Awards & Honours — Study Notes

Overview

Awards and honours form a staple component of the General Awareness section in UPSSSC PET. This topic bridges current affairs with static GK, as questions can ask about historical recipients, eligibility criteria, fields of recognition, or recent awardees. Expect 2–3 direct questions on awards in the exam, especially on Bharat Ratna, Padma awards (Vibhushan, Bhushan, Shri), Nobel Prize categories, literary awards like Jnanpith and Booker, and occasionally sports or gallantry awards.

Mastery requires knowing the award hierarchy, year of institution, administering bodies, and a short list of notable recipients—especially those linked to Uttar Pradesh or Indian independence. Since current affairs overlap heavily, stay updated on the latest announcements (usually January 26 for Padma awards and October for Nobel). This topic rewards consistent newspaper reading paired with a strong framework of static facts.

Focus on the "who, what, when" for each award: who instituted it, what it recognises, when it began, and 5–8 marquee names. Questions often test field matching (e.g., "Which Nobel for literature?") or chronological awareness (first Indian recipient). Quality memorisation beats rote cramming—understand the prestige ladder and contexts.

Key Concepts

• **Civilian awards hierarchy in India**: Bharat Ratna (highest) → Padma Vibhushan → Padma Bhushan → Padma Shri. Announced on Republic Day eve; conferred by the President.
• **Bharat Ratna** is awarded for exceptional service in any field of human endeavour, with no field restrictions. No posthumous bar since 1955 rules amended. Maximum 3 per year (informal practice).
• **Padma awards** recognise distinguished service in art, literature, science, public affairs, social work, sports, medicine, trade/industry. Categories: Vibhushan (exceptional), Bhushan (distinguished), Shri (distinguished). Announced by Ministry of Home Affairs.
• **Nobel Prize** established by Alfred Nobel's will (1895), first awarded 1901. Six categories: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine/Physiology, Literature, Peace, Economic Sciences (added 1968). Administered by Nobel Foundation, Sweden (Peace in Norway). Cash prize currently ~11 million SEK.
• **Jnanpith Award** is India's highest literary honour, instituted 1961 by Bharatiya Jnanpith. Given for lifetime contribution to Indian literature in any of the 22 scheduled languages. Cash award ₹11 lakh, citation, bronze replica of Saraswati.
• **Booker Prize (now Booker Prize for Fiction)** established 1969, originally for Commonwealth writers in English. Since 2014, open to any English-language novel published in UK/Ireland. Winner receives £50,000.
• **Sports and gallantry awards** (secondary for this topic): Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna), Arjuna Award; Param Vir Chakra (military), Ashoka Chakra (civilian bravery). Know one or two recent recipients.
• Awards can be declined or returned (e.g., Satyajit Ray initially declined Bharat Ratna in 1992 until health-related conferral; some authors returned Sahitya Akademi awards in 2015 protest).

Formulas / Key Facts

1. **Bharat Ratna**: Instituted 1954. No written nomination; recommendations by PM to President. First recipients: C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. V. Raman (all 1954). Total awarded: ~50 to date. 2. **Notable Bharat Ratna recipients**: Jawaharlal Nehru (1955), Indira Gandhi (1971, posthumous after assassination), Mother Teresa (1980), Nelson Mandela (1990, foreign), Sachin Tendulkar (2014, sports), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2015), Pranab Mukherjee (2019), Nanaji Deshmukh (2019, posthumous). 3. **Padma Vibhushan**: First awarded 1954. Recent notable: Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, Ghulam Nabi Azad (2022). 4. **Padma Bhushan**: Recognises distinguished service; ~100–200 recipients total over decades. 5. **Padma Shri**: Given to around 100+ recipients annually across diverse fields—folk artists, social workers, sportspersons. 6. **Nobel Prize—Indian recipients**: Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913, first Asian Nobel), C. V. Raman (Physics, 1930), Har Gobind Khorana (Medicine, 1968, naturalised American), Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Physics, 1983, US citizen), Amartya Sen (Economics, 1998), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Chemistry, 2009, US-UK), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace, 2014, child rights), Abhijit Banerjee (Economics, 2019, US citizen). Total direct Indians: ~5–6 depending on citizenship definition. 7. **Jnanpith laureates** (sample): G. Sankara Kurup (first, Malayalam, 1965), Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (Hindi, 1972), M. T. Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam, 1995), Girish Karnad (Kannada, 1998), Kedarnath Singh (Hindi, 2013), Amitav Ghosh (English, 2018). 8. **Booker Prize**: Indian/Indian-origin winners: Salman Rushdie (*Midnight's Children*, 1981, also Booker of Bookers), Arundhati Roy (*The God of Small Things*, 1997), Kiran Desai (*The Inheritance of Loss*, 2006), Aravind Adiga (*The White Tiger*, 2008).

