APRIL 2013 QUICK UPDATES

ACRONYMS

C.P.P.C.C.-Chinese People's Political Consultative

Conference

D.P.R.K.-Democratic People's Republic of Korea FAC-Forest Advisory Committee

I.A.M.R.-Institute of Applied Manpower Research

I.C.M.O.S.-International Council on Monuments and

Sites

N.C.R.B.-National Crime Records Bureau

N.H.P.C.-National Hydroelectric Power Corporation NMA-National Monuments Authority

APPOINTMENT / ELECTION /     NOMINATION

1.  John Kerry Sworn in as New US Secretary of State

John Kerry was sworn in on February 2, 2013 as America's Secretary of State, less than two hours after Hillary     Clinton

swept out of office. He  took  an oath administered       by

Supreme   Court Justice Elena Kagan. Kerry   has an illustrious    career spanning over three decades  of  public life. For the last four years, he was Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
          A Vietnam war veteran, Kerry played a key role in shaping the country's foreign policy and national security and a range of issues including nuclear non-proliferation and global climate change.

As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, in 2010, Kerry was instrumental in renewing the New START Treaty, a vital nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.

During the confirmation hearing of US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell in February last year, Kerry had said, "There are few relationships that will be vital in the 21st century as our growing ties with India and its people. On all of the most critical global challenges that we face, India has a central role to play."

US Secretary of State

·     John Kerry is the 68th Secretary of State and was sworn in on February 2, 2013.

·     The former senator of Massachusetts took over from Hillary Rodham Clinton.

·       Kerry was a presidential candidate in 2004 and had lost to George W. Bush.

·        The 69-year old has a major from Yale University in Political Science.

·        Kerry was also the Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

2.  MOHAN PARSARAN

Within days of senior lawyer Rohinton Nariman

resigning as Solicitor General, the Government appointed Senior Advocate and Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran as Solicitor General. Son of Rajya Sabha MP and former Attorney-General K. Parasaran, Parasaran (52), is considered an expert in Constitutional and Commercial laws, regularly appearing for the Centre in high-profile cases. He was first appointed ASG on 29, 2004 during UPA-I for a three-year term and has been in the post ever since.

3.  RATAN TATA ELECTED TO PRESTIGIOUS NAE

Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata, along with eight Indian-Americans, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, which is the highest professional distinction accorded to an engineer in the USA. The National Academy of Engineering in a statement said that Ratan Tata has been elected as one of the 11 new Foreign Members of the Academy for his outstanding contribution to industrial development in India and the world.

4.  S.JAYARAMAN

Special Director of Intelligence Bureau S. Jayaraman has taken over as the new special secretary (Internal security) in the Union Home Ministry. The post was under dual change of Ajay Chadda, Director-General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Jayaraman, 1977-batch IPS Officer of West Bengal cadre, has the tenure till October.

5.  K. K. CHAKRAVARTY

K. K. Chakravarty, a retired bureaucrat who had steered the National Museum and other cultural institutions in the past, was named the new Chairman of Lalit Kala Academy on February 12, 2013. President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the appointment of 1979 batch lAS officer.

Chakravarty had served the Madhya Pradesh government in several capacities and was also the Vice-Chancellor of the National Museum Institute.

GENERAL JOSEPH DUNFORD TAKES CHARGE OF NATO

US Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford took over on February 10, 2013 as the new and probably last Commander of all US and International Forces in Afghanistan.

The   American-led      NATO coalition is entering the final stretch of its participation in a war that will have lasted more than 13 years when

most foreign combat troops pull out at the end of 2014. Dunford took over leadership of the International Security Assistance Force and a smaller but separate detachment of the US troops, from Gen. John Allen, who had led them for the past 19 months.

EX. CBI DIRECTOR A. P. SINGH MADE UPSC MEMBER

Former CBI Director Amar Pratap Singh, who retired on November 30,

2012, has been appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission.

