Awards & Honours GK Notes
हिंदी में पढ़ेंMajor national and international awards, first winners and categories.
31 topics408 MCQs68 previous-year questions65 quizzesUpdated
Awards and Honours covers the prizes competitive exams keep returning to: who won, in which field, and who was first. The topics begin with Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards and Gallantry Awards, move through Nobel Prizes, National Film Awards and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Arjuna, Khel Ratna and Dronacharya Awards, and Ramon Magsaysay, Pulitzer and Booker, and end with Highest Civilian Honours of Countries, Awards in News This Year and Firsts in Awards: First Indians and First Women.
SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, RRB NTPC, IBPS PO, SBI PO and UPSC prelims all draw from this subject, usually one or two questions in the GK or current affairs section. You may be asked who received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in a given year, which field a Nobel laureate belongs to, who was the first woman to receive Bharat Ratna, or which country gives a particular civilian honour. Bank exams lean on the year's announcements; SSC leans on the static lists.
Work through the topics in the listed order, which starts with the Indian honours that carry the most questions. Each topic has notes and its own practice MCQs, and the previous-year questions are tagged with the exam and year so you can see which awards your exam repeats. Before the exam, the mixed quiz sets on GK24 check that you can tell the awards apart when they are shuffled.
Topic-wise notes
- 1
Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards
India's civilian honours: when they were instituted, the order of precedence, how names are selected and announced, the rule on titles under Article 18, and the firsts examiners ask about.
19 MCQs7 previous-year questions
- 2
Gallantry Awards
India's wartime and peacetime gallantry decorations, the Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra, their order of precedence, designer and first recipients.
14 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 3
Nobel Prizes
The origin of the Nobel Prizes in Alfred Nobel's will, the six categories and the bodies that award them, the rules of sharing and the Indian and Indian-origin laureates exams ask about.
19 MCQs7 previous-year questions
- 4
National Film Awards and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award
The National Film Awards from 1954, the Swarna Kamal and Rajat Kamal, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1969 and its first recipient, with the facts exams repeat.
17 MCQs6 previous-year questions
- 5
Oscars and International Film Awards
The Academy Awards and the Indians who have won them, the Cannes, Berlin and Venice festivals and their top prizes, and the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy awards as exams ask about them.
13 MCQs4 previous-year questions
- 6
Literary Awards of India
The Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi, Saraswati Samman, Vyas Samman and the other Indian literary awards with the body that gives each, and the international prizes Indian writers have won.
20 MCQs10 previous-year questions
- 7
Arjuna, Khel Ratna and Dronacharya Awards
India’s national sports awards: the year each was instituted, who is eligible, the Khel Ratna renaming of 2021, the first recipients and the other honours from the Dhyan Chand Award to the MAKA Trophy.
14 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 8
Ramon Magsaysay, Pulitzer and Booker
The founding, seat, field and categories of the Magsaysay, Pulitzer and Booker awards, with the Indian winners of each and the years SSC, Railway, Banking and State exams ask about.
21 MCQs9 previous-year questions
- 9
Science and Technology Awards
The Bhatnagar Prize, Kalinga Prize, Fields Medal, Abel Prize, Turing Award and the science Nobels, with the body behind each and India's Nobel winners in science.
12 MCQs
- 10
UNESCO and United Nations Awards
UNESCO and its prizes, from the Kalinga Prize to the Guillermo Cano and Madanjeet Singh prizes, the awards of other UN bodies, and India's share in these honours.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 11
Peace and Humanitarian Awards
The Nobel Peace Prize, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Indira Gandhi Prize and the refugee, freedom and nursing awards, with their founding years, awarding bodies and famous winners.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 12
Awards in News This Year
The awards that return to the news every year: the month each is announced, the body that gives it, its founding year and the field it honours, with the facts that do not change.
10 MCQs
- 13
Distinguished Service Medals: PVSM, AVSM and Others
The Param Vishisht, Ati Vishisht and Vishisht Seva Medals, the Yudh Seva medals, the Sena and Jeevan Raksha series, and how they differ from the gallantry awards.
10 MCQs
- 14
Gandhi Peace Prize and National Integration Awards
The International Gandhi Peace Prize, its jury and prize money, the Sardar Patel National Unity Award, the communal harmony awards and the Nehru Award for International Understanding.
11 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 15
Highest Civilian Honours of Countries
The highest civilian honour of India and of the major countries of the world, with the year each was instituted and the rules that govern the Bharat Ratna.
12 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 16
Journalism Awards: Ramnath Goenka and Others
The Ramnath Goenka Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, the Magsaysay journalism category, the Chameli Devi Jain Award and the Press Council honours, with the years and givers exams ask.
12 MCQs
- 17
Environment Awards: Champions of the Earth and Goldman Prize
The UNEP Champions of the Earth award and the Goldman Environmental Prize with their Indian winners, plus the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar and other environment honours.
13 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 18
Grammy and Music Awards
The Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy and the general field categories, every Indian Grammy winner, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Tansen Samman and other music honours exams ask about.
