CURRENT AFFAIRS 2019

Current Affairs 2019

This is a guide to provide you a precise summary and big collection of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) covering national and international current affairs for the month of August 2019. This guide helps you in preparation for Indian competitive examinations like Bank PO, Banking, Railway, IAS, PCS, UPSC, CAT, GATE, CDS, NDA, MCA, MBA, Engineering, IBPS, Clerical Grade, Officer Grade etc.

Audience

Aspirants who are preparing for different competitive exams like Bank PO, Banking, Railway, IAS, PCS, UPSC, CAT, GATE, CDS, NDA, MCA, MBA, Engineering, IBPS, Clerical Grade, Officer Grade etc.

Even though you are not preparing for any exams but you are willing to have news encapsulated in a roll which you can walk through within 30 minutes, then we have put all the major points for the whole month in precise and interesting way.

1 - Girraj Prasad Gupta appointed as the Controller General of Accounts

1983-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer, Girraj Prasad Gupta took over as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). Gupta has worked at higher positions in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ministry of Rural development, and Ministry of Finance and as the Director of National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad.

Mr. Gupta is credited for his work in development and implementation of Public Financial Management System (PFMS), a backbone IT infrastructure for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and other financial management modules in Government of India.

2 - IFSG appointed Justice A.K. Sikri as ombudsman

The Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) has appointed Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri as its ombudsman and ethics officer. Justice A.K. Sikri will be responsible for investigating queries/complaints raised by the users of the online fantasy sports gaming platforms.

Sikri has served as a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. He was recently appointed as a judge in the Singapore International Commercial Court. IFSG is India's self-regulatory industry body for the online fantasy sports gaming sector.

3 - Rajiv Kumar appointed as Finance Secretary

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of department of financial services (DFS) secretary Rajiv Kumar as the new finance secretary. Kumar succeeded 1983-batch IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg. He is a 1984-batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer.

A finance secretary is the senior-most bureaucrat among the finance ministry’s five departments—economic affairs, revenue, expenditure, financial services and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).

4 - Noel Quinn appointed as interim CEO of HSBC

HSBC has appointed Noel Quinn as interim Group Chief Executive and as a Director of HSBC Holdings. He replaced John Flint.

Mr. Quinn was appointed as the Chief Executive, Global Commercial Banking in December 2015. He became a Group Managing Director in September 2016. From 2011 to 2015, he was the Regional Head of Commercial Banking for Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong. He has since taken up postings including Head of Specialised and Equity Finance at HSBC.

5 - Mindtree appointed Debashis Chatterjee as MD & CEO

Mindtree Ltd has appointed Mr. Debashis Chatterjee as its new CEO & MD. Prior to joining Mindtree, Mr. Chatterjee was President, Global Delivery and Global Leader for the Digital Sytems and Technology practice at Cognizant.

This is the first top management change at Mindtree since the company was taken over by Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T). Mindtree also appointed S.N. Subrahmanyan as its non-executive Vice Chairman. L&T's takeover of Mindtree marked India's first-ever hostile takeover in the IT space.

6 - Sonia Gandhi named interim Congress President

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has named Sonia Gandhi as the interim Congress President. She has been made the President after Rahul Gandhi resigned as party president on May 25. She will be interim party chief till AICC elects new President.

Sonia Gandhi took primary membership of Congress in 1997 and became its president in 1998. She went on to create history as the longest serving president from 1998 to 2017. She was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in 1999.

7 - Kandikuppa Sreekant takes over as CMD of Power Grid Corporation

Kandikuppa Sreekant has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of state-owned Power Grid Corporation. Prior to taking up this assignment, he was serving as the director (finance) of Power Grid.

Sreekant has been appointed as CMD till December 31, 2023, the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He has more than 33 years of experience in the power sector, involving finance and accounting functions.

8 - Indian National Science Academy appointed Chandrima Shaha as its President

Renowned biologist Chandrima Shaha became first woman president of Indian National Science Academy. She has experience of working as Director of the National Institute of Immunology, Delhi. She has served as Vice President of INSA between 2016 and 2018. She has penned over 80 research papers. She received Shakuntala Amirchand Award of ICMR in 1992 and DNA Double Helix Discovery special award in 2003.

The Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi is the apex body of Indian scientists, established in January 1935 with the objective of promoting science in India and harnessing scientific knowledge.

9 - Harshad Pandurang Thakur appointed as NIHFW's director

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Harshad Pandurang Thakur as director of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare for a period of 5 years.

Harshad is professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. National Institute of Health and Family Welfare is an autonomous organization, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for the promotion of health and family welfare programmes in the country.

10 - Paytm promoted CFO Madhur Deora as its President

Paytm has promoted its CFO and senior vice-president Madhur Deora as President. He will be responsible for Paytm’s consumer services business besides overseeing multiple business lines at the company. Prior to joining Paytm in October 2016, Deora served as Managing Director in Citigroup's investment banking business.

Paytm is the single largest platform for banks, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) payments. It has announced to invest Rs 750 crore to approximately double its monthly active user base on mobile to 250 million by March 2020.

11 - Ravinder Takkar appointed as CEO of Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea has appointed Ravinder Takkar as its CEO after the current CEO Balesh Sharma stepped down. Mr. Sharma would take up a new role within the Vodafone Group.

Ravinder Takkar is currently Vodafone Group’s representative in India. He has been in the Indian telecom industry since 2007 when the Vodafone Group entered the Indian market. He has held a number of senior roles in strategy and business development and was the CEO of the enterprise business.

12 - Paytm appointed Amit Nayyar as President of FSB

Paytm has appointed ex-Goldman executive Amit Nayyar as President in the financial services business. He will look after all the financial services business like lending, insurance, wealth management, stock broking at the company. He has experience of working in ICICI Securities, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

Prior to this appointment, Amit Nayyar was Managing Director at Mumbai-based investment bank Arpwood Capital. He has enormous experience in BFSI sector (Banking, financial services and insurance). Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company based in Noida.

1 - NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar honored with 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award

NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar was honored with 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his brave journalism and harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless. Ravish is NDTV India’s senior executive editor. He is courageous in standing up for truth and taking ethical journalism of the highest standards.

Other awardees include Myanmar’s journalist Ko Swe Win, Thailand's human rights activist Angkhana Neelapajit, Philippines’ musician Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab and South Korea’s activist Kim Jong-Ki. The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s premier prize, honors transformative leadership in Asia.

2 - Famous cricketer Kapil Dev honoured with Bharat Gaurav Award

India's first World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev was honored with Bharat Gaurav, East Bengal club’s highest honor at its centenary celebrations. Kapil Dev had played for East Bengal club in 1992 as a substitute forward in an exhibition match against Mohun Bagan. Football icon Bhaichung Bhutia was honored with 'Identifying and Nurturing the Icon' award.

Other sports person who received awards were P.K. Banerjee as coach of the century, Manoranjan Bhattacharya and Bhaskar Ganguly for lifetime achievement award.

3 - Ruhan Rajput honoured with 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2019'

Co-founder and Director of Einfolge Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ruhan Rajput, was honored with ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019’ in Service Business - BPO/KPO' category. Ruhan was acknowledged for his contributions and achievements in the business industry.

Einfolge Technologies Pvt Ltd is one of the leading players in knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry. It provides solutions which include Patent and IPR, Market and Business Research, Clinical Data Management and Legal Data Assessment.

4 - DD News channel awarded with ‘Champions of Empathy Award’

DD News (Doordarshan) was awarded with Champions of Empathy Award for spreading awareness about hepatitis by showing health related programmes, reports and policies that help spreading awareness towards health in society. Director General of DD News, Mayank Agrawal received the Award from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. DD News channel detailed hepatitis causes, effects and precautions on its health awareness programmes.

Doordarshan News, usually referred to by its abbreviation as DD News is India's only 24-hour terrestrial TV news channel broadcasting in Hindi.

5 - 'Indian Woman of Influence Award' received by Priya Priyadarshini Jain

Priya Priyadarshini Jain has been felicitated with the prestigious 'Indian Woman of Influence' award at the House of Lords, the United Kingdom Parliament, London. She is an eminent fashionista, social entrepreneur and philanthropist. The award recognized the power of Indian women residing in different parts of the world.

