Kabir Puraskar, instituted in 1990, is given for which of the following?

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 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 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 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 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.