Current Affairs 13th December

J M Sali awarded 2015 South East 

Asia Write Award

Indian-origin writer Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali from Singapore has been awarded prestigious 2015 South East Asia Write Award.

 The award was bestowed upon him at the annual ASEAN regional award for literary excellence in Bangkok, Thailand.

 About Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali

•  Jamaludeen Mohamed Sali (famously known as J M Sali) was born in Madras in 1939. 
• He had moved to Singapore at the age of 25 after he was invited to be an assistant editor of newspaper Tamil Murasu by its founder late G Sarangapani.
•  In Singapore, he had worked at local broadcasting station and produced books on famous people including martial art icon Bruce Lee and legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
•  He has been writing for over 5 decades and has written 57 books, 80 plays and more than 400 short stories. 
• His short stories like Vellai Kodugal (White Lines), Alaigal Pesuginrana (the Sound Of The Waves) are being studied by Tamil Literature students in Singapore and Indian universities.
•  Awards and Honours: He has won several literary awards to his credit including Singapore’s prestigious Cultural Medallion.

About Southeast Asian Write Award

The award was established in 1979. It is being presented annually to poets and writers in Southeast Asia region. It is especially bestowed upon a writer from a country that is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The award is given for a specific work by an author or awarded for lifetime achievement

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar conferred with Padma 

Vibhushan

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar (93) has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian award. It was bestowed upon him by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Union Government had selected veteran actor for the Padma Vibhushan on the eve of 66th Republic Day on January 25, 2015.About Dilip Kumar 

• He was born in Peshawar, Pakistan in 1922 and his original name was Muhammad Yusuf Khan. 

• He spent his childhood in Maharashtra and left home to start a canteen before he was picked up as a potential actor

• His debut film was Jwar Bhata (1944) produced by Bombay Talkies. In his acting career spanning six decades, he had acted in over 60 films including Mela, Naya Daur, Aan, Devdas, Madhumati and Mughal-E-Azam.

•  He started a second inning in film industry after a break of 5 years in 1981 he acted in Kranti and his last appearance was in Qila of 1998.

•  He is famously known as Tragedy King and Oscar winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray had described him as the ultimate method actor.

•  He was nominated as Member of Rajya Sabha in 2000 and remained parliamentarian till 2006. 

• Autobiography: The Substance and the Shadow written by author and former journalist Udaya Tara Nayar. 

• Awards and Honours: Padma Bhushan (1991), 

• Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1994), 

• Pakistan’s highest civilian award Nishan-e-Imtiaz (1998).

Ahmad Javed appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has appointed senior IPS officer Ahmad Javed as India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. His appointment will fill the vacancy of the post of Ambassador in Indian Embassy in Riyadh since April 2015 after retirement of Hamid Ali Rao. He is IPS officer of 1980 batch from Maharashtra Cadre. Prior to this appointment Mr. Ahmad Javed was serving as Mumbai Police commissioner.

India-Saudi Arabia Relations

• From trading point of view, oil rich Saudi Arabia is a crucial and important country for energy starved India from energy security (especially petroleum) perspective. 

• Saudi Arabia is India’s largest supplier of crude oil and accounts for 80 per cent of India’s crude oil import that forms a major component of bilateral trade with the Gulf nation.