Awards & Honours
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1st February to 15th February AWARDS & HONOURS The 68th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 8 February 2015 at the in London, to honour the best British and international contributions to film in 2014. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), accolades are handed out for the best in feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality, that were screened at British cinemas during 2014. Winners of the 68th Annual BAFTA Awards:- Best Film: Boyhood. Outstanding British Film: The Theory of Everything. Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood). Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything). Best Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice). Best Supporting Actor: K. Simmons (Whiplash). Best Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice). Best Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Best Adapted Screenplay: The Theory of Everything. Best Editing: Whiplash. Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman). Best Film Not in the English Language: Ida. Best Animated Film: The Lego Movie. Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema: BBC Films. Most awards: The Grand Budapest Hotel (5). Most nominations: The Grand Budapest Hotel (11). Elite economist and Noble laureate Professor Amartya Sen has been awarded the newly Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize for the year 2015. Amartya Sen is regarded as one of the elite thinkers and policy makers in the field of famine, poverty, economic liberalization, social justice etc. He has had a profound impact on the formation of development policy throughout the world. Sen currently is the Professor of Philosophy and Economics at the Harvard University in US. The Charleston -EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize was announced on May 23, 2015 by Director of Charleston trust. This global prize aims to honour an individual for exceptional and inter disciplinary talents in the spirit of famous British Economist John Maynard Keynes work and legacy. Two women scientists, Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan, were chosen as joint recipients of Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award 2014 for their significant contributions in the fields of missile technology and remote sensing. This award was established in 1986 in memory of distinguished chemical scientist and internationally renowned leather technologist Yelavarthy Nayudamma. It is conferred annually on persons who have made important contributions to the development of science and technology in the country. The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. Newcomer British artist Sam Smith won four awards, including Best New Artist, and Record and Song of the Year for "Stay with Me" from the album In the Lonely Hour, which won for Best Vocal Album. Beck's album Morning Phase was named Album of the Year. Both Pharrell Williams and Beyoncé took three honors; with her wins, Beyoncé became the second-most-honored female musician in Grammy history following Alison Krauss. Lifetime Achievement awards were given to the Bee Gees, George Harrison, Pierre Boulez, Buddy Guy, and Flaco Jimenez. In all, 83 Grammy Awards were presented, one more than in 2014. This year two Indians won Grammy Awards. They are - (i) Ricky Kej- His collaborated album Winds of Samsara won the Best New Age Album Trophy. (ii) Neela Vaswani- She won award in Children’s Album category for her album I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education and Changed the World (Malala Yousafzai). Dr. Zakir A Naik, a non-Arabic Indian Islamic scholar and a renowned authority on comparative religion, won the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for his service to Islam. The prize consists of a handwritten Arabic certificate summarizing the laureate's work, a commemorative 24-carat, 200-gram gold medal and a cash award of 750,000 Saudi Riyal (USD 199,901). Naik, 49, is the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation of India and a renowned authority on comparative religion. Two internationally acclaimed scholars of chemistry, Professor Omar Mwannes Yaghi from the US and Professor Michael Gratzel from Switzerland, were declared co-winners of the prize in science category (chemistry). The award for Islamic studies went to Dr Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Kaki, a consultant at Madinah Development Authority. Prof Jeffrey Ivan Gordon from the US was declared winner of the prize in medicine. The co-winners in any category share the monetary grant. The co-winner in science category, Yaghi, has made seminal contributions in the field of metal organic frameworks. Filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor's film "Dhanak" bagged The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the best feature-length film and also received a special mention at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. Distinguished journalist Vinod Mehta was conferred Uttar Pradesh's highest civilian award Yash Bharti by the State government. Yash Bharti Samman is conferred by the Uttar Pradesh Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports. The award was instituted by Mulayam Singh Yadav Government in 1994. It was discontinued by the Bahujan Samaj Party Government from 2007-2013, but later it was revived after a gap of six years. Vinod Mehta is one of India’s most influential editors and has launched a number of successful publications such as the Sunday Observer, Indian Post, The Independent, The Pioneer (Delhi edition) and Outlook. BUSINESS & CORPORATE The Rajasthan Government and Adani Enterprises Ltd., signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for developing solar parks with a capacity of 10,000 MW in the next ten years. Jack Ma-owned Alibaba, the largest e-tailer in the world, will acquire 25-per cent stake in One97 Communications, the parent of mobile commerce firm Paytm, as the Chinese e-commerce giant makes its debut in the rapidly expanding m-commerce space in India. Ant Financial Services, part of the Alibaba Group, said that it has entered in a strategic agreement to acquire 25-per cent stake in One97 to support the growth of mobile payment and commerce platform in India. Paytm will use the funds to grow its mobile payment ecosystem and further boost its commerce user base. The deal represents Ant Financial's first-ever investment in an Indian company. Ant Financial will also provide Paytm with strategic and technical support for its business. Established in October 2014, Ant Financial Services Group focusses on small and micro enterprises and consumers.It operates business like Alipay, Yu'e Bao, Zhao Cai Bao and Ant Credit and Alipay Wallet- largest mobile payment service provider in China with over 190 million users. Facebook tied-up with Reliance Communications to launch the internet.org app, an initiative to provide internet access to those who don't have it, along with the free basic services. This is the first time the Internet.org app will be available in the region. Internet.org provides access to popular websites and services with zero data charges in order to make it easier for people to access the internet, across both 2G and 3G platform. ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, launched first digital Bank in the country, “Pockets’, on a mobile phone. Anyone, including those who are not customers of ICICI Bank, can easily download the e-wallet from Google Playstore, fund it from any bank account in the country and start transacting immediately. This wallet uses a virtual Visa card which enables the users to transact on any website or mobile application in India. Customers can also request for a physical card to use it at any retail outlet, ICICI Bank said. The wallet allows users to instantly send money to any e-mail id, mobile number, friends on Facebook and bank account. The users can pay bills, recharge mobiles, book movie tickets, order food, send physical and e-gifts, split and share expenses with friends by using this e-wallet. The limit for transaction is of worth Rs. 10,000, if it is not linked to a savings account of the ICICI Bank. Users can choose to add a zero-balance savings account to the wallet, which will allow them to earn interest on their idle money. The universal wallet and the savings account are the first two products to be launched as part of the ‘Pockets’ digital bank. These products come with a new youth centric look and feel. ICICI Bank said that the wallet comes with best-in-class security features. It allows only one registration for a unique mobile number and requires mandatory authentication with user id and password for every login, among others. ICICI Bank has tied up with UAE Exchange to offer an instant bank transfer service to the Indians residing in the Gulf nation. ’FLASH remit’ service started by the bank enables customers to conveniently send money instantly to their beneficiaries in India in Indian Rupees. With over 3,800 branches in India, ICICI Bank has the largest branch network among private sector banks in the country. UAE Exchange currently it has over 750 branches across 32 countries, and is the world’s largest networked remittance brand. Its strong correspondent banking relationship, with close to 150 global banks, adds to the might. Software services exporter Infosys Limited announced to acquire US-based automation technology firm Panaya Inc. for 1200 crore rupees in cash. Panaya was originally founded in 2005 in Israel. Homegrown handset maker, Micromax has become India's biggest smartphone vendor, replacing Korean electronics giant Samsung, as per research firm analysis. In the recently concluded October-December 2014 quarter, the Gurgaon-headquartered firm controlled 22% market share in smartphones shipments in India -- one of the world's largest market for handsets -- beating Samsung which had 20% market share. Micromax's flagship line of products has very effectively targeted the $150-200 (Rs 9,000-12,000) segment with products like Canvas Nitro and Canvas Hue, it added.