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1.Sahitya Akademi has announced the Yuva Puraskar for 23 writers across various languages, including Advait Kottary for his English novel and Parvati Tirkey for her Hindi poetry. Additionally, 24 authors have been selected for the Bal Sahitya Puraskar, with Nitin Kushalappa MP recognized for his English stories and Sushil Shukla for his Hindi work.
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2.Dr. Rajkishore Padhi and Subrat Senapati nominated for Kendra Sahitya Akademi's Bal Sahitya and Yuva Puraskar 2025 for their Odia literary works 'Kete Phula Phutichi' and 'Kadamba Bana', respectively. Each award includes a cash prize of Rs 50,000, a citation plaque (memento), and a shawl.
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3.The Ministry of Education (MoE) has recommended seven states, including Odisha, to adopt a common board for Class X and XII after an analysis by the Centre flagged that these states accounted for 66 per cent of student failures last year, officials said. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Telangana and West Bengal are the other six states.
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4.The Election Commission (EC) Wednesday said voter identity cards will now be delivered to electors within 15 days, virtually halving the time taken.
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5.The Maharashtra government has issued an order making Hindi “generally” the third language, and not mandatory, for students of Classes I to V studying in English and Marathi medium schools in the state.
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6.In a bid to ease toll payments on National Highways, the government will bring a Rs 3,000 FASTag-based annual pass from August 15 that would allow up to 200 trips on the highways in one year on a single charge.
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7.India and Canada have agreed to restore High Commissioners to each other’s capitals at an early date, the first in “calibrated steps” to restore stability to the “very important relationship”, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
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8.Hours after holding a phone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump Wednesday repeated his claim that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan.
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9.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a comprehensive roadmap for the development of Odisha during his June 20 visit to Bhubaneswar, where he will attend a mega event marking the first anniversary celebrations of the BJP government in the state.
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10.The state government Wednesday declared a holiday for all schools in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack June 20 in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit, an official said.
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11. In a significant move to modernise the state's mining sector, Rajasthan will, for the fi rst time, use Artifi cial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for mineral exploration.
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12.Madhya Pradesh recorded a 526 per cent rise in the number of domestic and foreign tourists who visited the state in 2024 compared to 2020, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said Wednesday.
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13.The Calcutta High Court Wednesday directed the Centre to implement the MGNREGA, the 100- day job guarantee scheme, prospectively in West Bengal from August 1.
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14.Four Indian schools from Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh were named among the top 10 finalists for the World’s Best School Prizes, recognising their impact and earning a chance to join the Best School to Work programme.
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15.By significant improvement in energy efficiency and investment capacity, India has been ranked 71st on a global Energy Transition Index released Wednesday by the World Economic Forum.