Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, G P Birla Memorial Award was conferred on V. Narayanan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space. The award was presented by Nirmala Birla, Chairperson of G P Birla Archaeological Astronomical and Scientific Institute. The award has a prestigious legacy and has earlier been given to 32 Nobel laureates. Past recipients include Nobel Prize winner Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, physicist Jogesh Pati, former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and former ISRO chief Kasturirangan. The award recognises global leaders for their contributions to scientific progress and innovation.

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Laura Dahlmeier, a 31-year-old German mountaineer and Olympic biathlon champion, died during an expedition on Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountains. She was caught in a rockfall at around 5,700 metres (18,700 feet) altitude. She was a double Olympic gold medallist in biathlon at Pyeongchang 2018 and won 15 World Championship medals.

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India won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the 18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2025 held in Mumbai from August 15–21. The event hosted 288 students from 63 countries. Indian gold medalists are Aarush Mishra (Bengaluru), Banibrata Majee (Delhi), Panini (Patna) and Akshat Srivastava (Kolkata). Sumant Gupta (Gurugram) won the silver medal. Iran emerged as the top performer with all five members winning gold medals. The event was organized by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)

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Ajay Singh was re-elected as Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president for a third consecutive term on August 21, 2025. Singh defeated Olympian boxer Jaslal Pradhan with 40 votes against 26 in Gurugram. Pramod Kumar elected as Secretary-General and Pon Baskaran as Treasurer. Election was overseen by Justice (Retd) Rajesh Tandon and Fairuz Mohammed, WB (World Boxing) representative. Ajay Singh prioritized grassroots development, empowering junior and youth athletes, and strengthening India’s international boxing presence.

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Anand V. Patil has been honoured with Prof. V.K. Gokak Award. The award ceremony is held in Bengaluru on September 7 2025. The award is named after Prof. Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, a prominent Indian literary figure. It recognises individuals with significant contributions to Indian literature, especially in the Kannada language. The award highlights the importance of promoting regional literature and nurturing young readers. Anand V. Patil’s recognition reflects his lasting impact on children’s literary culture in India.

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Recently, Muzaffarpur district of Bihar secured first rank in the INSPIRE Award Scheme of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. A record 7,403 students submitted innovative ideas, surpassing Bengaluru Urban (7,306) and Bagalkot, Karnataka (6,826). Under INSPIRE, students from Class 6–10 get ₹10,000 to develop innovative models, later exhibited up to the National Level Exhibition (NLEPC). Selected top 60 ideas are displayed at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the President honours students. Ideas must be novel, practical, socially useful, and eco-friendly, e.g., water conservation, renewable energy, pollution control, and assistive devices.

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The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, launched a new category “National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) for Content Creators and Influencers” under National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) 2025. The initiative supports Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) by spreading awareness on energy efficiency and sustainable living. NECA, instituted in 1991, is a prestigious platform recognizing excellence in energy conservation across industries, institutions, and buildings. For the first time, NECA includes the digital community to leverage influencers’ reach for nationwide awareness.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer received the Living Bridge Award for promoting closer India-UK relations and securing the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Seema Malhotra, Indian-origin Minister for the Indo-Pacific in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), accepted the award on his behalf. The Living Bridge Awards, organised by India Business Group (IBG), also honoured GMR Group, businessman G P Hinduja, KPMG UK chair Bina Mehta, and University of Southampton. The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) aims to double bilateral trade to USD 120 billion by 2030.

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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth award recognising innovators from India, Kenya , and the United States. The award is UNEP’s flagship youth engagement initiative for entrepreneurs under 30. The Young Champions program, founded by UNEP in 2017, was relaunched in 2025 with Mr. Kemper as UNEP’s Advocate for Partnerships. Jinali Mody (India) won the 2025 UNEP Young Champions of the Earth award for founding Banofi Leather, producing eco-friendly leather from banana crop waste, reducing water use, chemical pollution, and carbon emissions. Joseph Nguthiru (Kenya) won for HyaPak, converting invasive water hyacinth into biodegradable packaging and seedling wrappers, reducing single-use plastics. Noemi Florea (United States) won for Cycleau, developing a compact greywater reuse system that turns household wastewater into drinking water with low energy consumption.

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The National Geoscience Awards (NGA) 2024 were conferred by President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, New Delhi, on 26th September 2025. The award was instituted in 1966 by the Ministry of Mines. These awards were earlier called National Mineral Awards till 2009. They honour excellence in mineral discovery, mining technology, beneficiation, and applied geosciences. For 2024, 208 nominations were received, and 12 awards were finalized through a three-stage process. A total of 20 geoscientists received the awards, including 9 individual and 3 team awards.