Worked Examples

**Example 1**: *Who was the first non-Indian to receive Bharat Ratna, and in which year?* **Solution**: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Frontier Gandhi) in 1987 was the first. He was a Pashtun independence activist aligned with Gandhi. Nelson Mandela received it in 1990, making him the second non-Indian.

**Example 2**: *Which Indian won the Nobel Prize in Economics for work on welfare and poverty, and in what year?* **Solution**: Amartya Sen won in 1998 for contributions to welfare economics, famine studies, and social choice theory. Recent addition: Abhijit Banerjee (shared 2019) for experimental approach to alleviating poverty.

**Example 3**: *Match the award with the administering body: (A) Jnanpith – (i) Swedish Academy; (B) Nobel Literature – (ii) Bharatiya Jnanpith trust.* **Solution**: A–ii (Jnanpith is by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary trust); B–i (Nobel Literature is by Swedish Academy in Stockholm).

**Example 4**: *Name the first Indian woman to win the Booker Prize and the novel.* **Solution**: Arundhati Roy, *The God of Small Things* (1997). This was also her debut novel. Kiran Desai is the second Indian woman winner (2006).

Common Mistakes

1. **Confusing Nobel categories with Indian achievements**: Students often misattribute Indian Nobel wins. C. V. Raman won Physics, not Chemistry. Rabindranath Tagore won Literature, not Peace. Mother Teresa won Peace, not a social service Nobel (no such category). *Fix*: Memorise the six Nobel categories and match names carefully. Physics (Raman, Chandrasekhar), Chemistry (Ramakrishnan), Medicine (Khorana), Literature (Tagore), Peace (Mother Teresa, Kailash Satyarthi), Economics (Sen, Banerjee).

2. **Mixing Padma award tiers**: Padma Vibhushan is higher than Bhushan, which is higher than Shri. Students sometimes reverse Bhushan and Shri. *Fix*: Remember alphabetically by prestige: Vibhushan (V for very top) > Bhushan (B for below) > Shri (S for standard recognition). Bharat Ratna stands alone at the apex.

3. **Assuming Bharat Ratna only for Indian citizens**: Since 1990s, non-Indian nationals can receive it (Nelson Mandela, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan). *Fix*: Note the phrase "exceptional service to humanity" in the award description—nationality is not a strict bar, though recipients are rare.

4. **Outdated Jnanpith recipient lists**: Students memorise very old lists. The award is annual; 2018 saw Amitav Ghosh (English), 2019 Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri (Malayalam), 2020 Nilmani Phookan (Assamese). Missing recent names costs marks. *Fix*: Update your list each year from November/December announcements. Carry forward 8–10 diverse-language recipients for variety.

5. **Confusing Man Booker International with Booker Prize**: The Booker Prize for Fiction is for a single novel; the International Booker (since 2016) is for a body of work translated into English. These are separate. *Fix*: For UPSSSC PET, focus on the main Booker Prize (fiction, annual, English novels). International Booker is less frequently tested.

Quick Reference

• **Bharat Ratna** – 1954, highest civilian, ~3/year, President confers; recent: Pranab Mukherjee 2019.
• **Padma Vibhushan, Bhushan, Shri** – Announced Jan 26 eve; fields: art, literature, science, public service, sports.
• **Nobel Prize** – 6 categories; Indians: Tagore (Lit-1913), Raman (Phy-1930), Mother Teresa (Peace-1979), Sen (Eco-1998), Satyarthi (Peace-2014), Banerjee (Eco-2019).
• **Jnanpith** – Highest literary, ₹11L, for 22 scheduled languages; first: G. Sankara Kurup 1965; recent English: Amitav Ghosh 2018.
• **Booker Prize** – £50k, English novel; Indians: Rushdie 1981, Roy 1997, Desai 2006, Adiga 2008.
• Remember UP connections: Sumitranandan Pant (Jnanpith 1968, from Uttarakhand—then UP), Mahadevi Verma (Jnanpith 1982, Hindi, UP-linked).