Priya also featured as one of the most prominent personalities from India in the '50 most influential Indian women worldwide' published in a coffee table book.

6 - President Kovind honoured with National order of Merit, highest award of Republic of Guinea

The President of Guinea awarded President Ram Nath Kovind the National order of Merit for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of overall relations and development of mutual co-operation between India and Guinea and for promoting friendship and partnership between the people of both the countries.

This is the highest award of Republic of Guinea. Indian President announced a new Line of Credit of US$ 170 million for Water Supply Project of Conakry city, the capital of Republic of Guinea.

7 - ISRO announced Vikram Sarabhai Journalism Award in Space Science, Technology and Research

As part of centenary year celebrations of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, father of Indian space programme, ISRO instituted two categories of awards in journalism named as “Vikram Sarabhai Journalism Award in Space Science, Technology and Research” to recognize journalists. The nominations are invited to all Indian journalists for articles published from 2019 to 2020.

There are two categories of awards, wherein the first category holds a cash price of Rs 5,00,000, a medal and citation and second category of the award holds 3 cash prizes and citation each for journalists or freelancers of print media.

8 - NITI Aayog to launch the Fourth Edition of Women Transforming India Awards

The NITI Aayog will launch the Fourth Edition of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards. The WTI Awards is being organized in collaboration with the United Nations to recognize women entrepreneurs from across India. This year’s theme is ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’, in continuation of the theme for WTI Awards 2018.

The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is a Government of India initiative by NITI Aayog to promote and support aspiring as well as established women entrepreneurs in India, assist and handhold them in their journey from starting to scaling up and expanding their ventures.

9 - President of India presented Bharat Ratna Awards

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented Bharat Ratna Awards to Shri Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumously), Dr Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika (posthumously) and Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Bhupen Hazarika popularly known as Sudhakantha, meaning the nightingale, was a legendary Assamese singer-composer. Nanaji Deshmukh was a social activist and established 1st Saraswati Shishu Mandir at Gorakhpur in 1950. Pranab Mukherjee was the 13th President of India. Mukherjee became the fifth president to receive this award.

10 - 4th edition of National Entrepreneurship Awards, 2019

The fourth edition of the National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA), instituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has opened for nominations. NEA has a total of 45 specially designed awards to be bestowed – 39 Enterprise Awards and 6 Awards for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders.

The eligible nominee must be under the age of 40 years; must be first-generation entrepreneur; must hold 51% or more equity and ownership of the business; and women entrants must individually or collectively own 75% or more of the enterprise. Winners will be presented with a Trophy, Certificate and a Cash Prize of ₹5 lakh (enterprises/ individuals) and ₹10 lakh (organizations/ institutes).

11 - 66th National Film Awards for 2018 announced

The 66th National Film Awards were announced.

The list of key winners are

Sr. No	Category	Winner
1	Best Feature Film	HELLARO (Gujarati)
2	Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment	Badhaai Ho (Hindi)
3	Best Film on Social Issues	Padman (Hindi)
4	Best Director Award	Aditya Dhar for Uri: The Surgical Strike (Hindi)
5	Best Actor Award	Ayushman Khurana and Vicky Kaushal for their performances in Andhadhun and Uri: The Surgical Strike respectively (Hindi)
6	Best Actress	Keerthy Suresh for her performance in Mahanati (Telugu)
7	Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation	Paani (Marathi)
8	Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration	Ondalla Eradalla (Kannada)
9	Most Film Friendly State	Uttarakhand
10	Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director	NAAL (Marathi) directed by Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti
11	Best Children's Film	SARKARI HIRIYA PRATHAMIKA SHALE KASARGODU (Kannada)

12 - Actor Steve Coogan to be felicitated with the Charlie Chaplin Award at BAFTA LA

BAFTA Los Angeles will felicitate actor Steve Coogan with the Charlie Chaplin Award. The Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy recognises the talents whose popularity and cultural impact exemplifies the uniquely transcendent quality of excellent comedy.

