DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD FOR 2012

Legendary versatile Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee was on 21 March 2012 selected for India’s highest film honour - the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2012. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India‘s highest award in
film industry which is given for lifetime achievement in Indian cinema by the Central government. Born in Krishnanagar in West Bengal, 100 Kms from Calcutta, in 1935 completed his graduation and Masters in Bengali literature from the University of Calcutta. Prior to joining films he had worked in All India Radio. Chatterjee who portrayed a versatile range of lead characters in films by Satyajit Ray made his debut in 1959 with Ray’s
super-hit movie Apur Sansar. Chatterjee was one of Ray’s favourite, and became the lead actor of most of his’ classics including Sonar Kella, Charulata, and Ghare Baire. Chatterjee’s association with Ray is compared
with the chemistry between famous actor-director duos of the world like Akira Kurosowa- Toshiro Mifune and Marcello Mastroianni-Federico Fellini. Soumitra featured as Feluda/Pradosh Chandra Mitter, the famous private investigator from Calcutta in Ray’s Feluda series of books. He acted in two films of this series in the 1970s- Sonar Kella and Joy Baba Felunath. in Ghare Baire, an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s novel he
was cast in a leading role in the character of a radical revolutionary in a love triangle with his friend’s wife. These roles helped to showcase his versatility  in playing diverse characters, especially in an urban setting. Padama Bhushan awardee also worked with other internationally acclaimed directors of his time, including Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Tarun Majumdar in his career spanning over half a century. He is also reputed to have worked with Aparna Sen, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh. Some of the other notable movies featuring Chatterjee include Jhinder Bandi, Koni, Kaapurush, Akash Kusum, Aranyer Din Ratri, Joy Baba Felunath, Teen Bhubaner Pare, Ganashatru and Sakah Prashakha. Besides films, Chatterjee was also passionate about stage performance. He both acted and directed plays.

SARASWATI SAMMAN 2011

The K K Birla Foundation announced on 22 March 2012 its decision to honour Tamil writer A A Manavalan with the Saraswati Samman 2011 for his book on Ramayana. Retired professor and head of the department of Tamil in Madras University, Manavalan is be bestowed with the 21st Saraswati Samman for his work Irama Kathaiyum  Iramayakalum (Ramakatha and Ramayanas) published in 2005. Special areas of interest of Manavalan who is a scholar in Tamil, English, Hindi and Telugu are translation and comparative  literature. He was trained in these areas by professors Henry H.H. Remak and Ulrich Weisston in the University of Indiana in
Bloomington, United States. The award-winning book, Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum is a comparative study of 48 Ramayanas in the languages of Pali, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tibetan, Tamil, Old Javenese, Japanese, Telugu, Assamese, Thai and Kashmiri. The Saraswati Samman carries award money of Rs 7.5  lakh, a citation and a plaque.The prestigious award was instituted by the K K Birla Foundation in 1991. The award is conferred upon
every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language mentioned in Schedule VIII to the Constitution of India by an Indian citizen and published in the last ten years. The award carries a prize money of Rs 750000, a citation and a plaque. The selection for the Saraswati Samman is made by a high-level Chayan Parishad which is presided over by former Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti, includes renowned scholars and
writers.

TEMPLETON PRIZE FOR 2012

The John Templeton Foundation on 29 March 2012 decided to honour Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama with one of the world’s leading religion prizes, Templeton Prize for 2012. The Buddhist leader who lives in exile in India had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for advocating nonviolent liberation for Tibet. The Dalai Lama was named the winner of the 2012 Templeton Prize in recognition of his work on science and religion. The Templeton Prize to be presented to him on 14 May 2012 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is a $1.7 million award. Tenzin Gyatso, the14th Dalai Lama is the highest profile winner of the award which
was earlier presented to likes of Billy Graham and the late Mother Teresa. The Dalai Lama is founder of the Mind & Life institute for research on science and Buddhism. His talks at Stanford University led to the creation of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, which works to unite scientists and religious scholars.

BRITISH SAFETY AWARD

BSES Yamuna Power limited (BPYL) won the prestigious 54th  British International Safety Award. BYPL has been selected for this award given the steps taken by it for the safety of its over 11 lakh consumers and safety and health of its employees. The list of award winners was announced in London in the last week of March 2012. The award will be presented in May 2012. BPYL is the first Indian discom to be selected for this award. BYPL distributes power to an area spread over 200 sq kms with a population density of 5953 per sq km. It’s 11.9lakh customers are spread over 14 districts across Central and East areas of Delhi including Chandni
Chowk, Daryaganj, Shankar Road, Patel Nagar, G T Road,Paharganj, Karkardooma, Krishna Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Nand Nagri and Karawal Nagar.

PULITZER PRIZES 2012

The 2012 Pulitzer Prize was announced on 16 April 2012. The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for documenting the New York Police Department’s spying on Muslims. The Philadelphia
Inquirer was on the other hand honoured in the public service category for its examination of violence in the city’s schools. A second Pulitzer for investigative reporting was given to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain. The New York Times won two Pulitzers, for explanatory and international reporting. The Huffington Post received its first  Pulitzer, in national reporting, for its exploration of the challenges facing American veterans  wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., won for local reporting for breaking the Penn State sexual abuse scandal that eventually
brought down legendary football coach Joe Paterno. The staff of The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News won the Pulitzer for Breaking news Reporting for its coverage of a deadly tornado. The judges declined to award a prize for editorial writing. The Pulitzer Prize board has failed to select a winner of the award for fiction for the first time in 35 years. The Pulitzers are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.