Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award

The award was started in 1999 and is provided to a business leader, management practitioner, public administrator, educator or institution builder for his/her sustained

individual contributions for achievements of high professional order and excellence.

This award is given by the President of India.

Awarded for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management.

1st Winner – C K Prahlad

Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award

(Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award)

It is an Indian award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress

Committee of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, it carries a citation

and a cash award

It is given on 20 August, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day).

1st Winner - Jagan Nath Kaul in 1995

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration

In order to uphold the cause of national integration and understanding which was dearest to Indira Gandhi’s heart, the Congress in its centenary year (1985) instituted the ‘Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration’, to give recognition to outstanding contribution to

this cause by individuals or institutions

The award consists of a citation and cash to be given to the awardee on 31st October, the Martyrdom Day of India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Bidhan Chandra Roy Award

It was instituted in 1962 in memory of B. C. Roy by Medical Council of India.

The Award is given annually in each of the following categories: Statesmanship of the Highest Order in India

Medical man-cum-Statesman

Eminent Medical Person

Eminent person in Philosophy

Eminent person in Science and Eminent person in Arts.

It is presented by President of India in New Delhi on July 1, National Doctors' Day.

1st Winner - 1973 Sandip Mukerjee

Nari Shakti Puraskar

Annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment.

The awards are presented by the President of India on International Women's Day (8 March), at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

The awards were instituted in 1999 under the title of Stree Shakti Puraskar and were renamed and reorganised in 2015.

Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Award for best private sector organization or public sector undertaking in promoting the well-being and welfare of women.

Kannagi Devi Award for best state which has appreciably improved Child Sex Ratio (CSR).

Mata Jijabai Award for best urban local body for providing services and facilities to women.

Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award given to a civil society organisation

Rani Lakshmi Bai Award given to the best institution for research and development in the field of women empowerment.

Rani Rudramma Devi Awards given to two District Panchayats and two Gram Panchayats for work in the area of women welfare especially related to the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana.

National Bravery Award

The National Bravery Awards are a set of awards given annually to about 25 Indian children below 16 years of age for "meritorious acts of bravery against all odds."

The awards are given by the Government of India and the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW).

The award was instituted in 1957

The National Bravery Awards consist of 5 categories, which are .

1. The Bharat Award

2. The Geeta Chopra Award

3. The Sanjay Chopra Award

4. The Bapu Gaidhani Award

5. The General National Bravery Awards

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology

It is one of the highest multidisciplinary science awards in India.

It was instituted in 1958 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in honor of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, its founder director and recognizes excellence in scientific

research in India

Dr. Ambedkar National Award

National Award for Social Understanding and Upliftment of Weaker Sections is a national award presented by the Government of India in honour of B. R. Ambedkar, the country's

first law minister, father of the Indian Constitution and champion of human rights.

It was established in 1992 and is administered by the Dr. Ambedkar foundation to people or organizations for their outstanding work.

This award is provided by the hands of the President of India.

The Tagore Award

It is an award given in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) for cultural harmony.

Established in 2011 by Government of India, it is given for outstanding achievement in fostering harmony and universalism and values of cultural harmony especially in conflict

or extreme situations through innovative systems/strategies

The first award was given in 2012 to Pandit Ravi Shankar by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee

The Kalidas Samman

It is a prestigious arts award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh in India.

The award is named after Kalidas, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India.

The Kalidas Samman was first awarded in 1980.

It was conferred every year in the fields of Classical Music, Classical Dance, Theatre and Plastic Arts.

Krishi Karman Awards

These awards were instituted by Ministry of Agriculture in 2010-11 for recognizing the meritorious efforts of the states in food grains production.

The awards are given to the best performing States in two broad sets.

One for total food grains production and the other for individual food grain crops of Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Coarse Cereals.

National Film Awards

The National Awards for films, which were started as an annual

Started in 1954, when the very first awards for the films of 1953 were given

The awards are given in three sections – Feature Films, Non-Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema.

Feature films must have a plot and they are mostly works of fiction, unless it is a historical or a biopic. The main aim of the feature film is to entertain and the project is made as per commercial standards. A non-feature film, which may also be called a documentary, draws

upon reality and presents a point of view about a certain topic.

National Film Awards

Six categories from Feature Films section, two from Non-Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema sections each have been made eligible for Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus Award) and

rest of the categories for Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus Award).

The National Awards along with cinema's highest honour, Dadasaheb Phalke award, are presented by the President of India in a solemn function in the presence of the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Chairpersons of the three juries, representatives of Film Federation of India and

Confederation of All India Cine Employees and senior official.

The Mother Teresa Awards, officially called the Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice, are international and national awards presented annually to honour individuals and

organizations that promote peace, equality and social justice,

The awards are given in honour of Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa Awards have been given since 2004 annually or biannually. They are an initiative of Harmony Foundation, an organization created by Abraham Mathai in Mumbai.

The SASTRA Ramanujan Prize, founded by Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) located near Kumbakonam, India, Srinivasa Ramanujan's

hometown, is awarded every year to a young mathematician judged to have done outstanding work in Ramanujan's fields of interest.

