Deshauna Barber, a serving Army Reserve officer of United States (US), was on 5 June 2016 crowned as the Miss USA 2016 at the Miss USA competition 2016 held at the T-Mobile Arena off the Las Vegas Strip.
•    She represented the US capital as Miss District of Columbia. Miss Hawaii Chelsea Hardin came in as the first runner-up and Miss Georgia Emani Davis was the second runner-up.
•    With this, Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA title. She will now represent the USA at Miss Universe Competition 2016.
•    Barber inherited the crown from 2015 winner Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan.
•    Barber works as an IT analyst at the US Department of Commerce.
•    Barber was commissioned as a Quartermaster Officer in 2011 in the Army Reserve of US.
•    She is currently a Logistics Commander for the 988th Quartermaster Detachment Unit based at Fort Meade, Maryland.
•    She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
•    She was crowned as Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 in December 2015 by outgoing titleholder Lizzy Olsen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Amir Amanullah Khan Award, the country's highest civilian honour of Afghanistan.
•    He was awarded the honour by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
•    During his 25 minute-long speech after inaugurating the dam, PM Modi also invoked Chisht-born Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti who settled down in Ajmer and is venerated by thousands of people visiting his shrine.
•    At the close of the speech, the prime minister also wished the people of Afghanistan and all Muslims across the world for the Holy Month of Ramzan.
•    Modi is the first Indian and is among a handful of foreign leaders to receive the award.
•    The award is named after the Afghan national hero Amanullah Khan who championed the cause of Afghanistan’s freedom. He was the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919-1929.

Raghavan Seetharaman, Qatar-based Indian banker, on 30 May 2016 was awarded the Green Economy Visionary award.
•    Seetharaman was honoured for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades.
•    The banker was presented with the award at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome. Mohammed Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of Union of Arab Banks, presented the award to Seetharaman.
•    Raghavan Seetharaman is the Group CEO of Doha Bank, which is one of the largest commercial banks in Qatar.
•    In 2015, business magazine Forbes ranked Seetharaman 6th in the Forbes’ Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2015 list.
•    He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the four largest professional services networks.
•    In 2002, he became Deputy CEO for Doha Bank.
•    He was named CEO in September 2007.
•    He graduated with a degree in commerce from the University of Madras and then became a chartered accountant.
•    He also earned a double doctorate, first in Global Governance from the European University in 2013 and the second in Green Banking and Sustainability from Sri Sri University in 2015.
•    He also received an honorary degree (Doctorate of Laws) from the Washington College.

CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were conferred on the players in a function of 20th edition of CEAT awards at Mumbai on 30 May 2016. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
England batsman Joe Root was named as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year and also International batsman of the Year 2016 while India’s test captain Virat Kohli was named CEAT T20 Player of the Year.
•    Lifetime Achievement Award – Dilip Vengsarkar
•    International Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root
•    International Batsman of the Year – Joe Root
•    International Bowler of the Year – Ravichandran Ashwin
•    Test Cricketer of the Year – Kane Williamson
•    ODI Cricketer of the Year – Martin Guptill
•    T20 Player of the Year – Virat Kohli
•    Indian Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma
•    Domestic Cricketer of the Year – Shreyas Iyer
•    Young Player of the Year – Rishabh Pant
•    Special Award –  Ajinkya Rahane
The CEAT awards honour the best of the cricketers based on their performances in international cricketing in all formats - Test, ODI and T20 - as rated by the CEAT Cricket ratings (CCR) over a period of 12 months from 1st May to 30th April.
In its first year of Inception of Award in 1995-96 the CEAT International Cricketer award was bagged by Brian Lara.

Adding to the Academy Award-winning Jai Ho composer's vast collection of wins, the ceremony had Rahman presenting a lecture on "From The Heart: The World of AR Rahman's Music."
•    The Fukuoka Prize is an honour established in 1990 by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia foundation. 
•    It was meant to pay a tribute to the works of individuals and organisations, who have promoted and preserved the diverse and rich culture of Asia.
•    Divided into three categories — Grand Prize, Academic Prize and Arts and Culture Prize — this year's winning list saw Rahman sharing the stage with historian Ameth R Ocampo from Philippines (Academic Prize) and Yasmeen Lari from Pakistan (Arts and Culture Prize).
•    Allah-Rakha Rahman, born A. S. Dileep Kumar, is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist. 
•    A.R. Rahman's works are noted for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music, world music and traditional orchestral arrangements. 
•    Among his awards are two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. 
•    Rahman's body of work for film and stage has given him the nickname of "the Mozart of Madras", and Tamil commentators and fans call him Isai Puyal 

An Indian-American scientist Arnab De has received the prestigious Springer Theses Award in recognition for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumor-suppressor called A20.

