Awards and Honours

Awards and Honours is one of the most consistently tested topics in SSC CGL General Awareness. Every year, 1 to 2 questions directly come from this section across different shifts. Questions focus on who received which award, in which year, for what contribution, and the basic facts about each award category. This chapter covers all major civilian awards, gallantry awards, literary awards, film awards, international awards, and sports awards given by India and international organizations. Students who memorize the key recipients and basic facts of each award category can score guaranteed marks from this section.

1. Bharat Ratna

Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honor of India. It is awarded for exceptional service towards advancement of art, literature, science, and public service.

1.1 Basic Facts

• Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award
• Instituted in: 1954
• Originally the award was not given posthumously - this rule was changed in 1955
• The award consists of a Peepal leaf shaped medallion with the sun emblem
• Maximum awards given in a year: 3
• The award is presented by the President of India
• The award does not carry any monetary grant

1.2 First Recipients

• First Bharat Ratna recipient: C. Rajagopalachari (1954) - politician and statesman
• Second recipient: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) - philosopher and second President of India
• Third recipient: Dr. C.V. Raman (1954) - physicist and Nobel laureate

1.3 Important Bharat Ratna Recipients - Chronological

• Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) - first Prime Minister of India
• M. Visvesvaraya (1955) - engineer and statesman
• Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) - politician and first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
• Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) - social reformer - awarded on his 100th birthday
• Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) - physician and second Chief Minister of West Bengal - National Doctors Day is on his birthday July 1
• Rajendra Prasad (1962) - first President of India
• Zakir Hussain (1963) - third President of India
• Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966, posthumous) - second Prime Minister of India
• Indira Gandhi (1971) - first woman Prime Minister of India
• V.V. Giri (1975) - fourth President of India
• K. Kamaraj (1976, posthumous) - politician from Tamil Nadu
• Mother Teresa (1980) - humanitarian - first foreign woman to receive Bharat Ratna
• Vinoba Bhave (1983, posthumous) - social reformer - founder of Bhoodan Movement
• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) - first foreigner to receive Bharat Ratna - called Frontier Gandhi
• M.G. Ramachandran (1988, posthumous) - actor and politician
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1990, posthumous) - architect of Indian Constitution
• Nelson Mandela (1990) - second foreigner to receive Bharat Ratna
• Rajiv Gandhi (1991, posthumous) - sixth Prime Minister of India
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991, posthumous) - Iron Man of India
• Morarji Desai (1991) - fourth Prime Minister of India
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1992, posthumous) - freedom fighter and first Education Minister of India
• J.R.D. Tata (1992) - industrialist
• Satyajit Ray (1992) - filmmaker - also won Oscar in 1992
• Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) - acting Prime Minister twice
• Aruna Asaf Ali (1997, posthumous) - freedom fighter - hoisted flag at Gowalia Tank during Quit India Movement
• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1997) - scientist and 11th President of India - called Missile Man of India
• M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998) - first musician to receive Bharat Ratna - Carnatic vocalist
• Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) - politician - father of Green Revolution
• Jayaprakash Narayan (1999, posthumous) - freedom fighter - called Loknayak
• Pandit Ravi Shankar (1999) - sitar player
• Amartya Sen (1999) - economist - Nobel Prize winner 1998
• Gopinath Bordoloi (1999, posthumous) - first Chief Minister of Assam
• Lata Mangeshkar (2001) - singer - called Nightingale of India
• Ustad Bismillah Khan (2001) - shehnai player
• Bhimsen Joshi (2008) - classical vocalist
• C.N.R. Rao (2013) - scientist
• Sachin Tendulkar (2013) - cricketer - youngest and first sportsperson to receive Bharat Ratna - received at age 40
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2014) - tenth Prime Minister of India
• Madan Mohan Malaviya (2014, posthumous) - founder of Banaras Hindu University
• Pranab Mukherjee (2019) - 13th President of India
• Bhupen Hazarika (2019, posthumous) - singer and filmmaker from Assam
• Nanaji Deshmukh (2019, posthumous) - social activist
• Karpoori Thakur (2024, posthumous) - former Chief Minister of Bihar
• Chaudhary Charan Singh (2024, posthumous) - fifth Prime Minister of India
• P.V. Narasimha Rao (2024, posthumous) - ninth Prime Minister of India
• M.S. Swaminathan (2024, posthumous) - father of Green Revolution in India
• Lal Krishna Advani (2024) - politician