The age limit for the prize has been set at 32 (the age at which Ramanujan died)

The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded annually by the Government of India.

As a tribute to the ideals espoused by Gandhi, the Government of India launched the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi.

This is an annual award given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

It is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, creed or gender.

A jury consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and one other eminent persons decides the

awardee each year.

The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an international award to reward exceptional contributions made by individuals in communicating science to society

and promoting the popularization of science.

The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is UNESCO’s oldest prize, created in 1951 following a donation from Mr Bijoyanand Patnaik, Founder and President of the Kalinga Foundation Trust in India. Today, the Prize is funded by the Kalinga Foundation

Trust, the Government of the State of Orissa, India, and the Government of India (Department of Science and Technology).

Civilian Awards

Civilian Awards are conferred to people with outstanding achievements in their field of work. These awards are presented to the respective recipients by the President of India on Republic

Day.

The inception year of these Civilian awards is 1954.

Civilian Awards are categorized according to the degree of honour. The Civilian awards conferred are:

Bharat Ratna- 1st degree of honour

Padma Vibhushan- 2nd degree of honour

Padma Bhushan- 3rd degree of honour

Padma Shri- 4th degree of honour

Bharat Ratna

Bharat Ratna is the highest Civilian Award in India.

This award is conferred for achievements in the field of Science, Literature, Arts and Public Services. In 2011, sports were also included in this award category. The award has

the shape of Peepal leaf and is bronze-toned. The award has the emblem of Sun in the middle.

Bharat Ratna

The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were politician C. Rajagopalachari, scientist C. V. Raman and philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who were honoured in 1954.

First Non-Indian to receive Bharat Ratna – Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan

2nd Non-Indian to receive Bharat Ratna – Nelson Mandela

Who was first Indian to be awarded with Bharat Ratna and Nobel Prize?

CV Raman, he was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1954 and Nobel Prize in 1930.

First lady to be awarded with Bharat Ratna - Indira Gandhi

Who received highest civilian awards of two countries, Bharat Ratna from India and Nishan-e-Pakistan from Pakistan?

Morarji Desai

Bharat Ratna

1st Bharat Ratna Awardee to become the President of India

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan

1st person to be awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously

Lal Bahadur Shastri

1st and only Industrialist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna

JRD Tata

Padma Vibhushan

Padma Vibushan is the second-highest civilian award in India. This is conferred to people with distinguished

achievements in the field of Arts, Literature, Science, Public Services.

This award has a circular shape with a geometric pattern superimposed on the circle and is toned

bronze. In the centre of the circle, a lotus flower is embossed.

Padma Bhushan

This is the third-highest civilian award in India and is conferred to people with achievements in for service in any field including service rendered by Government servants including doctors and scientists, but exclude

those working with the public sector undertakings.

This award has a similar design to the Padma Vibhushan. All the embossing is done in gold.

Padma Shri

In the order of rank, Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award. This award is conferred to people for

achievements in any field including the service rendered by the Government employees.

All the embossing is done in stainless steel and the periphery is furnished in bronze.

Balbir Singh Sr – First Sportsperson to be Conferred With Padma Shri

Arjuna Awards

The Arjuna Awards are given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in sports. Started in

1961, the award carries a cash prize, a bronze statue of Arjuna and a scroll.

To be eligible for the award, a sportsperson should not only have had good performance consistently for the previous four years at the international level with excellence for the year for which the Award is recommended, but should also have

shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

Dronacharya Award

Instituted in 1985

It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

These are given to sports coaches.

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

It is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India.

It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The recipient(s) is/are selected by a committee constituted by the Ministry and is honoured for their "spectacular and most outstanding

performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" at international level.

Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games

It is the lifetime achievement sporting honour of the Republic of India.

It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

First awarded - 2002

1st recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

Viswanathan Anand

1st woman recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

Karnam Malleshwari

1st cricket player to be awarded the Arjuna Award

Salim Durrani

1st athlete to be awarded the Arjuna Award

Gurbachan Singh Randhawa

1st Football player to be awarded the Arjuna Award

P K Banerjee

BCCI Awards

Polly Umrigar Award for international cricketer of the year

CK Nayudu Award for lifetime achievement

Madhavrao Scindia Award for most wickets/Runs in Ranji Trophy

Lala Amarnath Award for best all-rounder in limited-overs tournaments/Ranji trophy

Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy for highest wicket-taker/Runs in Vijay Merchant Trophy

BCCI Awards

M.A. Chidambaram Trophy for highest wicket-taker/Runs in

Cooch Behar Trophy

M.A. Chidambaram Trophy for highest wicket-taker/Runs in

C K Nayudu trophy

ICC Awards

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (Men’s Cricketer of the Year)

David Shepherd Trophy (Umpire of the Year)

Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Award (Women's Cricketer of the Year)

Sahitya Akademi Award

(National Academy of Letters)

The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India

Every year since its inception in 1954, the Sahitya Akademi Award prizes to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the in any of the major Indian

languages (24 languages i.e. English, Rajasthani, and the 22 listed languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

The first Awards were given in 1955

1st Winner for Hindi – 1955, Makhanlal Chaturvedi, Him Tarangini

1st Winner for English – 1960, The Guide, Novel by R. K. Narayan

Bhasha Samman

Instituted by Sahitya Akademy in 1996

Sahitya Akademy gives these special awards to writers for significant contribution to Indian languages other than the above 24 major ones and also for contribution to classical & medieval literature.

