General Awareness Updates – November 2009

Awards & Honours

Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2007

Renowned playback singer Manna Dey (left) has been nominated for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2007. Mr. Dey, one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema, ruled the playback music scene from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has sung more than 3,500 songs. The award, named after the father of Indian cinema Dada Saheb Phalke, is the highest honour in Indian Cinema.

Marathi film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’, by theatre-veteran Paresh Mokashi has been selected as India’s official entry to this year’s Oscars in the Foreign Film Category. The two-hour-long film depicts the struggle of Dada Saheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, to make ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in 1913, India’s first feature film. ‘Harishachandrachi Factory’ is the second Marathi film after ‘Shwaas’ in 2004 to be selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars.

Man Booker Prize 2009

The 2009 Man Booker Prize has gone to British novelist Hilary Mantel (right) for her gripping 16th century tale titled ‘Wolf Hall’. Ms. Mantel, 57, received £50,000 as prize money in what is considered one of the English-speaking world’s most prestigious literary prizes. Other writers who made the short-list this year were A. S. Byatt, J. M. Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer, and Sarah Waters. ‘Wolf Hall’ is set in the 1520s and tells the story of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to prominence in the Tudor court. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, first awarded in 1969, promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year.