AWARDS AND HONOURS
- Sahitya Akademi Award winners 2016
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
Complete list of winners 2016:
| Author | Title of books | Genre | Language |
| Jnan Pujari | Meghmalar Bhraman | Poetry | Assamese |
| Nrisinghaprasad Badhuri | Mahabharater Astadahi | Essay | Bengali |
| Anju (Anjali Narzary) | Ang Maboroi Dong Dasong | Poetry | Bodo |
| Chhatrapal | Cheta | Short Story | Dogri |
| Jerry Pinto | Em and the big Hoom | Novel | English |
| Kamal Vora | Anekek | Poetry | Gujarati |
| Nasira Sharma | Paarijat | Novel | Hindi |
| Boluwaru Mohammad Kunhi | Swatantryada Ota | Novel | Kannada |
| Aziz Hajini | Aane Khane | Criticism | Kashmiri |
| Edwin J.F. D’souza | Kale Bhangar | Novel | Konkani |
| Shyam Darihare | Barki Kaki at Hotmail Dot Com | Short Story | Maithili |
| Prabha Varma | Shyamamadhavan | Poetry | Malayalam |
| Moirangthem Rajen | Cheptharaba Eshingpun | Short Story | Manipuri |
| Asaram Lomate | Aalok | Short Story | Marathi |
| Gita Upadhyay | Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh | Novel | Nepali |
| Paramita Satpathy | Prapti | Short Story | Odia |
| Swarajbir | Masia Di Raat | Play | Punjabi |
| Bulaki Sharma | Murdjat Ar Dujee Kahaniyan | Short Story | Rajasthani |
| Sitanath Acharya | Kavyanirjhari | Poetry | Sanskrit |
| Gobinda Chandra Majhi | Nalha | Poetry | Santali |
| Nand Javeri | Akhar Katha | Poetry | Sindhi |
| Vannadhasan | Oru Siru Isai | Short Story | Tamil |
| Papineni Sivasankar | Rajanigandha | Poetry | Telugu |
| Nizam Siddiqui | Mabad-e-Jadidiat Se Naye Ahed Ki Takhliqiyat Tak | Criticism | Urdu |
- Kaisa Matomaki, Maksym Radziwill win 2016 SASTRA Ramanujan award
The 2016 SASTRA-Ramanujan award for mathematics was presented to Maksym Radziwill of McGill University, Canada, at the inauguration of the International Conference on Number Theory at SASTRA University at Kumbakonam. The joint winner is Kaisa Matomaki of University of Turku, Finland.
The award citation and the shared prize money of $5,000 was presented by Prof. Steven Weintraub from Lehigh University who is also the Associate Secretary of the American Mathematical Society. Prof. Radziwill will deliver the Srinivasa Ramanujan Birthday Commemorative Lecture on December 22.
- Ravichandran Ashwin named ICC Cricketer of the Year and Test cricketer of the Year
Ravichandran Ashwin won both the ICC Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Test cricketer of the Year award after he was named as the only Indian in ICC’s Test Team of the Year. Virat Kohli was named captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year, while Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma also featured in that team.
- Ravichandran Ashwin became the second Indian player after Rahul Dravid (2004) to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year.
- Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad is the ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year.
- West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite wins the ICC T20I Performance of the Year for his brilliant knock in the World T20 Final!
- Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman is the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
- South Africa’s Quinton de Kock is the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.
- MC Mary Kom gets AIBA’s Legends Award
Indian boxer M C Mary Kom is all set to add another honour to her glittering career when she receives the ‘Legends Award’ from the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on their 70th anniversary on 20 December. An Olympic bronze- medallist and a five-time world champion, Mary Kom is also Rajya Sabha MP.
Asian Games champion Vikas Krishnan received the AIBA Pro boxing Best Boxer trophy at the International Boxing Federation’s (AIBA).
INDIAN AFFAIRS
- World’s largest self-defence class held in Telangana
The Warangal police has secured its place in the Guinness Book of World Records by organising the largest self-defence training class, for 21,276 female students simultaneously. Female students from several schools and colleges had gathered at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Hanamkonda for the event.
- Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary sacked after I-T raid
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao, whose house and office were raided by Income Tax officials , has been sacked. Girija Vaidyanathan has replaced Rao as the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu government. Income Tax department yesterday raided Rao’s house in upscale Anna Nagar in Chennai. The raids are a part of investigation following the arrest of mining baron J. Shekhar Reddy.
- India to host 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space in 2017
India will host the fifth edition of the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCSS) in 2017 in which over 100 countries are expected to participate, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. “India has been selected for hosting Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) in 2017. It is recognition of India’s emerging role as big cyber power accelerated by Digital India which has gained international fame.
The UK had hosted the first GCCS in 2011 followed by Budapest in 2012. South Korea hosted the event 2013 and the Netherlands in 2015.
- December 22: National Mathematics Day
National Mathematics Day in India is celebrated on December 22. It commemorates the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician who made significant contributions to several fields of mathematics. Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887 in Erode.
The declaration to observe 22 December as National Mathematics Day was made by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012 at Madras University on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan. On this occasion, India and UNESCO agreed to work jointly in spreading the joy of mathematics and knowledge to students and learners across the world.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
- Nepal to hold first military exercise with China
Beginning a new level of bilateral military engagement, Nepal will hold its first ever joint military exercise with China on February 10. The focus of the military exercise, named Pratikar-1, will be on training Nepali forces in dealing with hostage scenarios involving international terror groups. Nepal’s Chief of Army Staff General Rajendra Chhetri visited Beijing in March when both sides had resolved to strengthen military ties.
SPORTS
- India’s Arjun Bhati wins in Kids Golf World Championship
12-year-old Arjun Bhati has outshined India in the Kids Golf World Championship 2016 in Malaysia defeating South Africa’s Methu Denish to secure the first position. In a competition in which 21 countries had participated, Arjun secured the top shot scoring two extra shots. Kids Golf World Championship is a special opportunity for boys and girls between ages 5 to 18 years to play in a world competition organised by US Kids Golf Foundation.
