1) Sudarsan Pattnaik wins prize in Moscow sand art show.
- India`s Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the people`s choice prize for his sand sculpture titled "Mahatma Gandhi - World Peace" at the ninth Moscow Sand Sculpture Championship 2016.
- Sudarsan has already won a gold medal for the 15-foot-high sculpture.
2) Bezwada Wilson, T.M. Krishna Win Ramon Magsaysay Award.
- Two Indians - Carnatic singer T.M. Krishna and campaigner for eradication of manual scavenging Bezwada Wilson - were among six persons who received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay prize for 2016.
- Wilson, the national convener of the SafaiKarmachariAndolan (SKA), got the award for ``asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity`` while Krishna won it under the `Emergent Leadership` category for bringing ``social inclusiveness in culture``.
- Four others who received the award are: ConchitaCarpio-Morales of the Philippines, DompetDhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and ‘Vientiane Rescue’ of Laos.
3) Irrfan Khan awarded with `Entertainer of the Year`.
- Actor Irrfan Khan, known for his work in Bollywood and the west, was honoured with the Entertainer of the Year award.
- The actor, credited with films like Paan Singh Tomar, The Lunchbox, Life of Pi, Piku and Talvar, was presented the honour by Finance Minister ArunJaitley.
- He was last seen on the big screen in director NishikantKamat`s social-thriller Madaari. He now looks forward to the release of his American mystery thriller Inferno, which also features Hollywood star Tom Hanks.
4) Kiran Mazumdar Shaw appointed `Knight of Legion of Honour` by France.
- Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson & Managing Director of Biocon has been appointed `Chevalier de l`Ordre National de la Légion d`Honneur` (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour) for her outstanding contribution and dedication to the Biosciences and Research field globally.
- The award will be conferred on behalf of the President of the French Republic at a special ceremony.
- Other Indians to have received this honour in the past are: Yashwant Sinha, Narayana Murthy, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das, Shah Rukh Khan, veteran musician Balamuralikrishna, Sivaji Ganesan amongst others.
5) Jackie Chan to receive lifetime achievement Oscar.
- Popular actor Jackie Chan will be awarded with an honorary Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- Chan will accept the Oscar alongside fellow honorees, film editor Anne Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman at the Governors Awards.
- Chan is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts, in his movies. His first major breakthrough was the 1978 film, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow.
- His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980. Chan succeeded in establishing a foothold in the US with his 1995 film Rumble in the Bronx.
6) Award - 2016 Noted Odia poet to get Sarala.
- Noted Odia poet Dr. Hrushikesh Mallick will be honoured with the 37th edition of prestigious Sarala Award for his outstanding poetry.
- The annual award, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and a citation, would be conferred on Dr. Mallick for his poetry work ``Jeje Dekhi Nathiba Bharat``.
- Two more prominent personalities of Odisha will be honoured for their valuable contribution in the field of music and art. Dr. Gopal Chandra Panda will be awarded with Ila Panda Memorial Music Samman while Dr Dinanath Pathi will receive Ila Panda Memorial Art Samman posthumously.
7) Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee win Best Actors award: LIFFI.
- Acclaimed talents Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee were named Best Actors at the debut edition of the Lonavla International Film Festival India (LIFFI), where the Best Director honour went to Anant Mahadevan for ``Rough Book``.
- While Nawazuddin was lauded for bringing alive the struggle of real life hero Dashrath Manjhi in ``Manjhi – The Mountain Man``, Tannishtha’s portrayal of a teacher with a difference in ``Rough Book`` won the LIFFI jury’s heart.
- Tannishtha shared the Best Actor (Female) Award with her National School of Drama senior Bhagirathi Bai Kadam who has delivered a power-packed performance in Assamese film ``Scarecrow``.
8) K.G. George wins 2015 J.C. Daniel Award.
- Veteran award-winning film director K.G. George won the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for his overall contribution to the Malayalam film industry.
- The award will be given away along with the State Film Awards at a function to be held at Palakkad in October 2016.
- His well known films include Ulkadal, Mela, Yavanika among others.
9) Thithi wins Best Film Award at first BRICS Film Festival.
- Acclaimed Kannada movie Thithi won the Best Film Award at the first BRICS Film Festival, which concluded in New Delhi.
- The BRICS Film Festival was organized as a part of the special events planned in run-up to the BRICS summit to be held in India.
- The five-day-long festival screened movies from India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
- China`s Chengdu city will host the next edition of the BRICS Film Festival.
10) Jan Shikshan Sansthan conferred with 2016 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.
- The Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) of Malappuram, Kerala was conferred with the 2016 Unesco Confucius Prize for Literacy.
- The award was conferred on the JSS in recognition of its literacy-linked skill development activities among the underprivileged in rural areas.
- The JSS bagged the prestigious international award for its initiatives in applying new technology in literacy. Innovations such as Braille applications and the Talking Pen used by the JSS impressed UNESCO.
11) Indian conservationist Bibhuti Lahkar wins Heritage Heroes Award of IUCN.
- Indian ecologist and conservation activist Bibhuti Lahkar became the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious Heritage Heroes Award by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- Lahkar received the award at the IUCN`s World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- The Indian ecologist was among five conservationists across the globe to be nominated for 2016 Heritage Heroes Award.
- The Heritage Heroes Award is aimed at recognizing outstanding efforts around the globe in making a difference in the conservation of World Heritage sites in challenging situations.
12) Indo Japanese Priyanka Yoshikawa named Miss Japan.
- Priyanka Yoshikawa, who is half-Indian, has been crowned Miss Japan 2016.
- Her victory follows that of Miss Japan 2015 Ariana Miyamoto, who became the first black woman to represent Japan.