1.4 Important Firsts in Bharat Ratna

• First recipient: C. Rajagopalachari (1954)
• First woman: Indira Gandhi (1971)
• First foreigner: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987)
• First musician: M.S. Subbulakshmi (1998)
• First sportsperson: Sachin Tendulkar (2013)
• Youngest recipient: Sachin Tendulkar (age 40)
• First posthumous: Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)

2. Padma Awards

Padma Awards are the second highest civilian honors of India after Bharat Ratna. They are given in three categories.

2.1 Basic Facts

• Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 - same year as Bharat Ratna
• Three categories of Padma Awards:
  • Padma Vibhushan - second highest civilian award - for exceptional and distinguished service
  • Padma Bhushan - third highest civilian award - for distinguished service of high order
  • Padma Shri - fourth highest civilian award - for distinguished service
• Awards are announced on Republic Day (January 26) every year
• Presented by the President of India
• Awards were suspended from 1977 to 1980 and again from 1992 to 1997

2.2 Important Padma Award Recipients

• Ravi Shankar - Padma Bhushan (1967), Padma Vibhushan (1981) - sitar player
• Lata Mangeshkar - Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999)
• Amitabh Bachchan - Padma Shri (1984), Padma Bhushan (2001), Padma Vibhushan (2015)
• Sachin Tendulkar - Padma Shri (1994), Padma Vibhushan (2008)
• Major Dhyan Chand - Padma Bhushan (1956) - hockey legend
• Rukmini Devi Arundale - Padma Bhushan (1956) - Bharatanatyam dancer
• M.S. Subbulakshmi - Padma Bhushan (1954), Padma Vibhushan (1975)
• Birju Maharaj - Padma Vibhushan (1986) - Kathak dancer
• Pandit Shivkumar Sharma - Padma Shri (1991), Padma Vibhushan (2001) - Santoor player

3. Gallantry Awards

Gallantry Awards are given to armed forces personnel for acts of bravery and courage in the face of the enemy or otherwise.

3.1 Wartime Gallantry Awards

These awards are given for acts of bravery in the presence of the enemy:

• Param Vir Chakra (PVC)
  • Highest wartime gallantry award of India
  • Instituted on January 26, 1950
  • Can be awarded posthumously
  • First recipient: Major Somnath Sharma - received posthumously for action in Kashmir in 1947
  • The design of Param Vir Chakra was made by Savitri Khanolkar (of Swiss origin)
  • The medal depicts the Vajra (thunderbolt) of Indra
  • So far 21 Param Vir Chakras have been awarded - 14 of them posthumously
• Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)
  • Second highest wartime gallantry award
  • Given for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy
• Vir Chakra (VC)
  • Third wartime gallantry award
  • Given for acts of bravery and courage in the battlefield

3.2 Peacetime Gallantry Awards

These awards are given for acts of bravery not in the presence of the enemy:

• Ashoka Chakra
  • Highest peacetime gallantry award of India
  • Equivalent to Param Vir Chakra but for peacetime
  • First recipient: Nirmal Jit Singh Shekhon (1972, posthumously)
• Kirti Chakra
  • Second highest peacetime gallantry award
  • Equivalent to Maha Vir Chakra
• Shaurya Chakra
  • Third peacetime gallantry award
  • Equivalent to Vir Chakra

3.3 Order of Gallantry Awards

• Sena Medal - for Army
• Nao Sena Medal - for Navy
• Vayu Sena Medal - for Air Force

4. Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious international award given annually in six categories.

