Awards

National

1. Dadasaheb Phalke Award : Veteran film maker Shyam Benegal was honoured
with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2005 in New Delhi on September 14,2007 by the Hon’ble President Ms. Pratibha Patil.
2. Filmfare Awards : Rang De Basanti won the Award for Best Film at the
52nd Filmfare Awards ceremony held in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 24,
2007. The list of winners is given below:
Best Film : Rang De Basanti
Best Director : Rakeysh Omprakash
Mehra (Rang De Basanti)
Best Actor : Hrithik Roshan(Dhoom 2)
Best Actress : Kajol (Fanaa)
Critic’s Award for Best Film : Lage Raho Munnabhai
Critic’s Award for Best Actor : Aamir Khan (Rang De Basanti)
Critic’s Award for Best Actress :Kareena Kapoor (Omkara)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role :Abhishek Bachchan (Kabhi Alvida NaKehna)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role :Konkona Sen Sharma (Omkara)
Best Actor in a Comic Role : Arshad Warsi (Lage Raho Munnabhai)
Best Actor in a Villainous Role : Saif Ali Khan (Omkara)
Best Playback Singer (Male) : Shaan,Kailash Kher – ‘Chand Sifarish’ (Fanaa)
Best Playback Singer (Female) :Sunidhi Chauhan – ‘Beedi Jalai Le’(Omkara)
Best Music Award : A.R. Rahman(Rang De Basanti)
Best Lyricist : Prasoon Joshi – Chand Sifarish (Fanaa)
Best Debut : Kangana Ranaut R.D.
Burman Award : Naresh Iyer(Rang De Basanti)
Lifetime Achievement Awards : Jaya Bachchan and Javed Akhtar Gandhi International Peace Prize,
2006 : Noted Bollywood actress
Ms. Shabana Azmi has been awarded
the Gandhi International Peace Prize theyear 2006. The prestigious award is given
by the London-based Gandhi
Foundation.
Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2006 : The 22nd Indira
Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2006 has been awarded jointly to
Mr. J.S. Bandukwala and Mr. Ram Puniyani for promoting communal harmony.
Jnanpith Award, 2004 : Eminent Kashmiri poet Mr. Rehman Rahi was
chosen for the Jnanpith Award for 2004.
Mr. Rahi, 82, is one of the most eminent poets and critics of the
Kashmiri language. His notable creations include Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and
Siyah Rode Jaren Manz.

Khel Ratna Award 2006 for Manavjit : Ace trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu was conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2006 by Hon’ble President
Ms. Pratibha Patil on August 29, 2007 at the Ashoka Hall in the Rashtrapati
Bhawan in New Delhi.

Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award : Renowned agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan has been chosen for the Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and
Management, 2006. Dr. Swaminathan has been selected in recognition of his
pioneering work in the field of agricultural research.

National Communal Harmony Awards 2006 : Octogenarian social activist from Assam Mr. Rabindra Nath Upadhyay and Delhi-based Institute for Socialist Education were presented the National Communal Harmony Awards for 2006 by the then President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam in New Delhi on May 23,2007.

