Tamil Nadu

Awards & Obituaries

• Chef K. Damodaran (‘Chef Damu’):
  • Renowned culinary expert and television personality Chef K. Damodaran passed away at the age of 72.
  • The first Indian chef to hold a doctorate in hotel management and catering technology.
  • Set a Guinness World Record in 2010 by cooking 617 dishes individually in 24 hours and 30 minutes.
  • Honored as the first chef from Tamil Nadu to receive the Padma Shri (in 2025).

National

• Science & Awards (2026 Oskar Klein Medal):
  • Renowned theoretical physicist Dr. Ashoke Sen (ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor at ICTS Bengaluru) was awarded the 2026 Oskar Klein Medal by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
  • Dr. Ashoke Sen is the first Indian laureate to receive this prestigious honor.
  • Recognized for his fundamental work in string theory, S-duality, the Sen conjectures, and explaining the microscopic entropy of black holes.
• National Security & Internal Security (‘Operation Trident’):
  • The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in coordination with state police forces of Assam, Mizoram, and Manipur, executed ‘Operation Trident’.
• Banking & Cybersecurity Infrastructure:
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India’s new Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
  • Aimed at safeguarding national financial systems and banking networks against evolving cyberterrorist threats and economic warfare.