1) Noted Odia poet to get Sarala Award - 2016.
- 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``, the Sarala Award Committee announced
2) Indian-origin teen wins Google Science Fair prize.
- A 16-year-old Indian-origin South African teen has won a $50,000 scholarship, the grand prize at the annual Google Science Fair for her work using orange peel to develop a cheaper ``super-absorbent material`` that helps soil retain water
- Kiara Nirghin, a Grade 11 student at private school St Martin’s, submitted her project titled `No More Thirsty Crops` which was aimed at tackling the severe drought plaguing South Africa.
3) France confers knighthood on elephant researcher.
- Film-maker and elephant researcher Prajna Chowta has been appointed Chevalier de l`Ordre National du Mérite (Knight in the National Order of Merit), one of the highest civilian recognitions of the French government
- The appointment of Chowta by the President of the French Republic comes in recognition of a life devoted to caring for wild Asian elephants.
4) 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz.
(I) David James Thouless:
- David James Thouless is a British condensed-matter physicist, Wolf Prize winner and laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize for physics along with Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.
(II) Duncan Haldane:
- Frederick Duncan Michael Haldane is a British physicist is Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics at the physics department of Princeton University in the United States, and a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
(III) Michael Kosterlitz:
- John Michael Kosterlitz is a professor of physics at Brown University and the son of biochemist Hans Kosterlitz. He was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics along with David Thouless and Duncan Haldane for work on condensed matter physics.
5) Space scientist U.R. Rao into its Hall of Fame of IAF.
- The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) inducted renowned space scientist U.R. Rao into its Hall of Fame for his contribution to development of India’s space technology.
- For his efforts towards sharing the greater benefits of space technology with developing countries and the world at large.
- Udupi Ramachandra Rao, popularly known as U.R. Rao is a space scientist and former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Presently he is the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad and chancellor ofIndian Institute for Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Thiruvananthapuram.
6) 34 teachers to get state awards in Punjab.
- Punjab Government has announced the names of 34 teachers.
- State Education Minister Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, 7 PES Cadre Officers/ Employees will also be honoured with appreciation letters for their exemplary performance in the assigned duties.
- While announcing the names of teachers for state awards, Dr. Cheema.
- Five member committee has made judicious selection of teaching fraternity for state awards. 34 State Award Winner teachers would be honoured with a cash amount of Rs. 25000, appreciation letter, a medal and one year extension on service period.
7) Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2016 has been awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa.
- Jean-Pierre Sauvage (born October 21, 1944) is a French coordination chemist working at Strasbourg University.
- Sir James Fraser Stoddart is a Scottish chemist currently (as of 22 March 2014) at the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University in the United States.
- Bernard Lucas ``Ben`` Feringa is asynthetic organic chemist, specializing in molecular nanotechnology and homogenous catalysis.
8) Nayanjot Lahiri won 2016 John F. Richards Prize.
- Nayanjot Lahiri of Ashoka University has been selected as the winner of the 2016 John F. Richards Prize for her book Ashoka in Ancient India.
- The prestigious prize would be presented upon her at the American Historical Association (AHA’s) 131st Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado in January 2017. Nayanjot Lahiri.
- Professor Lahiri’s biography was edited and typeset at Permanent Black, India’s leading academic publisher, and would be available in paperback later.
- Nayanjot Lahiri is an eminent historian and archaeologist of ancient India. she is teaching at the newly created Ashoka University. She has several research papers and publications to her credit.
- The John F. Richards Prize is awarded annually by the American Historical Association (AHA). The award has been named after John F. Richards (November 1938 to August 2007) who was eminent historian of South Asia and in particular of the Mughal Empire
9) President of India presented Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships and Akademi Awards for 2015.
- The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the ``SangeetNatakAkademi Fellowships (AkademiRatna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (AkademiPuraskars) for the Year-2015`` at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan. Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture & Tourism were present at the award presentation function.
