht	Archaeology	Uttar Pradesh

Note: * indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs.

                # indicates awardees in the posthumous category.

DIARY OF EVENTS 2012

20th Law Commission of India

Justice D. K. Jain, who would take up the assignment after his retirement on January 24, will have a three-year tenure and has been saddled with a wide terms of reference including one to examine existing laws from the gender equality perspective and suggest necessary amendments. The 12th Law Commission was constituted through a Government Order with effect from September 1, 2012, with the term ending on August 31, 2015. It was asked to identify obsolete laws for their repeal and also suggest suitable measures for quick grievance redressal of citizens grievances in the field of law. The new Law Commission would also examine the Laws which affect the poor and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislations and take all necessary measures to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor.

Greening Rural Development in India

The Ministry of Rural Development, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a report “Greening Rural Development in India”. The report presents strategies for inclusive rural development embodying the principles of environmental sustainability. The Report assumes particular significance in the light of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, which has as its objective, faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth?.The report has examined six flagship Government of India (GoI) schemes, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS); National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM); Integrated Watershed Development Programme (IWDP); Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY); National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDP) and Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) to recommend actions and measures to achieve greening outcomes. In specific it looks as improving quality of ecosystems, enabling sustainable livelihoods, strengthening resilience of local communities to enable them to recover from extreme weather events and reducing ecological footprint through efficient use of energy, material and natural resources.

Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization

To pay a befitting tribute to the man of letters, Nobel Laureate, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, on his 150th birth anniversary, the Government of India has set up a 'Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization' (TCSCC) at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla. The objectives of the Centre include: to encourage the study of Tagore's work; support translations of Tagore's work into other Indian languages; promote comparative study of his work with poets, artists and writers in other parts of India and the world; study the elements of his Humanist philosophy and his cosmopolitanism; and explore his concerns regarding the relationship between science and society.

Ravindra H. Dholakia committee

A committee was set up to suggest measures to lower the high costs of Air India’s operations and improve utilisation of resources in line with best global practices to help the state-run carrier achieve the goals of its turnaround and financial restructuring plans. A five-member committee, headed by IIM- Ahmedabad’s Prof Ravindra H Dholakia, was set up by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh after a review meeting of the ailing national carrier’s functioning. Though the panel has been given two months to submit its report, it has been asked to give interim recommendations without waiting for its final report so that these could be implemented by Air India immediately.

14th Finance Commission

The government announced the constitution of the 14th Finance Commission under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy. The five- member panel is to submit its report by October 31, 2014. Apart from its recommendations on the sharing of tax proceeds between the Centre and the States which will apply for a five-year period beginning April 1, 2015, the Commission has been asked to suggest steps for pricing of public utilities such as electricity and water in an independent manner and also look into issues like disinvestment, GST compensation, sale of non-priority PSUs and subsidies.

Bhim Awards" on outstanding sports persons

Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia conferred annual "Bhim Awards" on outstanding sports persons of the state. Appreciating the sports policy of the state he said that till now 137 sportpersons have been honoured with Bhim Award. Those who received the "Award" presently include Boxer from Bhiwani jeetender kumar, wrestler from Karnal Nirmala Devi, athletic player shotputter from Gurgaon Om Parkash, Roller Skating player from Faridabad Dhruv Gautam and Yashdeep kaur of Sirsa and Paralympics athlete from Sonepat Mr Rajesh Kumar.

Madhya Pradesh will be observed as Information Technology Empowerment Year as 2013

In Madhya Pradesh, the year 2013 will be observed as Information Technology Empowerment Year. All MoUs signed in the IT sector will be implemented during the Year. Work will be undertaken for development of new IT parks in Bhopal and Indore. Electronic manufacturing hubs will be established at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur. Rural women will be given IT training while maximum number of government officers and employees will be made IT-savvy. Besides this an IT cadre will be developed for making available skilled human resources from state to block levels. Work will be done on a mission mode in mobile governance sector so that good governance can be ensured at the lowest level.

Venkatesh Mannar received Canada’s ‘highest’ civilian award

A Chennai-born scientist of Indian origin, Venkatesh Mannar, President, Micronutrient Initiative, Canada, has been awarded Canada’s ‘highest’ civilian award – the Order of Canada. For nearly 40 years, Mannar has been working to reduce debilitating micronutrient deficiencies among the world’s most vulnerable. Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the award is the centrepiece of the Canadian Honours System, and recognises a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation to people in all sectors of Canadian society. Micronutrient Initiative is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable – especially women and children – in developing countries get vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive through supplements and a food fortification programme. Its mission is to develop, implement and monitor cost effective and sustainable solutions for hidden hunger, in partnership with others.

