Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Jasleen Kaur, a Glasgow-born Scottish Sikh artist of Indian heritage, won the 2024 Turner Prize. Her exhibition Alter Altar explores personal, political, and spiritual themes. The jury praised her evocative use of sound and sculpture to highlight family memory and community struggles. A standout piece featured a Ford car, representing her father’s migrant aspirations. Actor James Norton presented the award at Tate Britain, marking the Turner Prize’s return to the venue after six years.

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Former Chile President Michelle Bachelet has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development 2024. She is recognized for her contributions to gender equality, human rights, and democracy. The Indira Gandhi Prize honors efforts promoting international peace, disarmament, and development. The award includes ₹10 million, a trophy, and a citation. Recipients are selected by a jury of 5-9 eminent persons appointed by the Chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

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Tulsi Gowda, an 86-year-old Padma Shri awardee and environmentalist from Karnataka, passed away in her Honnali village home in Uttara Kannada district. Revered as the “tree goddess” by the Halakki tribal community, she was known for her dedication to environmental conservation. Born in 1944, Gowda overcame early hardships, including losing her father at two and growing up in poverty. She worked as a laborer at a forest nursery, gaining deep knowledge of forests despite no formal education. Known as the “encyclopedia of forest,” she identified mother trees and contributed significantly to afforestation, wildlife protection, and preventing forest fires. She served the Karnataka Forest Department for 50 years, 35 years as a daily wage worker and 15 as a permanent staff member.

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The Ram Temple in Ayodhya won the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’ award from the British Safety Council for excellence in safety management. This award requires a five-star safety audit and on-site assessment by the British Safety Council. Larsen & Toubro, the temple’s construction firm, earlier received the ‘Golden Trophy’ from the National Safety Council for safety measures. The temple’s construction, including its Shikhar and key statues, is in the final phase, set to finish by June 2025. Statues of Shri Ram Darbar and various sages will be completed by January 2025, using 15 lakh cubic feet of Bansi Paharpur stone.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi was bestowed with Kuwait’s highest honour ‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’ on December 22. ‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’ is a knighthood order of Kuwait and the highest honour given by the country. This marks the 20th international honour that PM Modi received from a country.

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Former Supreme Court judge V. Ramasubramanian has been appointed as the 9th Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for a three-year tenure until December 2027. Justice Ramasubramanian retired from the Supreme Court on June 29, 2023, after over three years, and was part of key cases, including demonetization and cryptocurrency regulations. He succeeds Justice Arun Mishra, with Acting Chairperson Vijaya Bharati Sayani leading the NHRC interim. NHRC investigates human rights violations, intervenes in related cases, and promotes research for human rights protection.

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Vitul Kumar, a 1993 batch IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh, is appointed Acting Director General of the CRPF after Anish Dayal Singh’s retirement. Born in Bhatinda, Punjab, Kumar holds a degree in Electronics Engineering, enhancing his analytical skills in law enforcement. He has held key positions in the CRPF, progressing from Deputy Inspector General in 2009 to Special Director General in 2023. Kumar’s awards include the President’s Police Medal (2021) and Police Medal (2009).

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K S Manilal, a renowned taxonomist and Padma Shri awardee, passed away on 1st January 2025 in Thrissur, Kerala. He is celebrated for translating and annotating Hortus Malabaricus, a 17th-century Latin botanical treatise on the flora of Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa. Manilal spent 35 years making the 12-volume work accessible to academics during his tenure as a botany professor at the University of Calicut (1976–1999). His contributions include 198 research papers, 15 books, and extensive work on medicinal plants and taxonomy. He played a key role in conserving Kerala’s Silent Valley rainforest in the 1980s.

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Dr. V. Narayanan, Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), has been appointed as the new ISRO Chairman and Space Secretary. He will succeed S. Somanath on January 14, 2025, for a two-year term or until further orders. Dr. Narayanan, a propulsion expert, joined ISRO in 1984 and has worked on projects like ASLV, PSLV, GSLV Mk-II, and GSLV Mk-III. He chaired the expert committee for Chandrayaan-2’s hard landing and delivered propulsion systems for Chandrayaan-3. His predecessor, S. Somanath, led major missions, including Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1, and Gaganyaan’s first flight.

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Manchester United Football player Denis Law passed away at the age of 84 on January 18. He began his football career with Huddersfield Town before gaining fame at Manchester United. He spent 11 years at the club, winning league titles in 1965 and 1967 and the European Cup in 1968. He scored 237 goals in 404 appearances, making him the club’s third-highest goalscorer after Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton. He formed the iconic ‘holy trinity’ with Charlton and George Best, revered by Manchester United fans. He is the only Scottish player to win the Ballon d’Or, earning it in 1964.