Heads of Important Offices in India

Mr. Narendra Modi : Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan : Speaker, Lok Sabha.
Mohammad Hamid Ansari : Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. P. J. Kurien : Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Arun Jaitley : Leader of House (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad : Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Arvind Panagariya : Vice-Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mr. Harishankar Brahma : Chief Election Commissioner.
Syed Nasim Zaidi : Election Commissioner.
Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma : Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
Mr. Justice K. G. Balakrishnan : Chairperson, National Human Right Commission (NHRC)
Mr. Ajit Kumar Seth : Cabinet Secretary.
Mr. Nripendra Misra : Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
Justice V. Eshwaraiah : Chairman, National Commission for Backward Classes.
Ms. Shanta Sinha : Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
Dr. P. L. Punia : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes
Dr.Rameshwar Oraon : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
Mr. Deepak Gupta : Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan : Chairman, National Commission on Farmers (NCF).
Mr. Ajit Kumar Doval : National Security Adviser and Special Adviser to PM (Internal Security).
Mr. Sharad Kumar : Director-General, National Investigation Agency (NIA)
Mr. A. K. Mital : Chairman, Railway Board.
Mr. Shumsher K. Sheriff : Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha
Mr. T. K. Viswanathan : Secretary-General, Lok Sabha.
Mr. Dineshwar Sharma : Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha : Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Mr. Rajinder Khanna : Director, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Mr. Jayanto Narayan Choudhury : Director-General, National Security Guard (NSG).
Mr. Prakash Mishra : Director-General, CRPF.
Mr. Devendra Kumar Pathak : Director-General, Border Security Force (BSF).
Mr. Arvind Ranjan : Director-General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Mr. P. K. Mehta : Director-General, Railway Protection Force. (RPF)
Mr. Parkash Mishra : Director-General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Mr. B. D. Sharma : Director-General, Sashastra Seema Bal.
Vice-Admiral Anurag G. Thapliyal : Director-General, Indian Coast Guard.
Lt. Gen. Avtar Singh : Director-General, Defence Intelligence Agency.
Prof. Ved Prakash : Chairman, UGC.
Dr. Avinash Chander : Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation. (DRDO)
Dr. R. Chidambaram : Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government.
Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar : Chairman, Space Commission and ISRO.
Mr. Ratan Kumar Sinha : Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Dept. of Atomic Energy.
Mr. Naseem Ahmad : Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities.
Mr. Amitava Bhattacharya : Chairman, Staff Selection Commission (SSC).
Dr. Vishwa Mohan Katoch : Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Mr. C. Chandramouli : Registrar-General of India and Census Commissioner.
Justice D. K. Jain : Chairman, Law Commission.
Dr. B. N. Suresh : President, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).
Mr. Justice (Retd.) B. N. Kirpal : Chairman, National Forest Commission.
Mr. T. Nanda Kumar : Chairperson, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
Lt. General AT Parnaik : Director-General, Border Roads Organisation.
Dr. Raghuram Rajan : Governor, RBI.
Justice Mr. Chandramauli Kumar Prasad : Chairman, Press Council of India.
Mr. Ravindra Pisharody : Chairman, Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
Mr. R. K. Tewari : Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Mrs. J.M. Shanti Sundharam : Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Mr. Ashok Chawla : Competition Commission of India
Justice Syed Rafat Alam : Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal
Mr. R.S.T. Sai : CMD, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
Mr. R. S. Sharma : CMD, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Mr. B. C. Tripathi : CMD, GAIL.
Mr. S. Behuria : Chairman, IOC.
Mr. Sunil Kumar Srivastava : CMD, Oil India Ltd.
Dr. Satbir Bedi : Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Mr. U. K. Sinha : Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala : Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya : Chairman, SBI.
Mr. M. S. Raghavan : Chairman, IDBI.
Justice Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh : Chairman, Company Law Board.
Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri : India's Permanent Representative to UN.
Mr. S. K. Roy : Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
Mr. Ashwin Pandya : Chairman, Central Water Commission.
Ms. Lalitha Kumarmangalam : Chairperson, National Commission for Women.
Dr. Y. V. Reddy: Chairman, 14th Finance Commission.
Dr. Pronob Sen : Chairman, National Statistical Commission.
Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani : Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Dr. Rakesh Tewari : Director-General, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Dr. Jyotsna Suri : President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Dr. Rahul Khullar : Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 
Dr. Rajan Katoch : Director, Enforcement Directorate.
Mr. R. V. Verma : Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Dr. Sekhar Basu : Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Mr. N. Ramachandran : President, Indian Olympic Association.
Prof. B.K.Tripathi : Acting Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Mr. Ajay S. Shriram : President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 
Dr. A. Surya Prakash : Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
Mr. Ratan Tata : Chairman, Investment Commission.
Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya : Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Mr. R. Chandrasekaran : Chairman, NASSCOM.
Mr. Ramesh Sippy : Chairman, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
Mr. Ravindra Kumar: Chairman, United News of India.
Mr. Mahendra Mohan Gupta : Chairman, PTI.
Mr. Kiran B. Vadodaria : President, Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
Mr. Rana Kapoor : President, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 

87th Academy Awards (Oscar Awards 2015)

87th Academy Award, popularly called Oscar Awards, was conferred on 22 February 2015. The award ceremony was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

The Oscar Awards for the year 2015 were presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 24 categories.