Coogan's vast filmography includes movies such as "Around the World in 80 Days", "Philomena", "What Maisie Knew" and "Stan & Ollie". Jane Fonda will receive the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film and Jackie Chan will receive the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment.

13 - Shahrukh Khan awarded Excellence in Cinema award at IFF, Melbourne

Bollywood actor, Shah Rukh Khan, was awarded with the Excellence in Cinema award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne as a tribute to the actor's continuous contribution to cinema and popular culture in India with the award. Sriram Raghavan was bestowed with the best director awardfor his 2018 film 'Andhadhun'.

Vijay Sethupathi was awarded with the best actor award for the Tamil film 'Super Deluxe'. 'Bulbul Can Singh' emerged as the best indie film while 'Chuskit' and 'Super Deluxe' received the Equality in Cinema award.

14 - President awarded the Certificate of Honour for the Year 2019

President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the Certificate of Honour to the following scholars for the year 2019.

Category (Number of Scholars)	Name of Scholar
Sanskrit (15)	Prof. Ramji Thakur, ShriKrishan Sharma, Kala Acharya, Dr. V.S. Karunakaran, PanditSatyaDev and many more
Pali (1)	Dr. Uma Shankar Vyas
Prakrit (1)	Prof. Kamal Chand
Arabic (3)	Faizanullah Farooqi, Mohammad Iqbal, Dr.Mohd. Samiullah Khan
Persian (3)	Dr. Iraq Raza Zaidi, Prof. Chander Shekhar, Mohammad Sidiq Niazmand
Classical Kannada(1)	Shri Hampa Nagarajaiah
Classical Telugu (1)	Prof. Ravva Srihari
Classical Mallyalam(1)	Dr.C.P. Achuthan Unny
Classical Odia(1)	Pandit Dr. Antaryami Mishra

15 - President awarded the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman for the year 2019

President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman to the following scholars for the year 2019.

Category (Number of Scholars)	Name of Scholar
Sanskrit (5)	Ashok Thapliyal, Prof. SujataTripathi, Dr.Sanju Mishra, Dr.AbhijitHanmant and Dr.SharachchandraDwivedi
Pali (1)	AnomaShriram
Prakrit (1)	ShriAshish Kumar
Arabic (1)	Dr. Fauzan Ahmad
Persian (1)	ER.M. ShahbazAlam
Classical Kannada(3)	G.B. Harisha, Shri S. Karthik and Dr. M. Byrappa
Classical Telugu (3)	Addanki, Dr. V. Triveni and Dr. D.K. Prabhakar
Classical Mallyalam(2)	Dr. Rajeev and SanthoshThottingal
Classical Odia(1)	Dr. Subrat Kumar

16 - President approved 132 Gallantry Awards to Personnel of Armed and Paramilitary Forces

President Shri Ram Nath Kovind approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces. The awards include 2 Kirti Chakras, 1 Vir Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, 8 Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 5 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), 7 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and 5 Yudh Seva Medals.

Category	Name of Awardee
President's Tatrakshak Medal	IG Thekkumpurath
Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)	IG Maneesh Vishal and DIG Neeraj Tiwari
Vir Chakra	Wing Commander Varthaman Abhinandan
Kirti Chakra	A. Sapper Prakash and Harshpal singh ,Dy commandant, CRPF

17 - Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2019 launched

Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2019. SSG 2019 will cover 17,450 villages in 698 districts across India and include 87,250 public places to get feedback from 2,50,000 citizens on sanitation related issues.

An independent survey agency will conduct the survey and the results will be announced based on quantitative and qualitative sanitation parameters. A detailed protocol has been developed to guide the ranking of Districts. The Jal Shakti Minister released the SSG 2019 logo, the SSG 2019 brochure mobile app and a dashboard for citizen’s feedback.

18 - Indian President awarded President’s Police Medal for Distinguished and Meritorious Service

President of India awarded one President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 15 Police Medals for Meritorious Service to Railway Protection Force and Railway Protection Special Force. President’s Police Medal (PPM) for Distinguished Service was honored to Shri T. S. Gopakumar, Assistant Security Commissioner, Southern Railway.

