Current Affairs - Awards and Honours

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.

Bimal N. Patel was elected as a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026–2035 term during the 36th Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He secured 115 votes out of 168 valid votes cast and won one of the seats allocated to the Asian region. His nine-year term will begin on October 1, 2026, succeeding Neeru Chadha. ITLOS, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is an independent judicial body responsible for resolving disputes related to maritime boundaries, navigation rights, marine resources, and the interpretation of international maritime law.

Sundarraj Pattilingam, a 2003-batch IPS officer, was appointed as the Inspector General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on June 16, 2026. This appointment marked his first central deputation after a distinguished career in the Chhattisgarh cadre. He spent 12 years serving in the Bastar region, including seven years as the head of police, where he played a key role in counter-insurgency operations across districts such as Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Kondagaon. An alumnus of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and trained in counter-insurgency warfare, he brings extensive operational experience to India's premier counter-terrorism agency.