4.1 Basic Facts

• Nobel Prize was established by Alfred Nobel - Swedish chemist who invented dynamite
• Alfred Nobel died on December 10, 1896 - Nobel Prize is awarded on this date every year
• Nobel Prize was first awarded in 1901
• Six categories of Nobel Prize:
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Physiology or Medicine
  • Literature
  • Peace
  • Economic Sciences (added in 1969 - not part of original Nobel will)
• Prize amount: 10 million Swedish Kronor (approximately)
• Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway - all others in Stockholm, Sweden
• Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously (except in rare cases before death was known)

4.2 Indian Nobel Prize Winners

• Rabindranath Tagore (1913) - Literature - for Gitanjali - first non-European to win Nobel Prize - first Asian Nobel laureate
• C.V. Raman (1930) - Physics - for discovery of Raman Effect - first Indian to win Nobel Prize in Science
• Har Gobind Khorana (1968) - Medicine - Indian-American scientist
• Mother Teresa (1979) - Peace - Albanian origin but worked in India - received Indian citizenship
• Amartya Sen (1998) - Economics - for contribution to welfare economics
• V.S. Naipaul (2001) - Literature - Trinidad-born of Indian origin
• Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009) - Chemistry - Indian-American scientist
• Kailash Satyarthi (2014) - Peace - child rights activist - shared with Malala Yousafzai

4.3 Important Nobel Prize Facts

• First Nobel Peace Prize: Jean Henri Dunant and Frederic Passy (1901)
• First woman Nobel laureate: Marie Curie (Physics, 1903)
• Only person to win Nobel Prize twice in same category: Marie Curie (Physics 1903, Chemistry 1911)
• Youngest Nobel laureate: Malala Yousafzai (Peace, 2014) - at age 17
• Nobel Prize in Economics is officially called Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences - added in 1969

5. Pulitzer Prize

5.1 Basic Facts

• The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917
• Founded by Joseph Pulitzer - Hungarian-born American publisher
• Administered by Columbia University, New York
• Given in the fields of journalism, literature and musical composition
• Each winner receives a certificate and USD 15,000 cash prize
• There are 20 categories under Pulitzer Prize

5.2 Indian Origin Pulitzer Prize Winners

• Gobind Behari Lal (1937) - first Indian to win Pulitzer Prize - for science journalism
• Jhumpa Lahiri (2000) - for fiction - "The Interpreter of Maladies"
• Geeta Anand (2003) - for journalism
• Siddhartha Mukherjee (2011) - for non-fiction - "The Emperor of All Maladies"

6. Booker Prize

6.1 Basic Facts

• The Booker Prize (Man Booker Prize) is awarded for the best original novel written in English
• It is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world
• Awarded annually
• Prize money: 50,000 pounds

6.2 Indian Booker Prize Winners

• Salman Rushdie (1981) - "Midnight's Children" - also won the "Booker of Bookers" (best of all Booker winners)
• Arundhati Roy (1997) - "The God of Small Things" - first Indian woman to win Booker Prize
• Kiran Desai (2006) - "The Inheritance of Loss"
• Aravind Adiga (2008) - "The White Tiger"

7. Oscar Award (Academy Award)

7.1 Basic Facts

• Oscar Award is given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
• First Oscar ceremony was held in 1929
• The award is officially called Academy Award of Merit
• The statuette is popularly known as Oscar
• Held annually in Los Angeles, USA

7.2 Indian Oscar Winners and Nominees

• Bhanu Athaiya (1983) - first Indian to win Oscar - for Best Costume Design for the film Gandhi
• Satyajit Ray (1992) - received Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
• A.R. Rahman - won two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire (2009) - Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Jai Ho)
• Resul Pookutty - won Oscar for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire (2009)
• Gulzar - won Oscar for Best Original Song (Jai Ho) along with A.R. Rahman
• RRR film (2023) - won Oscar for Best Original Song - "Naatu Naatu" - composed by M.M. Keeravani
• The Elephant Whisperers (2023) - won Oscar for Best Short Documentary - directed by Kartiki Gonsalves - produced by Guneet Monga

7.3 First Oscar Winner

• First Oscar winner (Best Actor): Emil Jannings - for "The Last Command" and "The Way of All Flesh" (1929)

8. Grammy Award

8.1 Basic Facts

• Grammy Award is given by the Recording Academy (formerly NARAS)
• Given for outstanding achievement in the music industry
• First Grammy ceremony was held in 1959
• Held annually in Los Angeles, USA

