• Hillel Furstenberg from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Gregory Margulis from Yale University, the USA won the Abel Prize 2020 for their “pioneering use of methods from probability & dynamics in group theory, number theory and combinatorics”.
• The Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2002. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters gives the award.

• Sixteen Nari Shakti Puraskars were presented this year by President Ram Nath Kovind on International Women’s Day.
• The Nari Shakti Puraskar is the country’s highest civilian honour for women, and recognizes services towards the cause of women empowerment.  

The Achievers and their Field of Work

• Man Kaur: A centenarian sprinter. Dubbed as the “Miracle Mom from Chandigarh”, 104-year-old Man Kaur started running when she was 91 years old. 
• Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth, and Avani Chaturvedi: IAF’s first women fighter pilots
• Padala Bhudevi and Bina Devi: Popular as the ‘Mushroom Mahila’ for popularising mushroom cultivation.
• Arifa Jaan: An artisan from Kashmir she took up the task of the revival of the lost art of Numdha handicrafts. Numdha is a traditional felted Kashmir carpet, made by rolling and pressing wool by the application of moisture.
• Chami Murmu: Hailed as the Lady Tarzan of Jharkhand, Chami Devi Murmu has been mobilizing women to plant Eucalyptus, Sal and Acacia trees, among others, to replenish the forests in Jharkhand that had been destroyed by the timber mafia.
• Nilza Wangmo: She runs a restaurant in Alchi, near Leh town and is taking the Ladakh cuisine to the world.
• Rashmi Urdhwareshe: An automotive research professional
• Kalavati Devi: A lady mason, who acted as a driving force in reducing open defecation in the district of Kanpur. She went door to door to tell people about the ills of open defecation and has built over 4,000 toilets across the city and around it.
• Tashi and Nungshi Malik: Tashi and Nungshi Malik from Uttrakhand were the first female twins to scale Mt Everest in 2013. They have climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa in 2015 and Mt Vinson, Antarctica in 2014, Puncak Jaya in Australia in 2014 and Mt Elbrus in Europe in 2013.
• Kaushiki Chakroborty: A Khayal and Thumri exponent and is one of the few people to keep Indian classical music alive.
• Karthyayini Amma and Bhageerathi Amma: Karthyayini Amma scored 98 marks out of 100 in the 4th standard equivalency course under the Kerala Literacy Mission’s Aksharalaksham scheme. Bhageerathi Amma has created history by becoming the oldest woman to sit for the same exam.

• Indian filmmaker Zoya Akhtar has been honoured with IIFTC Tourism Impact Award 2020 for her outstanding contribution to world tourism through her cinema.
• The 8th India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• Curt Bergfors Foundation of Sweden has created two USD 1 million prizes - Food Planet Prize - for solutions to feed billions of people, as climate change threatens the world’s food supply and a growing population requires sustainable food systems.
• Two Food Planet Prizes will be awarded annually, one to “an existing scalable solution for sustainable foods”, the second for “innovative initiatives that could transform the global food sector”.

Oscar 2020

• The 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars)  ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on 9 February 2020. Oscar Awards are given by the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• The first non-English language film ‘Parasite’ directed by Bong Joon Ho, won the best picture award.

Major Awards/Winners

• Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
• Best Actress: Renée Zellweger – Judy
• Best Director: Bong Joon ho – Parasite
• Best Picture: Parasite
• Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
• Best Animated Short: Hair Love
• Best Original Screenplay: Parasite
• Best Documentary: American Factory
• Best Cinematography: 1917
• Best International Feature Film: Parasite

• The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal was conferred Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award 2020, instituted by India Foundation, an independent research centre focussed on the issues, challenges and opportunities of the Indian polity.