Section
Literature, arts, heritage, health, education and social change.
Poet and former CSIR-IMMT scientist Ashutosh Parida received the 47th Sarala Puraskar, a Rs 7 lakh prize for Odia literature, in Bhubaneswar on October 25, 2026. Lyricist R. Vairamuthu presented the award and spoke about protecting mother tongues.
Culture & SocietyAnalysis
On October 21, 2026, WHO, WMO, UNICEF and UNFPA released the first global framework of priority indicators for monitoring how extreme heat affects pregnant women, newborns and children. It asks countries to read outcomes such as preterm births and stillbirths against heat data.
On October 23, 2026, Japan's government named Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto among eight recipients of the Order of Culture, making him the first video game creator to receive the country's top cultural honour. The decorations will be presented at the Imperial Palace on November 3.
