The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is restricted to Indian scientists below the age of
- A.35 years
- B.40 years
- C.45 years
- D.50 years
Correct answer
C. 45 years
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 45 years. The prize is meant to encourage scientists in the productive middle of their careers, so it is given for notable research carried out in India by a scientist who has not crossed forty-five years of age, and it covers seven disciplines from biological sciences to physical sciences. Option A is wrong because thirty-five is no limit under this prize; it resembles instead the age bar of certain young scientist fellowships. Option B is wrong because forty is the age limit of the Fields Medal in mathematics, and swapping the two is the usual trap here. Option D is wrong because fifty has never been the limit for this award. Note that the restructured national science awards announced in 2023 keep the Bhatnagar name for their young scientist category.
Read the full article: Science and Technology Awards: Indian and Global
Practice Questions
View allThe Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is given by which organisation?
- A.Indian Space Research Organisation
- B.Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
- C.Department of Atomic Energy
- D.Indian National Science Academy
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
Explanation
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.
Which award is described as the Nobel Prize of mathematics?
- A.Turing Award
- B.Fields Medal
- C.Copley Medal
- D.Kavli Prize
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Fields Medal
Explanation
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 Turing Award is given in the field of
- A.Medicine
- B.Computer science
- C.Astronomy
- D.Economics
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Computer science
Explanation
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 UNESCO Kalinga Prize is awarded for
- A.Research in nuclear physics
- B.The popularisation of science
- C.Work in environmental law
- D.Excellence in engineering design
Show answer
Correct answer: B. The popularisation of science
Explanation
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.
C. V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in which year?
- A.1913
- B.1930
- C.1954
- D.1968
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 1930
Explanation
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.