Neeraj Chopra

♦ Indian javelin throw ace Neeraj Chopra was honoured as the Best Male Athlete of the Year at the Indian Athletics Awards 2025 ceremony in New Delhi on 20 June 2026.

♦ Chopra, who won gold at the Tokyo Games and followed it up with a silver medal in Paris.

♦ The event also celebrated several legends of Indian athletics, with PT Usha and Anju Bobby George among four sporting icons receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for their outstanding contributions to the sport.

Wolf Prize

♦ India's Professor Jainendra K Jain has been awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking discovery of composite fermions, a breakthrough that revolutionised the understanding of the quantum world. The award was presented by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a state ceremony in Jerusalem, making Jain the first person of Indian origin to receive the Wolf Prize in Physics since the award was established in 1978. Twenty-seven previous recipients of the physics prize have later gone on to win the Nobel.

♦ Jain's award recognises a discovery he made in 1989 while working as a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University. At the time, physicists were struggling to explain the mysterious fractional quantum Hall effect, a quantum phenomenon observed when electrons behave in unexpected ways under extremely strong magnetic fields. During what Jain has described as a moment of sudden insight while doodling during a television commercial break, he realised that electrons could bind with tiny quantum vortices to form entirely new particles. He named these particles "composite fermions."

♦ Currently, the Evan Pugh University Professor at Pennsylvania State University and Founding Director of the Lodha Theoretical Physics Institute in Mumbai, Jain has authored more than 250 scientific papers and remains a leading figure in theoretical physics.

Order of the White Double Cross

♦ Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the Slovak Republic’s highest State honour, the “Order of the White Double Cross, First Class,” during a special ceremony hosted by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on 15 June 2026. The prestigious award was presented in recognition of PM Modi’s contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between India and Slovakia and advancing cooperation between the two nations.

♦ The conferment of Slovakia’s highest national honour underscores the growing strategic and diplomatic engagement between India and Slovakia and highlights the expanding scope of bilateral cooperation across various sectors.

Parveen Kumar

♦ Indian-origin physician Dame Parveen Kumar has been awarded a Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, one of Britain's most prestigious royal honours, "for services to Global Medical Education and Health" in King Charles III's annual Birthday Honours list. She is a leading gastroenterologist and advocate for women in healthcare.

♦ Kumar heads a list of nearly 35 Indian-origin medics, entrepreneurs and community champions recognised in the honours announced by the UK Cabinet Office on Friday night.

♦ Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) is the highest rank within the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

♦ Professor Emerita of Medicine and Education at the Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, Kumar has been recognised for a wide range of contributions over the years.

♦ Among the Indian-origin recipients awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) is Kunal Patel, Starmer's Deputy Principal Private Secretary, who has been honoured for public service.

♦ Others receiving a CBE include Vishal Kumar Marria for services to Technology, Economic Crime Prevention and to the Data and AI Sector; Professor Monder Ram, Founder-Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, for services to Ethnic Minority Business and Entrepreneurship; and Sukriti Prova Sen, Director of Children and Education Services at Coventry City Council, for services to Children's Social Care.

Gallantry awards

♦ President Droupadi Murmu conferred India’s prestigious gallantry awards at the Defence Investiture Ceremony 2026 (Phase-I) at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 8 June 2026.

♦ The awards were given away in recognition of exceptional acts of bravery by personnel of the Armed Forces, Central Armed Police Forces and other security agencies.

♦ The awards reflected India’s continuing battle against terrorism, insurgency and hostile threats across Jammu & Kashmir, the Northeast and along the country’s borders, while also recognising acts of extraordinary courage in aviation, maritime operations and humanitarian missions.

♦ The Kirti Chakra, India’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award, was conferred on several personnel for acts of extraordinary bravery.

♦ Lance Naik Meenatchi Sundaram A was honoured for neutralising a terrorist despite suffering severe injuries during a firefight in Kulgam.

♦ Naib Subedar Doleshwar Subba received the award for eliminating two terrorists in close combat in Kishtwar.

♦ Major Arshdeep Singh was recognised for leading from the front and neutralising multiple armed cadres during a counter-insurgency operation.

♦ Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of India’s selected Gaganyatris, was awarded the Kirti Chakra for his contribution to India’s human spaceflight programme and his readiness to undertake high-risk space missions.

♦ Captain Lalrinawma Sailo earned the honour for neutralising three hardcore terrorists during a special forces operation in Srinagar district.

♦ Among the recipients of the Shaurya Chakra was Major Ashish Kumar, whose leadership during a prolonged counter-terrorist operation in Anantnag in November 2024 led to the elimination of two terrorists, including a Category A++ operative.

♦ Constable Sanjay Tiwari and Constable Feda Hussain Dar were honoured for neutralising a foreign terrorist during a close-quarter battle in Srinagar’s Khanyar area despite sustaining multiple gunshot and splinter injuries.

♦ Assistant Commandant Mohd Shafiq, Lieutenant Commander Suraj Prashar, Ram Goyal and Constable Saddam Hussain were recognised for their bravery during Operation Chuntawadi in Bandipora, where coordinated action by security forces resulted in the elimination of heavily armed terrorists.

♦ Their courage under intense enemy fire helped secure the operation’s success.

♦ Assistant Commandant Vipin Wilson received the Shaurya Chakra for leading a determined response to a major insurgent attack in Manipur’s Jiribam district, helping neutralise 10 heavily armed insurgents. 

♦ Lieutenant Shashank Tiwari was awarded the Kirti Chakra (Posthumous) for sacrificing his life while rescuing a fellow soldier from a raging river in North Sikkim. 

♦ The Vir Chakra (Posthumous) was conferred on Sub-Inspector Mohd Imteyaj and Constable Deepak Chingakham of the BSF, who continued fighting despite grievous injuries during heavy cross-border shelling.

♦ Rifleman Sunil Kumar was also awarded the Vir Chakra (Posthumous) for neutralising an aerial threat before succumbing to his injuries.

Major Prabhat Mishra

♦ Major Prabhat Mishra of Indian Army has won two academic awards at a prestigious US Army leadership programme that included 951 officers from the US and partner nations at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He received the Birrer-Brookes Award for Outstanding Master of Military Arts and Science Thesis and the General Douglas MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Award during the graduation ceremony of the US Army Command and General Staff College's Command and General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC).

♦ The awards were presented as 951 graduates completed the 10-month programme designed to prepare mid-career officers for senior leadership and staff responsibilities. The graduating class included 120 international military students from 92 countries.

2026 Food Planet Prize

♦ The Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme has won the prestigious 2026 Food Planet Prize, the world’s largest environmental award focused on transforming global food systems. The award, worth USD 1.5 million (approximately Rs 14 crore), was presented in Båstad, Sweden by the Curt Bergfors Foundation. 

♦ APCNF emerged as the winner among four global finalists, with Conscious Kitchen (US), NoPalm Ingredients (Netherlands), and Savanna Institute (US) receiving USD 150,000 each in recognition of their work.

♦ Launched a decade ago, APCNF has helped 1.8 million farmers in 8,000 villages adopt natural farming, making it one of the world’s largest agroecology movements. APCNF was implemented by Rythu Sadhikara Samstha.