8.2 Indian Grammy Winners

• Pandit Ravi Shankar - won his first Grammy in 1968 for the album "West Meets East" - for Best Chamber Music Performance
  • He won five Grammy Awards in total - one of the most Grammy-winning Indian musicians
• Zakir Hussain - Grammy winner - tabla player
  • Part of "Planet Drum" band - their debut album won Grammy for Best World Music Album in 1992

9. Ramon Magsaysay Award

9.1 Basic Facts

• Ramon Magsaysay Award is often called the Asian Nobel Prize
• Established in 1957 in memory of Ramon Magsaysay - President of Philippines who died in a plane crash
• Awarded on his birthday - August 31 every year
• Administered by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, Manila, Philippines
• Given in categories: Government Service, Public Service, Community Leadership, Journalism and Literature, Peace and International Understanding, Emergent Leadership

9.2 Important Indian Ramon Magsaysay Award Winners

• Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1958) - first Indian to win Ramon Magsaysay Award - for Community Leadership
• Mother Teresa (1962) - for Peace and International Understanding
• M.S. Subbulakshmi (1974) - first Indian musician to win Ramon Magsaysay Award
• Jayaprakash Narayan (1965) - for Public Service
• Baba Amte (1985) - for Public Service
• Arvind Kejriwal (2006) - for Emergent Leadership
• Anshu Gupta (2015) - founder of Goonj NGO

10. Jawaharlal Nehru Award

10.1 Basic Facts

• Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding is given by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
• Instituted in 1965
• Given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions toward promoting international understanding, goodwill and friendship
• First recipient: U Thant of Myanmar (1965) - Secretary General of United Nations
• Prize amount: 25 lakh rupees and a citation

11. Dadasaheb Phalke Award

11.1 Basic Facts

• Dadasaheb Phalke Award is the highest award in Indian cinema
• Given by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
• Instituted in 1969 - named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Dadasaheb Phalke) - called the Father of Indian Cinema
• The award is presented at the National Film Awards ceremony
• Recipients receive a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize and a shawl

11.2 Important Dadasaheb Phalke Award Recipients

• Devika Rani (1969) - first recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award - actress
• B.N. Sircar (1970) - film producer
• Prithviraj Kapoor (1971) - actor
• Pankaj Mullick (1972) - singer and actor
• Ruby Myers (Sulochana) (1973) - actress
• Dhirendranath Ganguly (1979) - filmmaker
• Lata Mangeshkar (1989) - singer
• Akkineni Nageswara Rao (1990) - actor
• Raj Kapoor (1987, posthumous) - actor and director
• Satyajit Ray (1984) - filmmaker
• Mrinal Sen (2003) - filmmaker
• Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2004) - filmmaker
• Shyam Benegal (2005) - filmmaker
• Tapan Sinha (2006) - filmmaker
• Manna Dey (2007) - singer
• V.K. Murthy (2008) - cinematographer
• Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1999) - filmmaker
• Amitabh Bachchan (2018) - actor
• Rajinikanth (2019) - actor
• Asha Parekh (2020) - actress
• Waheeda Rehman (2021) - actress
• Vyjayanthimala (2023) - actress

12. National Film Awards

12.1 Basic Facts

• National Film Awards are the most prominent film awards given by the Government of India
• Presented by the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
• First National Film Awards were given in 1954
• Awards are presented by the President of India
• Three main categories:
  • Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) - for best film and direction
  • Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus) - for other categories
  • Nargis Dutt Award - for best film on national integration

13. Sahitya Akademi Award

13.1 Basic Facts

• Sahitya Akademi is India's national academy of letters
• Established in 1954
• The Sahitya Akademi Award is given for outstanding literary works in 24 Indian languages recognized by the Akademi
• Prize amount: 1 lakh rupees and a copper plaque
• Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is the highest honor given by Sahitya Akademi

14. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

14.1 Basic Facts

• Sangeet Natak Akademi is India's national academy for music, dance and drama
• Established in 1952 - oldest of the three national akademis
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is given for outstanding contributions in performing arts - music, dance and drama
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship is the highest honor given by the Akademi

15. Jnanpith Award

15.1 Basic Facts

• Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary award
• Instituted in 1961 by the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust
• Given for outstanding contribution to Indian literature in any of the 22 scheduled languages of India
• Prize amount: 11 lakh rupees, a citation and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati)
• First given in 1965

