Awards & Honours Mixed Quiz: Set 5

The correct answer is B, the Karolinska Institute, the medical university in Stockholm whose assembly selects the laureate in Physiology or Medicine, exactly as Alfred Nobel's will laid down.

Option A, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, decides Physics, Chemistry and the prize in Economic Sciences, and because it handles three of the six categories it is the answer candidates give by habit. Option C, the Swedish Academy, is a different body altogether, the one that chooses the Literature laureate, and its similar name is the sharpest trap in this chapter. Option D, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is appointed by the parliament of Norway and awards the Peace Prize in Oslo. Learn the four awarding bodies as a table, because a question may name any one of them.

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 B, a Swarna Kamal, a cash prize, a shawl and a certificate. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award carries the Swarna Kamal, or Golden Lotus, along with a cash prize, a shawl and a certificate, and it is presented at the National Film Awards ceremony.

Option A is wrong because the Rajat Kamal, or Silver Lotus, is given for the other categories of the National Film Awards and not for this lifetime honour. Option C describes no award in this scheme; a plain gold medal with a scroll belongs to other kinds of recognition. Option D refers to the Padma awards, which are conferred on Republic Day and consist of a medallion and a sanad, or certificate, signed by the President, so it belongs to an entirely different system of honours.

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, Bhanu Athaiya. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 1983 for Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi, sharing the award with John Mollo, and became the first Indian of any kind to receive an Oscar. She had begun her career with the film CID and designed costumes for more than a hundred Hindi films.

Option B, Satyajit Ray, is the answer most candidates choose wrongly. His Academy Award of 1992 was an honorary one for lifetime achievement, given nine years after Athaiya's win and in the year of his death. Option C, A. R. Rahman, won two Oscars in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, for the original score and for the song Jai Ho. Option D, Resul Pookutty, won the award for sound mixing for the same film in the same year, so both are much later than 1983.

The correct answer is D, Mamta Kalia. The Vyas Samman for 2017 went to the Hindi writer Mamta Kalia for her novel 'Dukham Sukham'. The Vyas Samman is given every year by the K.K. Birla Foundation for an outstanding Hindi work published in the previous ten years, and it carries a citation and a cash prize. The same foundation gives two other literary awards: the Saraswati Samman, open to a work in any language listed in the Eighth Schedule, and the Bihari Puraskar for writing from Rajasthan. Mamta Kalia is known for her Hindi stories and novels and has headed the Mahadevi Verma Srijan Peeth in Allahabad. Option A is wrong because Namita Gokhale writes in English and co-founded the Jaipur Literature Festival. Option B is wrong because Meena Kandasamy is an English-language poet and translator. Option C is wrong because Jhumpa Lahiri writes in English and won the Pulitzer Prize for 'Interpreter of Maladies'. Exam tip: Vyas Samman is for Hindi alone, while Saraswati Samman covers all Eighth Schedule languages.

The correct answer is B, Hindi. The Vyas Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation and is given for an outstanding literary work in Hindi published in the previous ten years. Its first recipient was the critic and scholar Ram Vilas Sharma.

Option A, Rajasthani, is the language of the foundation's Bihari Puraskar, which is open to a writer from Rajasthan writing in either Hindi or Rajasthani, and that overlap is what makes this option tempting. Option C, Sanskrit, has no award of its own from this foundation, though a Sanskrit writer is eligible for the Saraswati Samman because Sanskrit is in the Eighth Schedule. Option D, Konkani, is likewise covered by the Saraswati Samman rather than by the Vyas Samman. The clean distinction to carry into the exam is that the Vyas Samman is for Hindi alone while the Saraswati Samman, instituted by the same foundation in the same year, is open to every Eighth Schedule language.

The correct answer is D, Dhyan Chand Award. The Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games was instituted in 2002 to honour sportspersons who not only performed well in their playing days but kept serving the sport after retiring. It is named after Major Dhyan Chand, the hockey wizard who won Olympic gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936; his birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day, when all the national sports awards are given. A is wrong because the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, started in 1991-92, is the highest award for the best performance over the previous four years, and in August 2021 it was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna, which is a different award from the lifetime achievement one. B is wrong because the Arjuna Award, started in 1961, is for consistent outstanding performance by active players. C is wrong because the Dronacharya Award, started in 1985, is for coaches. Exam tip: Khel Ratna best performance, Arjuna players, Dronacharya coaches, Dhyan Chand Award lifetime achievement; all given on 29 August.

The correct answer is B, Vinoba Bhave. Acharya Vinoba Bhave won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1958, in the category of community leadership, and was the first Indian to receive it. The award was created in 1957 in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the President of the Philippines who died in an air crash that year, and it is often called Asia’s Nobel Prize. Vinoba Bhave was honoured for the Bhoodan movement he began at Pochampally in 1951, walking from village to village to persuade landowners to give land to the landless. Option A is wrong because the cartoonist R. K. Laxman received the award much later, in 1984. Option C is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru never received it. Option D is wrong because Mahatma Gandhi died in 1948, nine years before the award was instituted. Exam tip: Magsaysay Award began 1957, first Indian Vinoba Bhave 1958, Mother Teresa 1962.

