Chapter-16

Awards, Honours and Prizes

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8.

Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus belongs to which of the

following countries?
a) Sri Lanka
b) Pakistan
c) Maldives
d) Bangladesh
e) None of these
Jnanpith Award is given for excellence in the field of
a) Social Service
b) Sports
c) Classical Dance
d) Music
e) Literature
With which one of the following activities Golden Globe Awards
are associated?
a) Journalism
b) Social work
c) Peace initiatives
d) Films
e) None of these
Who amongst the following is a famous Booker Prize winner
author of Indian origin?
a) Chetan Bhagat
b) Arundhati Roy
c) Namita Gokhale
d) Upamanyu Chatterjee
e) None of these
Which of the following awards is not given by the Government
of India?
a) Bharat Ratna
b) Padma Vibhushan
c) Ashok Chakra
d) Kalinga Prize
e) All are given by the Government of India
Which of the f ollowing awards is given by an Indian
organisation?
a) Norman Borlaug Award
b) OSCAR Award
c) Ramon Magsaysay Award
d) Pulitzer Prize
e) Man Booker Prize
Padma Shri Awards are given by the ________.
a) Govt of Maharashtra
b) Ministry of Rural Development
c) Govt of Delhi
d) Ministry of Finance
e) None of these
Several public sector organisations receive Scope Award every
year. The award is given for which of the following?
a) Earning the highest profit amongst all PSUs
b) Creating the maximum number of jobs in a year
c) Donating the maximum amount in Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh
in a year
d) Cutting down expenditure by 50% or more in a year to wipe out
losses made in the previous year
e) Best Corporate Governance

710
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Mastering GK
Which of the following awards is given by the Govt of Madhya
Pradesh?
a) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award
b) Jawaharlal Nehru Award
c) Shikhar Samman
d) Pravasi Bhartiya Samman
e) None of these
Saraswati Samman is an award given for excellence in the field
of
a) Sports
b) Social Service
c) Literature
d) Science and Technology
e) None of these
Nobel Prize is NOT awarded in the field of
a) Medicine
b) Economics
c) Chemistry
d) Peace
e) Music
Which of the following awards is instituted by the Madhya
Pradesh Government?
a) Tansen Samman
b) KK Birla Award
c) Saraswati Samman
d) Jnanpith Award
e) Dronacharya Award
Which of the following is NOT a Civilian Award?
a) Bharat Ratna
b) Ashok Chakra
c) Padma Shri
d) Borlaug Award
e) Arjuna Award
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award is given for excellence in the
field of
a) Literature
b) Music
c) Sports
d) Science and Technology
e) None of these
Which of the following awards is given for excellence in literary
work?
a) Bharat Ratna
b) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award
c) Dronacharya Award
d) Arjuna Award
e) Pulitzer Prize
Which of the following awards is NOT a Gallantry Award?
a) Mahavir Chakra
b) Vir Chakra
c) Vishista Sewa Medal
d) Ashok Chakra
e) Saraswati Samman
Arjuna Awards are given for excellence in the field of
a) Social service
b) Literature
c) Science
d) Films
e) Sports
Moortidevi Award is given for excellence in the field of
a) Classical dance
b) Literature
c) Classical music
d) Cinematography
e) Social service
Which of the following awards is given by an agency of the
United Nations Organisation?
a) Normon Borlaug Award
b) Kalinga Prize
c) Ramon Magsaysay Award
d) Pulitzer Prize
e) None of these
Which of the following is NOT a Gallantry Award ?
a) Vir Chakra
b) Jeevan Raksha Padak
c) Ashok Chakra
d) Mahavir Chakra
e) Saraswati Samman

