Table of Contents:
1. First C295 for India Completes its Maiden Flight 
2. Koodiyattam Maestro P K Govindan Nambiar Passed Away 
3. Pulitzer Prizes 2023 Announced  
4. Harvard University Names S D Biju as Radcliffe Fellow 
 

First C295 for India Completes its Maiden Flight 

The first C295 for India has successfully completed its maiden flight, marking a significant milestone towards its delivery by the second half of 2023. The tactical aircraft took off from Seville, Spain, on the 5th May.  

India acquired 56, C295 aircraft in September 2021 to replace the (IAF) AVRO fleet. The first 16 aircraft will be assembled in Seville, Spain, and delivered to the customer in ‘fly-away’ condition. The following 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies. The development was seen as significant since this is the first time that a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private consortium. 

Koodiyattam Maestro P K Govindan Nambiar Passed Away 

Legendary Koodiyatam artist PK Govindan Nambiar, the man who introduced the artform to the masses, passed away at the age of 93 in Thrissur.  

He made a distinct mark of his in Kerala temple art forms like Koothu, Koodiyattom and Patakom. Son of Padma Shri winner Mani Madhava Chakyar, Nambiar started his career spanning over seven decades at the age of 14. He started with Patakom, and then moved to Chakyarkoothu and Koodiyattom. He also served as Hindi teacher at Ottapalam NSSKPD School for 36 years. The veteran artist translated ‘Koodiyatam’ to Hindi and performed at several stages across the country. 

He was one among the five ‘Koodiyatam Gurus’ recognised by the UNESCO in 2001. 

Pulitzer Prizes 2023 Announced  

The Pulitzer Prize, administered by Columbia University in New York, United States of America (USA), is considered the most prestigious prize in US journalism. It recognizes the best of journalism and the arts in 2022 were announced. This is the 107^th edition of Pulitzer Prize.   

The Associated Press won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism under the Public Service category. It won two awards for its coverage of the war in Ukraine, including the most prestigious of all Pulitzers, the Public Service award. 

Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper) and Trust, by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead Books) won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Books, Drama and Music under the Fiction category. 

In twenty categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash prize (raised from $10,000 in 2017). A gold medal is awarded to the winner in the Public Service category. 

The prizes, originally endowed with a $500,000 gift from newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, are highly respected and have been awarded each May since 1917. The number and category of awards have varied over the years but currently, there are 14 awards in journalism, 6 awards in letters, and 1 award in music. 

Harvard University Names S D Biju as Radcliffe Fellow 
 

Biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, who is popularly known as ‘the Frogman of India’, has been chosen for Harvard University’s prestigious Radcliffe fellowship. The Delhi University professor is one of the 50 scholars who were awarded the Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship for 2023-24. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, known as Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is one of the world’s leading centres for interdisciplinary research and exploration. 

Biju is the 60th fellow representing biological sciences in 23 years of the fellowship and only the second fellow in this discipline from India. He attracted global attention to amphibians in South Asia when he, over three decades, discovered over a hundred new species. He is dubbed as the "Frogman of India" by media for his passion for frogs and for bringing fresh fascination for Indian amphibians.