Singh, a 1974-batch IPS officer of Jarkhand Cadre, supervised some high-profile cases, including the 2G spectrum scam, during his tenure as he CBI Chief. Singh will be the 10th member of the Commission, which conducts, among others, the prestigious Civil services examination every year. The former CBI Chief will fill in the vacancy left by the superannuation of former Delhi Police Commissioner  K. K. Paul  earlier this month.

A member of the Union Public Service Commission is appointed for a period of five years or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

PERSONS IN THE NEWS

Lauren Marbe [16-year-old schoolgirl       has higher IQ than Einstein]

A 16-year-old schoolgirl in the UK is believed to have an IQ higher

than Einstein's after scoring a record 161on the Mensa brain test, according to a report. Lauren Marbe stunned her teachers by scoring 161 on the Mensa brain test after she was entered with other pupils from her school.

The teenager loves fake tanning, having blonde highlights, manicures and getting glammed up parties with her friends, the Daily Mail reported.

Laurens amazing brain test score means she is brighter than physicist Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates  and  even scientist Albert Einstein-who all have an IQ of 160.

Einstein never took an IQ test as none of the modern intelligence tests existed during the course of his life,

but experts believe he had an IQ of around 160.

The IQ test is designed to test a range of abilities to determine the

level of intelligence of the student-in the UK the average score is 100.

Lauren has been enrolled in prestigious high-IQ society Mensa,

which means she is officially in the top one per cent of cleverest people in the world. The schoolgirl says she is delighted to have 'blown away' the Essex stereotype.

"It was such an achievement and I got a bit tearful to tell you the truth," Lauren, of Loughton, Essex, said. "I was one of the last people to get my result and everybody before me had got around the 130 mark so that was the kind of result I was expecting. My teachers knew I was quite clever because of my grades but they had always thought I was blonde and a bit ditzy. Now they

keep saying I didn't realise you were that clever," she said.

PENG DAN

Nominated to Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

1.      Dan, 40, known for her roles in skin flicks like'Honk Kong Show Girls' and 'Erotic Ghost Story: Perfect Match'

2.      Peng's nomination has divided opinion and triggered an online debate about the selection procedure

3.              Peng Dan starred in a patriotic movie called'Lovely China' in 2009 and a revolutionalry movie on Mao's Red Army

4.      According to the list of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, there are 2,237 members, including actor Jackie Chan and Noble Laureate Mo Yen

5.      Peng Dan was born on November 10,1972 in Changsha, Hunanure. She was a member of Beijing Ballet Troupe for three years (1990)

DEATH

Veteran Congress leader and former Puducherry

Chief Minister P. Shanmugham died on February 2, 2013 after sustaining head injuries from a fall in the bathroom at his residence in Nedunkadu near Karkail, the police said. Shanmugham (86), was first rushed to a government hospital and preparations were on to shift him to Puducherry for further treatment. Elected from Yanam, he was Chief Minister from 2000 to 2001.

RESIGNATION

ROHINTON NARIMAN

The uneasy relationship between the UPA-II Government and its top law officers once again reached a flash point on February 4, 2013 with the resignation of Solicitor General Rohinton Nariman, within 18 months of taking over. Nariman is the fifth law officer to opt out of the government's legal team since UPA-II came back to power in 2009. The Government has also seen three Law Ministers in less than four years. Nariman, the second highest ranking Law Officer of the Government after the Attorney-General, chose to send his resignation directly to the Prime Minister and merely marked a copy of it to Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Nariman's   predecessor Gopal         Subramanium had also quit in July 2011        to protest the government's decision to bypass him in a matter related to the 2G spectrum scam in the Supreme Court. Interestingly,  Subramanium  was  replaced by Nariman to represent the telecom ministry, who also went on to succeed him later. Apart from the two, Additional Solicitor-Generals-Parag Tripathi, Vivek Tankha and Biswajit Bhattacharya bid good bye to the government posts and returned to private practice.