Awards, Honours and Prizes

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711

Which of the following awards is given by the UNESCO to those

who put their efforts to popularise use of science in life?
a) Magsaysay Award
b) Booker Prize
c) Kalinga Award
d) Kalidas Samman
e) None of these
Which of the following is NOT a Civilian Award given by the
Govt of India?
a) Sahitya Akademi Award
b) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award
c) Padma Shri
d) Bharat Ratna
e) Kirti Chakra
Oscar Awards are given for excellence in the field of
a) Films
b) Literature
c) Sports
d) Politics
e) Status
Jnanpith Award is given for excellence in the field of
a) Music
b) Literature
c) Sports
d) Films
e) Social Services
Vyas Samman is given for excellence in the field of
a) Film
b) Literature
c) Dance
d) Music
e) Science and Technology
Which of the following awards is given for excellence in films?
a) Kalidas Samman
b) Arjuna Award
c) Saraswati Samman
d) Kabir Samman
e) None of these
Aung San Sau Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, belongs to which
of the following countries?
a) China
b) North Korea
c) South Korea
d) Japan
e) Myanmar
Each Nobel Prize winner gets an amount of 10 million Swedish
__________.
a) Kroner
b) Dollar
c) Yen
d) Pound
e) Euro
Which of the following prizes/awards is NOT given f or
excellence in the field of Literature?
a) Dronacharya Award
b) Aga Khan Prize for Fiction
c) Commonwealth Award
d) Nobel Prize
e) Man Booker Prize
Dada Saheb Phalke Awards are given by the Ministry of
a) Social Welfare
b) Corporate Affairs
c) Home Affairs
d) Human Resource Development
e) Information and Broadcasting
Which of the following awards is given f or ex emplary
contribution in the area of science and technology?
a) Arjuna Award
b) Kalidas Samman
c) Dronacharya Award
d) Dada Saheb Phalke Award
e) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award

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32*.

Who among the following is a Padma Bhushan Awardee?

a) Anand Kumar
b) Shiva Keshavan
c) Vijay Zol
d) Homi K Bhabha
e) Dipika Pallikal
Which of the following Awards is given to cine persons for
their lifetime achievement?
a) Saraswati Samman
b) Kalidas Samman
c) Arjuna Award
d) Dada Saheb Phalke Award
e) Kirti Chakra
Who amongst the following is a Nobel laureate in Economics?
a) Kaushik Basu
b) Subir Gokarn
c) Dr Amartya Sen
d) Montek Singh Ahluwalia
e) C Rangarajan
Which of the following awards is given only to individuals and
organisations of Asian countries for ex cellence in their
respective fields?
a) Booker Prize
b) Nobel Prize
c) Templeton Prize
d) Ramon Magsaysay Award
e) Oscar Awards
Which of the f ollowing awards is conf erred upon f or
outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal
harmony, peace and goodwill?
a) Rajiv Gandhi Global Excellence Award
b) Rajiv Gandhi Memorial National Award
c) Rajiv Gandhi Quality Award
d) Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award
e) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
Lady Tata Memorial Awards are given for research in
a) Leukaemia
b) Biodiversity
c) Tuberculosis
d) Environmental Protection
Of the following who was the first-ever industrialist to get the
Bharat Ratna?
a) RK Dalmia
b) JRD Tata
c) RK Birla
d) SP Godrej
The Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Engineering and Technology
has been instituted by
a) Uttar Pradesh Government
b) Madhya Pradesh Government
c) Government of India
d) Visvabharathi
Pulitzer Prize winners are selected by the Pulitzer Prize Board
and announced by the President of the
a) New York University
b) Columbia University
c) Wesleyan University
d) Cambridge University
The award Spirit of Freedom is associated with
a) Music
b) Literature
c) Human Rights
d) Social Services
Which of the following awards is associated with literature?
a) Pulitzer
b) Magsaysay
c) Jnanpith
d) Bharat Ratna
Feroze Gandhi Award is associated with
a) Parliamentary Debates
b) Performing Arts
c) Journalism
d) Cancer Research