National Film Awards 2005 : The National Film Awards for 2005 were announced on August 7, 2007. The delaywas due to court cases. The awardees in different categories are :
Best Feature Film : Budhadeb Dasgupta’s Kaalpurush
Best Non-Feature Film : Gaurav A.Jani’s Riding Solo to the Top of The World
Indira Gandhi Award for the Best First Film of a Director : Parineeta
Best Popular Film : Rang De Basanti
Best Actor : Amitabh Bachchan (Black)
Best Actress : Sarika (Parzania)
Best Direction : Rahul Dholakia (Parzania)
Best Audiography : Nakul Kamte for Rang De Basanti
Best Editing : P. S. Bharathi for Rang De Basanti
Best Playback Singer (Male) : NareshIyer for Rang De Basanti
Best Playback Singer (Female) :Shreya Ghoshal for Paheli
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature
Film on National Integration :Daivanamathil (Malayalam)
Best Film on Family Welfare :Thavamai Thavamiranthe (Tamil)
Best Film on Other Social Issues :Iqbal
Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation : Kannada
film Thutturi Best Children’s Film : Blue Umbrella
Best Child Artist : Sai Kumar for Bommalata – A Bellyful of Dreams
Best Supporting Actress : Urvashi for Achhuvinte Amma (Malayalam)
Best Supporting Actor : Nasseeruddin Shah for Iqbal
Best Cinematography : Madhu Ambat for Sringaram (Tamil)
Best Screenplay : Prakash Jha, Sridhar Raghavan and Manoj Tyagi for Apaharan
Best Art Direction : C.B. More for Taj Mahal – An Eternal Love Story
Best Costume Designer : Anna Singh (Taj Mahal – An Eternal Love Story) and
Sabyasachi Mukherjee (Black)
Special Jury Award : Anupam Kher (Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara)
Best Music Direction : Lalgudi Jayaraman for Sringaram (Tamil)
Best Lyrics : Barguru Ramachandrappa (Thaayi) (Kannada)
Special Effects : Tata Elexi (Anniyan)(Tamil)
Best Choreography : Saroj Khan (Sringaram) (Tamil)
Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards : Hon’ble President
Ms. Pratibha Patil presented the
Oustanding Parliamentarian Awards to
Union Agriculture Minister Mr. Sharad
Pawar (2003), BJP leader Ms. Sushma
Swaraj (2004), Union Finance Minister
Mr. P. Chidambaram (2005) and
Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of
Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports
(2006) in New Delhi on September 13,
2007.
Phalke Ratna Award : Bollywood
legend Dilip Kumar was conferred the
Phalke Ratna Award on April 30, 2007 in
Mumbai on the occasion of 138th birth
anniversary of Dada Saheb Phalke, the
father of Indian cinema. The award was
given to him by noted filmmaker Yash
Chopra and Mumbai Mayor Dr. Shubha
Raul during a function.

Sahitya Akademi Awards : The
Sahitya Akademi selected two scholars –
Mr. Veturi Ananada Murty and Dr. Ham.
Pa. Nagarajaiah – for ‘Bhasha Samman-
2006’ for their contribution to classical
and medival literature.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize :
The Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) announced the winners
of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize to
11 scientists for their oustanding
contributions in various disciplines of
science in New Delhi on September 26,
2007. The list of awardees included
Narayanaswamy Srinivasan, Pundi
Narasimham Rangarajan, Rama
Govindarajan, B.V. Rajarama Bhat,
Budaraju Srinivasa Murthy, A.Ajayaghosh,
Anil Bhardwaj, Upinder Singh Bhalla,
Amalendu Chandra,Yashwant Gupta and
Pinaki Majumdar.
International

Abel Prize : Mr. Srinivasa Varadhan,
a mathematician of Indian origin in the
United States was presented the
prestigious Abel Prize in Oslo on May 22,
2007 for his work on Probabilities. The
prize was created by the Norwegian
Government in 2002 to mark the 200th
anniversary of the birth of the great
Norwegian mathematician, Niels Henrik
Abel.

Annual Academy Awards 2007 : At
the 79th Annual Academy Awards
(popularly known as the Oscars)
ceremony held in Los Angeles (USA)
on February 25, 2007, The Departed won
the award for Best Motion Picture.
Following is the list of major winners :

Best Motion Picture of the Year : The
Departed

Best Director : Martin Scorsese (The
Departed)

Best Actor in a Leading Role : Forest
Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland)

Best Actress in a Leading Role : Helen
Mirren (The Queen)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role : Alan
Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role :
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

Best Animated Feature Film of the
Year : Happy Feet

Best Foreign Language Film : The
Lives Of Others (Germany)

Annual Pulitzer Prizes : The 91st
annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism
were announced in New York on April 16,
2007. Following are the prominent
winners :