15.2 Important Jnanpith Award Recipients

• G. Sankara Kurup (1965) - first recipient - Malayalam writer
• Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay (1966) - Bengali writer
• Umashankar Joshi (1967) - Gujarati writer
• Sumitranandan Pant (1968) - Hindi poet
• Firaq Gorakhpuri (1969) - Urdu poet
• Viswanatha Satyanarayana (1970) - Telugu writer
• Bishnu Dey (1971) - Bengali writer
• Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1972) - Hindi poet
• Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (1973) - Kannada poet
• Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (1974) - Marathi writer
• P.V. Akilan (1975) - Tamil writer
• Ashapoorna Devi (1976) - Bengali writer - first woman to win Jnanpith Award
• Shivaram Karanth (1977) - Kannada writer
• S.H. Vatsyayan (Ajneya) (1978) - Hindi writer
• Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya (1979) - Assamese writer
• S.K. Pottekkatt (1980) - Malayalam writer
• Amrita Pritam (1981) - Punjabi writer - first Punjabi to win Jnanpith Award
• Mahadevi Varma (1982) - Hindi poet
• Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (1983) - Kannada writer
• Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1984) - Malayalam writer
• Pannalal Patel (1985) - Gujarati writer
• Sachidananda Routray (1986) - Odia writer
• Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar (Kusumagraj) (1987) - Marathi writer
• C. Narayana Reddy (1988) - Telugu writer
• Qurratulain Hyder (1989) - Urdu writer
• Vinayak Krishna Gokak (1990) - Kannada writer
• Subhas Mukhopadhyay (1991) - Bengali writer
• Naresh Mehta (1992) - Hindi writer
• Sitakant Mahapatra (1993) - Odia writer
• U.R. Ananthamurthy (1994) - Kannada writer
• M.T. Vasudevan Nair (1995) - Malayalam writer
• Mahasweta Devi (1996) - Bengali writer
• Ali Sardar Jafri (1997) - Urdu writer
• Girish Karnad (1998) - Kannada playwright
• Nirmal Verma (1999) - Hindi writer
• Gurdial Singh (1999) - Punjabi writer
• Indira Goswami (2000) - Assamese writer - for Assamese language
• Rajendra Shah (2001) - Gujarati writer
• D. Jayakanthan (2002) - Tamil writer
• Vinda Karandikar (2006) - Marathi writer
• Satya Vrat Shastri (2006) - Sanskrit scholar
• O.N.V. Kurup (2007) - Malayalam poet
• Akhlaq Mohammed Khan (Shahryar) (2008) - Urdu poet
• Amar Kant (2009) - Hindi writer
• Srilal Shukla (2009) - Hindi writer
• Chandrashekhara Kambara (2010) - Kannada writer
• Pratibha Ray (2011) - Odia writer
• Ravuri Bharadhwaja (2012) - Telugu writer
• Kedarnath Singh (2013) - Hindi poet
• Bhalchandra Nemade (2014) - Marathi writer
• Raghuveer Chaudhari (2015) - Gujarati writer
• Shankha Ghosh (2016) - Bengali poet
• Krishna Sobti (2017) - Hindi writer
• Amitav Ghosh (2018) - English writer - first English language writer to receive Jnanpith Award
• Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri (2019) - Malayalam poet
• Nilmani Phookan (2020) - Assamese poet
• Damodar Mauzo (2021) - Konkani writer

16. Kalinga Prize

16.1 Basic Facts

• Kalinga Prize is given by UNESCO for the popularization of science
• Instituted in 1952 at the initiative of Bijoyananda Patnaik (former Chief Minister of Odisha)
• Given annually
• First Indian winner: Jawaharlal Nehru (1955)

17. Dada Saheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards

These are separate from the Government of India's Dadasaheb Phalke Award. These are given by a private organization and are considered prestigious in the Indian film industry.