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Awards, Honours and Prizes

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713

A physicist, the author of The Atom and, in 1937, a Nobel

Prize winner. His name?
a) Sir Thomas Doctorow
b) Sir George Thomson
c) Sir Raymond Smith
d) Sir Lawrence Drake
Sri C V Raman was the first Nobel Laureate in Physics from the
Indian sub-continent. Who was the second?
a) Prof Abdus Salam
b) Dr SS Bhatnagar
c) Dr Hargobind Khorana
d) Dr Abdul Kalam
Tansen Award has been sponsored by the Government of __________.
a) Kerala
b) Andhra Pradesh
c) Madhya Pradesh
d) Gujarat
The highest civil honour in India is
a) Vishisht Seva Medal
b) Param Vir Chakra
c) Maha Vir Chakra
d) Bharat Ratna
The first lady to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was
a) Nargis Dutt
b) Savitri Ganesh
c) Devika Rani
d) Dina Pathak
Bharatiya Jnanapith was founded by
a) KM Munshi
b) Sahu Jain
c) Vikram Sarabhai
d) Humayun Kabir
Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards are given by
a) Ministry of Education
b) Ujjain University
c) Government of Uttar Pradesh
d) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Nobel Prizes are awarded on _______ every year to commemorate
the death anniversary of the Swedish scientist, Alfred Nobel.
a) December 25
b) December 10
c) January 30
d) February 28
Borlaug Award is given in the field of
a) Education
b) Space Science
c) Literature
d) Agriculture
Who among the following is the first Indian to win an Oscar
Award?
a) Dilip Kumar
b) Bhanu Athaiya
c) Shabana Azami
d) Naseeruddin Shah
The Kalidasa Award was instituted by the Government of
a) Tamil Nadu
b) Haryana
c) Karnataka
d) Madhya Pradesh
Manav Seva Award has been instituted in memory of the late
a) Acharya Vinoba Bhave
b) Indira Gandhi
c) Rajiv Gandhi
d) Lal Bahadur Shastri
The Vachaspati Puraskar award has been instituted by the
a) RK Birla Foundation
b) Madhya Pradesh Government
c) KK Birla Foundation
d) UNESCO
Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar is awarded for significant
contribution in the field of
a) Environment
b) Social Service
c) Hindi Literature
d) Urdu Literature

714
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Mastering GK
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding is
awarded every year by the
a) Union Parliament
b) Union Government
c) Indian Council for Cultural Relations
d) Indian Adult Education Association
Nobel Laureate, Subramaniam Chandra-sekhar, was associated
wi th
a) Microbiology
b) Molecular Biology
c) Organic Chemistry
d) Astrophysics
An award named after a mythical physician is given every year
for outstanding contribution to Medical Science. The Mythical
Physician is
a) Jeevaka
b) Dhanvantri
c) Charaka
d) Sushrutha
The Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious awards given in
American Journalism, are presented annually by
a) Columbia
b) Ohio
c) Yale
d) Harvard
Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar awards are given for
a) excellence in film direction
b) outstanding contribution to science
c) creating mass awareness on environmental issues
d) exploring new dimensions in creative writing in the Indian
languages
Booker Prize is given in the field of
a) Medicine
b) Adventure
c) Fiction writing
d) Science
Who was the first Ramon Magsaysay Award winner from India?
a) C D Deshmukh
b) Jayaprakash Narayan
c) Dr Verghese Kurien
d) Acharya Vinoba Bhave
Authors in English from which of the following countries are
not eligible to be considered for the Booker Prize?
a) Britain
b) Commonwealth
c) Republic of Ireland
d) The USA
Which of the following Nobel laureates was never an Indian?
a) Mother Teresa
b) S Chandrashekhar
c) V S Naipaul
d) H G Khurana
Who was the first Jnanpith Award winner?
a) Sumitra Nandan Pant
b) G Shankar Kurup
c) K Shriaram Karanth
d) Umashanker Joshi
Who from the following is an awardee of both the Nobel Prize
and the Bharat Ratna?
a) Mahatma Gandhi
b) Rabindranath Tagore
c) Mother Teresa
d) Pt Jawaharlal Nehru
Who among the following is a f amous Chief Election
Commissioner of India who has been awarded Magsaysay Award?
a) Sukumar Sen
b) M S Gill
c) J M Lingdoh
d) S L Sakdhar

Awards, Honours and Prizes

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715

Who was the first Indian Nobel Prize winner?

