President presents National Florence Nightingale awards

 President Pranab Mukherjee has presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to thirty-five nursing personnel from across the country at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of International Nurses Day (May 12). 

• The National Florence Nightingale Awards are given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government ofIndia as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals in the country. 
• The International Nurses Day is celebrated all over the world on May 12 every year to commemorate Florence Nightingale’s birthday.

Florence Nightingale :

• Florence Nightingale, (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.
• She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers.
•  She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.

MP Tourism wins Lonely Planet’s Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) won the Lonely Planet Group’s Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award. 

• The award was handed over to MPT at a function in Mumbai by actress Amy Jackson. 
• Madhya Pradesh located in Central India has 25 wild life sanctuaries including 9 National Parks. 
• Among them Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench are ideal habitat for tigers. 

Nagaland’s SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring Service bags award

The SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring System of Nagaland police has bagged the National Award for Smart Policing instituted by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 

• The award for the Best Practice in the category of Road Safety and Traffic Management was presented to Nagaland Police by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary at a function in New Delhi. 

President Mukherjee presents gallantry awards to defence personnel

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Gallantry Awards and the Distinguished Service Decorations to defence personnel and martyrs posthumously at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

•  Sepoy Jagdish Chand who made the supreme sacrifice during terror attack at Pathankot Air Base was awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously. 
• Subedar Mahendra Singh who displayed exemplary leadership despite grievous injury was also awarded Kirti Chakra. 

Musician Angélique Kidjo honoured with Amnesty International Award

 World-renowned musician Angélique Kidjo and three inspirational African youth activist movements have been declared this year’s joint winners of the prestigious Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2016.

•  The award will be shared between Benin-born artist Angélique Kidjo, one of world’s most successful African singer-songwriters, and the activist groups Y’en a marre from Senegal, le Balai Citoyen from Burkina Faso and Lutte pour le Changement (LUCHA) from DRC. 
• All will be honoured at the awards ceremony in Dakar, Senegal, on 28 May.

Scientists win $3 million for detecting Einstein’s waves

Researchers who helped detect gravitational waves for the first time, confirming part of Albert Einstein’s theory in a landmark moment in scientific history, will share a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize, according to the prize’s selection committee.

•  The Breakthrough Prizes for scientific achievements were created by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner along with several technology pioneers, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. 

President Pranab Mukherjee confers 2015-16 Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards

 President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the 15th set of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards in New Delhi.

•  The awards were bestowed upon the companies from various sectors of exports during the year 2015-16. 
• It also covered service providers, banks, and various facilitating agencies which are promoting exports.
•  Besides, President also unveiled the new Logo of FIEO representing growth, vibrancy, innovation and entrepreneurship on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of FIEO.
•  FIEO was established in 1965 under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 Award recipients :

• Reliance Industry: It was awarded as the top foreign exchange earner and leading exporter of last 50 years. 
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): It won the Gold Award in IT services. 
• State Bank of India (SBI): It won the Gold award among the supporting institutions.

Andhra Pradesh Harita-Priya Agriculture Project wins 2016 WSIS Prize

Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Project  has won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture category. 

• Harita-Priya (Harmonized Information of Agriculture, Revenue and Irrigation for a Transformation Agenda – Precision Technology for Agriculture) Project is meant to collect very specific climate data from farms and give farmers personalised information through SMS. 

About  Harita-Priya Agriculture Project :

• The Harita-Priya Project uses wireless sensor networks to collect micro-climatic information from farms. 
• The data is used to create advisories and alerts on irrigation schedules and pests and plant diseases.
•  Based on this state agriculture officers disseminate personalised crop advisories in Telugu language to farmers by way of SMS. 
• The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Hyderabad has developed the project and is having a pilot run in Anantpur district.
•  Andhra Pradesh government, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) station and Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University also have partnered for the project.

President Pranab Mukherjee presents 63rd National Film Awards 2015

President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred 63rd National Film Awards for the year 2015 in various categories at the function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

•  Legendry actor Manoj Kumar was conferred 2015 Dada Saheb Phalke Award, highest official recognition (award) in Indian cinema.
•  Baahubali: The Beginning (Tamil, Telugu film) directed by S. S. Rajamouli was bestowed with the Best feature film award.
•  Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Hindi) directed by Kabir Khan was awarded as the Best Popular film providing wholesome entertainment. 

The 63rd National Film Awards in the various categories :

•  Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Piku).
•  Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns).
•  Best Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani). 
• Best Film on Social Issues: Niranayakam (Malayalam) directed by V. K. Prakash.
•  Best Supporting Actor: Samuthirakani for the film Visaranai (Tamil). 

Gujarat conferred with 'Most Film Friendly State' award

Gujarat has emerged as the "Most Film Friendly State" in the country at 63rd National Film Awards in New Delhi.

• Gujarat tourism was conferred with the national award for "Most Film Friendly State".
• Notably, Gujarat has become the first state ever to have received such an award, which is specially conceived to promote film tourism in States.
• The award was received by Jayesh Radadia, Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Gujarat, from the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
• Gujarat tourism is playing the role of a nodal agency to develop film tourism in the state of Gujarat. 

Gujarat :

Capital -Gandhinagar

Districts- 33

Government

 • Governor- Om Prakash Kohli

 • Chief Minister- Anandiben Patel

 • Legislature- Unicameral (182 seats)

 • Parliamentary constituency- 26

Swat activist Tabassum Adnan wins 2016 Nelson Mandela Award

 Pakistani women’s rights activist from Swat valley Tabassum Adnan has won prestigious 2016 Nelson Mandela Graça Machel Innovation Award. 

• She won the award for the individual activist category on the concluding day of the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) held from April 25-28, 2016 in Bogota, Colombia.
•  With this Tabassum Adnan becomes the second woman from Pakistan’s Swat valley to win this international recognition after Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

 About Tabassum Adnan Tabassum :

•  Adnan was a victim of child marriage and was married at the age of 13.
•  The marriage was marked by frequent domestic abuse and ended after 20 years when she gathered the courage to divorce her abusive husband. 
• Later she launched NGO Khwendo Jirga (Sister’s Council), a women-only Jirga where women meet weekly to discuss issues such as honour killings, swara and acid attacks the practice of giving women as compensation for crimes.

Sudarsan Pattnaik bags gold medal at sand art contest in Moscow

 Renowned artistSudarsan Pattnaik bagged thegold medal at the ninth Moscow Sand Sculpture Championship “The magical world of sand” 2016. 

• Pattnaik won the championship for best composition ‘Mahatma Gandhi – World Peace’. 
• Pattnaik’s solo presentation-about fifteen feet high sand sculpture ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ depicted the message of non-violence and peace.

Sudarsan Pattnaik :

• Born- 15 April 1977 (age 39) -Puri, Odisha, India
• Occupation-Sand artist
• Awards -Padma Shri (2014)

Jeetendra, Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Leela Bhansali conferred Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards

Veteran actor Jeetendra, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Bollywood star Ranveer Singh were today honoured with '74th Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards'.

• Jeetendra got the Lifetime Achievement Award while Bhansali and Ranveer got special award for direction and acting for their  'Bajirao Mastani.'
• The top honour was given by legendary singer Asha Bhosle.

Deenanath Mangeshkar :

• Deenanath Mangeshkar (29 December 1900 – 24 April 1942) was a well-known Marathi theatre actor, a renowned Natya Sangeet musician and a Hindustani classical vocalist.
• He is also the father of well-known singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and Usha Mangeshkar as well as composers Hridayanath Mangeshkar and Meena Khadikar.