Some of officers for Police Medal for Meritorious Service were

• Jyoti Kumar Satija
• Sanjay Kumar Gupta, North Western Railway
• Anil Kumar Singh, Assistant Commandant
• N. Ashwini Kumar, IRCTC
• Indu Prakash Singh, RDSO

19 - National Youth Awards conferred for development and social service work

The Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports Kiren Rijiju conferred the National Youth Awards on individuals (aged between 15-29 years) and organizations for excellent work and contribution in different fields of development and social service to 20 individuals and 3 organizations.

The 3 organizations were Eco-Pro Bahuuddeshiya Sanstha, Care and Share Foundation and Samutkars Yuva Vikas Navyuvak Mandal. In addition, 3 awards were also conferred to individuals for the Photo Exhibition on “China through Eyes of Indian Youth - 2019”.

20 - ISRO Chairman K. Sivan honoured with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award

Tamil Nadu government honored Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K. Sivan with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award for successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 mission. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is awarded by the Tamil Nadu state in recognition of contributions on scientific development, humanities and students' welfare.

Other winners were

Category	Name of the Winner
Tamil Nadu government’s Kalpana Chawla Award for Courage and Daring Enterprise	P. Ramyalakshmi, Assistant Director of Fisheries (Marine)
Chief Minister’s Special Award for Extraordinary Act of Bravery	P. Shanmugavelu and his wife Senthamarai
Chief Minister’s Best Practices Award	Greater Chennai Police Commissionerate
Best Doctor Awards	Dr. V. Ramadevi of Government Kilpauk Medical College

21 - IIT-Delhi start-up wins NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2019

Ms. Ankita Gulati, founder of TouchVision, has won the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2019 under category 'B' (for Working Professionals) for developing a multisensory kit for visually impaired people. TouchVision is an IIT Delhi incubated startup.

The NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award is given away every year to those who have been doing exemplary work towards the cause of accessibility and thus ensuring a life of equality and dignity for people with disabilities.

22 - Longest documentary "100 Years of Chrysostum" to receive Guinness Award

"100 Years of Chrysostum", a biographical documentary based on the life of Philipose Mar Chrysostum, will receive Guinness Award in the category of longest documentary. It is scripted and directed by filmmaker Blessy.

The 48.08-hour-long documentary has broken the world record of 21-hour-long Saudi Arabian documentary World of Snakes. Philipose Mar Chrysostum is a Padma Bhushan awardee and Metropolitan Emeritus of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar.

23 - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2019 announced

The Union Government announced the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. It is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years. Apart from a medal and a citation, the awardee will receive cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh.

The list of awardees

Name of the Awardees	Discipline
Sh. Bajrang Punia	Wrestling
Ms. Deepa Malik	Para Athletics

24 - Dronacharya Awards 2019 Announced

The Union Government announced the Dronacharya Awards 2019. The Award is given for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.

The list of awardees

Name of the Coach (Regular Category)	Discipline
Sh. Vimal Kumar	Badminton
Sh. Sandeep Gupta	Table tennis
Sh. Mohinder Singh Dhillon	Athletics
Name of the Coach (Life-Time Category)	Discipline
Sh. Merzban Patel	Hockey
Sh. Rambir Singh Khokhar	Kabaddi
Sh. Sanjay Bhardwaj	Cricket

25 - Arjuna Awards 2019 announced

The Union Government announced the Arjuna Awards 2019. The Award is given for consistent outstanding performance for four years. Apart from a medal and a citation, the awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.

