Important National Awards
SPORTS NATIONAL AWARDS
The six categories of the National Sports Awards are:
1. Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
2. Arjuna Award
3. Dronacharya Award
4. Major Dhyan Chand Award
5. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad rolling Trophy (MAKA Trophy)
6. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
• The award is the highest sporting honour in the nation.
• Instituted in : 1991-1992
• The award is given for outstanding performances in sports spanning over a period of 4 years
• It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Formerly known as : Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
• In 2021 it got renamed after Major Dhyan Chand.
• He played a key role in India’s three consecutive gold hauls at the Olympic Games - in 1928, 1932 and 1936.
• Award comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹25 lakh
• The first recipient in 1991-92 : Viswanathan Anand (Chess) & Geet Sethi (Billiards)
• Youngest winner - Pistol shooter Abhinav Bindra in 2021 at 18 years of age (individual gold medal for India at
the Olympics at Beijing 2008)
• First woman winner - Karnam Malleswari (Olympic bronze winning weightlifter) in 1994-95
• Legendary sports figures like MC Mary Kom, S. Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh,
Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli amongst others have received this highest sporting honour in the past.
Arjuna Award
• Officially known as : Arjuna Award for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games
• It is the second highest sporting honour of India.
• The award is named after Arjuna (one of the central characters of the Sanskrit
epic Mahabharata).
• First awarded : 1961
• It is awarded for consistent good performance over a period of four years.
• The first Arjuna awards was conferred upon India’s football Olympian PK Banerjee who
was among the 20 recipients of the Arjuna Award in its inaugural edition in 1961.
• Hockey player Ann Lumsden was the first woman to win the Arjuna Award. She was
conferred the prize in 1961.
• Reward(s): ₹15,00,000
Dronacharya Awards
• It is officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and
Games.
• India’s highest sports honour for coaches.
• The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or “Guru Drona” (a
character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata).
• The award is given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, for
excellence in sports coaching.
• It was first awarded in 1985.
• The first recipients : Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (Wrestling),
Om Prakash Bhardwaj (Boxing), and
OM Nambiar (Athletics)
• The first woman to win the Dronacharya Award was athletics coach Renu Kohli in 2002.
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• Cuba’s Blas Iglesias Fernandez (Boxing) is the first foreign coach, and the only one so far, to receive the
Dronacharya Award. He was given the award in 2012.
Major Dhyan Chand Award
• India’s highest honour for lifetime achievements in sports.
• Instituted in 2002
• The first Dhyan Chand award for Lifetime Achievements in Sports and Games was given to Shahuraj Birajdar
for Boxing; Ashok Diwan for Hockey and Aparna Ghosh for Basketball.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy (MAKA)
• The oldest National Sports Award in India, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy or the MAKA Trophy was
instituted in 1956–1957.
• This award is named in honour of the Indian freedom fighter and the country’s first education minister Shri
Abul Kalam Azad.
• It is given to an institution or university for top performance in inter-university tournaments over the last
one year.
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
• Formerly known as the National Adventure Awards
• It is the highest adventure sports honour of the Republic of India.
• It is named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest along
with Edmund Hillary in 1953.
• Instituted in 1993–1994, the first awards were given for the year 1994 in 1995
• One Award is given in four categories namely, Land Adventure, Water (Sea) Adventure, Air Adventure and
Life Time Achievement for adventure activities on Land, Sea and Air.
Dadasaheb Phalke Award
• India's highest award in the field of cinema.
• It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony.
• Started in 1969
• The award was introduced by the Government of India to
commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution to Indian cinema. He directed
India's first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913.
• Dadasaheb Phalke is popularly known as the father of Indian cinema.
• Actor Prithviraj Kapoor (1971) and actor Vinod Khanna (2017) are the only
posthumous recipients.
• Winners awarded with Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus), Shawland ₹10,00,000
DEVIKA RANI
The first recipient of the award.
She was honoured at the 17th National Film Awards in 1969.
Jnanpith Awards
• It is the is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award.
• Instituted in 1961
• It is presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their outstanding contribution towards
literature.
• The award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to
the Constitution of India and English (22+1 = 23 languages).
• The awardee gets a bronze made statue of Goddess Saraswati along with a cash prize of 11 lakh
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1st Jnanpith Award (1965)
❖ G.S. KURUP
❖ Language : Malayalam
Sahitya Akademi Award
• Founded on : 12 March, 1954
• Headquarters : New Delhi
• It is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in
the languages of India.
• The Sahitya Akademi annually confers the award on writers of the most
outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 24 Indian
languages (22 languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution of India and English and Rajasthani).
• The first Awards were given in 1955.
• Makhanlal Chaturvedi was the first recipient in the Hindi category in the year 1955. RK Narayan was the first
recipient in the English category in the year1960.
Bharat Ratna
• The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
• The award is conferred in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the
highest order, without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.
• It was instituted on 2 January, 1954.
• 1966 – posthumous category started
• Lal Bahadur Shastri - first person to be awarded Bharat Ratna after death
(posthumously).
• A maximum of three Bharat Ratnas can be given each year.
