Booker Prize 2012

Jeet Thayil - nominated to Booker Prize 2012. Jeet Thayil was chosen and awarded for his poetry collection in English - These Errors are Correct.

Sahitya Akademi Award

Subrata Mukhopadhyay - the Bengali novelist, K Satchidanandan - the Malayalam poet and HS Shivaprakash - the noted Kannada writer are among the 24 authors, who were chosen for the Prestigious Sahitya Akademi Awards 2012 on 20 December 2012 by the Sahitya Akademi - Indias National Academy for Letters. Marannu Vecha Vasthukal the poetic creation of Satchidanandan helped him to be nominated for the award whereas the Novel Birasan helped Subrata Mukhopadyay in winning the nomination for the award. The nominations were done in the chairmanship of Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, who also is the acting President of the Sahitya Akademi. >>>>>The award is conferred for the works done in 24 major languages of India including English as quoted in Sahitya Akademi. The Sahitya Akademi Award had been into existence since the year of its inception in 1954 and was conferred for the first time for meritorious literature published in India in the year 1955.The prize amount is 100000 rupees from 2009.

2011 Jnanpith Award

Renowned Oriya novelist, Pratibha Ray on 27 December 2012 selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2011 for her contribution to the field of Indian literature. Pratibha Ray is the first Oriya woman and fourth Oriya writer to get the coveted award. Earlier Gopinath Mohanty (1973), Sachidananda Routray (1986) and Sitakant Mohapatra (1993) were conferred the honour. The award carries a cash prize of 7 lakh rupees, a citation and a bronze statuette of Godess Saraswati. ***Chandrasekhar Kambar- Jnanpith award 2010.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Akademi Awards

The General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi on 21 December 2012 in a meet elected and declared N. Rajam, T.H. Vinayakram and Ratan Thiyam as the three eminent personalities in the field of Arts, as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna). This fellowship is the rare and most prestigious honour, restricted to a limited number of people at a given pint of time. At present, there exist only 40 fellows of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2013

Organisers of the Recording Academy announced on 13 December 2012 that Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro would be honoured with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously. Pandit Ravi Shankar would become first Indian to receive the prestigious award. The award would be presented at 55th Grammy Awards ceremony on 10 February 2013 in Los Angeles. Pandit Ravi Shankar is a three-time Grammy Award winner. Pandit Ravi Shankar, 92 had passed away on 11 December 2012 after heartvalve replacement surgery in California. He is also said to be ambassador of the international music. It is important to note here that his daughter Anoushka Shankar has also been nominated in this category for the albumTraveller. Shankar performed for the last time on 4 November 2012 in California with his daughter Anoushka Shankar. He was honoured with Bharat Ratna, the highest honour of India.

National Tourism Awards

Life of Pi was given two National Tourism Awards by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on 8 December 2012 recognizing the impact it has had in promoting India as a tourism destination, especially Puducherry and Munnar (Kerala). These Awards will be given to Ang Lee, Director of the film Life of Pi and Yann Martel, writer of the book of the same name.

Bharat Muni Samman

Famous Bollywood actress and Bharatanatyam exponent Hema Malini had been selected for the prestigious Bharat Muni Samman of year 2012 for her outstanding contribution to the field of art and culture. Bharat Muni Samman is named after the author of Natyashastra Bharat Muni and has been instituted by Bhubaneswar-based organisation Kalingayana Touryatrikam .she would be the fifth recipient of the award. The earlier recipients are Thankamani Kutty, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Jasraj and Ratan Thiyam. Hema Malini was also awarded with Padma Shri, Indias fourth highest civilian award in year 2000.

Aryabhatta Award by the ASI

The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) in the last week of December 2012 announced names of former secretary of the Department of Ocean Development, Dr. A.E. Muthunayagam and Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister for prestigious Aryabhatta Award for the year 2010 and 2011 respectively. The two have been selected for the achievement in rocketry. Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy an associate Director of Research Centre Imarat Hyderabad and P. Kunhikrishnan of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Thiruvananthapuram would receive ASI Awards for rocket and rocket related technologies for the year 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Tagore Peace Prize

Emirati poet and translator Shihab Ghanem became the first Emirati and Arab to win the Tagore Peace Prize. Tagore Peace Prize is instituted by the Indian government to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indias poet, philosopher and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Shihab Ghanem is officially going to receive the Tagore award by the Asiatic society in a ceremony to be held in Kolkata on 6 May 2012.The award is given to one person every two years.

Best Administrator in India Award

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 20 December 2012 awarded with the Best Administrator in India Award instituted by K. Karunakaran Foundation. The award was presented to him by Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari. P. Chidambaram is second recipient of the Best Administrator in India Award. Earlier in year 2011 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the Best Administrator in India Award 2011 of the K Karunakaran Foundation to former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 21 December 2011. The award carries a purse of 1 lakh rupees, citation and a memento.

Nobel Peace Prize 2012

The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to the European Union (EU) leaders on 10 December 2012 at Oslo, Norway. The award was given to the European Union leaders for the efforts in promotion of peace as well as human rights. Oslo is the capital city of Norway. It is important to note that Norway, which is a country rich in oil, has rejected joining EU twice. Thorbjorn Jagland, the head of Nobel Committee hailed EU on the grounds that it brought peace after years of war. The Nobel diplomas as well as medals were handed over to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz as well as EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy at a ceremony initially at the City Hall of Oslo. Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on 10 December always in Oslo. 10 Decem ber is the anniversary of Alfred Nobels death which happened back in 1896. Ceremonies like these were also held in Swedish capital for Nobel laureates in literature, physics, chemistry and medicine.

