Awards & Honours
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1st June to 15 th June AWARDS & HONOURS Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Amir Amanullah Khan Award, the highest civilian honour of Afghanistan. Legendary Oscar winning Indian music composer A.R. Rahman was awarded Japan's Fukuoka prize for 2016 for his outstanding contribution towards creating, preserving and showcasing South Asian traditional fusion music. The Fukuoka Prize is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia Foundation to honour the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture. There are three prize categories: Grand Prize, Academic Prize, and Arts and Culture Prize. Last year, noted Indian Historian Ramchandra Guha was conferred with Fukuoka Prize in academic category. Dr. R Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, was honored with the 2016 Green Economy Visionary Award for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and promoting green economy for nearly two decades. Indian American author Akhil Sharma won the prestigious 2016 International Dublin Literary Award for his semi-autobiographical novel “Family Life.” The International Dublin Literary Award is an annual international literary award awarded for a novel written in English or translated into English. The aim of the award is to promote excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by the Ireland’s capital city Dublin. President Pranab Mukherjee was presented National Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the highest civilian award of the West African country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was honored with Russia's Order of Friendship for his special merits in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between people. Canadian poet, novelist and environmental activist Margaret Atwood was awarded the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize. The third novelist to win the prestigious award, the judges praised Atwood’s political activism, calling the author an ‘exemplary public intellectual’. The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 by English PEN, founding centre of the worldwide writers’ association and freedom of expression charity, in memory of Nobel-Laureate playwright Harold Pinter. The prize is awarded annually to a writer of outstanding literary merit. This year, for the first time, the prize was open to writers from the Republic of Ireland and the Commonwealth, as well as from the UK. Eminent Indian-origin professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya was awarded the prestigious Regius Professorship in Manufacturing by Queen Elizabeth II for his outstanding contribution in manufacturing. Through his career, he has advised the UK government on manufacturing, innovation, and technology, including former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. BUSINESS & CORPORATE Internet search engine Google and Tata Trusts’ joint initiative Internet Saathi was launched in Kolkata, West Bengal. The initiative aims at reducing the digital gender gap in rural areas of India. Internet Saathi aims at empowering women and their communities by providing basic training on the usage and benefits of the internet. Google helps in training the Saathi’s and provides data enabled devices along with the training material. In the last ten months, the initiative has been active in villages across five states in India, namely Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. India jumped 13 positions from last year to rank second among 30 developing countries this year on ease of doing business, according to a study topped by China. According to 2016 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), which ranks top 30 developing countries for retail investment worldwide, a pickup in GDP growth and better clarity regarding FDI regulations have helped india achieve a second ranking. India's retail sector expanded at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 per cent between 2013 and 2015, with annual sales crossing the USD 1 trillion mark, according to A T Kearney, a London-based business consultancy. India also became the world's fastest growing economy. As Indian consumers become more comfortable with shopping online, venture capital and private equity firms have boosted investment in the sector providing further momentum, the report said. The GRDI analyses 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables to help retailers devise successful global strategies to identify emerging market investment opportunities. E-ticketing startup Kyazoonga raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. The funds will be deployed by the startup for market expansion, to enter geographies like United States, West Asia, Pakistan and the Caribbean Islands. Started in 2007, Kyazoonga looks at partnering with sports franchises, music concerts, promoters and event organisers. According to Founder Neetu Bhatia the company sold more than 25 million tickets last year. Technology giant Microsoft announced to acquire professional networking platform LinkedIn in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close this calendar year. Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Mr. Nadella. In India, LinkedIn has about 650 employees and R&D operations in Bengaluru. LinkedIn started out in the living room of co-founder Hoffman in 2002 and was officially launched on May 5 in 2003. LinkedIn has seen 19 per cent growth year-on-year to more than 433 million members worldwide while quarterly member page views rose 34 per cent to over 45 billion. Over 92 million users came from Asia and the Pacific region. Stonegate Bank, based in Florida, became the first US bank to issue credit cards for use in Cuba by Americans. It is the first U.S. bank to support credit card transactions in Cuba since the thaw in relations between Washington and Havana. Power producer Tata Power Co. Ltd announced to acquire renewable energy company Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd in a bid to grow its clean energy portfolio to 2.3 gigawatts (GW). Tata Power said in a notice to the exchanges that the acquisition is being made at an enterprise value of Rs.9,249 crore. Welspun Renewables, a part of the $3 billion Welspun Group, has about 1,140 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind power assets across eight states in India. Of this, about 990 MW is in solar projects and about 150 MW in wind projects. Tata Power, one of the largest integrated power companies in India, is targeting doubling its total generation capacity across thermal, renewable and hydropower to 18 GW or 18,000 MW by 2022 from 9 GW now. BILLS / ACT S / COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES In a move that will help mothers who are travelling, the Railways launched a facility to provide baby food at stations. Named Janani Sewa, the Railways will ensure availability of essential items like hot milk and water at stations under the scheme. The facility is being introduced at over 25 stations, including New Delhi, Mumbai Central, Howrah, Chennai, Nagpur, Pune, Surat, Lucknow and Moradabad. Besides baby food, the Railways also launched menu items like burgers for children between 5-12 years of age group. The Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding between Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India and India Taipei Association in Taipei, Taiwan for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Allied Sector. The MoU provides for cooperation in the fields of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Food Processing, Genetic Resources as well as Environmental Sustainability. The Union Cabinet approved the signing of Air Services Agreement between India-Taipei Association in Taipei (India’s representative office in Taiwan) and Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (Taiwan’s representative office in India). The Air Services Agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and Taiwan, and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two parties. The Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval for the Agreement on Labour Co-operation between India and Saudi Arabia. The Agreement was signed in Riyadh on 2-3 April, 2016 during the visit of the Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia. The Agreement would benefit the Indian emigrant workers, especially in the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled categories of workers who are working in Saudi Arabia without consideration of caste, creed, religion or gender. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Qatar for cooperation in Skill Development and Recognition of qualifications. The MoU will facilitate workforce mobility, skill development and placement of youth in overseas jobs in Qatar. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between United States of America and India to enhance cooperation in the field of wildlife conservation and combating wildlife trafficking. With the approval, India will benefit from the expertise of the US Institutions in the field of wildlife conservation and management of wildlife areas and in combating illegal trade of wildlife and their derivatives. The Union Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval to the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India (DGCA) and the French Civil Aviation to implement Technical Cooperation Programme for promotion and implementation of Standards and Recommended Practices of the International