Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Hiromasa Urakawa, a 28-year-old Japanese boxer, died from brain injuries sustained in a fight in Tokyo. He was knocked out in the eighth round against Yoji Saito on August 2 and later died after surgery for subdural haematoma, a bleeding between the skull and brain. This comes after Shigetoshi Kotari also died from similar injuries in the same event at Korakuen Hall. The Japan Boxing Commission reduced all Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) title fights from 12 to 10 rounds. Urakawa is the third high-profile boxing death in 2025, after Irish boxer John Cooney’s death from intracranial haemorrhage in February.

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L. Ganesan, Governor of Nagaland and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Tamil Nadu, passed away in Chennai on August 15, 2025, at the age of 80. He had earlier served as Governor of Manipur and held additional charge as Governor of West Bengal. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during school days and became its chief organiser in Tamil Nadu during the Emergency. He was admired for his role in Hindu unity during Meenakshipuram conversions and Mandaikkadu riots. In 1991, he shifted to BJP, serving as Tamil Nadu unit president, general secretary, and later as BJP vice-president. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh in 2017.

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Karikot village in Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh, won the Indian Subcontinental Responsible Tourism (ICRT) Award 2025. The award is presented by ICRT India Foundation with support from the Ministry of Tourism. The ceremony will be held in New Delhi on 13th September 2025. The award honors leaders in sustainable tourism, reducing negative impacts and enhancing positive outcomes. Karikot stood out for its Tharu tribal-led eco-tourism, homestays, and cultural immersion near Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

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The 8th National Anubhav Awards were held in New Delhi in 2025, marking the 10th anniversary of the initiative. The scheme was launched in 2015 by the Government of India under the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare. It aims to record experiences of retiring officials as institutional memory through the Anubhav Portal. Awards recognise memoirs highlighting significant contributions and promote transparency, citizen-centric governance, and better human resource management. This year, 15 awardees from 11 ministries were honoured, including one-third women.

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The 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture winners were announced on September 2, 2025, with the award ceremony held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The seven winning projects, including Khudi Bari in Bangladesh and Vision Pakistan, were selected from a shortlist of 19 projects and address themes like community resilience and climate-responsive design. For the 2025 award cycle, India did not have any projects on the final shortlist. The Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) continue to be active in India. In 2024, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture partnered with the Archaeological Survey of India to develop a modern sunken museum at the 16th-century Humayun’s Tomb Complex in Delhi.

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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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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.