Awards & Honours Mixed Quiz: Set 14

The correct answer is C, the UNHCR, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which gives the Nansen Refugee Award every year to a person or a group for outstanding service to refugees. It is named after Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer who was the first High Commissioner for Refugees under the League of Nations and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922. Option A is wrong because UNICEF works for children and gives no award of this name. Option B is wrong because the Red Cross gives the Florence Nightingale Medal, instituted in 1912 for nurses. Option D is wrong because the World Health Organization gives health awards but not this one. Remember that the UNHCR has itself won the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.

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 C, the Param Vishisht Seva Medal. It is given for distinguished service of the most exceptional order, and the word Param marks the top step of every Indian series of decorations. Option A is wrong because the Vishisht Seva Medal is the third step of the same series, given for distinguished service of a high order. Option B is wrong because the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal stands in the middle, for distinguished service of an exceptional order. Option D is wrong because the Sena Medal is a separate award of the Army, instituted in 1960 for individual acts of gallantry or exceptional devotion to duty, with the Nao Sena Medal and the Vayu Sena Medal as its counterparts in the Navy and the Air Force. The three-step pattern is the key to the whole topic.

The correct answer is A, Henry Dunant. The Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant, whose account of the battlefield at Solferino led to the founding of the Red Cross and to the first Geneva Convention, shared the first Nobel Peace Prize of 1901 with the French campaigner Frederic Passy. Option B is wrong because Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer who became the first High Commissioner for Refugees, received the prize later, in 1922, and the Nansen Refugee Award is named after him. Option C is wrong because Woodrow Wilson, the American President associated with the League of Nations, received it for 1919. Option D is wrong because Theodore Roosevelt received it in 1906 for mediating the Russo-Japanese War. Dunant's name is the one to remember, because the Red Cross itself later won the prize three times.

The correct answer is B, 1995. The Government of India instituted the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995, the year of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as an annual award for social, economic and political transformation achieved through non violence and other Gandhian methods. Option A, 1969, is wrong although it is a tempting year, because 1969 was the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi and no such prize was created then. Option C, 2001, is wrong; by that year the prize had already been given several times, including to Nelson Mandela and Grameen Bank for 2000. Option D, 1985, is wrong because that is the year the Indian National Congress instituted the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration, a party award and not a government one. Remember the pairing of 1995 with the 125th anniversary; it is the single most repeated fact from this chapter.

The correct answer is B, Ashoka Chakra. India's gallantry awards come in two families. For valour in the presence of the enemy the order is Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra; for valour otherwise than in the face of the enemy the order is Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, so the Ashoka Chakra stands highest in peacetime. Option A is wrong because the Param Vir Chakra is the highest wartime award, first given to Major Somnath Sharma. Option C is wrong because the Kirti Chakra is second in the peacetime order, corresponding to the Maha Vir Chakra. Option D is wrong because the Shaurya Chakra is third, corresponding to the Vir Chakra. Learn the two ladders side by side, since the commonest question asks for one rank of one ladder while offering ranks of the other as distractors.

The correct answer is A, Mother Teresa. The Templeton Prize was instituted in 1972 by the investor John Templeton to honour work that explores the deepest questions of life and of the spirit, and Mother Teresa received the first award in 1973, six years before her Nobel Peace Prize. Option B is wrong because the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace laureate of 1989, received the Templeton Prize much later, in 2012. Option C is wrong because Desmond Tutu received the Templeton Prize in 2013, long after his Nobel of 1984. Option D is wrong because Baba Amte's honours are the Gandhi Peace Prize of 1999, the Ramon Magsaysay Award and the Padma awards, not the Templeton Prize. Mother Teresa's list of honours is asked in this indirect way very often. The prize is one of the largest in money terms among individual awards of this kind.

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 C, 1960. The medal was instituted in that year in three classes, and in 1967 the classes were given the separate names Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal. Option A is wrong because 1950 is the year in which the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra were instituted, on 26 January, with effect from 15 August 1947. Option B is wrong because 1952 is the year of the peacetime gallantry awards, then called the Ashoka Chakra Class I, Class II and Class III. Option D is wrong because 1980 is the year of the Yudh Seva medals, the wartime counterparts of the Vishisht Seva medals. Papers offer all four years together.

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 C, the Prime Minister of India. The jury for the Gandhi Peace Prize is chaired by the Prime Minister, and its other members are the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha and two eminent persons. Option A is wrong: the President confers the Padma awards and the Bharat Ratna and does not head this jury. Option B is wrong because the Chief Justice of India is a member of the jury but not its chairman, and this is the distractor the paper setter is relying on. Option D is wrong because the Ministry of Culture administers the prize and handles its paperwork, but the Minister does not chair the jury. Learn the composition as a rule rather than as a list of names, since the office holders change while the offices remain fixed.