NATWAR GANDHI

Natwar Gandhi, an Indian American money manager who turned around the finances of Washington DC, resigned as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on February 1, 2013 citing personal reasons.

Born in Gujarat, Natwar Gandhi was first appointed CFO of Washington DC on June 7, 2000. He holds a doctorate in accounting from Louisiana State University, a master's degree in business administration from Atlanta

University and an LLB and BCom in accounting from the University of

His 15-year tenure is considered instrumental in the District's financial

improvements since the late 1990s when the federal government had to step in to manage its budget  Earlier this week, the District ended its 2012 fiscal
year in October with a surplus of $417 million: Washington's 'rainy day
fund ' now stands at $1.5 billion, the highest in seven years.

Gandhi, 72, served two five-year terms as Washington DC's CFO and had just received a third five-year term amid praise for guiding the city from being broke during the 1990s to a $ 417 million surplus and $ 1.5 billion in budget reserves at last count. But buffeted by scandals in tax collection and leakages despite high regard for his personal probity, Gandhi quit after saving less than a year of his third term.

The local media also hinted at a budding romance for the grandfatherely poet-manager-he has several books of verse in Gujarati-who was widowed in 2011.

"Though I look forward to the next chapter in my life, this was not an easy decision," Gandhi wrote in his resignation letter to mayor Vincent Gray.

FIRST TIME IN 500 YEARS, AILING POPO ‘RETIRES’

Pope Benedict XVI surprised the world on February 11, 2013 by saying he no longer had the mental and physical   strength  to cope with the demands of his ministry, becoming the first pontiff to

step down. The 85-year-old German born Pope said he noticed that his strength had deteriorated over recent months. He said "I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter."

The pontiff steps down on February 28. A new Pope will probably be elected by the end of March.

Meanwhile, it is reported that five cardinals from India will participate in the conclave at the Vatican in the Holy Week beginning March 24 and vote to elect the next Pope after Benedict XVI. Only 117 of the total of 206 Cardinals of the Universal Catholic Church will be eligible to vote in the conclave to elect the 266th successor of St. Peter. They are : Telesphore Toppo Archbishop of Patna), Oswald Gracias (Archbishop of Mumbai), Mar George

Alenchery and Mar Baselios Cleemis, heads of the Syro

Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches and Ivan Dias (Roman Curia), former Archbishop of Mumbai.

AWARDS/HONOURS

Ela Bhatt Conferred 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development Award. The  President  of India Pranab Mukherjee on February 18, 2013 conferred 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and   Development Award   to   Ela Ramesh   Bhatt,  a renowned   women social worker. The award  was  given away at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

Ela Bhatt was given away the award for life time

achievements in women empowerment, promotion of grassroot level entrepreneurship as well as contribution towards promotion of equitable development and peace.

Ela Bhatt has her organisation SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association). President Pranab Mukherjee while giving away the award announced that SEWA was a vehicle of self employment and self reliance for the Indian women, while at the same time being synonymous with the rural inclusiveness.

Ela Bhatt

•   Ela Bhatt is the founder of more than 1 million

SEWAs in India.

•   Since years, Ela Bhatt has been working for women

empowerment and bringing women out of poverty through promotion of Self Help Groups.

•   SEWA has empowered women with freedom as well

as financial self-reliance.

85th Academy Awards 2013: 'Argo', 'Life of Pi' Big Winners

The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, referred to as The Oscars, took place February 24, 2013. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) presented its annual Academy Awards to honour the best films of 2012 that played in the United States. The ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. Seth MacFarlane hosted the Academy Awards for the first time. It was the most watched ceremony since the 76th

Academy Awards in 2004, with 4240 million viewers.