The awards were produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan and directed by Hamish Hamilton. Actor Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony for the first time.

The list of winners of 87th Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Birdman
• Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
• Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
• Best Actress: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
• Best Supporting Actor: JK Simmons for Whiplash
• Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Achievement in Costume Design: Milena Canonero for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Best Foreign Language Film: Ida directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
• Best Live Action Short Film: The Phone Call
• Best Documentary Short Subject: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
• Original Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo for Birdman
• Achievement in Sound Mixing: Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley for Whiplash
• Achievement in Sound Editing: Alan Robert Murray Bub Asman for American Sniper
• Achievement in Visual Effects: Ian Hunter, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley and Paul Franklin for Interstellar
• Best Animated Short Film: Feast directed by Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
• Best Animated Movie: Big Hero Six 6
• Achievement in Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Achievement in Cinematograph: Emannuel Lubezki for Birdman
• Achievement in Film Editing: Tom Cross for Whipalsh
• Best Documentary Feature: Citizen Four directed by Laura Poitras
• Best Original Song: John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn for Glory
• Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore for The Imitation Game

Services Tax

List of Jnanpith Award Winners (1965–2014)

Jnanpith Award is being given for the best creative literary writing by any Indian citizen in any of the languages included in the VIII Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The Award is the brain-child of late Smt. Rama Jain, the first President of and the moving spirit behind the Bharatiya Jnanpith since its inception. It has become the most prestigious literary award of the country. This awards inlude sum of Rs. 5 lakhs including citation.

Year : Name – Works (Language)
1965 : G. Sankara Kurup – Odakkuzhal [Flute] (Malayalam)
1966 : Tarashankar Bandopadhyaya – Ganadevta (Bengali)
1967 : Kuppali Venkatappagowda Puttappa (Kuvempu) – Sri Ramayana Darshanam (Kannada)
1967 : Umashankar Joshi – Nishitha (Gujarati)
1968 : Sumitranandan Pant – Chidambara (Hindi)
1969 : Firaq Gorakhpuri – Gul-e-Naghma (Urdu)
1970 : Viswanatha Satyanarayana – Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu [A resourceful tree:Ramayana] (Telugu)
1971 : Bishnu Dey Smriti – Satta Bhavishyat (Bengali)
1972 : Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' – Urvashi (Hindi)
1973 : Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre – Nakutanti [Naku Thanthi (Four Strings)] (Kannada)
1973 : Gopinath Mohanty – Paraja (Oriya)
1974 : Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar – Yayati (Marathi)
1975 : P. V. Akilan – Chitttrappavai (Tamil)
1976 : Ashapurna Devi – Pratham Pratisruti (Bengali)
1977 : K. Shivaram Karanth – Mookajjiya Kanasugalu [Mookajjis dreams] (Kannada)
1978 : Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Ajneya' – Kitni Navon Men Kitni Bar [How many times in many boats?] (Hindi)
1979 : Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya – Mrityunjay [Immortal] (Assamese)
1980 : S. K. Pottekkatt – Oru Desathinte Katha [Story of a land] (Malayalam)
1981 : Amrita Pritam – Kagaj te Canvas (Punjabi)
1982 : Mahadevi Varma – Yama (Hindi)
1983 : Maasti Venkatesh Ayengar – Chikkaveera Rajendra [Life and struggle of Kodava King Chikkaveera Rajendra] (Kannada)
1984 : Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai – Kayar [Coir] (Malayalam)
1985 : Pannalal Patel – Maanavi Ni Bhavaai (Gujarati)
1986 : Sachidananda Rout Roy (Oriya)
1987 : Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (Kusumagraj) – Natsamrat (Marathi)
1988 : Dr.C. Narayana Reddy – Vishwambhara (Telugu)
1989 : Qurratulain Hyder – Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar (Urdu)
1990 : V. K. Gokak (Vinayaka Krishna Gokak) – Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi (Kannada)
1991 : Subhas Mukhopadhyay – Padati (Bengali)
1992 : Naresh Mehta (Hindi)
1993 : Sitakant Mahapatra – "for outstanding contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature, 1973-92" (Oriya)
1994 : U. R. Ananthamurthy – for his contributions to (Kannada) literature (Kannada)
1995 : M. T. Vasudevan Nair – Randamoozham [Second Chance] (Malayalam)
1996 : Mahasweta Devi – Hajar Churashir Ma (Bengali)
1997 : Ali Sardar Jafri (Urdu)
1998 : Girish Karnad – "for his contributions to (Kannada) literature and for contributions to (Kannada) theater (yayati)" (Kannada)
1999 : Nirmal Verma (Hindi)
1999 : Gurdial Singh (Punjabi)
2000 : Indira Goswami (Assamese)
2001 : Rajendra Keshavlal Shah (Gujarati)
2002 : D. Jayakanthan (Tamil)
2003 : Vinda Karandikar – Ashtadarshana (poetry) (Marathi)
2004 : Rahman Rahi – Subhuk Soda, Kalami Rahi and Siyah Rode Jaren Manz (Kashmiri)
2005 : Kunwar Narayan (Hindi)
2006 : Ravindra Kelekar (Konkani)
2006 : Satya Vrat Shastri (Sanskrit)
2007 : O. N. V. Kurup (Malayalam)
2008 : Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar' (Urdu)
2009 : Amar Kant (Hindi)
2009 : Shrilal Shukla (Hindi)
2010 : Chandrashekhara Kambara – for his contributions to Kannada literature (Kannada) 

