Awards and Honours Quiz

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The Norman Borlaug Award recognises exceptional, science-based achievement in international agriculture and food production by an individual under the age of 40. The Arjuna Award is given for Outstanding Performance in Sports. The Dronacharya Award is a sports coaching honour. Dhyan Chand Award is a lifetime achievement sporting honour.

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James Michael Lyngdoh was the 12th Chief Election Commissioner of India (14 June 2001 to 7 Feb 2004). He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2003.

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The Moortidevi Award is an Indian literary award annually presented by the Bharatiya Jnanapeeth Trust, a literary and research organisation.

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The Nobel Prize 2003 in Chemistry rewards Peter Agre for the discovery of water channels and Roderick MacKinnon for structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels. Their studies have demonstrated how ions and water are transported through cell membranes.

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Tansen Samman (award) is presented every year to honor famous Indian classical singers and musicians. It was instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 1980.

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Kalinga Prize is an international award given by UNESCO to reward exceptional contributions made by individuals in communicating science to society and promoting the popularization of science. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga Foundation Trust in India.

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Except for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden on 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The Peace Prize is presented by the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway.

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Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian citizen to be awarded and also the first Asian to be awarded in 1913. There are 12 Indian (five Indian citizens and eight of Indian ancestry or residency) Nobel prize winners so far:

Citizens of India: 1. Rabindranath Tagore (1913, Literature); 2. C.V. Raman (1930, Physics); 3. Mother Teresa (1979, Peace); 4. Amartya Sen (1998, Economics); 5. Kailash Satyarthi (2014, Peace).
Indian origin: 1. Har Gobind Khorana (1968, Medicine); 2. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1983, Physics); 3. Venki Ramakrishnan (2009, Chemistry); 4. Abhijit Banerjee (2019, Economics).
Residents of Foreign Origin in India: 1. Ronald Ross (1902, Medicine); 2. Rudyard Kipling (1907, Literature); 3. 14th Dalai Lama (1989, Peace).

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Arun Shourie is India’s eminent journalist, author and politician. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982.

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The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is the sports coaching honour of India. The Awardees receive a cash prize of ₹15 lakhs (increased from ₹5 lakhs in 2020) in addition to the bronze statue of Dronacharya and a certificate.

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Madame Curie (Marie Curie) won the Nobel Prize in Science in two different disciplines. She received the Physics Prize in 1903 for her work on radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for the isolation of pure radium.

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Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award (formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award) is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The Awardees receive a cash prize of ₹25 lakhs (increased from ₹7.5 lakhs in 2020) and a certificate.

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The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippines President Ramon Magsaysay’s example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.

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Nobel Prize is not given in the field of Mathematics. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace, while a memorial prize in economic sciences was added in 1968.

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The Chameli Devi Jain Award is an Indian journalism award named after Chameli Devi Jain, an Indian independence activist who became the first Jain woman to go to prison during India’s independence struggle. The award is given by the Media Foundation.

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Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata was an Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavours, Tata was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

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Pulitzer Prize is awarded by Columbia University, New York City, for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher and is administered by Columbia University.

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The Mahavir Chakra is the second-highest military award in India in India, after the Paramvir Chakra. General Arunkumar Shridhar Vaidya was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He served as the 13th Chief of the Army Staff from 1983 to 1986 He was awarded Mahavir Chakra twice (1965 and 1971).

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Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian-born American biochemist. He shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley. Har Gobind Khorana made important contributions to this field by building different RNA chains with the help of enzymes.

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The Kalinga Prize was established in 1951 by UNESCO with a generous grant from Late Shri Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga Foundation Trust. The Prize is presented annually by UNESCO to a person or persons, who make outstanding contributions to the interpretation of science and technology to the general public. The First Kalinga Prize was awarded in 1952.

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Jamini Roy was an Indian painter. He was honoured with the State award of Padma Bhushan in 1954. He was one of the most famous pupils of Abanindranath Tagore, whose artistic originality and contribution to the emergence of art in India remains unquestionable.

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In 2006, Sri Arvind Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his involvement in the grassroots level movement ‘Parivartan’ using the right to information (RTI) legislation in a campaign against government corruption.

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Amartya Sen is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory.

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Former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

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Pulitzer Prize is awarded for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism and Literature. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher and is administered by Columbia University.

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Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019 along with his two co-researchers Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”

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Morarji Desai was the sixth (and first non-Congress) Prime Minister of India (1977–79). He was the only Indian who won the Bharat Ratna (1991) and Pakistan’s Nishan-e-Pakistan (1990). Morarji Desai helped restore friendly relations with China and Pakistan, and vowed to avoid armed conflict such as the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.

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The Grammy Award is presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievement in the music industry. The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone. The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks’ major music awards held annually.

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The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. V. Shantaram was awarded in 1986, Raj Kapoor was awarded in 1988 and Lata Mangeshkar was awarded in 1989 by Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Mukesh Bhatt is not a recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

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Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in recognition of outstanding achievement in motion pictures and television during the previous year.