1. Rourkela Steel Plant wins SAIL's ‘Best Integrated Steel Plant’ award
The Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) won the 'Best Integrated Steel Plant' award as part of the SAIL Corporate Awards for Excellence - 2020-21.
The award was presented by Soma Mandal, Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
The award was received by Atanu Bhowmick, director in-charge of RSP, accompanied by BR Babu, chief general manager (blast furnace) and I Rajan, chief general manager (traffic, with additional responsibility of utilities and environment).
Rourkela Steel Plant in particular received the award for its exceptional performance in the last financial year in terms of production, productivity, techno-economics and profitability even during the most challenging times of pandemic.
Earlier, the plant had won the Energy Conservation Award in the Eastern Zone ENCON Awards 2021 competition in November last year.
About Rourkela Steel Plant
Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), the first integrated steel plant in the public sector in India.
It was set up with German collaboration with an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes.
Subsequently, its capacity was increased to 2 million tonnes of hot metal, 1.9 million tonnes of crude steel and 1.67 million tonnes of saleable steel.
It is the first plant in India to incorporate LD technology of steel making.
2. Atal Tunnel receives IBC Best Infrastructure Project award
Tags: Awards National News
The Atal Tunnel, built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), received the ‘Best Infrastructure Project’ award from the Indian Building Congress (IBC).
Director General BRO, Lt Gen Rajeev Choudhary received the award during the 25th Annual Conference of IBC for the outstanding achievement of BRO in the construction of this tunnel connecting Manali to Lahaul-Spiti Valley.
About Atal Tunnel
The 9.02 km long Atal Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel globally and connects Manali with Lahaul-Spiti Valley throughout the year.
It provides a strategic advantage to the armed forces by providing an alternate link to the crucial Ladakh region.
It has also been a boon to the residents of Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh.
This tunnel, built using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 03, 2020.
It is equipped with a semi-transverse ventilation system, where large fans circulate air separately throughout the tunnel.
An emergency tunnel has been integrated into the tunnel cross-section under the main carriageway for evacuation during emergencies.
Fire inside the tunnel will be controlled within an area of 200 metres and fire hydrants will be provided at specific locations throughout the tunnel.
Pollution sensors continuously monitor the air quality in the tunnel and if the air quality in the tunnel is below the desired level, fresh air is injected into the tunnel through two heavy fins on each side of the tunnel.
3. India set a Guinness World Record by hoisting 78,220 tricolours simultaneously
Tags: Popular Awards National News
According to the Union Ministry of Culture, India has registered its name in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of simultaneous hoisting of the national flag.
On 23 April 2022, India achieved this feat by waving 78 thousand 220 tricolours together in the Veer Kunwar Singh Vijayotsava program at Dulour Maidan, Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district of Bihar.
The Veer Kunwar Singh Vijayotsav program was organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture under the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
For this record, bands were worn to physically identify the attendees, and the entire event was video-recorded.
Earlier this world record was held by Pakistan when around 56,000 Pakistani flags were hoisted at a ceremony in Lahore in 2004.
4. PM Modi receives first Lata Mangeshkar Award
Tags: Awards Person in news
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the first Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar Award for his selfless service to the nation and society at the 80th Annual Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award ceremony in Mumbai.
Addressing the award ceremony, Modi said that he dedicates this award to all the citizens of the country.
The award has been Established in the memory of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar.
The Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award aims to honour stalwarts in the fields of music, drama, art, medicine and social work.
Every year this award will be given to a person who has made outstanding, brilliant and extraordinary achievements for the country, its citizens and society.
This award will be given in the memory of Master Dinanathji who was a singer, composer and theatre artist, his significant contribution in the field of music has been a source of inspiration for the people of India.
The Dinanath Mangeshkar Memorial Award was organised in his honour by the Mangeshkar family.
5. Bhushan Kumar and Sahyog Leprosy Yagya Trust International Gandhi Award 2021
Tags: Awards
Dr. Bhushan Kumar from Chandigarh and Sahyog Leprosy Yagya Trust, Gujarat, have been conferred with the International Gandhi Award for Leprosy-2021 by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu at a function in New Delhi.
The award, instituted by the Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation, is given every year.