The list of awardees

Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
Sh. Tajinderpal Singh Toor	Athletics
Mohammed Anas Yahiya	Athletics
Sh. S. Bhaskaran	Body Building
Ms. Sonia Lather	Boxing
Sh. Ravindra Jadeja	Cricket
Sh. Chinglensana Singh Kangujam	Hockey
Sh. Ajay Thakur	Kabaddi
Sh. Gaurav Singh Gill	Motor Sports
Sh. Pramod Bhagat	Para Sports (Badminton)
Ms. Anjum Moudgil	Shooting
Sh. Harmeet Rajul Desai	Table Tennis
Ms. Pooja Dhanda	Wrestling
Sh. Fouaad Mirza	Equestrian
Sh. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu	Football
Ms. Poonam Yadav	Cricket
Ms. Swapna Barman	Athletics
Sh. Sundar Singh Gurjar	Para Sports (Athletics)
Sh. Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth	Badminton
Sh. Simran Singh Shergill	Polo

26 - Dhyan Chand Award 2019 announced

The Union Government announced the Dhyan Chand Award 2019. The Award is given for life time contribution to sports development. Apart from a medal and a citation, the awardee will receive a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.

The list of winners

Name	Discipline
Sh. Manuel Fredricks	Hockey
Sh. Arup Basak	Table Tennis
Sh. Manoj Kumar	Wrestling
Sh. NittenKirrtane	Tennis
Sh. C. Lalremsanga	Archery

27 - Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2019 announced

The Union Government announced the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2019. It is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development and carries Trophies and Certificates.

The awardees are

Category	Entity recommended for Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar, 2019
Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent’	(i) Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation (ii) GoSports Foundation
Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility	---
‘Employment to sportspersons and other welfare measures’	---
Sports for Development	Rayalaseema Development Trust

28 - Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Puruskar 2019 announced

The Union Government announced the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Puruskar 2019. It is given to the overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments and carries award money of Rs. 15 lakh and certificate.

Panjab University, Chandigarh won the award for 2019. Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in Amritsar has got the second position while Punjabi University in Patiala was at the third position. The 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up universities received Rs Rs. 7.5 lakh and Rs. 4.5 lakh respectively.

29 - CCMB scientist K Thangaraj awarded JC Bose Fellowship in Hyderabad

Dr K Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) was awarded JC Bose Fellowship for his outstanding contributions in the field of population and medical genomics.

The JC Bose Fellowship is awarded to scientists in recognition for their outstanding performance and is given by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The fellowship amount is Rs. 25,000 per month in addition to regular income and a research grant of Rs. 15.00 lakh per annum.

30 - MoS (PP) Dr. Jitendra Singh presented ANUBHAV awards, 2019

Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh presented the ANUBHAV awards, 2019. The award is given to incentivize and encourage more retiring employees to submit their write-ups. The Anubhav portal was created with a vision to preserve the rich experience of a retired officials in digital form for future generations to learn and explore knowledge.

The list of awardees

• J.N. Mogal, Vehicle Operator (Retd.) DRDO
• Sita Ram Himral, Postman
• S.Kanagaraj, ASI, CRPF
• Madan Gopal, Inspector, Central Industrial Security Force
• Kshipra Misra, Scientist, drds
• Basheer Ahammad Kaji, Sub-Inspector, CRPF
• Shri Suresh N, Technical Officer, Department of Space

31 - Shri Prabhakar Singh, Director General, CPWD was chosen for ‘Eminent Engineer Award- 2019’

Shri Prabhakar Singh, Director General, Central Public Works Department was chosen for the ‘Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019’ by the Institution of Engineers (India) for his distinguished and exemplary service in the field of Engineering and Technology.

Shri Prabhakar Singh is an IIT Graduate and MBA from one of the Premier Business Institutes of the country. His enormous contributions and dedicated service to the nation as an Eminent Technocrat has been instrumental in transforming the Premier Engineering Organisation of the Central Government – CPWD.

32 - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received UAE's highest Civilian Honour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the highest civilian award of the United Arab Emirates, the "Order of Zayed" by the UAE's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He was honored for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.

Several world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth II, and Chinese President Xi Jinping have been earlier honored with "Order of Zayed”. The order is named after UAE's first President - Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

33 - PM Narendra Modi conferred with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance award"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance”, by HM King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa at the Al Gudaibiya Palace, during his visit to Bahrain. It was the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to the country Bahrain.

King Hamad Order of the Renaissance is Member First Class, the third highest civilian honor of Bahrain. Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (2009) and Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalif (2009) have been recipients of King Hamad Order of Renaissance.