In the field of Music, eleven eminent artists:
(1) Krishna Bisht and Mashkoor Ali Khan for Hindustani Vocal Music
(2) Kartik Kumar for Hindustani Instrumental Music – Sitar
(3) Brij Narayan for Hindustani Instrumental Music – Sarod
(4) R.N. Thyagarajan and R.N. Tharanathan (joint award) for Carnatic Vocal Music
(5) SugunaVaradhachari for Carnatic Vocal Music
(6) Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan for Carnatic Instrumental Music – Violin
(7) MambalamM K.S. Siva for Carnatic Instrumental Music Nagaswaram
(8) Bhupinder Singh, HridyanathMangeshkar and PrafullaKar for Other Major Traditions of Music – SugamSangeet
In the field of Dance-nine eminent artists:
(1) Ranganayaki Jayaraman for Bharatanatyam
(2) K. Kunhiraman Nair for Kathakali
(3) G. Padmaja Reddy for Kuchipudi
(4) AlokaKanungo for Odissi
(5) SharodiSaikia for Sattriya Dance
(6) Mandakini Trivedi for Mohiniattam
(7) Sadashiva Pradhan for Chhau Dance
(8) W. Lokendrajit Singh for Contemporary/ Experimental Dance and Rajkumar Bharathi for Music for Dance
In the field of Theatre,-nine eminent artists:
(1) Nand Kishore Acharya and Shafaat Khan for Playwriting
(2) Parvez Akhtar and MushtaqKak for Direction
(3) Manoj N. Joshi and Himani Shivpuri for Acting
(4) Pradeep Mulye for Allied Theatre Arts–Scenic Design
(5) SarojiniNangiar for Other Major Traditions of Theatre–Kutiyattam and Rani Balbir Kaur for Overall Contribution in Theatre
In the field of Traditional/ Folk/ Tribal Music/ Dance/ Theatre and Puppetry, ten artistes Awards 2015:
(1) Khuman Lal Sao (Folk Music of Chhattisgarh)
(2) Ramchandra Singh (Folk Theatre of Bihar), Khem Raj (Folk Music of Jammu and Kashmir)
(3) S.R.D. Prasad (Martial Art of Kerala)
(4) Chhaya and Maya Khutegaonkar (joint award for Folk Dance of Maharashtra-Lavani)
(5) Gangmei AlunaKabuini (Traditional Dance and Music of Manipur)
(6) Paramjit Singh Sidhu (Folk Music of Punjab)
(7) Sayeed SabriJaipuri (Qawwali, Rajasthan)
(8) K.K. Ramachandra Pulavar and T.N. Sankaranathan for Puppetry
Shanta Gokhale and Chaman Ahuja have been selected for the Akademi Award 2015 in the field of Overall Contribution/ Scholarship to Performing Arts.
10) Malayalam Novelist Kumaran Selected For Vayalar Award.
- Eminent Malayalam novelist and short story writer U.K. Kumaran is selected for Vayalar Awardprestigious Vayalar award 2016 for his novel `Thakshankunnu Swarooopam`.
Vayalar Award:
- The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a silver plate and citation, is given annually to the best literary work in Malayalam, and is instituted by the Vayalar Rama Varma Memorial Trust.
11) Earth Science Olympiad Winners.
- Three Indian high school students won four silver medals in the 10th International Earth Science Olympiad, MIE Japan, met Minister for Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
- The 10th International Earth Science Olympiad (10th IESO) was held from 21th to 27th August 2016 at Mie, Japan. The theme logo of IESO - 2016, Japan was ``Our Future: Earth and Space``.
- This year 26 countries with four students from each country participated in this event (a total of 201 students) barring Malawi (one student only).
The Indian team was represented by four students:
- Aditya pal, (Kolkata), Amarjeet Pandde (Mumbai), Guhan Narayanan (Bangalore) and Divyansh Joshi (Udaipur) Aditya Pal, (Kolkata), Amarjeet Pandde (Mumbai) and Guhan Narayanan (Bangalore) were awarded silver medals. Guhan Narayanan won another silver medal for India in the team event.