1.Seventeen personnel of the Odisha Police have been selected for Gallantry and Service Medals announced by the Union Government on the occasion of Independence Day 2026.

2.President of India Droupadi Murmu today conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2024 and 2025 upon eminent performing artists at a ceremony in New Delhi.

3.the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards For 2024, Odissi exponent Bichitra Nanda Swain was honoured for his contribution to Odissi, while Ranajit Kumar Nag received the award for his contribution to Sambalpuri folk dance.

4.the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards For 2025, Padma Shri Ileana Citaristi received the award for her contribution to Odissi, Sachidananda Das for Mardala, Pagulu Jena for Mayurbhanj Chhau, and theatre director Subodh Patnaik for stage direction.

5.Two Odisha Police officers have been selected for the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM).

6.They are:Additional Director General Sanjeeb Panda and Deputy Superintendent of Police Smitarani Mohanty.

7.A total of 24 organ donors from 11 districts were honoured. Each family received a cash award of Rs 5 lakh along with a certificate of honour. This year recorded the highest number of Suraj Samman awards compared to the previous year.

8.Self-Help Groups across India unite to craft 60 lakh tricolours, fueling patriotic fervor ahead of Independence Day 2026.

9.In the last two years alone, the Odisha state has commissioned 15 new grid substations, taking the total number of operational grid substations to 210. During the same period, 788.99 circuit kilometres of transmission lines have been laid.  

10.Empaneled hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana–Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY-GJAY) have received clear and firm directions: set up round-the-clock help desks, deliver free emergency treatment under the Pradhan Mantri RAHAT scheme, and complete integration with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) by 31 August this year.

11.Parliament has passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026,

12.Centre Friday notified 40 questions - caste, place of Covid vaccination being two of them - to be asked of respondents during the population enumeration phase of the Census, set to begin from September 1 for Census 2027.

13.Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling Thursday laid the foundation stone for upgrading a 100-bed government Ayurvedic hospital in Bhubaneswar.

14.The Supreme Court Friday stayed an order of the Madras High Court which quashed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's order providing  government jobs to relatives of people who died in a stampede at Karur last year.

15.Six people died and 14 sustained injuries Thursday after water and debris entered a tunnel under construction at a hydroelectric project site in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, officials said