Ben Affleck's Iran hostage drama 'Argo' won the coveted best film Oscar on February 24, 2013, while Daniel Day-Lewis took a record third best actor prize at the 85th Academy Awards. Taiwan-born Ang Lee won best director for his spectacular        3D

fantasy 'Life of Pi,' while     Jennifer Lawrence      was crowned best actress for 'Silver Linings Playbook.'     Les Miserables also won

three awards. 'Life of Pi' won the most Oscars with four, against three for 'Argo' and 'Les Miserables,' two each for 'Django Unchained' and 'Lincoln', and one for 'Zero Dark Thirty.' Django Unchained, Lincoln and Skyfall won two awards each. Other winners were Silver Linings Playbook, Brave, Zero Dark Thirty, Anna Karenina, Searching for Sugar Man, Inocente, Curfew, Amour and Paperman with one award each. Jennifer Lawrence won the Best Actress award for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, becoming the second youngest winner in the category.

Daniel Day-Lewis won a third Best Actor award (the most for any actor) for portraying the titular character in

Lincoln.

Lawrence, star of the 'Hunger Games' franchise, got a standing ovation as she took to the stage, after she stumbled on her way up the stairs. She beat fellow nominees including the youngest ever best actress Oscar nominee, nine-year-old  uvenzhane Wallis, and the oldest ever, French star Emmanuelle Riva, who celebrated her 86th birthday Sunday. Day-Lewis, who had been widely expected to win best actor, appeared to fight back tears as he took the stage as the first man to win three best

actor Oscars-his others were for 'My Left Foot' in 1990

and 2007's'There Will Be Blood'.

He is notorious for his meticulous preparation for roles, often spending months fully in character even before filming starts. Austrian director Michael Haneke's Cannes winning 'Amour,' starring Riva as an elderly woman being cared for by her husband as her health slowly deteriorates, won the best foreign language film prize at the Oscars.  Best supporting actor went to Austrian Christoph Waltz, who played a dentist turned bounty hunter in Quentin Tarantino's blood-spattered spaghetti western tribute 'Django Unchained.'  Tarantino won for best original screenplay. Anne Hathaway won best supporting actress-and joined fellow 'Les Miserables' cast members in singing hits from the movie. The cast of 'Chicago' also

reunited in song, on the 10th anniversary of its best picture Oscar win. The best animated feature film award

went to Scottish-themed 'Brave,' which beat fellow

nominees including video game adventure 'Wreck-It Ralph,' which had been tipped as the marginal front-
runner. Affleck-the first person to win best picture without being nominated as director since 'Driving Miss Daisy' in   1990-had been given a diplomatic boost Saturday when new U. S. secretary of State John Kerry tweeted best wishes.

Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi', about a shipwrecked Indian boy, registered early wins at the 85th Academy awards by taking home the Oscars 2013 trophies for the best cinematography and visual effects.

Moreover, Claudio Miranda won the best cinematography trophy for his stunning camera work in the 3D movie while a nervous Miranda said the film, which was largely shot in a huge water tank, was 'quite a piece' to make and that he was really happy for it and expressed his nervousness saying can't even speak, before ending his speech by thanking director Lee, his wife and daughter.

In fact, the film also won in the visual effects category with Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White taking home the golden statuette and that the team paid tribute to the Rhythm and Hues, the company behind the VFX, which has filed for bankruptcy.

The awards were presented by 'The Avengers' team Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson.

Austrian Amour (Love), which is a poignant drama about a retired music teacher's desire to die as she struggles with old age, won the best foreign film trophy at the 85th Academy Awards. Moreover, the Michael Haneke directed movie, also nominated for the best picture and director, was a strong favourite to win the foreign film Oscar. The story revolves around a retired music teacher and her husband of 60 years as they struggle with the debilitating effects of two strokes on both her health and her quality of life. As Georges cares for the increasingly unhappy Anne, the pair finds the nature of their life together irrevocably changed.

