Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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India secured continued representation at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) with the election of Bimal N. Patel as Judge for the 2026–2035 term. He was elected at the 36th Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS held at United Nations, New York. He received 115 of 168 valid votes and will succeed Neeru Chadha on 1 October 2026. ITLOS was established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The headquarters is located in Hamburg, Germany.

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The frontier district Poonch has received the SKOCH Award for its effective implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY SEHAT). It is the only district from Jammu and Kashmir to receive this national recognition. The award highlights improved healthcare access, cashless treatment, and better service delivery in remote and border areas.

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A Belgian theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Francois Englert passed away at the age of 93 in Uccle, Belgium. He was one of the key scientists behind the theoretical framework that explains how fundamental particles acquire mass. His work contributed to the prediction of the Higgs boson, one of the most important discoveries in particle physics. He shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with Peter Higgs for this groundbreaking theoretical mechanism. The theory was experimentally confirmed in 2012 at CERN, leading to the discovery of the Higgs boson.

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Indian conservationists Parveen Shaikh and Dr. Barkha Subba have won the 2026 Whitley Awards, also known as the “Green Oscars”, presented in London. The award recognises grassroots environmental leaders working for conservation of endangered species and fragile ecosystems. In 2026, for the first time in its history, all six recipients of the prize were women, marking a major milestone. Parveen Shaikh worked on the “Guardians of the Skimmer” project to protect the endangered Indian Skimmer along river systems using community participation. Dr. Barkha Subba focused on conserving the Himalayan salamander and restoring wetlands in the Darjeeling Himalaya.

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Senior IPS officer Mahesh Dixit was appointed as the new Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on 25 June 2026. His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for a two-year tenure. He succeeds outgoing IB Chief Tapan Kumar Deka. Mahesh Dixit is a 1993-batch IPS officer from the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana cadre and is a medical doctor by training. He is known for his expertise in counter-terrorism and extensive field experience in internal security operations.

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Dr. Florence Rabier (France) has been awarded the World Meteorological Organization’s International Meteorological Organization (IMO) Prize. The IMO Prize is the highest scientific distinction in meteorology, recognizing exceptional contributions to meteorology, hydrology, and international cooperation. She was honoured for advancing numerical weather prediction, satellite data assimilation, and improving global weather forecasting accuracy. Her work significantly reduced forecast differences between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. She served as Director of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (2016–2025).

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The Union Government has extended the tenure of Ravi Agrawal as Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by six months, until December 2026. The extension was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). He has been reappointed on a contract basis from 1 July 2026. Ravi Agrawal is a 1988-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. The extension aims to ensure continuity in direct tax policy formulation and support ongoing special initiatives. The CBDT is the policy-making body of the Income Tax Department and is headed by a Chairman with up to six members.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Ravi Shankar as its new Executive Director (ED) with effect from 1 July 2026. Before his appointment, he served as Adviser-in-Charge of the Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM). As Executive Director, he will continue to head the DSIM. He has over 30 years of experience in areas such as banking statistics, government securities, settlement systems, debt management, and macroeconomic statistics. He holds a Master’s degree in Statistics from Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

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Renowned Pandavani singer Teejan Bai of Chhattisgarh passed away after a prolonged illness. She popularised Pandavani, a folk storytelling tradition based on the Mahabharata, in India and abroad. She was honoured with the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan for her contribution to Indian folk art.

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Recently, Padma Shri awardee Girish Bharadwaj, popularly known as the “Bridge Man of India”, passed away at the age of 76 in Sullia, Karnataka. A mechanical engineer, he constructed over 140 low-cost, eco-friendly suspension bridges connecting remote rural communities. His mission began in 1989 with the construction of a footbridge over the Payaswini River in Aramburu village, Karnataka. His bridges transformed connectivity across Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for his contribution to rural infrastructure and social service.