Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Ramdarash Mishra, renowned Hindi poet, writer, and academic, passed away in Delhi on October 31, 2025, aged 101. He was born on August 15, 1924, in Dumri village, Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh. He received the Padma Shri (2025) for his outstanding contribution to Hindi literature. His career spanned over seven decades, shaping post-independence Hindi literature. His writings reflected India’s rural ethos, social transitions, and human emotions. He was admired for blending creative writing and literary criticism with equal mastery. He authored over 150 books, including 32 poetry collections, 15 novels, and 30 short-story anthologies.

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In November 2025, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation, received the 2025 World Leader for Peace and Security Award. The award was presented by the Boston Global Forum (BGF) and the AI World Society (AIWS) at Harvard University, USA. It recognizes his significant contributions to global peace-building, reconciliation, and humanitarian service. The 2025 award marks the 10th anniversary of the award (2015–2025), honoring leaders with moral courage, visionary leadership, and compassion. The focus of the 2025 award is on advancing 21st-century peace through inner harmony, interfaith dialogue, and ethical governance.

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India mourns Padma Shri awardee Saalumarada Thimmakka, a globally respected environmentalist known for grassroots afforestation. She was born in Gubbi taluk, Tumakuru district, and later lived in Hulikal. Her life was marked by poverty and personal struggles, but she turned grief into environmental service. Starting in the 1950s, she and her husband Bikkala Chikkayya walked miles daily to water saplings and protected them using thorny branches. They planted mainly during monsoons, creating a green corridor that offers shade, supports birds and stabilises the local climate. Her work shaped Karnataka’s afforestation policies and inspired tree-planting movements across India.

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Hollywood actor Tom Cruise received the Academy Honorary Award, also known as the honorary Oscar, at the 16th Governors Awards in Hollywood, California. The 63-year-old, a four-time Oscar nominee, was honoured by filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is collaborating with him on a 2026 film.

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Velamala Simmanna has been selected for the Lok Nayak Foundation (LNF) Literary Award 2025. He has written over 100 books and is a former Head of Department of Telugu at Andhra University. The award carries a cash prize of 2 lakh rupees and will be given on 18 January 2026. The award is presented every year by the Lok Nayak Foundation. It commemorates the death anniversaries of N. T. Rama Rao and Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

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The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) won the Gold Prize for Public Outreach and Communication at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2025 in New Delhi. The award recognised its innovative, inclusive, and people-friendly communication through the GST and Customs Pavilion. The pavilion ran from 14–27 November 2025 with the theme “Next-Gen Goods and Services Tax (GST): Simple Tax, Prosperous Nation.”

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Dr. Tessy Thomas, called the Missile Woman of India, received the 8th Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios Award 2025 for excellence in science and women empowerment. She is a senior scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). She was the first Indian woman to lead a missile project and headed Agni-IV and Agni-V ballistic missile programmes. She is also known as “Agniputri”, meaning one born of fire. The award is given by the Sophia Society of the Malankara Orthodox Church in memory of Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios.

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On 5 December 2025, during the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., FIFA President Gianni Infantino awarded the first-ever FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump. The FIFA Peace Prize, officially named “Football Unites the World,” was created to honour individuals who take exceptional actions to promote peace and global unity. Donald Trump became the first recipient of this new award category, with FIFA praising his claimed efforts in global diplomacy and conflict de-escalation.

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Parveen Shaikh, a scientist with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), won the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award 2025 for leading community-based conservation of the endangered Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis). She began her research in 2016 at the National Chambal Sanctuary (National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary) located along the Chambal River in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Her work focused on understanding nesting behaviour, tracking survival rates, and identifying threats to the bird colonies. She found that Indian Skimmers nest on exposed sandbars, making eggs highly vulnerable to predators, livestock, and changing river flows.

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The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) launched the book “Bharat: That Is India – Reclaiming Our Real Identity” by Abhijeet Joag in New Delhi. The book explores India’s nationhood, rooted in an ancient cultural consciousness that predates the modern nation-state. It emphasizes the Indian tradition of dharma as a framework for duty and responsibility.