34 - JNU Professor Meeta Narain conferred with the ‘Pushkin Medal 2019’

Professor Meeta Narain of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been conferred with the Pushkin Medal 2019 for her contribution to Russian studies abroad. It is the highest honor given to an Indian scholar by the Russian government.

The Pushkin Medal was instituted in the name of famous Russian author and poet Alexander S. Pushkin. Kerala poet O.N.V. Kurip had received it in 2015. Narain has been a visiting faculty at the Department of Russian Studies in Columbia University and New York University.

35 - National Awards for Community Radio for 2018 and 2019 announced

Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar presented the National Awards for Community Radio for 2018 and 2019 in Delhi.

Category(First prize)	Awardee
Thematic (2019)	Friends Radio, Tripura
Thematic (2018)	Radio Namaskar, Odisha
Community Engagement (2019)	Radio Namaskar, Odisha
Community Engagement (2018)	Radio Madhuban, Rajasthan
Promoting Local Culture (2019)	Radio Madhuban, Rajasthan
Promoting Local Culture (2018)	Pant Nagar Janvani, Uttarakhand
Innovative Category (2019)	Radio Sarang, Karnataka
Innovative Category (2018)	Sanjha Radio, Haryana
Sustainability (2019)	Sanjha Radio, Haryana
Sustainability (2018)	Radio Mattoli, Kerala

36 - Indian documentary 'I'm Jeeja' wins award at We Care Film Festival

Indian documentary film ‘I'm Jeeja’ directed by Swati Chakraborty bagged the award in the 'Under 30 minute' category at the 14th edition of 'We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues'. The movie is about a disability activist Jeeja Ghosh who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Category	Awardee
Upto 5 minutes	Connection' (UAE)
Upto 30 min	i'm Jeeja (India)
Upto 90 min	The Eye of the Minotaur (Bulgaria)

We Care Film Festival is the union of Indian organization Brotherhood and UNESCO to create awareness about disability issues through films. The fest awarded 10 films from nine countries.

37 - ONGC's CMD honored with Distinguished Fellowship of IOD, 2019

ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker was honored with the Distinguished Fellowship of the Institute of Directors (IOD) in 2019 at the 29th Institute of Directors (IOD) Annual Day Ceremony. The Fellowship has been given in appreciation of his distinguished contribution to business and society. Two more fellowships were also conferred at the event, to Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs Mr. Durga Shankar Mishra and Secretary, Ministry of Coal M Sumanta Chaudhuri.

The Institute of Directors (IOD) trains Directors on corporate Board observed the event based on theme ‘Future Boards: Leading Strategy to Embrace Sustainability’.

38 - National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), conferred SKOCH Governance Gold Award

Deendayan Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), a flagship mission under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has been conferred with the prestigious SKOCH Governance Gold Award for its Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access (PAiSA).

PAiSA is a centralized IT platform which simplifies the release of interest subvention under the Mission and offers end to end online solution for tracking of interest subvention claims from banks. The portal, designed by Allahabad Bank has 28 States/UTs and 74 Banks on boarded on it.

39 - Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018 announced

The government has announced the winners of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2018. These awards are given to recognize the achievements of persons in the fields of adventure. They will receive statuettes, certificates and award money of Rs 5 lakh each.

The list of awardees

Category	Awardee
Land Adventure	Aparna Kumar, Shri Dipankar Ghosh, and Manikandan K.
Water Adventure	Prabhat Raju Koli
Air Adventure	Rameshwer Jangra
Life Time Achievement	Wangchuk Sherpa

40 - Prime Minister presented Yoga Awards

On International Day of Yoga 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Yoga awards to the winners of PM’s Award for Outstanding Contribution for Promotion and Development of Yoga.

Winners of 2019 Yoga Awards

• Swami Rajarshi Muni of Life Mission (Gujarat) in Individual-National category
• Antonietta Rozzi, Italy in Individual-International category
• Bihar School of Yoga in Organisation-National category
• Japan Yoga Niketan in Organisation-International Organisation category

Winners of 2018 Yoga Awards

Shri Vishwas Mandalik, Nasik in Individual- National category

Yoga Institute, Mumbai in Organisation- National category.

Published by: Dozman DMF.