Kerala Tourism won how many awards of PATA for its innovative marketing campaigns?

India's legend cricketer and UNICEF Ambassador for South Asia, Sachin Tendulkar gave away prizes to the winners of South Asia Regional WASH innovation in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. The event was organised by UNICEF in association with BRAC, a Bangladesh based international organisation. The basic aim of the challenge was to identify innovative solutions to promote the practice of hand washing with soap.

ACKO General Insurance a new-age digital insurance company was awarded the coveted Golden Peacock Innovative Product Award - 2019, for their contextual micro insurance product -"Ola Ride Insurance". The award was presented to Mr. Biresh Giri, Appointed Actuary & CRO, Acko. The award ceremony was held in Dubai.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for 2017 was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to 42 artists in a ceremony held in New Delhi. Shobha Koser was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2017 under the category 'Kathak'.

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), the marketers of the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, was awarded the 'Marketer of the Year' award by the International Advertising Association of India (IAAI). The award was received by RS Sodhi, the Managing Director (MD) of GCMMF, on behalf of the 36 lakh milk famers and producers of Gujarat. Amul is the brand worth Rs 41,000 crore and is the biggest cooperative owned by 36 lakh farmers of Gujarat. Amul is not only known for its cooperative structure and farmer's faith, but is also known for its marketing and advertizing strategies.

President Ram Nath Kovind approved Nao Sena (Gallantary) medal for the 6 women crew members of Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini, who circumnavigated the globe. Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi captained the 194-day mission. The mission started on 10th September 2017. Nao Sena Gallantary medals were also announced for marine Lt Cdr Anil Raina and Kunal Saini for anti-insurgency operations.

Eminent Poet Ramakanta Rath was conferred with Odisha's highest literary award Atibadi Jagannath Das Samman for 2018. It was given to him by Culture and Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda at an event organized by Odisha Sahitya Akademi. The award carries a citation and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. He was given the award for his life time contribution to Odia literature.

The Kurdish Iranian journalist, filmmaker and detained refugee, Behrouz Boochani has won the Victorian Prize for Literature for a book he reportedly wrote using the online messaging service WhatsApp. He was awarded the Australian dollar $100,000 (US$72,600) prize for his book "No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison".

Athletics Federation of India will be awarded the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) India Sports Awards 2018 for the category of Best National Sports Federation (NSF). The award will be presented at the India Sports Awards ceremony, at Federation House, New Delhi. The Jury for the awards was chaired by Justice (retd) Mukul Mudgal. Pankaj Singh is the sports head of FICCI.

The National Tourism Awards for 2016-17 were presented by Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons in New Delhi as India celebrated the 2018 World Tourism Day (WTD). Ahmedabad and Mandu were jointly declared as the 'Best Heritage City', while Qutub Minar bagged the top award in the differently-abled friendly monument category. In it, Gujarat won three major National Tourism Awards for the Best Civic Management (at Saputara Hill Station), Best Heritage City and the Best Airport-Ahmedabad. The awards were given in various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Andhra Pradesh bagged the first prize in state category for comprehensive development of tourism and Rajasthan Tourism bagged the national award for most innovative use of Information Technology, social media and websites. Ahmedabad had been declared India's first World Heritage City by UNESCO in 2017.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been awarded Best Capital City in the Solid Waste Management in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 rankings. Swachh Survekshan was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). The Swachh Survekashan survey ranks cities on various sanitation parameters. The GHMC was also at the 27th place among 4,041 cities. The GHMC said that as a part of the Swachh Survekshan 2019, maintaining the timing of toilets, i.e., from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. and proper signage will be an important parameter. As a part of this, the GHMC has requested the Hyderabad Metro Rail to ensure that public toilets in all metro corridors are open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.