Awards & Honours Mixed Quiz: Set 10

The correct answer is C, Philippines. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the seventh President of the Philippines, who died in an air crash in 1957. The award was created that same year by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York with the agreement of the Philippine government, and it is presented every year at Manila on 31 August, his birth anniversary. It honours greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia and is often called Asia's Nobel Prize. Vinoba Bhave was its first Indian recipient, in 1958. A is wrong because Myanmar has no link with the award, though some of its citizens have won it. B is wrong because Magsaysay was never connected with Malaysia. D is wrong because Sweden is associated with the Nobel Prize, not with the Magsaysay Award. Exam tip: Ramon Magsaysay - President of the Philippines; award instituted in 1957 and given at Manila; first Indian winner Vinoba Bhave.

The correct answer is B, Tanvi Shah. She was the first Indian woman musician to win a Grammy, in 2010.

Tanvi Shah, a singer and lyricist from Chennai, wrote and sang the Spanish lines of the song 'Jai Ho' from the film Slumdog Millionaire. The song won the Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the 2010 ceremony, shared with A. R. Rahman and Gulzar. The same film had already brought Rahman two Academy Awards, and Rahman and Resul Pookutty are the other Indian names students should keep with it.

A is wrong: Neeti Mohan is a playback singer with no Grammy. C is wrong: Shweta Pandit is a playback singer who has not won one either. D is wrong: Shalmali Kholgade is also a playback singer without a Grammy.

Exam tip: Tanvi Shah - first Indian woman to win a Grammy, 2010, for the Spanish lyrics of 'Jai Ho'.

The correct answer is B, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The prize was instituted in 1958 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in memory of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, the chemist who served as its first Director-General and built the chain of national laboratories; it is given to Indian scientists below the age of forty-five in seven branches of science and engineering. Option A is wrong because the Indian Space Research Organisation gives its own medals and fellowships in space science and not this prize. Option C is wrong because the Department of Atomic Energy runs the atomic energy establishments founded by Homi Bhabha and does not award this prize. Option D is wrong because the Indian National Science Academy gives honours of its own, such as the Aryabhata Medal for lifetime contribution to science.

The correct answer is D, Smriti Mandhana. The India opener was named ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year for 2021 and received the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in January 2022. She had scored 855 international runs across the three formats in that year, including India's first century in a day-night Test, made against Australia at Carrara. The trophy is named after Rachael Heyhoe Flint, the England captain who pushed for women's cricket at Lord's and for the first Women's World Cup in 1973. Option A is wrong because Mithali Raj, India's long-serving captain, has never won this particular trophy. Option B is wrong because Ellyse Perry of Australia won it in 2019, not for 2021. Option C is wrong because Lizelle Lee of South Africa took the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award that season, which is a separate prize. Exam tip: the women's award is the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the men's is the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

The correct answer is B, Paris. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has its headquarters at Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France. Its Constitution was signed in London in November 1945 and came into force in November 1946, and India was among the founding members. Option A is wrong because Geneva hosts the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, but not UNESCO. Option C is wrong because New York is the seat of the United Nations headquarters itself, with the General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as of UNICEF. Option D is wrong because Vienna houses the International Atomic Energy Agency and the office on drugs and crime. Keep the four cities apart, because papers list them together in a single question.

The correct answer is D, Afghanistan. The Amir Amanullah Khan Award is Afghanistan's highest civilian honour, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received it in June 2016 at Herat, on the day he and President Ashraf Ghani opened the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, earlier called the Salma Dam, which India built on the Hari Rud. The honour is named after Amir Amanullah Khan, the ruler who won Afghanistan full control of its foreign affairs from the British in 1919. Option A is wrong, although Saudi Arabia did honour the Prime Minister in April 2016; its top award is the Order of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, a different decoration with a different name. Options B and C are wrong because neither Uzbekistan nor Iran gives an award of this name, and neither conferred its highest civilian honour on him in that year. Exam tip: Amir Amanullah Khan Award means Afghanistan, 2016, Herat and the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.

The correct answer is D, Ricky Kej. Ricky Kej won the Grammy for Best New Age Album at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015 for Winds of Samsara, made with the South African flautist Wouter Kellerman. The album drew on the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela and reached the top of the Billboard New Age chart in the United States, the first Indian album to do so. Kej is a Bengaluru-based composer who works on environmental themes and is a UNICEF and UNESCO goodwill figure; he won a second Grammy in 2022 for Divine Tides, made with Stewart Copeland of The Police. Option A is wrong because Mano Murthy composes for Kannada cinema and has not won a Grammy. Option B is wrong because Raghu Dixit is a Bengaluru folk-rock singer with no Grammy. Option C is wrong because Subhashish Ghosh has no link with this album. Exam tip: Winds of Samsara means Ricky Kej with Wouter Kellerman, Grammy 2015; Divine Tides means Ricky Kej with Stewart Copeland.