18. Indira Gandhi Prize

18.1 Basic Facts

• Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development
• Given by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust
• Instituted in 1986
• Given annually on November 19 - Indira Gandhi's birthday

19. Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award

19.1 Basic Facts

• Given by the Indian National Congress in memory of Rajiv Gandhi
• Awarded for contribution towards communal harmony, national integration and goodwill
• Instituted in 1992

20. Important Award - Related One-Liners

• Bharat Ratna instituted - 1954
• First Bharat Ratna - C. Rajagopalachari - 1954
• First woman Bharat Ratna - Indira Gandhi - 1971
• First foreigner Bharat Ratna - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan - 1987
• Second foreigner Bharat Ratna - Nelson Mandela - 1990
• First musician Bharat Ratna - M.S. Subbulakshmi - 1998
• First sportsperson Bharat Ratna - Sachin Tendulkar - 2013
• Youngest Bharat Ratna - Sachin Tendulkar - age 40
• Padma Awards instituted - 1954
• Padma Awards announced on - Republic Day - January 26
• Param Vir Chakra - highest wartime gallantry award - instituted January 26, 1950
• First Param Vir Chakra - Major Somnath Sharma - posthumous
• Param Vir Chakra designed by - Savitri Khanolkar
• Total Param Vir Chakras awarded - 21 - 14 posthumous
• Ashoka Chakra - highest peacetime gallantry award
• Nobel Prize established by - Alfred Nobel - Swedish chemist - inventor of dynamite
• Nobel Prize first awarded - 1901
• Nobel Prize awarded on - December 10 - Alfred Nobel's death anniversary
• Peace Prize awarded in - Oslo, Norway - all others in Stockholm, Sweden
• Economics Nobel added - 1969
• First Nobel laureate from India - Rabindranath Tagore - Literature - 1913
• First non-European Nobel Prize winner - Rabindranath Tagore
• C.V. Raman - Nobel Prize - Physics - 1930 - Raman Effect
• Amartya Sen - Nobel Prize - Economics - 1998
• Kailash Satyarthi - Nobel Prize - Peace - 2014 - shared with Malala Yousafzai
• Youngest Nobel laureate - Malala Yousafzai - Peace - 2014 - age 17
• Only person to win Nobel twice in same category - Marie Curie - Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911
• Pulitzer Prize established - 1917 - Joseph Pulitzer - administered by Columbia University
• First Indian Pulitzer winner - Gobind Behari Lal - 1937
• Jhumpa Lahiri - Pulitzer - 2000 - The Interpreter of Maladies
• Booker Prize - best original novel in English - prize 50,000 pounds
• Salman Rushdie - Booker - 1981 - Midnight's Children - also won Booker of Bookers
• Arundhati Roy - Booker - 1997 - The God of Small Things - first Indian woman
• Aravind Adiga - Booker - 2008 - The White Tiger
• First Oscar - 1929
• First Indian Oscar winner - Bhanu Athaiya - 1983 - Best Costume Design - Gandhi film
• Satyajit Ray - Honorary Oscar - 1992 - Lifetime Achievement
• A.R. Rahman - two Oscars - 2009 - Slumdog Millionaire
• Naatu Naatu - Oscar 2023 - Best Original Song - RRR film - M.M. Keeravani
• The Elephant Whisperers - Oscar 2023 - Best Short Documentary
• Grammy Award - Recording Academy - first ceremony 1959
• Ravi Shankar - first Grammy 1968 - West Meets East album
• Ramon Magsaysay Award - Asian Nobel Prize - established 1957 - Philippines
• First Indian Ramon Magsaysay - Acharya Vinoba Bhave - 1958
• First Indian musician Ramon Magsaysay - M.S. Subbulakshmi - 1974
• Dadasaheb Phalke Award - highest Indian cinema award - instituted 1969
• First Dadasaheb Phalke - Devika Rani - 1969
• Jnanpith Award - highest Indian literary award - instituted 1961
• First Jnanpith Award - G. Sankara Kurup - 1965 - Malayalam
• First woman Jnanpith - Ashapoorna Devi - 1976 - Bengali
• First English language Jnanpith - Amitav Ghosh - 2018
• Sahitya Akademi established - 1954
• Sangeet Natak Akademi established - 1952 - oldest national akademi
• Kalinga Prize - UNESCO - for popularization of science - instituted 1952
• First Indian Kalinga Prize - Jawaharlal Nehru - 1955
• Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding - given by ICCR - instituted 1965
• First recipient Nehru Award - U Thant - Myanmar - 1965