Mary Jackson
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has renamed its headquarters situated at Washington D.C after Mary Winston Jackson.
- Mary Jackson was the first black female engineer at NASA.
- This announcement was made by the NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
Beyonce
- American singer and songwriter Beyonce has been awarded the prestigious BET Humanitarian Award.
- She has been honoured for her charitable works.
- She was presented the award by former first lady Michelle Obama.
Micheál Martin
- Micheál Martin has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Ireland.
- He has succeeded Leo Varadkar.
Lazarus Chakwera
- Lazarus Chakwera became the new President of Malawi.
- He is the 6th President of the country.
- He has succeeded Peter Mutharika. Lazarus defeated Mutharika with 58.57% of votes.
Anandiben Patel
- Anandiben Patel has been given an additional charge of the Governor of Madhya Pradesh.
- At present, she is the governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Vini Mahajan
- IAS Officer Vini Mahajan became the first Woman Chief Secretary of Punjab.
- She will replace Karan Avtar Singh. She will remain on this post till October 2024.
Clare Connor
- Former Women Cricketer from England, Clare Connor became the first female president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 233 years.
- Her tenure will start from October 1, 2021, and will end on September 30, 2022.
- She will replace Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan player and national team captain.
- At present, Connor is the head of women’s cricket in the England and Wales Cricket Board since 2007.
Gulabbai Sangamnerkar & Madhuvanti Dandekar
- The Culture Minister of Maharashtra, Amit Deshmukh has announced that Gulabbai Sangamnerkar & Madhuvanti Dandekar will be awarded the Vithabai Narayangaokar Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Gulabbai Sangamnerkar is a folk artist while Madhuvanti Dandekar is a veteran theatre actress and singer.
- This award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a memento.
Amartya Sen
- Indian Economist and Philosopher and a Nobel Prize winner, Amartya Kumar Sen will be awarded 2020 Peace Prize of the board of the German book trade.
- He has been awarded with the prize for "decades-long work on the question "as a question of global justice."
- The prize consists of a cash prize of €25,000 euros ($28,000).
- The award is given annually by the German Book Trade since 1950.
Urjit Patel
- Former RBI governor, Urjit Patel has been appointed as the Chairman of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).
- NIPFP is a centre for research in public economics and policies.
- His tenure will be of 4 years.
- He has succeeded Vijay Laxman Kelkar.
Volkan Bozkir
- Volkan Bozkir became the first person from Turkey to be elected as the President of the UN General Assembly.
- He has been elected as the president of the 75th UN General Assembly.
- He will replace Tijjani Muhammad-Bande of Nigeria.
Kubatbek Boronov
- Kubatbek Boronov has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan.
- He has replaced Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziyev.
- Before this, Boronov had also served as the First Deputy Prime Minister from April 2018.
DK Jain
- The first-ever ethics officer and ombudsman of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), DK Jain has got an extension of 1 year.
- Now, his tenure will end in June 2021.
Kathy Sullivan
- Geologist and former NASA astronaut, Kathy Sullivan became the first woman to reach the Challenger Deep.
- Challenger Deep is the deepest point in the ocean.
- The Challenger Deep is located in the Southern end of the Mariana Trench, 7 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
Pankaj Tripathi
- Bollywood Actor Pankaj Tripathi has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Patna’s Khadi Mall by the Government of Bihar.
- He will be promoting Khadi products.
- Khadi Mall in Patna is India's first Khadi mall.
Imtaiyazur Rahman
- Imtaiyazur Rahman has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the UTI Asset Management Company (AMC) by the board of United Trust India (UTI).
- His tenure will be of 5 years.
- He will replace Leo Puri.
Dr Rattan Lal
- Indian-American Soil Scientist Dr Rattan Lal has been honoured with the 2020 World Food Prize Laureate.
- He has received this laureate for developing and mainstreaming a soil centric approach for increasing food production which preserves natural resources and mitigates climate change.
Shobha Sekhar
- Indian Musician Shobha Sekhar has received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
- Shobha is the founder of Kalakruthi a music organisation in Australia.
- A lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Shobha has been figured in the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List and will be awarded the medal later this year.
G Kishan Reddy
- G Kishan Reddy MoS Home Affairs has been appointed as the Chairman for a 9-member panel constituted for the welfare of the freedom fighters.
- The panel also includes Gujarat Dinakar Bhai Desai, a former Congress MLA who took part in 1942 Quit India Movement.
Renjith Kumar
- Indian Entrepreneur from Kerala, Renjith Kumar has been honoured with NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.
- It is the highest form of recognition of NASA for a non-governmental individual.
- Renjith is based in Virgina. He has been honoured for his service to NASA through executive leadership, engineering contribution, technical excellence and customer satisfaction.
Javed Akhtar
- Writer and Poet, Javed Akhtar became the first Indian to receive the Richard Dawkins Award 2020.
- He has been awarded for his critical thinking, advancing human progress & humanist values and holding religious principles up to scrutiny.
- This award was created by Margaret Downey, Leader of Secular Community in the year 2003.
Nethra
- A 13-year-old Madurai girl Nethra has been appointed as the ‘Goodwill Ambassador to the Poor’ by the United Nations Association for Development and Peace (UNADAP).
- She has been awarded for her role in providing food to poor people during COVID-19 lockdown by her father who is a hairdresser by profession.
Rohit Sharma
- Indian Cricketer Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the first brand ambassador of the IIFL Finance.
- IIFL Finance is an NBFC of India headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Krishnendu Majumdar
- Indian-Origin Krishnendu Majumdar from the UK has been appointed as the chairperson of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
- He is best known as the Emmy-winning television producer of ‘Hoff The Record’.
- He is also the youngest person to chair BAFTA at the age of 35 years.
- He will replace Pippa Harris.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named as the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020. She is the second woman to get this award.
- Kiran is the Executive Chairperson of India-based Biocon Limited.
- Kiran is the third Indian to receive this award after Uday Kotak (2014) and Narayana Murthy (2005).
Akshay Kumar
- Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar has been ranked 52nd in the Forbes 100 world’s highest-paid celebrities 2020.
- He is the only Indian in the list.
- His earnings have been estimated at USD 48.5 million.
- The list is topped by Kylie Jenner.
Rajeev Topno
- PMO officer Rajeev Topno has been appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Executive Director(ED), World Bank.
- Rajeev is the private secretary to the prime minister.
- Also, Brajendra Navnit who is the Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office has been appointed as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the World Trade Organisation.
Kritika Pandey
- Indian Writer Kritika Pandey has won the regional award for Asia in 2020 Commonwealth short story prize.
- She has been awarded for her story “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes”.
Uday Kotak
- Uday Kotak, the MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has been appointed as the new president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- He succeeds Vikram Kirloskar.