Asia’s First Bio-Safety Level-IV Laboratory

India opened its first BIO-Safety Level –IV Laboratory in Pune. The lab has been established by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) with support from Department of Science & Technology. The BSL 4 Facility is dubbed to have the highest level of bio-safety lab in the world and will be the first of its kind in Asia and India. Under the aegis of ICMR, there are few Biosafety Laboratories and some of them are being upgraded to Level III and IV. A total of 16 new; 14 BSL-II and 2 BSL-III Laboratories have been set up for working on viral diseases and TB in the country.

‘Annaprasana’ – an innovative programme

The Odisha State government will be implementing the scheme through 71,134 anganwadi centres across the State. Annaprasana will be aimed at helping mothers know about complementary food required for infants after six months. The State government would give a spoon and a bowl to every mother to encourage them to follow the guideline.

Tagore Peace Prize

An Emirati poet, who is well known for translating Indian poetry in Arabic, has become the first from the Arab world to win the Tagore Peace Prize. Shihab Ganem has been awarded the prize for his achievements in the field of poetry and its translation, as well as his contribution to developing human understanding that are in compliance with the values of humanity, love and peace adopted and called for by Tagore. The honour is awarded to a single person every two years. The Tagore Award was instituted by the Indian government to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, for promoting values of universal brotherhood.

Jnanpith Award for the year 2011

Leading Oriya novelist and academician Pratibha Ray, who has over 40 novels, travelogues and short stories to her credit, was named for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the year 2011. Ray has 20 novels, 24 short stories, 10 travelogues, two poetry collections and a number of essays to her credit. Her writings have been translated into English, other foreign languages as also a number of other Indian languages. Her boldness, courage and commitment to work with the Bonda tribe was commendable at a time when even a male researcher shied away from working with them.

India's first and unique cow sanctuary

India’s first and unique cow sanctuary will be established in Madhya Pradesh. State’s chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan laid the foundation stone of the Kamadhenu Cow Sanctuary at Salriya village in Susner tahsil of Shajapur district.Chief minister said that world's unique cow sanctuary will be made a cow pilgrimage centre. He also announced to set up a Cow Products Research Centre in the sanctuary. He said that a religious tourism circuit will be developed by interlinking Maa Bagulamukhi Mandir at Nalkhera, Pipalya Balaji Mandir at Soyat, Baijnath Mahadev Mandir at Agar and the cow sanctuary.

70th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2013

In the prestigious Golden Globe Awards 2013, the hostage-crisis movieArgo thrashed Lincoln to bag best picture as well as best director awards on 13 January 2013. Les Miserables, on the other hand won the awards in best musical or comedy category with the actors Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman winning one trophy each.

The award-winning movie Argo is actually inspired by 1979 crisis US diplomats in Iran. In the category of Best Drama, other nominees were Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty as well as Life of Pi.

Lincoln which was leading the race with a total of seven nominations took away just the trophy of best actor which was awarded to Daniel Day-Lewis for his role as the 16 President of US. However, the film might have better opportunities at Oscars where it is running first with 12 nominations.

The Golden Globe Awards 2013 also did not stand with Life of Pi and the film only took home a single award, the best original score by Mychael Danna.

List of Golden Globe Awards 2013 Winners:
•Best Motion Picture-Drama: Argo
•Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy: Les Miserables
•Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
•Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – Drama: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
•Best performance by an actor in a motion picture- Musical or Comedy: Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)
•Best performance by an actress in a motion picture- Musical or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
•Best Director: Ben Affleck (Argo)
•Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz
•Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
•Best Television Series (Drama): Homeland
•Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series (Drama): Claire Danes (Homeland)
•Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Drama): Damian Lewis (Homeland)
•Best Screenplay: Adele - 'Skyfall' (Skyfall)
•Best Television Series (Comedy or Musical): Girls
•Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series (Comedy or Musical): Lena Dunham (Girls)
•Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series (Comedy or Musical): Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
•Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Game Change
•Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Julianne Moore (Game Change)
•Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys)
•Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)
•Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Ed Harris (Game Change)
•Best Original Score: Life of Pi
•Best Animated Feature Film: Brave

The other winners at the Golden Globe Awards 2013 were as follows:
•Best Foreign Language Film: Amour (Austria, Les Films Du Losange, X Filme Creative Pool, Wega Film; Sony Pictures Classics)
•Best Animated Feature Film: Brave
•Best Original Song: Skyfall, Adele from Skyfall
•Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi

About the Golden Globe Awards:
The Hollywood stars came on 13 January 2013 to Beverly Hills, Calif for taking the much-popular Golden Globe trophies at 70th annual Golden Globe Awards. These awards were presented by Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The first Golden Globes were held at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and were hosted by Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association. From there, the idea of recognizing the excellence in the concept of moviemaking came up by the members of Foreign Correspondents Association. The first awards of the organisation took place in early 1944 and the informal ceremony took place at 20th Century Fox.

Jennifer Jones bagged the Best Actress award for The Song of Bernadette, which was also the best film. Paul Lukas won the Best Actor award for Watch on the Rhine.