Awards and Honours Questions for RRB NTPC

Bharat Ratna

Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian honour, awarded for exceptional service to the nation in any field including arts, literature, science, sports, and public service. It was instituted in 1954. There is no official limit on the number per year but usually not more than 3 are given in a year. The award does not carry a monetary prize but the recipient gets a Padma-leaf shaped medallion.

• First recipients in 1954: C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, C. V. Raman
• First woman to receive: Indira Gandhi (1971)
• First sportsperson: Sachin Tendulkar (2014)
• Mother Teresa (1980) and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) received it as non-Indians
• Posthumous awards are allowed — Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first posthumous awardee (1966)
• Recent awardees: Karpoori Thakur, LK Advani, PV Narasimha Rao, MS Swaminathan, Chaudhary Charan Singh (all 2024)

Padma Awards

Padma Awards are the next tier of civilian honours in India. They are announced on Republic Day (January 26) every year. There are three categories: Padma Vibhushan (second highest civilian award), Padma Bhushan (third highest), and Padma Shri (fourth highest). They are awarded for distinguished service in various fields like arts, education, industry, literature, science, sports, medicine, social work, and public affairs.

• Order of precedence: Bharat Ratna > Padma Vibhushan > Padma Bhushan > Padma Shri
• Instituted in 1954 along with Bharat Ratna
• Announced on 26 January, Republic Day
• Government servants including those in PSUs are generally not eligible
• Posthumous awards are rare but possible in exceptional cases
• RRB often asks who received Padma Vibhushan in sports or cinema in a recent year

Gallantry Awards

Gallantry Awards are given to armed forces and civilians for acts of bravery. They are also announced on Republic Day and Independence Day. The Param Vir Chakra is the highest wartime gallantry award while the Ashoka Chakra is the highest peacetime gallantry award.

• Wartime hierarchy: Param Vir Chakra > Maha Vir Chakra > Vir Chakra
• Peacetime hierarchy: Ashoka Chakra > Kirti Chakra > Shaurya Chakra
• Param Vir Chakra: first recipient was Major Somnath Sharma (posthumous, 1947 war)
• Ashoka Chakra: civilian equivalent, can be awarded posthumously
• Remember: PVC is only for wartime, Ashoka Chakra is for peacetime bravery

Nobel Prize

Nobel Prizes are awarded annually in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine (Physiology), Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. They are awarded by Swedish and Norwegian institutions. The Economics prize was added in 1969 and is not part of Alfred Nobel's original will — it is given by the Swedish National Bank.

• First Indian Nobel: Rabindranath Tagore, Literature, 1913
• Nobel Peace Prize winner from India: Mother Teresa (1979), Kailash Satyarthi (2014)
• CV Raman won Physics Nobel in 1930 for Raman Effect
• Amartya Sen won Economics Nobel in 1998
• Awarded every year on 10 December — death anniversary of Alfred Nobel
• RRB often asks first Indian to win a specific Nobel category

Sports Awards (India)

India's national sports awards are given on National Sports Day (August 29 — birthday of Major Dhyan Chand). The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna is the highest sporting honour. Other key awards are Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award (for coaches), and Dhyan Chand Award (lifetime achievement).

• Khel Ratna (formerly Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna): highest sports award, renamed in 2021
• Arjuna Award: for consistent performance over 4 years
• Dronacharya Award: for coaches who produce medal-winning athletes
• Dhyan Chand Award: lifetime contribution to sports
• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award: for adventure sports
• First Khel Ratna recipient: Viswanathan Anand (1991-92)

International Awards and Film Awards

Oscar (Academy Award) is for films, Grammy for music, Pulitzer for journalism and literature, Booker Prize for English fiction, and Man Booker International for translated fiction. For Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest honour for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema, awarded at the National Film Awards.

• Dadasaheb Phalke Award: first given to Devika Rani (1969)
• Oscars: India's first Oscar nomination was Mother India (1958); Bhanu Athaiya won first Oscar for India (Costume Design, Gandhi, 1983)
• Booker Prize: Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things, 1997) and Kiran Desai (Inheritance of Loss, 2006) are Indian winners
• Pulitzer Prize: not given to Indians typically, but tests origin and field
• Grammy Award: given by Recording Academy, USA, for music achievement
• RRB sometimes asks about Saraswati Samman and Jnanpith Award (highest Indian literary awards)

• Confusing Param Vir Chakra (wartime) with Ashoka Chakra (peacetime) — many students mix these up under exam pressure
• Thinking Bharat Ratna can only be given to Indians — it has been given to non-Indians like Mother Teresa and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
• Mixing up Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan order — remember Vibhushan is higher (VI sounds like VIP)
• Forgetting that the Nobel Economics Prize was not in Alfred Nobel's original will and was added only in 1969
• Confusing Dadasaheb Phalke Award (cinema) with Dada Saheb Phalke Excellence Awards which is a private award — the official one is at National Film Awards

• Wartime gallantry: PVC-MVC-VC — think Param = Paramount (top), then descend. Peacetime: AMK = Ashoka, Maa Ki (Kirti), Shaurya — remember A comes before K before S
• Padma hierarchy trick: Vibhushan = VIP + ushan (very high), Bhushan = Bhoomi (earth, middle), Shri = Sir (entry level honour)
• Nobel dates: Alfred Nobel died 10 December 1896, so prize given every 10 December. Remember Nobel = No-Bell (no birthday celebration, only death anniversary)
• Indian Nobel winners memory hook: Tagore-Raman-Teresa-Sen-Satyarthi — T-R-T-S-S — Two Trains, Two Stations (TRTSS)

• RRB NTPC typically asks 2-3 questions from Awards in GA section. Most are direct recall like: which year did X win Bharat Ratna, or who was the first recipient of Khel Ratna
• Focus heavily on recent year awardees (1-2 years before your exam) as RRB frequently tests current affairs-based award questions
• Gallantry awards are a favourite — especially Param Vir Chakra recipients from 1947 war and recent Kargil war heroes
• For Nobel Prize questions, the exam mostly tests Indian winners and the field they won in — memorise the 5 Indian Nobel laureates with their year and category
• Literary awards like Jnanpith and Saraswati Samman appear occasionally — know that Jnanpith is the highest literary award in India and is given for Indian languages