Current Affairs - Awards and Honours

Sanjay Jaiswal was appointed chairman of the 31-member joint parliamentary committee constituted to examine the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. The committee was formed on September 3, 2026, and includes 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The panel includes representatives from several political parties, with 14 BJP members and 5 Congress members. It is required to submit its report by the last day of the first week of Parliament’s Winter session. The Bill proposes tighter government oversight of NGOs and foreign funding and provisions for managing assets when an organisation’s FCRA licence is cancelled.

Shah Rukh Khan was appointed as the brand ambassador for Vodafone Idea (Vi) on September 3, 2026, as part of the company’s new rebranding initiative. The campaign marked the transition of the official logo from “V!” to “Vi” and introduced the new brand campaign titled “Vi badal raha hai... tayaar rahiye”. Vodafone Idea Limited was formed through the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular and operates as a joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and Gandhinagar and is one of India’s major telecommunications service providers.

Sudhansh Pant was assigned the additional charge of Secretary for both the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Backwards Classes (NCBC) on September 2, 2026. He is a 1991-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre and currently serves as Secretary of the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. Earlier, he served as Chief Secretary of Rajasthan and as Union Health Secretary during the COVID-19 pandemic. His additional charge will remain effective until a regular incumbent is appointed or further orders are issued. The NCSC is a constitutional body under Article 338, while the NCBC functions under Article 338B.

Anil Chakravarthy has been named the next President and CEO of Adobe, with his appointment taking effect on December 1, 2026. He will succeed Shantanu Narayen, who will become Adobe’s executive chair. Chakravarthy joined Adobe in January 2020 as Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Digital Experience business. He later took charge of worldwide field operations and became President of Digital Experience and worldwide field operations in 2021. Before Adobe, he served as CEO of Informatica and held positions at Symantec, VeriSign, and McKinsey & Company. He holds degrees from IIT Varanasi and MIT.

Mahindra Aerostructures received a multi-year contract from Airbus to manufacture and supply fuselage skins for the A320 aircraft family. The contract covers components for the A320neo and A321XLR models, particularly the rear fuselage and tail sections. Production will take place at Mahindra Aerostructures’ facility in Bengaluru, India, with finished components supplied to Airbus’ manufacturing plant in Augsburg, Germany. Initial engineering and tooling design are underway, while deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2028. The project will also expand technological capabilities through advanced production lines for chemical milling, surface treatment, and stretch-forming, strengthening India’s role in the global aerospace supply chain.