Awards & Honours Current Affairs 2026 for Government Exams

The <b>Geographical Indications Registry (GIR)</b>, under the <b>DPIIT</b> (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), granted <b>GI tags</b> to two Gujarat agricultural products — <b>Unjha Cumin (Jeera)</b> and <b>Unjha Fennel (Saunf)</b>, both from the Unjha region in north Gujarat. With this, Gujarat's list of GI-tagged agricultural products expands to <b>6</b> (joining Gir Kesar mangoes, Bhalia wheat, Kachchhi Kharek and Amalsadi chikoo). Unjha (Mehsana district) is India's largest fennel-producing region and one of Asia's largest fennel trading hubs. NABARD has facilitated GI registration of 28 new products, taking its total to 176.

In July 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit — India (FIU-IND) was named runner-up at the Best Egmont Case Award (BECA) 2026, one of the Egmont Group highest honours, for uncovering a large-scale cyber fraud. Director Anil Mohan Govil received it at the Egmont Group Plenary in Baku, Azerbaijan. FIU-IND traced a money-laundering network involving ~Rs 868 crore in cyber-fraud proceeds, over 5,000 mule accounts and crypto transactions. Taiwan AMLD won BECA 2026.

In July 2026, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted former Indian women captain Anjum Chopra and former England captain Kevin Pietersen into the ICC Hall of Fame at its Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Anjum Chopra became the 3rd Indian woman (after Diana Edulji and Neetu David) and the 13th Indian overall, taking total inductees to 125. She was the first Indian woman to play 100 ODIs and received the Padma Shri in 2014.

Nita Ambani, founder-chairperson of Reliance Foundation, was felicitated with the Fortune India Most Powerful Women (MPW) honour in Mumbai, topping the Fortune India MPW 2026 list of 100 women. Top 5: Nita Ambani (1), Roshni Nadar, CEO of HCL Technologies (2), the Reddy sisters of Apollo Hospitals (3), Savitri Jindal (4), and Dr. Priti Adani (5).

The Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) was named runner-up at the Best Egmont Case Award (BECA) 2026 for uncovering a large-scale cyber fraud. Director Anil Mohan Govil received the award at the Egmont Group Plenary in Baku, Azerbaijan. FIU-IND traced a laundering network involving proceeds of nearly ₹868 crore and over 5,000 mule accounts; the ED seized cash and crypto and attached assets under PMLA, 2002. Taiwan's AMLD won BECA 2026.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, at a ceremony in Edinburgh. He was inducted alongside former India women's captain Anjum Chopra and former England batter Kevin Pietersen, taking the total number of Hall of Fame members to 125. One of India's most influential captains, Ganguly scored 7,212 runs in 113 Tests and 11,363 runs in 311 ODIs, and led India to the 2003 ODI World Cup final and a shared 2002 ICC Champions Trophy title. Players become eligible five years after their final international appearance. ICC Chairman: Jay Shah. Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar share a record ODI opening stand of 6,609 runs.

India's five-member team won all five gold medals at the 56th International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2026, held in Bucaramanga, Colombia (5-12 July 2026), securing the joint World No. 1 rank alongside China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan. A total of 381 students from 87 countries participated. The gold medallists were Kanishk Jain (Pune), Riddhesh Anant Bendale (Indore), Rishit Garg (Delhi), Shresth Suraiya (Mumbai) and Svarit Joshi (Ahmedabad). The team was trained by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a centre of TIFR under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Every Indian participant at the IPhO over the past decade has won a medal.

The Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) flagship 'Samriddh Gram' initiative was declared the global winner of the WSIS Prizes 2026 under Action Line C6 - Enabling Environment, at the WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva. The WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Prizes are instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to honour ICT projects advancing sustainable development. Built on the BharatNet network, Samriddh Gram delivers integrated 'phygital' services (healthcare, education, agriculture, finance, e-governance, e-commerce) through village-level Samriddhi Kendras. Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia hailed the recognition. Over 2.2 million global votes were cast across nominated WSIS projects.

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the remaining Padma Awards at the second Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. India announced 131 Padma Awards for 2026: 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri.

President Droupadi Murmu presented Padma Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan, conferring 66 awards in the first phase (2 Padma Vibhushan, 6 Padma Bhushan, 58 Padma Shri). A total of 131 Padma Awards were announced for 2026.

Padma Shri honourees included cricketers Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur and hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia, among achievers across arts, science, medicine and social work.

