Awards and Honours
Veteran Film Lyricist and Director Gulzar Selected For Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013
Veteran film lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet Gulzar has been conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2013. He is the 45th Dada Saheb Phalke Award Winner.The ministry of information and broadcasting announced on 12 April. The Dadsaheb Phalke award is India’s highest award for an individual for their contribution towards Indian cinema. It is annually given by the Government of India.He was born in 1934 in Punjab in pre-independence India. Sampooran Singh Kalra was his original name and he took the pen name of ‘Gulzar Deenvi’ after becoming an author.
61st National Film Awards
The 61st National Film Awards for 2013 was announced in New Delhi on 16 April by the Directorate of Film Festivals.’ Ship of Theseus ‘ directed by Anand Gandhi has won the Golden Lotus for Best Feature Film. The Best Actor award is shared between Shahid star Rajkummar Rao and Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramudu. Geetanjali Thapa won Best Actress for Liar’s Dice.
Following is the listing of Winners for important Categories :-
* Best Feature Film – ‘ Ship of Theseus ’ (Anand Gandhi)
* Best Director – Hansal Mehta for ‘ Shahid ’
* Best Actor – Raj Kumar for ‘ Shahid ‘ in hindi and Suraj Venjaramoodu for ‘ Perariyathavar ‘ in Malyalam
* Best Actress – Geetanjali Thapa for Hindi film ‘ Liar’s Dice ’
* Best Non Feature Film – ‘ Rangbhoomi ’ (Hindi film by Kamal Swaroop)
* Best Film on Social Issues – ‘ Tuhya Dharma Koncha ’ (Marathi)
* Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration – ‘ Thalaimuraigal ’ (Tamil)
* Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film – Nagraj Manjule for ‘ Fandry ’ (Marathi)
* Best Non Feature Film on Social Issues – ‘ Gulabi Gang ’
* Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – “ Bhaag Milka Bhaag ’ (Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra)
Indian-American Rajendra Singh Named White House’s Solar Champions Of Change
Indian-American professor Rajendra Singh was on 18 April named by the White House as the ‘Solar Champions of Change’ in recognition of his immense contribution towards developing alternate source of energy and promoting solar deployment in residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
Indian Activist Honoured with Goldman Environmental Prize – 2014
Indian environment activist Ramesh Agrawal has on 28 April won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize 2014 for helping villagers fight coal mining in Chhattisgarh and success in shutting down one of the largest planned coal mines in the area.