AWARDS WINNERS' LIST

Oscar Awards 2013 winners :

•   Best Picture-Argo

•   Best Actor-Daniel Day-Lewis for'Lincoln'

•   Best Actress-Jennifer Lawrence for 'Silver Linings   Playbook'

•   Best Direction-Ang Lee for 'Life of Pi'

•   Best Writing (Original Screenplay)-Quentin Taran         tino for'Django Unchained'

•   Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)-Chris Terrio for      'Argo'

•   Best Original Song-Adele for'Skyfall'

•   Best Original Score-Mychael Danna for'Life of Pi'

•   Best Production Design (Lincoln)-Rick Carter
          (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)

•   Best Film Editing-William Goldenberg for'Argo'

•   Best Actress in a Supporting Role-Anne Hathaway
          for 'Les Miserables'

•   Best Foreign Language Film-'Amour'

•   Best Documentary (Feature)-'Searching for Sugar

Man'

•   Best Documentary (Short Subject)-'Inocente'

•   Best Short Film (Live Action)-Shawn Christensen
          for 'Curfew'

•   Best Make-up and Hair Styling-Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for 'Les Miserables'

•   Best Costume Design-Jacqueline Durran for 'Anna

Karenina'

•   Best Visual Effects-'Life of Pi'

•   Best Cinematography-Claudio Miranda for'Life of    Pi

•   Best Animated Feature Film   'Brave'

•   Best  Short  Film    (Animated)-John  Kahrs  for 'Paperman'

•   Best Supporting Actor-Christoph Waltz for 'Django      Unchained'

RATAN TATA AWARDED THE LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2012 BY ERNST AND YOUNG

Ratan Tata, the former head of Tata Group was awarded the life time achievement award 2012 by Ernst and Young on February 21, 2013. He was given away the award for displaying great role for the Indian businessmen on global business level.

The entrepreneur of the year 2012 award was given away to Adi Godrej, Godrej Group Chairman. It is important to note that entrepreneur of the year award is an only business award which is based on self-nomination. Also, Ernst and Young announced names of successful entrepreneurs in various categories and these awards were given away to T.T. Jagannathan, Chairman, TTK Group; Francisco D'Souza Chief Executive Officer, Cognizant Technology Solutions; Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Managing Director, Serum Institute of India and Onkar S. Kanwar, Chairman and Managing Director, Apollo Tyres.

Ernst and Young Award 2012 Winners List

·     The Entrepreneur of the Year India 2012 award in Ernst and Young Award 2012: Adi Godrej from Godrej Group

·        The Lifetime Achievement Award in Ernst and Young Award 2012: Ratan Tata from Tata Group

·     The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Business Transformation: Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla from Serum Institute of India.

·        The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Life Sciences and Healthcare: Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty from Narayana Hrudayalaya

·     The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Services: Dhiraj  C. Rajaram  from  Mu Sigma Business Solutions.

·        The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Manager: Francisco D'Souza from Cognizant Technology Solutions

·        The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Startup: Dr. Naresh Trehan from Medanta (The Medicity)

·        The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Manufacturing: Onkar S. Kanwar from Apollo Tyres

·        The Entrepreneur of the Year in the Category of Consumer Products.: T. T. Jagannathan from TTK Group.

SILVER LINING  PLAYBOOK WINS FOUR AWARDS AT THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Silver Linings Playbook won four awards at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on February 24, 2013. The movie won best film, best screenplay, best director for David O. Russell and best actress for Jennifer Lawrence at the film awards. The awards were presented by Daniel Radcliffe, Salma Hayek and Jeremy Renner. John Hawkes got best actor award for portraying the late disabled journalist in The Sessions. Hawkes hoped that the movie would help change perceptions of disability. Other major highlights of the award function are as following-

•   Best foreign film went to Oscar favourite Amour,     directed by Michael Haneke.

•   Best documentary award was won by The Invisible War, which addresses rape and sexual abuse in the U.S. military.

•   The best first feature prize went to Perks of Being a Wallflower, which stars Emma Watson.