Nominees for Padma Awards

High-level committee met on 26 December 2012 to shortlist the nominees of prestigious Padma awards. Rajesh Khanna, singer Kailash Kher as well as director of much-acclaimed movie Sholay, Ramesh Sippy might be honoured with the prestigious awards on 26 January 2013. Rajesh Khanna, who died on 18 July 2012, was shortlisted for highest category of Padma awards- Padma Vibhushan. Ramesh Sippy and Kailesh Kher were shortlisted for the award of Padma Shri. Usually, the Padma awards are not conferred after the death of an individual, but Rajesh Khanna was considered by the Government as highly deserving candidate for Padma Vibhushan. This would make an exception to the Padma awards. Similar exceptions were made earlier when singer and music director Bhupen Hazarika was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 2012.

World Tennis Championships

Novak Djokovic on 29 December 2012 won World Tennis Championship final against Spanish tennis player Nicolas Almagro. Novak Djokovic beat Nicolas Almagro to clinch the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament held in Dubai. Novak Djokovic, the world number one is from Serbia.

Swiss Male Athlete of the Year 2012

Roger Federer, 31, the No. 2 of the world and 17 times Grand Slam champion, was named Swiss Male Athlete of the Year on 16 December 2012. Federer received the honour for the fifth time. Earlier in 2012, Federer had grabbed the 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon Championships, London, while also reclaiming his No. 1 ranking in the month of July 2012 .He also acquired top most position by the end of the season. Roger Federer, the Swiss tennis player acquired the same title in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007. The female Athlete of the year was Nicola Spirig, the Olympic triathlon champion of Switzerland.

Lionel Messi set the Record for most Goals in a Calendar Year
Lionel Andrs Leo Messi is a footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and as the captain of the Argentina national team.

Australia Won Hockey Champions Trophy

At the Champions Trophy 2012, Australia won once again, adding to fifth victory consecutively after it earned a 2-1 win in a match against Netherlands in Melbourne. The fifth consecutive victory of Australia at this event re-established it as the hockey team (mens) to beat, after Australia had missed on gold at Olympics. For the Netherlands, it was silver medal with the silverlining. Netherlands upgraded itself from bronze which they acquired last two years. The bronze was claimed by Pakistan after they beat India 3-2 on a match on 9 December 2012. India missed the chance to winbronze, which would have been its second Champions trophy medal as well as the first since 1982. For the fifth place, Belgium won the match against Germany, the Olympic champion. New Zealand, in the meanwhile stood at seventh position over England.

National Shooting Championship

Mahaveer Singh of Rajasthan and Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra won gold medals on 28 December 2012 in National Shooting Championship. Apurvi Chandela of Rajasthan on 24 December 2012 won Womens Air Rifle Gold in the Sahara 56th National Shooting Championship.

Indira Gandhi National Award - 2012

Lyricist and well known poet Gulzar on 31 October 2012 awarded with Indira Gandhi National Integration Award by congress President Sonia Gandhi. The award was given on the eve of 28th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Earlier, Gulzar was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2004 for his contribution to the arts.

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2012

Liberian President and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on 19 November 2012 was chosen for 2012 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for being an inspiration to women and ensuring return of peace and democracy in her country. is the 24th President of Liberia. the first elected female head of state of the African continent. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took over office as the President of Liberia in 2006. **The 2011 recipient of Indira Gandhi Peace Prize was Ela Bhatt the Founder ofSewa, Self-Employed Womens Association of India. **The 2010 recipient was former President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. **The prize carries a cash award of 25 lakh Indian rupees and a citation. ** Malala Yousafzai awarded with Bravery Award by World Peace and Prosperity Foundation for her bravery and commitment to education for girls in adverse conditions in Swat, Pakistan. She was shot in the head by Taliban, and had become the face of Pakistans struggle against the Taliban. She is now being treated and on the road to recovery at a Queen Elizabeth Hospital, England . Earlier, United Nations declared November 10 as Malala Day in honour Malala Yousafzai, for advocating girls education.

13th Annual Greentech Environment Award

Indian Oils Mathura Refinery was awarded the Platinum Award in the 13th Annual Greentech Environment Awards.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Sunil Gavaskar, the Former Captain and legendary opener of Indian Cricket Team on 21 November 2012 was conferred with BCCIs prestigious Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the BCCI Annual Awards Function 2011-12. Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and V.V.S. Laxman were also felicitated at the award ceremony. The Lifetime Achievement Award given to Gavaskar carried a citation, trophy and a cheque for 25 lakh Rupees and he received this award from the BCCI president N. Srinivasan. Sachin Tendulkar was honoured at the occasion with a gold-plated bat for scoring the century of centuries in international cricket. Kohli was chosen as the Best Indian International Player of the year at the award ceremony. Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award is the highestrevered award for captaincy and lifetime achievement in Indian Cricket. *** Dr Madhav Chavan was awarded the WISE prize, which is known as the Nobel prize for Education. He was felicitated on 13 November 2012 at the WISE summit in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

French Award
The Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on 1 November 2012 was conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ambassador to India Franois Richier.

***********************************************************************************************************
>>Ranjit Sinha, IPS officer of 1974-batch Bihar cadre on 3 December 2012 acquired the office as new CBI director. >>Alok Joshi, senior IPS officer of 1976 batch from Haryana cadre is scheduled to be appointed as the new Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief. >> Syed Asif Ibrahim is cleared to be the next Intelligence Bureau director.