The correct answer is A, Wildlife protection. The Amrita Devi Bishnoi National Award is given for outstanding courage and devotion in protecting wildlife. It was instituted by the Union environment ministry in 1994 and carries a cash prize with a citation. It is named after Amrita Devi Bishnoi, who in 1730 at Khejarli near Jodhpur clung to a khejri tree to stop the Maharaja's men from felling it; she and more than 360 other Bishnois died in that protest. The Bishnoi community, which follows the 29 rules laid down by Guru Jambheshwar, still guards the blackbuck, the chinkara and the khejri tree of the Thar desert, and the Khejarli sacrifice is remembered as an inspiration for the later Chipko movement. Option B is wrong because energy saving is rewarded by the National Energy Conservation Awards. Option C is wrong because broader environmental work is honoured by the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar. Option D is wrong because biodiversity effort is recognised by the India Biodiversity Awards. Exam tip: tie Amrita Devi to Khejarli 1730, the khejri tree and the blackbuck of Rajasthan.

The correct answer is A, MS Subbulakshmi. M S Subbulakshmi, the Carnatic vocalist from Madurai, received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974 in the category of public service, the first Indian musician to be honoured by that award. She was also the first musician to be given the Bharat Ratna, in 1998, and she is remembered for singing at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 and for the Suprabhatam and Bhaja Govindam recordings heard in homes every morning. The Magsaysay Award, named after a President of the Philippines, is often called Asia's Nobel Prize. B is wrong because Zakir Hussain, the tabla player, has not been given this award. C is wrong because Bhimsen Joshi received the Bharat Ratna in 2008 but not the Magsaysay. D is wrong because Bismillah Khan, the shehnai player, received the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Exam tip: Subbulakshmi, Magsaysay 1974, Bharat Ratna 1998, first musician for both.

The correct answer is C, 1952. The Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's national academy of music, dance and drama, was created by a government resolution of 31 May 1952 and formally inaugurated on 28 January 1953 by President Rajendra Prasad. It was the first of the three national academies; the Sahitya Akademi for literature and the Lalit Kala Akademi for fine arts followed in 1954. Its annual awards, the Akademi Puraskar, have been given to performing artists since 1952, which makes it the oldest national honour for the performing arts in India. The higher honour, the Akademi Ratna or Fellowship, was started in 1954. A is wrong because 1961 is the year the Arjuna Award for sports began. B is wrong because 1950 is when the Constitution came into force, not when the Akademi was formed. D is wrong because 1959 is the year the National School of Drama was set up, not the start of the awards. Exam tip: Sangeet Natak Akademi 1952 (awards from 1952); Sahitya Akademi and Lalit Kala Akademi 1954.

The correct answer is B, Fields Medal. Because Alfred Nobel's will created no prize for mathematics, the Fields Medal has come to be treated as the highest honour in the subject; it was first awarded in 1936, is named after the Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields, and is presented at the International Congress of Mathematicians once every four years to mathematicians under the age of forty. Option A is wrong because the Turing Award, given by the Association for Computing Machinery, is called the Nobel Prize of computing. Option C is wrong because the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, awarded since 1731, covers all the sciences and is the oldest scientific prize in the world. Option D is wrong because the Kavli Prize is awarded in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience and not in mathematics.

The correct answer is B, the central bank of Sweden. Sveriges Riksbank founded the prize in 1968 to mark its three hundredth anniversary, and it was awarded for the first time in 1969. Its formal name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the laureates.

Option A, the Nobel Foundation, administers the funds left by Nobel and organises the ceremony, but it did not create this prize. Option C, the Swedish Academy, is the body that chooses the Literature laureate. Option D, the Norwegian parliament, appoints the committee that awards the Peace Prize. The point examiners test is that Economics is not one of the five prizes named in Nobel's will, which is why it is described as being in memory of him.