55TH GRAMMY AWARDS 2013 DECLARED

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Fun, Frank Ocean, Mumford and Sons, Jay-Z, Kanye

West and Dan Auerbach received the most nominations

with six each, all of whom were male artists.

Gotye       and Kimbra   won   the Record of the Year for 'Somebody That I  Used   to Know', becoming the second Australian  and first New Zealand act to win the award. Mumford  and Sons won the Album of the Year for  Babel,  and Fun won the Song of the Year (with Jeff Bhasker) for 'We Are Young' as well as the Best New Artist. Kelly Clarkson won the Best Pop Vocal Album for Stronger, becoming the first and only artist to win the award twice Dan Auerbach won the

most   number   of awards   during the ceremony, with four (including  three  as part   of  The  Black Keys);  followed by The   Black   Keys, Gotye, Jay-Z, Skrillex, Kanye   West,  with

three   each.   Other multiple winners include : Chick Corea, Fun, Kimbra, Mumford and Sons, Frank Ocean, Matt Redman and Esperanza Spalding with two awards each.

The Recording Academy introduced three new categories to the 78 awards previously presented at the 54th ceremony-Best Classical Compendium, Best Latin Year (with Jeff Bhasker) for 'We Are Young' as well as the Best New Artist. Kelly Clarkson won the Best Pop Vocal Album for Stronger, becoming the first and only artist to win the award twice Dan Auerbach won the

most number of awards   during the ceremony, with four (including  three  as part   of  The  Black Keys);  followed by The   Black   Keys, Gotye, Jay-Z, Skrillex, Kanye   West,  with

three   each.   Other multiple winners include : Chick Corea, Fun, Kimbra, Mumford and Sons, Frank Ocean, Matt Redman and Esperanza Spalding with two awards each.

The Recording Academy introduced three new categories to the 78 awards previously presented at the 54th ceremony-Best Classical Compendium, Best Latin Jazz Album, and Best Urban Contemporary Album,

bringing it to a total of 81 awards.   70 of them were

presented at the pretelecast at the Nokia Theatre, with the remaining 11 were presented at the main ceremony. Bruce Springsteen received the MusiCares Person of the Year award on February 8, 2013 at the 23rd Grammy Benefit Gala at the Los Angeles Convention Center, two nights prior to the main ceremony. The official poster was designed by Artist Erika Iris Simmons. The program producer is AEG Ehrlich Ventures, with Ken Ehrlich serving as executive producer, Louis J. Horvitz as director and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich as writers.

GRAMMY AWARDS 2013 LIST

Record of the Year-'Somebody That I Used to Know', Gotye feat. Kimbra.

Album of the Year-Babel, Mumford and Sons

Song of the Year-'We Are Young', (Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost and Nate Reuss, songwriters (Fun. feat. Janelle Monae)

Best New Artist-Fun.

Best Pop Solo Performance-'Set Fire to the Rain' (Live), Adele

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance-'Somebody That I Used to Know', Gotye feat. Kimbra

Best Pop Vocal Album-Stronger, Kelly Clarkson

Best Dance/Electronica Album-Bangarang, Skrillex

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album-Kisses on the Bottom, Paul McCartney

Best Rock Performance-'Lonely Boy', Black Keys

Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance-'Love Bites' (So Do I), Halestorm

Best Rock Song-'Lonely Boy', Dan Auerbach, Brian

Burton and Patrick Carney (Black Keys)

