Table of contents
This section focuses on important awards recently featured in the news, helping you stay informed about who's who and what's being celebrated.
Pritzker Architecture Prize
- Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto won the prestigious 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize called the “Architecture Nobel”.
- His designs use innovative concepts such as “relational living” and preserving natural landscapes which are seen in projects like Hotakubo Housing and the Yokosuka Museum of Art.
- Balkrishna Doshi was the first Indian architect to win a Pritzker Prize in 2018 for his renowned Aranya Low-Cost Housing Complex in the city of Indore.
Goldman Environmental Prize 2024
- Forest and tribal rights activist Alok Shukla was awarded Goldman Environmental Prize 2024 for a campaign that saved 4.45 lakh acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in Chhattisgarh’s Hasdeo Aranya region.
- Hasdeo Aranya forests are spread across the districts of Korba, Surajpur, and Surguja in Chhattisgarh and are known as the “lungs of Chhattisgarh”.
- They have rich biodiversity and are home to 25 endangered species, 92 bird species, and 167 rare and medicinal plant species.
- The Hasdeo River is a tributary of the Mahanadi River.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023
- Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2023.
- Their discovery was regarding nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Nobel Prize 2023 in Physics
- The Nobel Prize 2023 in Physics was jointly awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier.
- They were awarded “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”
Nobel Prize 2023 in Chemistry
- Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
- These nanoparticles have numerous uses in industries like electronics, cutting-edge surgery, and quantum computing.
Nobel Prize in Literature 2023
- The 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Norwegian author and dramatist Jon Fosse.
- He was awarded for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”
Nobel Prize in Peace 2023
- The Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 2023 to ‘Narges Mohammadi’ for the fight against the discriminatory policy of the theocratic Iran’s regime towards women.
- Last year’s demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of brave people of Iran that were against the oppression targeting women was also recognised.
Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2023
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Claudia Goldin the Nobel Prize in Economics 2023 (Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences).
- The award to the labor economist and economic historian was for her work on the “women’s labor market outcomes.”
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
- It was won recently by Indian badminton stars Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sai Raj Rankireddy.
- It is the highest sporting honor in India and is announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- Sportspersons against whom an enquiry is pending or who have been penalized, at any level, are not eligible for the award.
- Qualification involves outstanding performance over a period of four years immediately preceding the year during which the award is to be given.
Bharat Ratna
The government has announced India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, to:
- Former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh
- Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao
- Father of Green Revolution Dr. M S Swaminathan
- LK Advani
- Two-time Bihar Chief Minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur
96th Academy Awards
- Oppenheimer won for Best Picture.
- Christopher Nolan won for Best Director.
- Cillian Murphy won for best actor.
- Emma Stone won for best actress.
- MM Keeravani and Chandrabose bagged the award for best song for Naatu Naatu from the film RRR.
- Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga won the Academy Award for Best Documentary for the Tamil documentary “The Elephant Whisperers”
Indian costume designer and painter Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to win an Academy Award for the movie ‘Gandhi’.
Previous Post