The correct answer is C, 1957. The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in New York, with the agreement of the Philippine government, in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the third President of the Philippines, who had died in an air crash in March that year. The first awards were presented in 1958. The prize honours greatness of spirit and service to the peoples of Asia and is often called Asia's Nobel Prize; the foundation that gives it is based in Manila. Vinoba Bhave was the first Indian to receive it, in 1958. Option A is wrong because by 1965 the award had already been given for seven years. Option B is wrong because 1962 is the year Mother Teresa won it for peace and international understanding, not the year it began. Option D is wrong because 1982 is far later than the founding. Exam tip: Magsaysay Award — set up 1957, first given 1958, first Indian Vinoba Bhave, foundation at Manila.

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 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 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 A, Devika Rani. Devika Rani received the first Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969. She worked at Bombay Talkies and is often described as the first lady of Indian cinema, and the fact that the first award went to an actress is exactly what examiners like to test.

Option B, Prithviraj Kapoor, was a towering figure of the early stage and screen and did receive the honour, but in a later year and posthumously. Option C, Sohrab Modi, the maker of historical films, also received the award later in its history. Option D, Nargis Dutt, is associated with the award for a film on national integration that carries her name, which is a different honour altogether and is placed here as a distractor.

The correct answer is B, three. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation allow a prize in one category to be divided among no more than three persons in a single year, and the money is shared between them. The rule is often discussed in the sciences, where large teams work on one discovery.

Option A, two, is the number of shares in many well known awards but not the limit here. Option C, four, is beyond what the statutes permit for individuals. Option D is wrong because a limit certainly exists, although the Peace Prize may be given to an organisation instead of a person, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has received it three times. Learn the neighbouring rule with it: since 1974 a prize may not be awarded posthumously, though a laureate who dies after the announcement still receives it.

The correct answer is C, 1901. Alfred Nobel's estate had to be settled and the Nobel Foundation established before any prize could be given, so the first awards came five years after his death. The first Peace Prize went jointly to Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, and Frederic Passy.

Option A, 1895, is the year Nobel signed his will, and the date candidates confuse most often with the first award. Option B, 1896, is the year of his death, on 10 December, which is why the ceremony is held on that date every year. Option D, 1913, is the year Rabindranath Tagore won the Literature Prize, an Indian landmark rather than a founding date. Hold the sequence in one line: will 1895, death 1896, first prizes 1901.

The correct answer is C, 1953. The National Film Awards were instituted in 1954 and the first set of awards honoured films released in 1953, which is why the first Best Feature Film award is recorded against the Marathi film Shyamchi Aai for that year. The practice of judging the previous year's releases has continued ever since.

Option A, 1950, and option B, 1952, are both earlier than the qualifying year and correspond to no award cycle. Option D, 1954, is the year in which the awards were instituted and first presented, and treating it as the year of the films being judged is the mistake the question is designed to catch, since the films honoured were always those of the preceding year. Remembering the pair as instituted in 1954 for the films of 1953 settles both halves of the question at once.

The correct answer is D, the television industry. The Emmy awards are the American honours for work made for television, covering drama series, comedy, news and documentary programmes, and they stand in the same relation to television as the Oscars do to cinema. The International Emmy awards are given separately for programmes produced outside the United States.

Option A, music, is the field of the Grammy awards, given by the Recording Academy. Option B, literature, is covered by prizes such as the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Booker Prize and the Pulitzer Prize, not by the Emmy. Option C, cinema, is the field of the Academy Awards, the BAFTA and the festival prizes at Cannes, Berlin and Venice. The four American awards are best learnt together: Oscar for film, Emmy for television, Grammy for music and Tony for theatre.

The correct answer is D, Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri. The Malayalam poet, known simply as Akkitham, received the 55th Jnanpith Award, given for the year 2019. The Jnanpith is instituted by Bharatiya Jnanpith and is regarded as the highest literary award in India.

Option A, Amitav Ghosh, won the 54th Jnanpith, for 2018, and was the first writer in English to receive it, English having become an eligible language in 2013. Option B, Raghuveer Chaudhari, is the Gujarati novelist who won the 51st award, for 2015. Option C, Chandrashekhara Kambara, is the Kannada playwright and poet who won the 53rd award, for 2017. All four are real laureates from nearby years, so the safe method is to anchor one pair, such as Amitav Ghosh with 2018, and count from there. Note also that the numbered award and the year of the award go together, while the announcement usually falls in a later calendar year.

The correct answer is C, Gobind Behari Lal. He was the first person of Indian origin to win the Pulitzer Prize, sharing the award for reporting in 1937.

Gobind Behari Lal was born in Delhi in 1889 and went to the United States in 1912 as a student, where he also worked with the Ghadar movement in California. He became science editor of the Hearst newspaper group and shared the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Reporting for his coverage of the science meetings held during Harvard University's tercentenary, explaining new research in language ordinary readers could follow.

A is wrong: Geeta Anand shared a Pulitzer much later, in 2003, for reporting in an American newspaper. B is wrong: Siddhartha Mukherjee won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2011 for his book on cancer, 'The Emperor of All Maladies'. D is wrong: Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000 for 'Interpreter of Maladies'.

Exam tip: Gobind Behari Lal - first Indian-origin Pulitzer winner, 1937, in the Reporting category.