a) Sir C V Ramn
b) Mother Teresa
c) S Chandrashekhar
d) Rabindra Nath Tagore
What is the prize money given with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Award?
a) Rs 1.50 lakhs
b) Rs 2 lakhs
c) Rs 3 lakhs
d) Rs 5 lakhs
After whom is the Magsaysay Award named?
a) A former President of Indonesia
b) A former King of Thailand
c) A former President of Philippines
d) A former Prime Minister of Australia
In which of the following fields Nobel Prize is not given?
a) Physics
b) Mathematics
c) Chemistry
d) Medicine
Which of the following international prizes/awards is given
for outstanding contribution in the field of journalism?
a) Booker Prize
b) Pulitzer Prize
c) Sakharov Prize
d) Sullivan Award
Who among the following former chiefs of Army Staff had been
awarded the Mahavir Chakra twice?
a) General K M Cariappa
b) General K S Timmayya
c) General A S Vaidya
d) General SHFJ Man-ek-shaw
Grammy Award is given in the field of
a) Literature
b) Music
c) Science
d) Inventions and discoveries
Who out of the following was the first recipient of Bharat Ratna
Award?
a) B C Roy
b) S Chandrashekhar
c) C V Raman
d) Gobind Ballabh Pant
Who was the first Actress to be conferred the honour of Padma
Shri?
a) Kanan Devi
b) Devika Rani
c) Sulochana
d) Nargis Dutt
Who was (is) the first lady recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke
Award?
a) Nargis Dutta
b) Uma Devi
c) Devika Rani
d) Sulochana
Who among the following had got the Bharat Ratna Award before
becoming the President of India?
a) Dr Zakir Hussain
b) Dr Rajendra Prasad
c) Dr S Radhakrishnan
d) V V Giri
Bharat Ratna is designed like the leaf of
a) Banyan tree
b) Peepal tree
c) Coconut tree
d) Sandalwood tree
Nobel Prizes are awarded annually at
a) Stockholm
b) Washington
c) Geneva
d) Oslo

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Mastering GK

Answers
1. d
7. e
13. d
19. b
25. b
31. e
37. a
43. a
49. b
55. c
61. a
67. b
73. b
79. c

2. e
8. e
14. d
20. c
26. e
32. d
38. b
44. b
50. d
56. c
62. b
68. c
74. b
80. c

3. d
9. c
15. e
21. c
27. e
33. d
39. b
45. a
51. b
57. a
63. c
69. c
75. c
81. b

4. b
10. c
16. e
22. e
28. a
34. c
40. b
46. c
52. d
58. c
64. a
70. d
76. b
82. d

5. d
11. e
17. e
23. a
29. a
35. d
41. c
47. d
53. b
59. d
65. d
71. d
77. c

6. a
12. a
18. b
24. b
30. e
36. d
42. c
48. c
54. d
60. b
66. c
72. c
78. d

Explanatory Notes
2.

Instituted on May 22, 1961, the Jnanpith Award is the highest

literary award in India given for the best creative literary writing by
any Indian citizen in any of the languages included in the Eighth
Schedule of the Indian Constitution and is given by the Bharatiya
Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers
of The Times of India. The first recipient of the Jnanpith award was
Malayalam writer G Sankara Kurup in 1965.

4.

The Man Booker Prize, also known as the Booker Prize, was
established in 1968. It is a literary prize, awarded each year for the
best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by
a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations. P H Newby was the first
winner of the Booker Prize.

7.

Padma Shri award

Indian citizens to
various spheres of
literature, science,

11.

Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award in the world. This award
is administered by the Novel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.
Ev ery year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded f or
achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine,
Literature and for Peace. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Swedens
central bank) established Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of
Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.

14.

The highest award for science in India Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar

Award for Science and Technology is awarded annually by Council
of Scient if ic and Indust r ial Resear ch (CSIR) for out standing

is given by the Government of India generally to

recognise their distinguished contribution in
activity including the arts, education, industry,
sports, social service and public life.

