President confers Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been conferred with India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at his residence on 6 Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi. In December 2014, Union Government had chosen Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with late educationist and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya (posthumously) for the prestigious award.

ISRO gets Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 for its contribution to the country’s development through space technology and satellite-based services. The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in 1995. The prize comprises of Rs. 1 crore and a citation. Some of its previous winners are Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Julius K Nyerere, Baba Amte, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan and Ramkrishna Mission.

Google Inc appointed Ruth Porat as Chief Financial Officer

Ruth Porat has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of world’s largest search engine giant Google. She will succeed Patrick Pichette who had announced his retirement on 10 March 2015 and assume charge on 26 May 2015. As CFO of Google she will directly report to Larry Page, CEO and Co-Founder of Google. Currently, she is working as Chief Financial Officer at Morgan Stanley.

Akhil Sharma Wins 2015 Folio Prize for Novel Family Life

Indian-American novelist Akhil Sharma’s novel Family Life has won the prestigious Folio Prize 2015. The Folio Prize is sponsored by The Folio Society, the celebrated publisher of beautiful editions of the world’s greatest books. The Folio Prize 2015, worth £40,000, aims to recognise and celebrate the best English-language fiction from around the world, published in the UK during a given year, regardless of form, genre or the author’s country of origin. It is the first major English-language book prize open to writers from all over the world.

Veteran poet Neeraj gets national Kavi Pradeep award

Renowned Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj has received the first National Kavi Pradeep Samman award. The National Kavi Pradeep award has been introduced by the Madhya Pradesh government in the reminiscence of Kavi Pradeep, the noted poet and songwriter who is best known for his devoted song ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo’ written in respect to the soldiers who died protecting the country during the Sino-Indian War. The prize included a cash prize of two lakh rupees, a shawl and a citation.

Delhi becomes first State to launch e-ration card service

Delhi government has launched First E-ration card service in India. It was launched Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 27 March 2015. In this service, E-ration card will be linked with Aadhaar cards in order to curb corruption and increase transparency in the system.