Awards, Honours & Persons in News Current Affairs MCQs

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King Charles III of the United Kingdom awarded Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, an honorary Knighthood. The honor is titled Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), one of the highest honors given by the British Sovereign to civilians.

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Sub-inspector Suman Kumari is the first woman sniper in the Border Security Force (BSF). She recently completed an eight-week sniper course at the Central School of Weapons and Tactics (CSWT) in Indore and achieved “instructor grade”. Suman’s journey to becoming a sniper began when she was commanding a platoon in Punjab and saw the threat of cross-border sniper attacks. She volunteered for the sniper course, becoming the sole female among 56 male counterparts.

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Indian writer Amitav Ghosh, aged 67, has been awarded the prestigious ‘Erasmus Prize’ in 2024 by the Premium Erasmianum Foundation of the Netherlands. Recognized for his passionate contributions in highlighting the global climate change crisis through literature, Ghosh will receive the award, with an incentive of 150,000 Euros, in person in November. The award, established in 1958, honors individuals or institutions making exceptional contributions to culture or scholarship in Europe and beyond, emphasizing the cultural dimensions of the climate crisis.

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Devendra Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist in javelin throw, is the newly elected President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), succeeding Deepa Malik. He secured the position uncontested and leads the PCI unopposed. Jhajharia’s notable achievements include winning gold in the 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio Paralympics in the F46 disability category.

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Asif Ali Zardari is the 14th president of Pakistan. He was sworn in on March 10, 2024, replacing Dr. Arif Alvi.Zardari is a veteran politician who has been the president of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians and co-chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party. He is the first president to be elected twice to the office.

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Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi, India has been named the “Best Airport” in the Asia-Pacific region for six years in a row. The award is given by the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards, which measure passenger satisfaction using real-time surveys.

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The Central Government appointed Rahul Singh as the Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Singh, a 1996-batch IAS officer, is currently Additional Secretary at DoPT. He replaces Nidhi Chibber, who was recently appointed an advisor in NITI Aayog. The CBSE is India’s national secondary school board, which oversees both public and private institutions.

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The Government of India appointed retired IAS official Navneet Kumar Sehgal as the new chairman of Prasar Bharati, the country’s public broadcaster. His term will last for three years or until he reaches the age of 70, whichever comes earlier. Sehgal succeeded Surya Prakash, whose term ended in February 2020 after he turned 70.

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Carnatic vocalist Thodur Madabusi Krishna (T M Krishna) was awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi award in 2024 by the Madras Music Academy. The award recognizes Krishna’s powerful voice, adherence to tradition, exploratory approach to music, and his use of music as a tool for social reform. Krishna is known for challenging conventional ideas about caste and gender politics in Carnatic music. He began his musical journey at a young age, and at the age of 12, Krishna presented his debut concert at the Madras Music Academy.

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Malayalam poet Prabha Varma won the 2023 Saraswati Samman for his work Roudra Sathwikam. The K.K. Birla Foundation selected Varma for the award, which is given annually to an outstanding literary work written in an Indian language. The award includes a citation, plaque, and 15 lakh rupees. Roudra Sathwikam is a 2022 poetic work that explores the conflict between power and politics, the individual and the state, and art and power. The Saraswati Samman is one of the most prestigious awards in India, and was established in 1991. The award is given to an Indian citizen for an outstanding literary work published in the last 10 years.