Current Affairs - Awards and Honours

Rajendra Kumar Saboo was assigned the additional charge of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of UCO Bank by the Ministry of Finance on June 21, 2026. The appointment order was issued by the Department of Financial Services (DFS). At the time of his appointment, Saboo was serving as the Executive Director of UCO Bank. He assumed the additional responsibility following the completion of the tenure of former MD & CEO Ashwani Kumar on May 31, 2026. The arrangement will remain in effect until August 31, 2026, or until a regular incumbent is appointed to the position.

Tushar Mehta was reappointed as the Solicitor General of India for another three-year term following approval by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). The Solicitor General is the second-highest law officer in the country after the Attorney General and plays a vital role in representing the Union Government before the Supreme Court, High Courts, tribunals, and other judicial forums. Mehta, a senior advocate from Gujarat, has handled several significant constitutional, governance, taxation, and national security matters. His reappointment reflects the government's confidence in his legal expertise and leadership in important judicial proceedings.

The Indian Athletics Awards 2025 recognised outstanding achievements in Indian track and field athletics. Neeraj Chopra was named Best Male Athlete of the Year for his exceptional performances, including becoming the first Indian to cross the 90-metre mark in javelin throw with a throw of 90.23 metres. Parul Chaudhary received the Best Female Athlete of the Year award after a successful season that included gold medals in the women's 3000m steeplechase and 5000m events at the Asian Championships. Their achievements highlighted excellence in Indian athletics and inspired aspiring athletes across the country.

Vivek Aggarwal was elected and appointed as the Vice-President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on June 19, 2026, becoming the first Indian official to hold this prestigious position. A 1994-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre and Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, he was chosen by the FATF Plenary from among its members. His tenure as Vice-President is scheduled from July 2026 to June 2027. The appointment highlights India's growing role in global efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes through international cooperation and policy coordination.

Jainendra K Jain, an Indian-origin theoretical physicist, became the first person of Indian origin to receive the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics. He was honoured for his groundbreaking discovery of composite fermions, which significantly advanced the understanding of the fractional quantum Hall effect. His work introduced the Jain sequences, providing a unified framework for explaining electronic conductivity in semiconductor systems. The discovery has had a major impact on condensed matter physics and has important applications in the field of quantum computing by helping protect quantum bits from errors. Jain is also an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and a member of several distinguished scientific academies.