• Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar was named a `Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile` (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
• In this regard, she received the official letter confirming the distinction from the federation.
• With this, she also became the first-ever Indian gymnast to receive the honour.

• She is an Indian artistic gymnast from Agartala, Tripura.
• She rose to recognition when she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games becoming the first Indian female gymnast to do so in the history of the games.
• She won a bronze at the Asian Gymnastics Championships and finished 5th at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
• With this, she became the first Indian finalist at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

• Captain Radhika Menon was selected for the 2016 International Maritime Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.
• Menon has been selected for the prestigious award for her role in the rescue of seven fishermen from a sinking fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal in June 2015.
• Captain Menon will also be the first female to receive the IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.
• The award will be presented to Menon on 21 November 2016 at IMO Headquarters in London, United Kingdom.

She was nominated for the award by the Government of India for the rescue of all seven fishermen from the fishing boat Durgamma. 

• South African writer, filmmaker and photographer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi won the 17th edition of prestigious Caine Prize 2016 for his short story Memories We Lost.
• With this, Lidudumalingani was awarded with 10000 Euros and a month at Georgetown University in the US as a writer-in-residence.
• The winning story explores a difficult subject of tackling schizophrenia. This is a troubling piece, depicting the great love between two young siblings in a beautifully drawn Eastern Cape.

• The Caine Prize is an annual literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in the English language.
• It was established in 2010 in the United Kingdom and was named in memory of Sir Michael Harris Caine, former Chairman of Booker Group plc.
• The award carrying 10000 Euros prize seeks to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally.
• It is famously referred as the African Booker.

• The Odisha government has decided to double the prize money of UnescoKalinga Prize-2017 to $40,000.
• The Kalinga Prize was established in 1951 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) with a generous grant from BijuPatnaik, the founder-president of the Kalinga Foundation Trust.
• The Kalinga Prize is given to persons who make outstanding contribution to the interpretation of science and technology to the general public.
• It is noted that Argentinian scientist Diego Andres Golombek received the UNESCO Kalinga Prize 2015.