Best Rock Album-El Camino, Black Keys

Best Alternative Music Album-Making Mirrors, Gotye

Best R and B Performance-'Climax', Usher

Best Traditional R and B Performance-'Love on Top,' Beyonce

Best R and B Song-'Adorn', Miguel

Best Urban Contemporary Album-Channel Orange, Frank Ocean

Best R and B Album-Black Radio, Robert Glasper Experiment

Best Rap Performance-'N****s in Paris', Jay-Z and

Kanye West

Best Rap Song-'N****s in Paris', Jay-Z and Kanye

West

Best Rap Album-Take Care, Drake

Best Country Solo Performance-'Blown Away', Carrie Underwood

Best Country Album-Uncaged, Zac Brown Band

Best Blues Album-Locked Down, Dr. John

Best Reggae Album-Rebirth, Jimmy Cliff

Best Comedy Album-Blow Your Pants Off, Jimmy Fallon

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media-The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
          Best Historical Album-The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Boxed Set), Beach Boys

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical-Dan Auerbach

RECIPIENTS OF   2013 DAN DAVID PRIZE ANNOUNCED

American intellectual and literary editor of The New Republic Leon Wieseltier, University of Cambridge historian Prof. Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, and preventative medicine specialists Prof. Cynthia Kenyon and Prof. Garya Ruvkun are among the winners of the 2013 Dan David Prize, which annually awards three prizes of $ 1 million each. The

prizes are granted for ‘proven, exceptional and distinct

excellence in the sciences, arts and humanities that have made and outstanding contribution to humanity.'     The laureates, who donate 10% of their prize money towards 20 doctoral and postdoctoral Tel Aviv University scholarships, will be honoured at a ceremony at the university on June 9, 2013 during the University's International Board of Governors Meeting from June 6-10.

The Dan David Prize is named for the late international businessman and philanthropist Dan David. Its international headquarters are located at Tel Aviv University. Each year the International Board chooses one field within the three time dimensions of Past (highlighting fields that expand knowledge of former times), Present (recognizing achievements that shape and enrich contemporary society) and Future (focusing on break-

throughs that hold great promise for the improvement of our world). Following a review process by independent Review Committees comprised of renowned scholars and professionals, the International Board then chooses the laureates for each field.

'CHILD'S POSE' WINS GOLDEN BEAR FOR BEST FILM AT 2013 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

The 63rd Berlin International Film was held in February 2013. The top prize of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival went to Romanian drama 'Child's Pose'. The movie that gives an insight into corruption endemic in the country was chosen by a panel of judges led by filmmaker Wong   Kar-wai   as a winner of Golden Bear for Best Film on February 16, 2013. The movie is directed by Calin Peter Netzer. It revolves around a wealthy domineering woman who sees a chance to regain control over her adult son when he faces manslaughter charges in a fatal accident. The woman uses her social position in Romanian upper class to try to save him from jail.

Best Director award was awarded to U.S. filmmaker David Gordon Green for his work on comedy ' Prince Avalanche', a remake of Icelandic film 'Either Way'. It's about two road workers who develop an unlikely friend ship while whiling their way through a long, monotonous summer.

Best Actress prize was handed to Chile actress Paulina Garcia for her title role in 'Gloria'. She plays a 58 year-old divorcee who's determined to find happiness as she's bouncing from one party for the singles to another while struggling to overcome disappointment.

Gus Van Sant-directed movie about shale gas drilling, 'Promised Land' were among the Special Mentions. The Matt Damon-starring drama, though didn't win any award, was lauded along with some other films for 'the integrity of their vision and their conviction that cinema can make a difference.'

•   Golden Bear for Best Film-'Child's Pose' by Calin     Peter Netzer (Romania)

•   Silver Bear for Best Director-David Gordon Green
          for 'Prince Avalanche'

•   Jury Grand Prix-'An Episode in the Life of an Iron    Picker' by Danis Tanovic (Bosnia)

•   Silver Bear for Best Actress-Paulina Garcia for 'Gloria'

•   Alfred Bauer Prize-'Vic + Flo Saw a Bear' by Denis
          Cote (Canada)

•   Silver Bear for Best Screenplay-'Closed Curtain' Jafar Panachi (Iran)

•   Silver   Bear   for  Artistic  Contribution-Aziz Zhambakiyev for cinematography on 'Harmony     Lessons'