The 13 Padma Bhushan awardees included singer Alka Yagnik, actor Mammootty, industrialist Uday Kotak, former Uttarakhand CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari and adman Piyush Pandey (posthumous).

The five Padma Vibhushan awardees included veteran actor Dharmendra (posthumous), former Kerala CM V.S. Achuthanandan (posthumous), classical violinist N. Rajam and former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas.

The Centre announced 131 Padma Awards - 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri - including 19 women, 16 posthumous awards and 6 from the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category.

Actor Mammootty and singer Alka Yagnik received the Padma Bhushan; cricketers Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur, hockey player Savita Punia, actor-filmmaker R. Madhavan and veteran actor Satish Shah were among Padma Shri honourees.

The 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize - often called the 'Green Nobel' - honoured six grassroots environmental defenders from around the world for their community campaigns.

TIME's 2026 list featured three Indians: actor Ranbir Kapoor, chef Vikas Khanna and Google & Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, recognising influence across culture and technology.

On National Energy Conservation Day, the President felicitated the winners of the National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) 2025, recognising efficiency across industries and institutions.

ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Goddard Astronautics Award at the ASCEND Conference in Washington DC, honouring the 2023 lunar south-pole soft landing.

CSIR received the Clarivate South Asia Innovation Award 2026 in the Government Sector category, recognising its patent and innovation output.

Germany's Gerd Faltings won the Abel Prize for his work in arithmetic geometry, resolving the Mordell and Lang conjectures. He is the first German Abel laureate; the prize carries 7.5 million Norwegian kroner.

The Chilean architect Smiljan Radic Clarke was named the 2026 Pritzker laureate - architecture's highest honour - becoming the second Chilean to win after Alejandro Aravena (2016).

President Murmu presented India's highest science honours to 24 awardees; the Vigyan Ratna (lifetime achievement) went posthumously to astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar and the Vigyan Team award to CSIR's Aroma Mission.

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis were honoured for the discovery of macroscopic quantum-mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.

'Tides of Time: Bharat's History through Murals in Parliament', authored by Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty, was unveiled by Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, chronicling India's civilisational journey through Parliament's murals.

The Tamil poet-lyricist R. Vairamuthu was named winner of the Jnanpith Award (for 2025), India's highest literary honour, chosen by a committee chaired by Pratibha Ray. He is the third Tamil writer to receive it.

Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan released 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee: The Eternal Statesman', authored by Vijay Goel, at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.

Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan launched Dr Shashi Tharoor's book 'The Sage Who Reimagined Hinduism: The Life, Lessons & Legacy of Sree Narayana Guru' in New Delhi.

A book chronicling the life and journey of President Droupadi Murmu was released on 10 January 2026.

Acclaimed novelist Amitav Ghosh released his new book 'Ghost-Eye', with the national tour beginning on 5 January 2026.

The Hungarian writer received the 2025 Literature Prize for his surreal, visionary novels combining a bleak worldview with dark humour.

Sadhvi Satish Sail from Goa was crowned the 61st Femina Miss India World 2026 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and will represent India at the Miss World pageant.

The 98th Academy Awards introduced the Best Casting award, the first new Oscar category since Best Animated Feature (2001), won by Cassandra Kulukundis for 'One Battle After Another'.

Held at the Dolby Theatre and hosted by Conan O'Brien, 'One Battle After Another' won Best Picture (six awards) and Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director. Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor and Jessie Buckley Best Actress.

Held at the Royal Festival Hall, London, Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' won six awards including Best Film; Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor and Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' won three.

Kendrick Lamar was the night's biggest winner with five awards, including Record of the Year, becoming the most-awarded hip-hop artist in Grammy history; Olivia Dean won Best New Artist.

At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, Bad Bunny won Album of the Year - the first primarily Spanish-language album to win the category. Trevor Noah hosted for the sixth and final time.

Held in Los Angeles and hosted by Nikki Glaser, 'One Battle After Another' won Best Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Director and Best Screenplay, while 'Hamnet' won Best Motion Picture (Drama).

India's highest disaster-management honour went to the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (institutional, Rs 51 lakh) and Lt Col Seeta Ashok Shelke (individual, Rs 5 lakh), announced on Parakram Diwas.

The Venezuelan opposition leader was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting democratic rights and a peaceful transition; her daughter accepted the award at Oslo on her behalf.

The 2025 Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences were presented at the Stockholm Concert Hall; 10 December marks the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.