•    Arnab De's thesis was nominated by New York's Columbia University. 
•    Before this, De, who has also developed peptide-based prod rugs as therapeutics for diabetes, had received the Young Investigator Award at the American Peptide Symposium.
•    The thesis prize is awarded by Springer, a leading global publisher of renowned scientific journals and books, to recognize outstanding PhD research.
•    Winners also get a cash prize of 500 Euros. 
•    The research work was highlighted by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Reports.
•    Only research considered to be of 'fundamental relevance to a general readership' is chosen to be highlighted by EMBO.
•    Internationally top-ranked research institutes select their best thesis annually for publication in this series. Nominated and endorsed by two recognized specialists, each thesis is chosen for its scientific excellence and impact on research. 

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 29 May 2016 presented the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar for the year 2016 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
•    The award was conferred upon 15 teachers from Punjab for their rare contribution in the field of education.
•    The awardees were facilitated with 1 lakh rupees cash, certificate of excellence, a Robe of Honour and a medal.
•    The initiative was mainly taken to promote the quality teaching in the schools besides encouraging the hundred percent attendance of girl students in the government schools.
•    The Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar was instituted by Mohinder Singh Syngle Education & Research Society.
•    It was instituted in honour of its founder Malti Mohinder Singh Syngle, eminent educationist and social worker.
•    Every year, government school teachers from Punjab Government’s High & Higher Secondary Schools receive this award for their contributions in the field of education.
•    The teachers already awarded with the National or State Awards were not considered for this award.

Pakke Tiger Reserve on 22 May 2016 received the 'India Biodiversity Award 2016' in one of its four categories in Mumbai. 
•    The Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme of the Pakke Tiger Reserve was awarded the prize under Conservation of threatened species category.
•    Besides this, Hong Niitii, Lower Subansiri was awarded under category IV Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) award.
•    Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme It is a collaboration of Ghora-Aabhe Society, Nature Conservation Foundation and the State Forest Departments.
•    Under this programme, urban citizens contribute money to protect hornbill nests around Pakke Tiger Reserve.
•    It is a major step towards conservation of four hornbill species that are found in the adjoining areas of the Tiger Reserve.
•    India Biodiversity Awards are joint initiative of Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and United Nations Development programme (UNDP).
•    It recognizes the contribution of the stakeholders towards the biodiversity conservation.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, received the Alumni Achievement Award of Harvard Business School. 
•    The award is presented annually since 1968 and is the highest honour given to any alumni of the institute.
•    Mittal serves on the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade & Industry and has held various prestigious positions like Vice-Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
•    He was also felicitated with a Padma Bhushan, country’s third highest civilian honour, in 2007.
•    Mittal also founded Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecommunications company.
•    Airtel is the first company to launch 4G Services in India.
•    Apart from strong marketing and market value Airtel has also been in many controversies.
•    Airtel is known for its wide network coverage and fluent flow of data services

Routes 2 Roots, a Delhi-based Non-profit organization (NGO), has been awarded prestigious Inter-cultural Innovation Award 2016. 
•    The award was given by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. 
•    Under this programme, students from both countries connect with each other through written, audio and visual recordings that share history before partition and thus help in eliminating misunderstandings about each other’s cultures. 
•    This engagement also facilitates the students to ask each other questions, thereby discovering common interests. 
•    Intercultural Innovation Award: It has been instituted by a partnership between UNAOC and the BMW Group. 
•    Formed with a vision of ‘connecting cultures’, constantly striving to bridge the socio-cultural distance between India and the world through music and art thereby becoming cultural diplomats to the world. 
•    Ever since its inception (2004) our shows and exhibitions have traveled to more than 20 cities in India and to 12 international cities in Russia, China, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa. 
•    It has always been the motto of R2R to bring much needed global integrity & harmony amongst people, cultures and values across borders and especially in SAARC countries.