Padma Awards 2011 Announced
In the list of 128 awardees for Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri announced by the Union Home Ministry, members of trade and industry were represented in equal measure.
Infosys Chief Executive S. Gopalakrishnan, ITC’s Y. C. Deveshwar, Dr. Reddy Laboratories’ K. Anji Reddi, Max Group’s Analjit Singh, NIIT’s R. S. Pawar, GVK Group’s G. V. K. Reddy, HCL’s Ajai Chowdhry, and ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar were in the list of Padma Bhushan awardees.
Padma Shri
Fareeda Group’s M. Rafeeque Ahmed, pharma major Orchid Group’s K. Raghavendra Rao and Singapore-based investor Satpal Khattar were named for Padma Shri awards.
Bharat Ratna-Sangeet Ratna – Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Passes away
Legendary vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who enthralled generations of connoisseurs with his renditions of Hindustani classical music, passed away. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is a recipient of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India.
Joshi, the most-celebrated exponent of ‘Kirana gharana’ of Khansahib Abdul Karim Khan, leaves behind three sons and a daughter. Who was the most powerful figure on the Hindustani music concert platform of ‘khayal gayki’.
Born on 4th February, 1922 at Gadag in Dharwad district of Karnataka, Joshi got a boost to his career during a concert in Pune in January 1946 on the occasion of the 60th birthday of his guru Sawai Gandharva. He was 87.
Airtel launches 3G service in India
Airtel has announced to launch 3G service in 40-plus cities in 13 telecom circles by March this year and cover 1500-plus cities across the country by March next year.
Airtel introduced two types of 3G data services plans. First one one is time-based plans for light users of data where usage and billing will be by hour and the second one is flexi-shield plans for heavy users of data where usage and billing will be capped. There would be sachet packs of Rs ten, Rs 60, Rs 200, Rs 450 and Rs 750, and for heavy-users, the entry-level price is Rs 650 (up to 1.25 GB) going up to Rs 2,000 (up to 14 GB).
Rahman Bags 2 Oscar Nominations
After his double win at the 2009 Academy awards, music maestro A R Rahman has a chance to repeat the feat this year winning two Oscar nominations for his music in Danny Boyle’s film 127 Hours.
If I Rise, the 45-year-old singer-composer’s collaboration with British pop star Dido, has been nominated in the Best Song category.
Rahman will also be competing for the Best Original Score trophy with John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon), Hans Zimmer (Inception), Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech) and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network).
The nominees in the Best Song category are Coming Home from Country Strong, I See the Light from Tangled and We Belong Together from Toy Story 3.
The Mozart of Madras first won the award for his music in Boyle’s Mumbai-based potboiler Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. He had lost out on the golden trophy last year, after his song Na Na (from Couple’s Retreat) failed to get a nomination despite being in the long list for the ‘Best Song’ category.
Rahman has already won a Critics Choice award this year for the film, which has received good reviews for it’s “haunting tracks” and “wonderful crescendos”, and is in the running for a Best Original Music BAFTA for the same.