Bhasha Samman comprise a plaque and a cash prize

The Sahitya Akademi to be given to writers, scholars, editors, collectors, performers or translators who have made considerable contribution to the propagation, modernization or enrichment of the languages

concerned.

The Sammans are given to 3-4 persons every year in different languages on the basis of recommendation of experts' committees constituted for the purpose.

About Jnanpith award

It is the highest literary award in India, presented annually by Bharatiya Jnanpith (a literary and research organization)

Instituted on 22 May, 1961

It can only be conferred upon a citizen of India but with no posthumous conferral.

The award consists of a citation, shawl, goddess Saraswati statue and cash prize.

Initially English language was not considered for the Award but after 49th Jnanpith Award, English language was added

Earlier it was is given for a specific work of writing by any Indian citizen in any of the 22 Indian languages listed in Schedule 8th of the Indian Constitution. After 1982 onwards, the award is given for overall contribution to

literature as prior to that a specific work

1st winner of Jnanpith award - G.S. Kurup (Malyalam)

Saraswati Samman Awards

It was instituted by the KK Birla Foundation in the year 1991.

It is given annually for an outstanding literary work written in any official Indian language and published during the preceding 10 years.

Candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous ten years.

It carries a cash prize, citation and a plaque.

Birla Foundation also awards Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).

1st winner – Harivansh Rai Bachchan

KK Birla - Other awards

Shankar Puraskar for a work in Hindi concerning Indian philosophy, culture and/or art

Vachaspati Puraskar for any work in Sanskrit

G.D. Birla Award for Scientific Research

Vyas Samman

The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991.

It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash prize

To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hindi language and have been published in the past 10 years.

1st winner – 1991 – Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma

(Bharat ke Pracheen bhasha parivar)

Bihari Puraskar

Started in 1991

(for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).

1st winner – Dr Jai Singh Nerraj for his work “Dhaani ka Aadmi”

Gallantry awards

3 gallantry awards, the Param Vir Chakra, the Maha Vir Chakra and the Vir Chakra were instituted by the Government of India on 26th January, 1950 which were deemed to have

effect from the 15th August, 1947.

Thereafter, other three gallantry awards, the Ashoka Chakra Class-I, the Ashoka Chakra Class-II and the Ashoka Chakra Class-III were instituted by the Government of India on 4th January, 1952, which were deemed to have effect from the 15th August, 1947. These awards were renamed as the Ashoka Chakra, the Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra respectively

in January, 1967.

War Time

Peace Time

Order of precedence of these awards

Param Vir Chakra

Ashoka Chakra

Mahavir Chakra

Kirti Chakra

Vir Chakra

Shaurya Chakra

Param Vir Chakra

The PVC is equivalent to the Medal of Honor in the United States and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom.

"most conspicuous bravery in the presence of the enemy”

Of the 21 awardees, 20 have been from the Indian Army, and one has been from the Indian Air Force

1st winner

Major Somnath Sharma

Kumaon Regiment

3 November 1947

Battle of Badgam, J & K

Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

He is the only member of the Indian Air Force to be so honoured

Wartime/Peacetime service awards

Sena Medal

Nau Sena Medal

Vayu Sena Medal

Wartime Distinguished Service

Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal

Uttam Yudh Seva Medal

Yudh Seva Medal

Peacetime Distinguished Service

Param Vishisht Seva Medal

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal

Vishisht Seva Medal

The Sardar Patel National Unity Award

Instituted in the year 2019

Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, gender or religion is eligible for this award. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional

service/performance of the highest order in the unity and the integrity of the nation.

On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion. It is not mandatory that this award should be

given every year.

Moortidevi Award

It is an India literary award annually presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a literary and research organisation, to an author.

The award is specifically given out to such writings that underline and express Indian philosophy and cultural heritage

The award is given only to Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, and in English, with no posthumous conferral

Cash prize, a citation plaque, a shawl, and a statue of Saraswati

The first recipient of the award was the Kannada writer C. K. Nagaraja Rao

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award)

It is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.

It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists.

The award consists of cash, a citation, an angavastram (a shawl), and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque)

The awards are given in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional arts and puppetry, and for contribution/scholarship in performing arts.

‘National Tansen Samman’ is a musical award conferred to the exponents of Hindustani music.

This award carries a cash prize and a memento.

The Tansen Music Festival is organised every year by Madhya Pradesh in Gwalior

Tansen began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (1555–1592), where Tansen’s musical abilities

and studies gained widespread fame.

Tulsi Samman

It is an arts award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh state in India.

The award is named after Tulsi Das, an Indian saint, poet and philosopher, best known as the author of Ramacharitamanas, an epic devoted to Lord Rama. This award is presented

for outstanding achievement in one of the four categories of the tribal, traditional and folk arts. These categories are: art, theatre, dance and music.