2011 : Pratibha RayYajnaseni (Oriya)

2012 : Ravuri Bharadhwaja - For his notable contribution to Telugu literature (Telugu)

2013 :   Kedarnath Singh - For his notable contribution to Hindi literature. ‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works (Hindi)

2014  : Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade (Marathi)

‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works - See more at: http://www.onlinegk.com/current-affairs/current-affairs-june-2014#sthash.QTmHJyfr.dpuf

Padma Awares 2015

  Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma Awards to 104 persons as per the list below. The list comprises of 9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri Awardees.  17 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 17 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and 4 Posthumous awardees.

 

Padma Vibhushan

S. No.	Name of the Awardee	Discipline	State/Domicile
1.	Shri L. K. Advani	Public Affairs	Gujarat
2.	Shri Amitabh Bachchan	Art	Maharashtra
3.	Shri Prakash Singh Badal	Public Affairs	Punjab
4.	Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade	Social Work	Karnataka
5.	Shri Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar	Art	Maharashtra
6.	Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya	Others	Uttar Pradesh
7.	Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan	Science and Engineering	Tamil Nadu
8.	Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal	Public Affairs	Delhi
9.	Shri Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner)	Trade and Industry	France/UK

Padma Bhushan

1.	Shri Jahnu Barua	Art	Assam
2.	Dr. Vijay Bhatkar	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
3.	Shri Swapan Dasgupta	Literature and Education	Delhi
4.	Swami Satyamitranand Giri	Others	Uttar Pradesh
5.	Shri N. Gopalaswami	Civil Service	Tamil Nadu
6.	Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap	Public Affairs	Delhi
7.	Dr. (Pandit) Gokulotsavji Maharaj	Art	Madhya Pradesh
8.	Dr. Ambrish  Mithal	Medicine	Delhi
9.	Smt. Sudha Ragunathan	Art	Tamil Nadu
10.	Shri Harish Salve	Public Affairs	Delhi
11.	Dr. Ashok Seth	Medicine	Delhi
12.	Shri Rajat Sharma	Literature and Education	Delhi
13.	Shri Satpal	Sports	Delhi
14.	Shri Shivakumara Swami	Others	Karnataka
15.	Dr. Kharag Singh Valdiya	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
16.	Prof. Manjul Bhargava (NRI/PIO)	Science and Engineering	USA
17.	Shri David Frawley (Vamadeva) (Foreigner)	Others	USA
18.	Shri Bill Gates (Foreigner)	Social Work	USA
19.	Ms. Melinda Gates  (Foreigner)	Social Work	USA
20.	Shri Saichiro Misumi (Foreigner)	Others	Japan

