World EyeCons21 award

♦ LV Prasad Eye Institute founder, Dr Gullapalli N Rao was honoured with the “World EyeCons21” award at the 39th Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Dr Rao is the first and only Indian to be selected for this recognition. 

♦ He was ranked among the top 10 in this group for his exceptional contributions to shaping the world of eye care in the 21st century. This was the inaugural award initiated by the Asia Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO).

58th Jnanpith Award

♦ Renowned Urdu poet Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya was named the recipients of the 58th Jnanpith Award. The Jnanpith selection committee announced on 17 February 2024.

♦ Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar (89) is celebrated for his works in Hindi cinema and is considered one of the finest Urdu poets of this era. Gulzar received Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in 2002, Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works.

♦ Rambhadracharya (74) the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator and writer of more than 240 books and texts, including four epics. Rambhadracharya is one of the present four Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas of the Ramananda sect and has been holding this position since 1982. He received the Padma Vibhushan award in 2015. His original name was Giridhara Misra.

♦ Jnanpith Award was established in 1944, is given annually for outstanding contributions to Indian literature and is considered the highest literary honour in the country. This is the second time the award is being given for Sanskrit language and for the fifth time for Urdu language. The award carries a prize money of Rs 21 lakh, a statue of Vagdevi and a citation.
 

Lakshminarayana International Award

Pyarelal Sharma has been honoured with the Lakshminarayana International Award for his contribution to art. The award was presented to the ‘My Name Is Lakhan’ composer by musicians L Subramaniam and Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam as part of the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival. Pyarelal was announced as a recipient of the Padma Bhushan on the eve of Republic Day.
 

Highest civilian award

Former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan will be posthumously conferred with the highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’. The Union Government announced this on 9 February 2024. 

♦ Narasimha Rao was the first Congress Prime Minister outside the Gandhi family, from 1991 to 1996. He was born on 1921 June 28. It was during Rao's tenure as the PM that the famous Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation (LPG) reforms were introduced in 1991. Rao had passed away on December 23, 2004. 

♦ Charan Singh was born on 1902 December 23. He served as PM from July 28, 1979, to January 14, 1980. Singh passed away in 1987.

♦ Swaminathan is also known as the "Father of Green Revolution" in India. Swaminathan passed away on September 28, 2023. 

♦ Earlier, the Centre also awarded Bharat Ratna to BJP veteran L K Advani and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur. 
 

Lifetime Achievement award

♦ Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president, PT Usha was conferred with the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award by Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI) and Delhi Sports Journalists Association (DSJA) at the National Sports Club of India.

♦ Usha is the fifth recipient of this award after tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, badminton icon Prakash Padukone, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and iconic sprinter Milkha Singh.

♦ In her career Usha won 103 international medals for India. She also claimed four gold and seven silver medals at the Asian Games and competed across three editions of the Olympics.
 

Grammy award

♦ Prominent Indian musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain's fusion band Shakti bagged the prestigious Grammy award. They clinched the award in Best Global Music Album category for their latest album This Moment. The album This Moment was released in June last year. The album consisted of eight songs by John McLaughlin, Zakir Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, V Selvaganesh and Ganesh Rajagopalan.

♦ Meanwhile, Zakir Hussain also bagged the Grammy in Best Global Music Performance category for his contribution to Pashto alongside Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, featuring Rakesh Chaurasia. 

♦ Veteran Indian classical flute artist Rakesh Chaurasia managed to win dual Grammy for his collaborative album As We Speak in the Best Contemporary Instrumental and Best Global Music Performance categories. 

♦ The 66th Annual Grammy Awards 2024 event was held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
 

Bharat Ratna

♦ BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani (96) will be honoured with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India. He will be the 50th recipient of the highest civilian award since its inception. Also, this is the seventh Bharat Ratna awarded by the Modi government, since assuming power in 2014. The list also includes Karpoori Thakur, Madan Mohan Malviya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika, and Nanaji Deshmukh.

♦ Advani served as the Deputy Prime Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He has been a member of both Houses of the Parliament between 1970 and 2019.