About Awards and Honours
Awards and honours asks two things about each award: what it is given for, and who confers it. Both are settled facts, and the awards here are grouped so that a candidate can learn them in families rather than one at a time.
What you need to understand
- The civilian honours are four: the Bharat Ratna for the highest achievement in any field, and the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in descending order of distinction. All are conferred by the President of India.
- The military honours run from the Param Vir Chakra down through the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
- The peacetime gallantry awards are the Ashoka Chakra, the Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra, which parallel the three military ones but are for gallantry away from the field of battle.
- The life-saving awards are the Sarvottam, Uttam and Jeevan Raksha Padak, conferred by the President for saving a life at risk to one's own.
- The literary awards come from three places: the Jnanpith from the Bharatiya Jnanpith, and the Sahitya Akademi's awards including the Fellowship, the Bal Sahitya Puraskar and the Yuva Puraskar from the Akademi itself.
- The arts have their own Akademis: the Sangeet Natak Akademi for music, dance and drama, and the Lalit Kala Akademi for the visual arts.
- The film awards have two distinct sources: the National Film Awards from the Directorate of Film Festivals, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award from the Government of India for a lifetime in cinema.
- The sports awards come from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: the Arjuna Award for performance, the Khel Ratna as the highest sporting honour, the Dronacharya for coaching and the Tenzing Norgay award for adventure.
- The Indian peace and service prizes include the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony, both from the Government of India, and the Indira Gandhi Prize from the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
- The science prizes are the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Infosys Prize from the Infosys Science Foundation.
- The literary prizes of the foundations are the Saraswati Samman, the Vyas Samman and the Bihari Puraskar, all from the K. K. Birla Foundation, and the Kabir and Tansen Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
- The international awards are the solid part of the topic: the Nobel Prizes with their five conferring bodies, the Pulitzer from Columbia University, the Booker from the Booker Prize Foundation and the Magsaysay from its own foundation.
- The Nobel Peace Prize is the exception among the Nobels: it is conferred in Norway rather than in Sweden, by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, while the others come from Swedish institutions.
How to work through these questions
- Learn the awards in families by the body that confers them. The President confers the civilian, military and life-saving awards, the three Akademis confer the arts and letters, and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports confers the sporting ones.
- For the Nobel Prizes, learn which body gives which: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences gives physics, chemistry and economics, the Karolinska Institute medicine, and the Swedish Academy literature.
- Where two awards are close in name, learn the order. The Padma awards descend from the Vibhushan to the Bhushan to the Shri, and the gallantry awards from the Ashoka Chakra down.
- Do not learn recipient lists. The body and the field are what the questions ask for, and recipients change every year.
- Where an award is named after a person, the name usually tells you the field: the Dronacharya was a teacher, the Dhyan Chand award is for sport, and the Dadasaheb Phalke award is for cinema.
- Use the ministry as a last resort. If an award is for teaching or for children, it comes from the ministry that deals with that subject.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Confusing the Ashoka Chakra, which is for peacetime gallantry, with the Param Vir Chakra, which is for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
- Mixing up the Sahitya Akademi, which deals with literature, with the Sangeet Natak Akademi for the performing arts and the Lalit Kala Akademi for the visual arts.
- Giving the Government of India for the National Film Awards, which come from the Directorate of Film Festivals.
- Assuming the Nobel Peace Prize is conferred from Sweden; it is conferred in Norway.
- Confusing the Arjuna Award, for performance, with the Dronacharya, which is for coaching.
- Mixing up the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, which is for science in India, with the Infosys Prize, which is also for science but from a private foundation.
- Attributing the Jnanpith to the Sahitya Akademi; it comes from the Bharatiya Jnanpith.
- Learning the recipients instead of the awards, so that a question about what an award is given for cannot be answered.
Worked example
Which of these confers the Bharat Ratna?
- The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour of India, which places it with the Padma awards rather than with the gallantry or sporting awards.
- The Padma awards and the Bharat Ratna are conferred in the same way, by the highest office of the state.
- The military and life-saving awards are conferred by the same office, which is the point the question is testing.