Padma Shri

1.	Dr. Manjula Anagani	Medicine	Telangana
2.	Shri S. Arunan	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
3.	Ms. Kanyakumari Avasarala	Art	Tamil Nadu
4.	Dr. Bettina Sharada Baumer	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
5.	Shri Naresh Bedi	Art	Delhi
6.	Shri Ashok Bhagat	Social Work	Jharkhand
7.	Shri Sanjay Leela Bhansali	Art	Maharashtra
8.	Dr. Lakshmi Nandan Bora	Literature and Education	Assam
9.	Dr. Gyan  Chaturvedi	Literature and Education	Madhya Pradesh
10.	Prof. (Dr.) Yogesh Kumar Chawla	Medicine	Chandigarh
11.	Smt. Jayakumari Chikkala	Medicine	Delhi
12.	Shri Bibek Debroy	Literature and Education	Delhi
13.	Dr. Sarungbam Bimola  Kumari Devi	Medicine	Manipur
14.	Dr. Ashok Gulati	Public Affairs	Delhi
15.	Dr.  Randeep  Guleria	Medicine	Delhi
16.	Dr. K. P. Haridas	Medicine	Kerala
17.	Shri Rahul Jain	Art	Delhi
18.	Shri Ravindra Jain	Art	Maharashtra
19.	Dr. Sunil Jogi	Literature and Education	Delhi
20.	Shri Prasoon Joshi	Art	Maharashtra
21.	Dr. Prafulla Kar	Art	Odisha
22.	Ms. Saba Anjum	Sports	Chhattisgarh
23.	Smt. Ushakiran Khan	Literature and Education	Bihar
24.	Dr. Rajesh Kotecha	Medicine	Rajasthan
25.	Prof. Alka Kriplani	Medicine	Delhi
26.	Dr. Harsh Kumar	Medicine	Delhi
27.	Shri Narayana Purushothama Mallaya	Literature and Education	Kerala
28.	Shri Lambert Mascarenhas	Literature and Education	Goa
29.	Dr. (Mrs.) Janak Palta McGilligan	Social Work	Madhya Pradesh
30.	Shri Veerendra Raj Mehta	Social Work	Delhi
31.	Shri Tarak Mehta	Art	Gujarat
32.	Shri Neil Herbert Nongkynrih	Art	Meghalaya
33.	Shri Chewang Norphel	Others	Jammu and Kashmir
34.	Shri T. V. Mohandas Pai	Trade and Industry	Karnataka
35.	Dr.Tejas Patel	Medicine	Gujarat
36.	Shri Jadav Molai Peyang	Others	Assam
37.	Smt. Bimla Poddar	Other	Uttar Pradesh
38.	Dr. N. Prabhakar	Science and Engineering	Delhi
39.	Dr. Prahalada	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
40.	Dr. Narendra Prasad	Medicine	Bihar
41.	Shri Ram Bahadur Rai	Literature and Education	Delhi
42.	Ms. Mithali Raj	Sports	Telangana
43.	Shri P. V.  Rajaraman	Civil Service	Tamil Nadu
44.	Prof.  J. S. Rajput	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
45.	Shri Kota Srinivasa Rao	Art	Andhra Pradesh
46.	Prof. Bimal Roy	Literature and Education	West Bengal
47.	Shri Shekhar Sen	Art	Maharashtra
48.	Shri Gunvant Shah	Literature and Education	Gujarat
49.	Shri Brahmdev Sharma (Bhaiji)	Literature and Education	Delhi
50.	Shri Manu Sharma	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
51.	Prof. Yog Raj Sharma	Medicine	Delhi
52.	Shri Vasant Shastri	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
53.	Shri S. K. Shivkumar	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
54.	Ms. P. V. Sindhu	Sports	Telangana
55.	Shri Sardara Singh	Sports	Haryana
56.	Ms. Arunima Sinha	Sports	Uttar Pradesh
57.	Shri Mahesh Raj Soni	Art	Rajasthan
58.	Dr.Nikhil Tandon	Medicine	Delhi
59.	Shri H. Thegtse Rinpoche	Social Work	Arunachal Pradesh
60.	Dr.Hargovind Laxmishanker Trivedi	Medicine	Gujarat
61.	Shri Huang Baosheng (Foreigner)	Others	China
62.	Prof. Jacques Blamont (Foreigner)	Science and Engineering	France
63.	Late Shri Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin (Posthumous)	Others	Maharashtra
64.	Shri Jean-Claude Carriere (Foreigner)	Literature and Education	France
65.	Dr. Nandrajan “Raj” Chetty (NRI/PIO)	Trade and Industry	USA
66.	Shri George L. Hart (Foreigner)	Others	USA
67.	Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja (NRI/PIO)	Others	Portugal
68.	Late Shri Meetha Lal Mehta (Posthumous)	Social Work	Rajasthan
69.	Ms. Tripti Mukherjee (NRI/PIO)	Art	USA
70.	Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori (NRI/PIO)	Medicine	USA
71.	Dr. Raghu Rama Pillarisetti (NRI/PIO)	Medicine	USA
72.	Dr. Saumitra Rawat (NRI/PIO)	Medicine	UK
73.	Prof. Annette Schmiedchen (Foreigner)	Literature and Education	Germany
74.	Late Shri Pran Kumar Sharma alias Pran (Posthumous)	Art	Delhi
75.	Late Shri R. Vasudevan (Posthumous)	Civil Service	Tamil Nadu