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.

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.

Kerala Tourism has won two prestigious gold awards of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns. The awards were presented at a glittering function in Langkawi, Malaysia during PATA Travel Mart 2018. Sudeshna Ramkumar, Assistant Director, India Tourism, Singapore received the award on behalf of Kerala tourism. Kerala Tourism got the first gold for its 'Yalla Kerala' travel advertisement print media campaign in the Gulf countries. The second gold award came for an innovative poster Kerala Tourism had developed for the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), the biggest contemporary art show in South Asia.

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.

The Union Minister for Water Resources, River development and rejuvenation Nithin Gadkari presented 82 National Water Awards in 14 categories for the year 2018 at a ceremony held in New Delhi. The department of geology at Kakatiya University, Warangal Telangana received the best campus in India in terms of water usage. Panjab University secured 2nd position in the category. Madurai district received first prize for rejuvenations and creating new water bodies in the National Water Awards 2018. In best state category Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh bagged first, second and third prizes resource management in India.

Seven Indian companies have been listed in Fortune's 500 list 2018 of world biggest corporations. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the highest ranked company from India followed by RIL which jumped 55 places. The US-based retail company, Walmart has topped the list. IOC ranked 137th in 2018 with a significant jump from 168th position from 2017. RIL is the top private sector company in India. It ranked 148th in 2018 from 203rd from 2017. ONGC ranked 197th in 2018 which not even featured in 2017. SBI got 216th rank 1 place higher than 217th in 2017.