•   Special Mention-'Promised Land' by Gus Van Sant

•   Special Mention-'Layla Fourie' by Pia Marais

•   First Feature Award-'The Rocket' Kim Mourdant
          (Australia)

BEST SHORT

•   Golden Bear-'The Runaway' Jean-Bernard Marlin (France)

•   Silver Bear-'Remains  Quiet'  Stefan  Kriekhaus

(Germany)

•   First Feature Award-'The Rocket' Kim Mourdant

(Australia)

TEDDY AWARDS

•   Best Feature Film-'In the Name of...' by Malgoska         Szumowska (Poland)

•   Best Documentary Film-'Bambi' by Sebastien Lifshitz (France)

•   Best Short Film-'Undress Me' Victor Lindgren        (Sweden)

•   Special Jury Award-'Concussion' by Stacie Passon (U.S.)

CRYSTAL BEARS FOR GENERATION 14 PLUS

•   Best Film-'Baby Blues' by Kasia Roslaniec (Poland)

•   Special  Mention-'Pluto' by Shin Su-won (South
          Korea)

•   Best Short Film-'Rabbitland' by Ana Nedeljkovic, Nikola Majdak (Serbia)

•   Special Mention-'Treffit' by Jenni Toivoniemi          (Finland)

CRYSTAL BEARS FOR GENERATION K PLUS

•   Best Film-'The Rocket' by Kim Mordaunt (Australia)        

•   Special  Mention-'Satellite Boy' by Catriona McKenzie (Australia)

•   Best Short Film-'The Amber Amulet' by Matthew     Moore (Australia)

•   Special Mention-'Hedgehogs and the City' by        Evalds Lacis (Latvia)

•   Dialogue en perspective Prize-'Two Mothers' by      Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany)

INTERNET   TITANS FORM WORLD’S RICHEST ACADEMIC PRIZE FOR LIFE SCIENCES

Eleven scientists, most of them American, were named in February 2013 as the first winners of the world's richest academic prize for medicine and biology-$ 3 million each, more than twice the amount of the Nobel

Prize. The award, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, was established by four Internet titans led by Yuri Milner, a Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist who caused a stir last summer when he began giving physicists $ 3

million awards.

The others, whom Milner described as old friends, are Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google Inc., Anne Wojcicki, the founder of the genetics company 23 and Me and Brin's wife; and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook Inc. They plan to give five awards annually.

Wojcicki said the prize was meant to reward scientists "who think big, take risks and have made a significant impact on our lives". "These scientists should be household names and heroes in society", she said.

Many of the first winners have done work on the intricate genetics of cell growth and how it can go wrong to produce cancer. The new prize announced at a news conference in San Francisco, along with the following recipients;

·        Cornelia I. Bargmann, who investigates the nervous system and behaviour at Rockefeller University • David Botstein of Princeton University, who maps disease markers in the human genome.

·        Lewis C. Cantley of Weill Cornell Medical College,           who discovered a family of enzymes related to cell    growth and cancer.

·        Hans Clevers of the Hubrecht Institute in the     Netherlands, who has studied how processes in adult    stem cells can go wrong and cause cancer

·        Napoleone Ferrara of the University of California,
          San Diego, whose work on tumour growth has led to therapies for some kinds of cancer and eye disease.

·        Titia de Lange, who works on telomeres, the protective tips on the ends of chromosomes, at Rockefeller University.

·        Eric S. Lander of the Broad Institute of Harvard and    the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a leader of        the Human Genome Project

·        Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who has investigated the signalling pathways that drive a cell to cancer.

·        Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University, who discovered a protein that suppresses the growth of tumours and devised a model for the progression of colon cancer that is widely used in colonoscopy.

·        Robert A. Weinberg of MIT, who discovered the first human oncogene, a gene that when mutated causes cancer.

·        Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, who has done groundbreaking work in developing stem cells.