13 MCQs3 previous-year questions
- 19
Pritzker, Templeton and Other International Prizes
Pritzker, Templeton, Abel, Fields Medal, Turing, Magsaysay, Right Livelihood, World Food Prize and Booker: fields, founding years, awarding bodies and Indian recipients.
12 MCQs
- 20
International Sports Awards: Laureus and Ballon d'Or
The international sports awards exams ask about: the Laureus World Sports Awards and their categories, the Ballon d’Or with the Kopa, Yashin and Gerd Muller trophies, the FIFA awards and the ICC awards.
14 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 21
Firsts in Awards: First Indians and First Women
The first Indian winners of the Nobel, Oscar, Booker and Magsaysay, the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna, Param Vir Chakra, Jnanpith and Phalke awards, and firsts for women.
12 MCQs
- 22
Bharat Ratna Awardees: Complete List
Year-wise list of Bharat Ratna awardees from 1954, with the rules of the award, the firsts, the posthumous provision and the Article 18 question examiners set.
11 MCQs1 previous-year questions
- 23
Param Vir Chakra Awardees: Complete List
The highest wartime gallantry award of India, its institution, medal and designer, and the awardees conflict by conflict from 1947 to the Kargil operations.
12 MCQs
- 24
Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winners: Complete List
The rules of India's highest film honour, the man it is named after, and the list of recipients from Devika Rani in 1969 onwards.
13 MCQs2 previous-year questions
- 25
Nari Shakti Puraskar, National Teachers' Award and Other National Awards
The Nari Shakti Puraskar and the National Award to Teachers in detail, with the other national awards of India arranged by ministry, field, year of institution and day of conferment.
11 MCQs
- 26
State Government Awards and Honours
The civilian, literary and cultural awards of the Indian states, from Karnataka Ratna and Maharashtra Bhushan to Assam Baibhav and Kerala Jyothi, with the state, field and year of institution exams ask for.
10 MCQs
- 27
Police Medals and Civilian Bravery Awards: Jeevan Raksha Padak and Others
The Jeevan Raksha Padak series and its three classes, the police gallantry and service medals, children's bravery awards and the Kabir Puraskar, with years and ministries.
11 MCQs
- 28
Filmfare Awards and the International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
Founding years, trophies, first winners and categories of the Filmfare Awards and IFFI, with the National Film Awards and Dadasaheb Phalke Award kept apart from them.
10 MCQs
- 29
Honours of British India: Knighthood, Kaiser-i-Hind and Victoria Cross
The imperial orders and titles of British India, the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal, the Victoria Cross and Indian Order of Merit, and the renunciations by Gandhi and Tagore.
10 MCQs
- 30
Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards, Tansen Samman and Other Art Awards
The Akademi Fellowship, Akademi Puraskar and Yuva Puraskar, the Madhya Pradesh sammans led by Tansen and Kalidas, and the other art awards exams ask about.
10 MCQs
- 31
Miss World, Miss Universe and India's Titleholders
The founding of Miss World and Miss Universe, the Big Four pageants, India's six Miss World winners and three Miss Universe winners, the double years of 1994 and 2000, and Miss Earth.
12 MCQs1 previous-year questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How are Awards and Honours questions asked in SSC CGL and CHSL?
SSC questions mostly come from the static lists: the first recipient of an award, the field in which it is given, the year it was instituted, and well-known winners such as Bharat Ratna recipients or Dadasaheb Phalke Award winners. A few questions cover awards announced in the year before the exam. If you know the category, the first winner and the most recent winner of each major award, you are prepared for most of them.
Which awards are asked most in bank exams like IBPS PO and SBI PO?
Bank exams concentrate on awards from the current year: Nobel Prizes in each category, Padma awardees from the Republic Day list, Khel Ratna and Arjuna winners, the Booker and the Ramon Magsaysay awards, and any international award given to an Indian. The question usually asks who won, in which field, or which organisation gives the award. Revise the Awards in News This Year topic along with your monthly current affairs before the mains exam.
What is the difference between Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri?
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of India and is given for exceptional service in any field. The three Padma awards rank below it in the order Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, and they are announced together on the eve of Republic Day. Exams ask about this order, the first recipients, the years in which no award was given and the persons who received more than one of these honours.
Do exams ask about the Nobel Prize categories and Indian Nobel winners?
Yes, in almost every exam. Common questions are the six categories in which the Nobel Prize is given, the body that awards each category, and the Indians and persons of Indian origin who have won it, from Rabindranath Tagore and C. V. Raman to Amartya Sen and Kailash Satyarthi. Bank exams also ask the most recent year's winners and the work they were recognised for.
How should I prepare gallantry awards like Param Vir Chakra for competitive exams?
Learn the two groups separately: wartime gallantry awards, which are Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, and peacetime awards, which are Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. Exams ask the order of precedence, the first recipient of a medal, and the most recent recipients, often as current affairs after the Republic Day or Independence Day announcements. The service medals PVSM, AVSM and VSM are a separate topic on this page.