Awards, Honours and Prizes

717

contribution in chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, geology,

mathematics and machines. The award aims to recognise outstanding
Indian work in science and technology. The award which was first
given in 1958 is named after the founder Director of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.
17.

Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the Government of India

to recognise outstanding achievement in national sports.

18.

The Moortidevi Award is an annual lit er ar y awar d in India

presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith organisation for a work which
emphasises Indian philosophy and culture.

21.

The Kalinga Award for the popularisation of science is an award

given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in presenting scientific ideas
to lay people. It was created in 1952 following a donation from Biju
Patnaik, founder president of the Kalinga foundation Trust in India.

23.

Oscar Awards are also known as Academy Awards. The award was
instituted in 1929. It is conferred every year by the Academy of
Motion Pictures towards outstanding contribution in the field of
motion pictures.

25.

Vyas Samman is literary award in India, first awarded in 1991. It

is awarded annually by the K K Birla Foundation and includes a
cash payout of Rs 2.5 lakh (as of 2005). To be eligible for the award,
the literary work must be in the Hindi language and have been
published in the past 10 years.

30.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award is an annual award given by the Indian

Government to individuals for their lifetime contribution to Indian
Cinema. It was instituted in 1969 to mark the birth centenary year
of Dadasaheb Phalke who is considered to be the father of Indian
Cinema.

31.

The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award, given for
exceptional and distinguished service in any field, including service
rendered by Government servants, and was introduced on January
2, 1954.

39.

Jawaharlal Nehru Award is an inter-national award presented by

the Government of India and founded in 1965. This award is being
given away annually by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations
for outstanding contribution to the promotion of international
understanding, goodwill and friendship among people of the world.

40.

Pulitzer Prize, originally endowed with a gift of $500000 from the

newspaper Magnate Joseph Pulitzer, was given in the month of
May 1917. The awardees are decided by Columbia University on the
recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, composed of judges
appointed by the university.
The prizes have varied in number and category over the years but
currently 14 prizes in the field of journalism, six prizes in letters,
one prize in music and four fellowships are given away.

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Mastering GK

50.

The Minist ry of Infor mat ion and Broadcast ing of India gives
Bharatendu Harishchandra Awards to encourage original and
creative writing in Hindi on Mass Communication, ie journalism,
publicity, advertisement, radio, television, film, printing, publications
etc. The prizes are awarded by Publication Division, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting. The programme began in 1983.

52.

The Borlaug Award that carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a gold

medal and a citation, was instituted to recognise outstanding
contribution in agriculture and environment by Indian scientists.

54.

The Kalidas Samman (Award) is a prestigious arts award presented

annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The Kalidas
Samman was first awarded in 1980. It was initially conferred in
alternate years in the fields of classical music, classical dance,
theatre and plastic arts. From 1986-87 onwards the awards were
presented in all four fields every year. The award is presented for
outstanding achievement in one of the four categories.

64.

The Magsaysay Award was established in April 1957 by the trustees

of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) based in New York City. The
prize was created to commemorate Ramon Magsaysay, the president
of the Philippines, to perpetuat e his example of int egrit y in
government, courageous service to the people the pragmatic idealism
within a democratic society.
Every year the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation gives away prizes
to Asian individuals and organisations for achieving excellence in
their respective fields. The awards are given in six categories:
(i) Government Service
(ii) Public Service
(iii) Community Leadership
(iv) Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts
(v) Peace and International Understanding
(vi) Emergent Leadership

71.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Instituted in the year 1991-92,

t his is t he highest honour given in all spor t s disciplines of
outstanding achievement. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and
a substantial cash component. Upto 2004-05, the cash component
was Rs 5 lakhs. Chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand was the first
recipient.

75.

Mahavir Chakra is the second highest decoration and is awarded

for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy
whether on land, at sea or in the air. It is made of standard silver
and is circular in shape.

76.

Established in 1958, the Grammy Awards (originally called the

Gramophone Awards) or Grammys are presented annually by the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the USA for
outstanding achievements in the music industry.

82.

Nobel Prizes are awarded annually at Oslo in the month of December

every year.