The award for the year 2020 was given by Dr. N.S. Dharmashaktu was given the International Gandhi Award in the individual category and the Leprosy Mission Trust in the institutional category.
6. Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2022 to Prabhat Patnaik
Tags: Awards Person in news
Eminent Indian economist and political commentator Prabhat Patnaik has been named as the recipient of the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for the year 2022.
The award is given annually by the Malcolm and Elizabeth Adisia Trust to an outstanding social scientist.
Dr Patnaik has taught at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and has served as the Deputy Chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board.
7. Uttar Pradesh adjudged the best state in the 3rd National Water Awards
Tags: Awards
President Ram Nath Kovind felicitated the winners of the 3rd National Water Awards in New Delhi.
57 awards were presented annually to States, Organizations, and Individuals in 11 different categories.
During the event, President also launched the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign 2022” which will continue to be implemented this year till 30th of November.
The National Water Award was launched by the Jal Shakti Ministry in 2018
National Water Awards are constituted to recognise and motivate individuals and organizations doing exemplary work in the field of water resources management in attaining the government’s vision of a ‘Jal Samridh Bharat’.
List of Winners-
Best State - Uttar Pradesh, followed by Rajasthan and Tami Nadu.
Best District
North Zone - Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh
South Zone - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
West Zone - Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Eastern Zone - East Champaran, Bihar
North East Zone - Goalpara, Assam
About Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain 2022
In 2022, some new features have been added-
Spring shed development
Protection of water catchment areas
Gender mainstreaming in the water sector. (Gender mainstreaming will promote the role of women in water governance/conservation & management.)
State Governments will set up Jal Shakti Kendras in each district which will offer a one-stop solution to all water-related problems/ issues and draw district water conservation plan.
All the Sarpanchs will administer the Jal Shapath to the people in the village
Local Community people will act as “water warriors” by actively participating in water conservation work.
District Magistrate and Gram Sarpanchs will play the role of “Marg Darshak” for motivating every individual toward water conservation to ensure that the desire of “Jan Shakti for Jal Shakti” is fulfilled.
8. Pritzker Architecture Prize 2022
Tags: Awards
Diebedo Francis Kere of Burkina Faso has become the first African and the first black person to be awarded architecture’s highest international honour, the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
The Pritzker Architecture prize is considered the Nobel Prize of architecture.
The award consists of $100,000 (US) and a bronze medallion.
In 2018, Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas won this award.
About the Pritzker Prize
Founded in 1979 by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy, the award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation.
It is given every year.
9. American Mathematician Dennis Parnell Sullivan wins Abel Prize 2022
Tags: Awards Person in news
American Mathematician Dennis Parnell Sullivan is awarded the Abel Prize for the year 2022, by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Mr Sullivan is affiliated with the Graduate School and University Centre of the City University of New York and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He is awarded for his groundbreaking contributions to topology in its broadest sense, and in particular its algebraic, geometric and dynamical aspect.
Topology is a field of mathematics which was born in the 19th century and has to do with properties of surfaces that do not change when they are deformed.
His another key breakthrough is in developing a new way of understanding rational homotopy theory
About Abel Prize
The Abel Prize is a prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modelled after the Nobel Prizes. It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK).
First Awarded - 2003
Indian American mathematician SR Srinivasa Varadhan, who is known for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviations, was awarded the Abel Prize in 2007.
10. Narayan Pradhan selected for GD Birla Award for Scientific Research
Professor Narayan Pradhan has been selected for the 31st GD Birla Award for Scientific Research 2022 for his outstanding contribution in the field of material sciences. This was announced by the K.K.Birla foundation on 14 March 2022.
Professor Narayan Pradhan is presently a member of the faculty at the School of Material Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur,West Bengal.
GD Birla Award for Scientific Research
The GD Birla award was started by the K.K.Birla foundation in 1991 to honour the founder of the Birla group, Ghanshyam Das Birla.
It is given to an Indian scientist living in India and under the age of 50 years for outstanding research in the past 5 years.
It carries a cash prize of Rs 5 Lakhs.
30th award 2021 winner : Prof Suman Chakraborthy.
It is given every year.