The correct answer is C, Grammy. Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt won the Grammy Award in 1994 for the album A Meeting by the River, which he recorded with the American slide guitarist Ry Cooder in the world music category. Bhatt, a musician of the Jaipur gharana and a disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar, is best known for building the Mohan Veena, a Hawaiian guitar rebuilt with about twenty strings so that it can carry the sliding notes and drone of Indian classical music. He was later honoured with the Padma Shri. A is wrong because Sangita Kalanidhi is the highest award of the Madras Music Academy, given for Carnatic music. B is wrong because the Oscar, or Academy Award, is given for films, not for a music album of this kind. D is wrong because the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is a national honour for music, dance and drama given in India, and it is not the 1994 award named in the question. Exam tip: Vishwa Mohan Bhatt – Mohan Veena, Grammy 1994 for A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder.

The correct answer is A, distinguished service during war or an operation. The three medals were instituted in 1980 and follow the same three steps as the Vishisht Seva medals, but the word Yudh in the name shows that they belong to wartime service rather than peacetime service. Option B is wrong because gallantry in the face of the enemy brings the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra or the Vir Chakra. Option C is wrong because saving a life brings a Jeevan Raksha Padak, which is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs and is open to civilians as well. Option D is wrong because long service is recognised by long service and good conduct medals, not by the Yudh Seva series. The three grades are also distinguished by the words Sarvottam, Uttam and the plain name, exactly as in the peacetime series.

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, Julius Nyerere. The first Gandhi Peace Prize, for 1995, went to Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania, who was known for his belief in self reliance and non violent nation building. Option A is wrong because Nelson Mandela of South Africa received the prize for 2000, sharing it with Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Option C is wrong because Baba Amte, the founder of Anandwan who worked among leprosy patients, received the prize for 1999. Option D is wrong because Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa received it for 2005. All four names are genuine recipients, so the question turns purely on the order, and the safe way to hold it is the pair Nyerere and 1995, the first year of the award itself.

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 C, a high order. The three grades of the series are worded exactly this way and questions are set on the wording alone: the most exceptional order for the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, an exceptional order for the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and a high order for the Vishisht Seva Medal. Option A is wrong because the most exceptional order belongs to the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the highest of the three. Option B is wrong because an exceptional order belongs to the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, the middle grade. Option D is wrong because devotion in battle is not the ground for any of the three; the Vishisht Seva medals reward service in peacetime, and their wartime counterparts are the Yudh Seva medals of 1980.

The correct answer is B, the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 was conferred on the Indian Space Research Organisation, and it is asked often because a space agency looks out of place among peace awards; the citation recognised the use of space technology for the welfare of ordinary people. Option A is wrong; the Indian Council of Medical Research is a real body but has not been named for this prize. Option C is wrong because Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan received the prize for an earlier year, 2002, and not 2014. Option D is wrong because the Ramakrishna Mission received it for 1998. The lesson is that the prize is open to institutions as well as individuals, so an organisation in the options is never automatically wrong.

The correct answer is B, the Ashoka Chakra. It is the highest peacetime gallantry award and is given for the most conspicuous bravery or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle, to members of the armed forces and to civilians alike. Option A is wrong because the Param Vir Chakra is the highest gallantry award in the face of the enemy, that is in war. Option C is wrong because the Kirti Chakra stands second in the peacetime line, below the Ashoka Chakra and above the Shaurya Chakra. Option D is wrong because the Param Vishisht Seva Medal rewards distinguished service and not gallantry, which is the distinction this topic turns on. The three peacetime awards were instituted in 1952 and renamed in 1967. Its recipients include soldiers who die defusing a bomb or fighting insurgents away from a declared war.

The correct answer is C, the Ministry of Culture. The Gandhi Peace Prize is administered by the Ministry of Culture, which issues the notification and arranges the ceremony, although the selection rests with a jury chaired by the Prime Minister. Option A is wrong, but it is the sharpest distractor, because the Ministry of Home Affairs handles the communal harmony honours, namely Kabir Puraskar and the awards of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony. Option B is wrong; the Ministry of External Affairs has no role here, and the international award administered outside it is the Nehru Award for International Understanding, which sits with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Option D is wrong because the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment gives awards in the field of disability and social welfare, not this one.