Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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NTPC Ltd. won the Forward Faster Sustainability Award 2025 in the Water Resilience category. The award was presented by UN Global Compact Network India (UN GCNI) in Chennai on February 13. NTPC was recognized for its water conservation and sustainable water management initiatives. The award aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). NTPC follows Reduce, Reuse & Recycle principles and uses advanced wastewater treatment. It promotes clean water access, restores water bodies, and raises conservation awareness. The company sets industry benchmarks in water efficiency and sustainability.

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The Ministry of Ayush has opened nominations for the Prime Minister’s Yoga Awards for International Day of Yoga (IDY2025). The awards recognize individuals and organizations for their significant contributions to promoting Yoga nationally and internationally. It was established to honor Yoga’s impact on society, the awards celebrate its role in disease prevention and health promotion. Winners in four categories (National/International Individual and Organization) will receive a trophy, certificate, and Rs. 25 lakh cash. Nominees must be at least 40 years old with 20 years of service in Yoga promotion. A screening committee will review applications, and an evaluation jury will make final decisions.

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Gyanesh Kumar has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), replacing Rajiv Kumar. He is a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre and senior to the other commissioners. Vivek Joshi has been appointed as Election Commissioner; he was the former Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner. This is the first appointment under the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioner Act, 2023.

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Renowned Odissi maestro Mayadhar Raut, known as the “Father of Odissi dance,” passed away on February 22, 2025, at age 92 in Delhi. He was awarded the Padma Shri for his contributions to Indian classical dance. Raut played a key role in the revival and codification of Odissi dance in the 1950s. His work on Sanchari Bhava, Mudra Viniyoga, and Rasa Theory helped structure Odissi as a classical dance form.

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Dr. Anju Rathi Rana has become the first woman Secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice. Her appointment marks an important step for gender diversity in top government positions. She has represented India at international forums, including the BRICS Ministers of Justice Meeting. She has contributed to legal reforms and gender representation in the judiciary.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) won the Digital Transformation Award 2025 from Central Banking, London for its digital initiatives Sarthi and Pravaah. Sarthi, launched in January 2023, digitized RBI’s internal workflows, improving document sharing, record management, and data analysis for 13,500 employees across 40+ locations. Pravaah, launched in May 2024, digitized 70+ regulatory applications, enhancing efficiency and transparency with real-time tracking. Pravaah increased monthly applications by 80%, reducing delays from paper-based systems. Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised RBI’s achievement, calling it a milestone in India’s financial digital transformation.

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Renowned Odia poet and former bureaucrat Ramakanta Rath passed away, leaving a rich literary legacy. Born on December 30, 1934, in Puri, he studied English literature at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1956 and held key positions in Central and State governments. His first poetry collection, Kete Dinara (1962), introduced a new poetic movement in Odia literature. Saptama Ritu (1977) won him the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978. His most celebrated work, Sri Radha (1985), won the Saraswati Samman. He received the Padma Bhushan (2006) and Atibadi Jagannath Das Award (2018).

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Eminent Hindi poet and writer Vinod Kumar Shukla from Chhattisgarh has been selected for the 59th Jnanpith Award 2024. He is the first from Chhattisgarh and the 12th Hindi writer to receive this prestigious award. The 58th Jnanpith Award 2023 was awarded to Jagadguru Rambhadracharyaji for Sanskrit and Gulzar for Urdu. The Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust administers the Jnanpith and Moorti Devi Awards. The first Jnanpith Award was given to Malayalam writer G. S. Kurup. Vinod Kumar Shukla, born in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, is 88 years old and studied Krishi Vigyan in Jabalpur. His first poetry collection “Lagbhag Jai Hind” was published in 1971.

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Telangana won the Best National Performance Award in NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) testing under the 100-Day ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ campaign. The award was presented by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on World TB Day in New Delhi. Telangana achieved over 100% screening in nine TB-affected districts, identifying over 4,600 new TB cases.

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The Abel Prize for mathematics was awarded to Japanese mathematician Masaki Kashiwara. He is a specialist in algebraic analysis, representation theory, and sheaf theory. The 78-year-old was honoured for his work on D-modules and crystal bases. D-modules introduced a new way to study linear differential equations. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. It was created by Norway’s government to compensate for the lack of a Nobel Prize in mathematics.