- The Bharat Ratna is conferred by the President of India.
Answer: the President of India
Practice questions with answers
A few Awards and Honours questions with the full solution shown, so you can see
how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.
Question 1
The the Jnanpith Award is given for which of these?
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A
public administration
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B
coaching in sport
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C
distinguished service of a high order in any field
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D
literature
Answer: Option D — with explanation
the Jnanpith Award is conferred by the Bharatiya Jnanpith for literature.
The civilian and military honours are conferred by the President, the arts awards by the three Akademis, the sports awards by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the literary awards by foundations. Learning them in those families answers both the field and the body questions at once.
Common mistakes
- this is what another award recognises: public administration
- this is what another award recognises: coaching in sport
- this is what another award recognises: distinguished service of a high order in any field
Question 2
the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is awarded in which of these fields?
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A
music
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B
prompt action to save a life
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C
the highest civilian honour, for achievement in any field
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D
poetry
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak is conferred by the President of India for prompt action to save a life.
The civilian and military honours are conferred by the President, the arts awards by the three Akademis, the sports awards by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the literary awards by foundations. Learning them in those families answers both the field and the body questions at once.
Common mistakes
- this is what another award recognises: poetry
- this is what another award recognises: the highest civilian honour, for achievement in any field
- this is what another award recognises: music
Question 3
Which of these confers the the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award?
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A
the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
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B
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
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C
the Sangeet Natak Akademi
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D
the Government of Madhya Pradesh
Answer: Option C — with explanation
the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi for music, dance and drama.
The civilian and military honours are conferred by the President, the arts awards by the three Akademis, the sports awards by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the literary awards by foundations. Learning them in those families answers both the field and the body questions at once.
Common mistakes
- this body confers another award: the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
- this body confers another award: the Government of Madhya Pradesh
- this body confers another award: the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
Question 4
Which of these confers the the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities?
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A
the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
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B
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
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C
the Lalit Kala Akademi
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D
the Booker Prize Foundation
Answer: Option B — with explanation
the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities is conferred by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for work for persons with disabilities.
The civilian and military honours are conferred by the President, the arts awards by the three Akademis, the sports awards by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the literary awards by foundations. Learning them in those families answers both the field and the body questions at once.
Common mistakes
- this body confers another award: the Lalit Kala Akademi
- this body confers another award: the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
- this body confers another award: the Booker Prize Foundation
Question 5
The the Ashoka Chakra is conferred by which of these bodies?
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A
the President of India
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B
the Indian Council for Child Welfare
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C
the Norwegian Nobel Committee
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D
the Booker Prize Foundation
Answer: Option A — with explanation
the Ashoka Chakra is conferred by the President of India for gallantry in peacetime.
The civilian and military honours are conferred by the President, the arts awards by the three Akademis, the sports awards by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the literary awards by foundations. Learning them in those families answers both the field and the body questions at once.
Common mistakes
- this body confers another award: the Indian Council for Child Welfare
- this body confers another award: the Norwegian Nobel Committee
- this body confers another award: the Booker Prize Foundation
Frequently asked questions
Should I learn who received each award?
No. Recipients change every year and a question bank that lists them dates immediately. What is asked here is what an award is for and who confers it, and those facts do not change.
Which awards are asked about most?
The Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards, the gallantry awards, the Jnanpith and the sports awards, and the Nobel Prizes with their conferring bodies.
What is the difference between the Ashoka Chakra and the Param Vir Chakra?
The Param Vir Chakra is for gallantry in the face of the enemy and the Ashoka Chakra for gallantry in peacetime. Otherwise the two series run in parallel, with the Kirti and Shaurya Chakras below the Ashoka.
Are the state awards worth learning?
The Kabir and Tansen Samman from Madhya Pradesh, and the awards of the K. K. Birla Foundation, appear often enough to be worth knowing. Other state awards are asked less and are not included here.
Where does this topic appear in a paper?
In the general knowledge sections of bank, SSC and state government papers, and in the general studies papers of civil service examinations. The conferring body is asked as often as the field.