Public Ser v i c e : The Wall Street
Journal

Investigative Reporting : The Wall
Street Journal

Breaking News : Oregonian
Investigative Journalism : Brett
Blackledge, Birmingham News

Explanatory Journalism : Kenneth R.
Weiss, Usha Lee McFarling and Rick
Loomis, Los Angeles Times

Local Reporting : Debbie Cenziper,
Miami Herald

National Reporting : Charlie Savage,
Boston Globe

International Reporting : The Wall
Street Journal

Chinua Achebe awarded 2007 Man Booker International Prize : Famous
Nigerian novelist Mr. Chinua Achebe
was awarded the ‘2007 Man Booker
International Prize’ for fiction in London
on June 13, 2007. Mr. Achebe is best
known for his first novel ‘Things Fall
Apart’. Most of Achebe’s work centres
on African society and politics.

Golden Palm Award : Romanian Director Cristian Mungiu won the
Golden Palm Award in the Cannes Film
Festival 2007 for his movie 4 Months,
Three Weeks and Two Days. The film is
about a young women seeking an illegal
abortion during Romania’s communist
rule.

India Abroad Person of the Year Awards, 2006 : The weekly India Abroad
presented the India Abroad Person of
the Year Awards in New York on
March 24, 2007. Ms. Indra Nooyi, CEO
and Chairperson-designate of Pepsi Co.,
was chosen as the Indian Abroad Person
of the Year 2006. Mr. Swadesh
Chatterjee was presented the First
Community Leader Award 2006.
Novelist Salman Rushdie was chosen for
the first India Abroad Lifetime
Achievement Award for his stellar corpus
of work, and for his tireless
encouragement to young writers.
Astronaut Sunita Williams, who is
currently orbiting the Earth, was
conferred the India Abroad Publisher’s
Award for Excellence.

International Gandhi Award : The
Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation of
Maharashtra has awarded its 10th
International Gandhi Award to Mr Yohei
Sasakawa, Chairman of the Nippon
Foundation and the World Health
Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for
the Elimination of Leprosy on April 12,
2007 in Mumbai. At the award ceremony,
Vice-President Mr. Bhairon S.
Shekhawat handed a certificate to
Mr. Sasakawa.

Nobel Prize 2007 : The list of Nobel
Prize winners for 2007 was announced
by Royal Swedish Academy in October
2007. The distinguished awardees
associated with six different fields are
as follows :

Peace : The UN’s Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and
former US Vice-President Mr. Al Gore.
Literature : Ms. Doris Lessing (UK)
Physics : Prof. Albert Fert (France)
and Prof. Peter Gruenberg (Germany)
for a discovery that has minimised the
size of hard disks in computers, iPods
and other devices.

Medicine : Prof. Mario R. Capecchi
(USA), Prof. Martin J. Evans (UK) and
Prof. Oliver Smithies (USA) for the
creation of ‘designer mice’ to track the
roles of different genes in human
development and disease.

Chemistry : Prof. Gerhard Ertl for
his studies of chemical reactions on
solid surface, vital for understanding
questions related to the thinning of
ozone layer.

Economics : Prof. Leonid Hurwicz
(USA), Prof. Eric S. Maskin (USA) and
Prof. Roger B. Myerson (USA).

Ramon Magsaysay Award 2007 :
Noted media person, Mr. Palagummi
Sainath of India has been honoured with
the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award
for 2007 in recognition of his
outstanding contribution to the fields
of journalism, literature and the art of
creative communication. The other
prominent awardees are as follows :
Jovito R. Salonga (The Philippines) :Government Service
Rev. Kim Sun-Tae (Korea) : Public Service
Mahabir Pun (Nepal) : Community Leadership
Tang Xiyang (China) : Peace & International Understanding
Chung To (China) : Emergent Leadership
Chen Guangcheng (China) :Emergent Leadership