Table of Contents:
1. Saraswati Samman 2022 Winner - Sivasankari 
2. Veteran Actor Sameer Khakhar Passed Away 
3. 39 Indian Cities Among World's 50 Most Polluted 
4. Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur Inaugurated IBA Women's World Boxing Championships 

Saraswati Samman 2022 Winner - Sivasankari 
 

Saraswati Samman is one of the three literary awards instituted by the foundation in 1991. It is the highest recognition in the field of Indian literature in the country and carries a cash prize of ?15 lakh, a plaque and a citation. It is given anually for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen in the last 10 years preceding the specified Samman year. 

Tamil writer Sivasankari will be awarded the Saraswati Samman 2022 for her 2019 memoir ‘Surya Vamsam’.The recipient is chosen by the Chayan Parishad under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Arjan Kumar Sikri that comprises outstanding scholars and writers of the country. 

Saraswati Samman, the Bihari Puraskar and the Vyas Samman are the literary awards instituted by the K K Birla Foundation. 

Veteran Actor Sameer Khakhar Passed Away 
 

Sameer Khakhar, an experienced actor who had worked in theater, television, and movies, has passed away. He is most remembered for his portrayal of the character “Khopdi” in the popular TV series “Nukkad” which earned him recognition and praise from audiences. The late actor was also a part of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's 1989 TV series 'Circus'.  

Some of his notable work includes the TV show ‘Shrimaan Shrimati’, and films such as ‘Parinda’, Salman Khan-starrer ‘Jai Ho’, Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra’s ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’, Sudhir Mishra-directed Serious Men’, and Vikas Bahl’s web-series ‘Sunflower’. Recently he appeared in video series Farzi also. 

39 Indian Cities Among World's 50 Most Polluted 

According to the ‘Global Air Quality’ study published by the Swiss company IQ Air,  India become the world's eighth most polluted country in 2022, dropping from fifth place the previous year. In the list of most polluted cities in the world, 39 out of 50 cities are in India. 

Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan were the top 10 most polluted countries while Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand met the World Health Organization (WHO) PM2.5 guideline (annual average of 5 Aug/m3 or less). 

After the two top most-polluted cities, Lahore in Pakistan and Hotan in China, Rajasthan's Bhiwadi is in third place and Delhi ranked fourth.According to the report, 31 cities including 10 cities in Uttar Pradesh and seven in Haryana, have seen a steep percentage decline in pollution levels. 

Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur Inaugurated IBA Women's World Boxing Championships 

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has inaugurated the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi. The tournament is hosted by Boxing Federation of India. 324 women boxers from about 65 countries are taking part in the championship in 12 weight categories. 

Tournament's brand ambassador and six-time champion great MC Mary Kom was also present along with the guest of honour Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar. The Championship is taking place in India for the third time after 2006 and 2018, the most for any country. India has risen to the third position from 44th position in the latest International Boxing Association, IBA world rankings.