The correct answer is A, popularisation of science. The Kalinga Prize honours writers, editors, lecturers, film makers and broadcasters who explain science, research and technology to the general public, and it is awarded by UNESCO. The fund for it was endowed in 1951 and the first prize was given in 1952 to the French physicist Louis de Broglie. Option B is wrong because peace work is recognised by the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize of UNESCO, created in 1989. Option C is wrong because heritage sites are protected under the World Heritage Convention of 1972, which is a listing system and not a prize. Option D is wrong because literacy is rewarded by the King Sejong Literacy Prize and the Confucius Prize for Literacy, presented on International Literacy Day.

The correct answer is B, Raja Harishchandra. Dhundiraj Govind Phalke made Raja Harishchandra in 1913, and it is recognised as the first full length Indian feature film. Its success established film making as an Indian enterprise and earned Phalke the title of father of Indian cinema.

Option A, Alam Ara, released in 1931 and directed by Ardeshir Irani, was the first Indian sound film, or talkie, so it marks a different milestone. Option C, Shyamchi Aai, the Marathi film directed by P. K. Atre, won the first Best Feature Film award at the National Film Awards for 1953. Option D, Kisan Kanya, made in 1937, was the first Indian film shot in colour processed in India, again a separate landmark that is often mixed with the others.

The correct answer is B, Computer science. The Association for Computing Machinery has given the Turing Award every year since 1966 for lasting contributions of a technical nature to computing, and it is named after Alan Turing, the British mathematician who framed the idea of a universal computing machine and worked on breaking wartime codes. Option A is wrong because the highest honour in medicine is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, decided at the Karolinska Institute. Option C is wrong because astronomy has no Nobel of its own; work in astrophysics is recognised through the Nobel Prize in Physics and through the Kavli Prize. Option D is wrong because the prize in economic sciences was instituted in memory of Alfred Nobel by the central bank of Sweden and has nothing to do with Turing.

The correct answer is B, Best Costume Design. Bhanu Athaiya designed the costumes for Gandhi, the film Richard Attenborough made in 1982, and shared the Academy Award of 1983 in that category with the British designer John Mollo. The film itself won eight Oscars that year, among them Best Picture and Best Director.

Option A, Best Actress, has never been won by an Indian. Option C, Best Original Score, is the category in which A. R. Rahman won in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, twenty six years later. Option D, Best Documentary, is a different branch of the awards; in the short film branch of it The Elephant Whisperers won in 2023. Remembering the category with the name is what this question tests, because all four are real Academy Award categories.

The correct answer is A, Biju Patnaik. Biju Patnaik, the aviator and industrialist who later became Chief Minister of Odisha, gave the endowment in 1951 that allowed UNESCO to create the prize, and it was named after the ancient kingdom of Kalinga in that region, where the Mauryan emperor Ashoka fought the war that changed him. Option B is wrong because Madanjeet Singh, the Indian artist, writer and diplomat, endowed the separate UNESCO prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, created in 1995. Option C is wrong because J R D Tata, the aviation pioneer and industrialist, is connected with the United Nations Population Award, which he received in 1992. Option D is wrong because Homi Bhabha built India's atomic energy programme and endowed no UNESCO prize.

The correct answer is B, the popularisation of science. The Kalinga Prize was created at UNESCO in 1951 from a gift made by Biju Patnaik of Odisha, later the Chief Minister of that state, and it was first awarded in 1952; it honours a writer, editor, broadcaster or film maker who has helped explain science to ordinary people, and the first recipient was the French physicist Louis de Broglie. Option A is wrong because research in nuclear physics would be recognised by the Nobel Prize in Physics, not by this award. Option C is wrong because environmental law is not the field of the Kalinga Prize. Option D is wrong because engineering design is covered by prizes such as the Bhatnagar Prize in engineering sciences in India and the Infosys Prize in engineering and computer science.

The correct answer is B, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO is the specialised agency of the United Nations for education, the sciences, culture, communication and information, with its headquarters at Paris. Its Constitution declares that since wars begin in the minds of men, the defences of peace must be built in the minds of men. Option A is wrong because economic and social matters are handled by the Economic and Social Council, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. Option C is wrong because the environment is the responsibility of the United Nations Environment Programme, which has its headquarters at Nairobi in Kenya. Option D is wrong because it is simply a rearranged form that does not match the agency's real name, and such near-miss expansions are the usual distractors.

The correct answer is B, 1930. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him, and he was the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any of the sciences; he made the discovery on 28 February 1928, a date India keeps as National Science Day. Option A is wrong because 1913 is the year Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Nobel to come to India. Option C is wrong because 1954 is the year Raman was awarded the Bharat Ratna, in the first list of that honour, which is a separate fact. Option D is wrong because 1968 is the year Har Gobind Khorana shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on the genetic code.