• Exception - 1999 (4 people); 2024 (5 people)
• The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna (honoured in 1954) were :
• CHAKRAVARTI RAJAGOPALACHARI (the last Governor-General of the Dominion of India)
• SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN (second President and the first Vice President of India) and
• Physicist SIR CHANDRASEKHARA VENKATA RAMAN (Nobel Prize Laureate)
• In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient and the first sports-
person to receive the honour.
• The first singer to be awarded Bharat Ratna was M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1998.
Padma Awards
❖ The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India.
❖ The Awards are awarded to citizens of India in recognition of their distinguished contribution in various
spheres of activity including the arts, education, industry, literature, science, sports, medicine,
service and public affairs.
❖ In 1954, the Government of India instituted two civilian awards-Bharat Ratna & Padma Vibhushan
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❖ Padma Vibhushan Award had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg.
❖ In 1955, these were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
❖ The Awards are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. (Interruptions during the years 1978, 1979
and 1993 to 1997.)
Gallantry Awards
• First Three gallantry awards : Param Vir Chakra,
Maha Vir Chakra and
Vir Chakra
• Instituted by : Government of India
• Instituted on : 26th January, 1950
• These were deemed to have effect from 15th August, 1947.
• In 1952, other three gallantry awards : Ashoka Chakra Class-I, Ashoka Chakra Class-II and Ashoka Chakra
Class-III — were instituted.
• These were deemed to have effect from 15th August, 1947.
• In January 1967, these awards were renamed as Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya
Chakra respectively.
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• Wartime Highest Gallantry Awards:
• Param Vir Chakra : India’s highest military decoration awarded for displaying
distinguished acts of valour during wartime whether on land, at sea or in
the air.
• Maha Vir Chakra : The second highest gallantry award for acts of
conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy
whether on land, at sea or in the air.
• Vir Chakra : Country's third-highest wartime gallantry award
• Peacetime Highest Gallantry Awards:
• Ashoka Chakra : The highest military award during peacetime for valour,
courageous action or sacrifice
• Kirti Chakra : The second highest peacetime gallantry award and
is awarded for valour, courageous action or self-
sacrifice away from the field of battle.
• Shaurya Chakra : It is awarded to the personnel of the armed forces for
instances of extraordinary gallantry.
• Other Awards:
• Sena Medal
• Nao Sena Medal
• Vayu Sena Medal
Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar
• National Awards in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation
• Started in 2024
• The awards shall be given in following four categories:-
1. Vigyan Ratna (VR) award will recognize lifetime achievements & contributions made in any field of science
and technology.
2. Vigyan Shri (VS) award will recognize distinguished contributions in any field of science and technology.
3. Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (VY-SSB) award will recognize & encourage young scientists up to
the age of 45 years who made an exceptional contribution in any field of science and technology.
4. Vigyan Team (VT) award to be given to a team comprising of three or more
scientists/researchers/innovators who have made an exceptional contribution working in a team in any field
of science and technology.
• These awards shall be announced on 11thMay (National Technology Day) every year.
• The Award Ceremony for all categories of awards will be held on 23rd August
(National Space Day).
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Science and Technology
• The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific &
Industrial Research (CSIR) India, the late Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.
• A science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology,
chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and physics
• It was first awarded in 1958.
• 5 lakh rupees award money
Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize
• Gandhi Peace Prize Awards is for Social, Economic and Political transformation through
Non-violence.
• It was instituted in the year 1995.
• The Government of India launched the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995 on the
occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi.
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• Winner of 1995 (1st Edition)
JULIUS NYERERE
Former President of Tanzania
the award carries ₹1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an item of traditional handicraft
or handloom.
Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics
The award has been instituted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) from
2020, and now awarded annually for the outstanding and meritorious contribution of an individual for the
development and promotion of official statistics.
Conferred on the National Statistics Day - 29th June
Prof. P.C.Mahalanobis, Father of Indian Statistics.
The first Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award in Official Statistics for lifetime achievement was conferred on Dr. C.
Rangarajan (2020), former Chairman, National Statistical Commission and former RBI Governor
“Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar”
• GoI institutes this award to recognize and honour the
invaluable contribution and selfless service of individuals and
organizations in India in Disaster Management.
• Announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary
of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (Parakram diwas).
• In addition to a certificate, these awards carry a cash award of
Rs. 51 lakhs for an Institution and Rs. 5 lakhs for an Individual.
• Only Indian nationals and Indian institutions can apply for the
award.
“Swami Vivekananda Karmayogi Award”
• The award was conferred for the first time in 2013.
• It is presented to great personalities from North-Eastern India who dedicate their
lives to Nation and promote Nationalism through art & culture, sports, education, etc.
for their contribution to respective fields.
“Lokmanya Tilak National Award”
• The Lokmanya Tilak national award is given annually since 1983 on August 1, the death
anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak, by the Lokmanya Tilak Trust.
• The award was instituted in 1983 by the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust.
• to persons who have made remarkable and extraordinary contributions, working for the
progress and development of the nation.
• The award comprises a cash prize of Rs one lakh and a memento.
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