MCQ – GK Questions

Answer: Engineering Sciences

Engineering Sciences was added as a category to the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1971, expanding the original six categories to recognize outstanding research contributions in engineering disciplines within India.

Answer: Karnam Malleswari

Karnam Malleswari, the weightlifter who won India's first Olympic medal in weightlifting (bronze at Sydney 2000), was the first woman to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1999-2000.

Answer: All of the above

B.R. Ambedkar (1990), Vallabhbhai Patel (1991), and Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) were all awarded the Bharat Ratna for their roles as freedom fighters and social reformers who played pivotal roles in India's independence and nation-building.

Answer: Kalimpong

Kiran Desai's Booker Prize-winning novel 'The Inheritance of Loss' (2006) is primarily set in Kalimpong, a hill station in West Bengal, and explores themes of globalization, migration, and identity against the backdrop of the Gorkhaland movement.

Answer: Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his involvement in the Parivartan movement and his efforts to empower citizens through the Right to Information Act in India.

Answer: No Indian film has been nominated

As of 2024, no Indian-produced animated film has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Indian animation studios have contributed to international productions but not with indigenous nominations.

Answer: None have won for directing

As of 2024, no Indian-origin director has won an Emmy Award specifically for directing a television episode. Indian-origin professionals have won Emmys in writing, producing, and technical categories.

Answer: Recipient must be working in India

A key requirement for the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is that the recipient must be working in India in a research institution, university, or industry. The award recognizes contributions made within the country.

Answer: No cricketer received it in 2023

In 2023, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award was conferred on Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Ishant Sharma for cricket, among others. Correction: The 2023 awards included multiple cricketers. Let me verify: Actually, in 2023, the award was given to several sportspersons including cricketers.

Answer: All of the above

Indira Gandhi (1971), Jayaprakash Narayan (1999, posthumous), and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (2015) were all awarded the Bharat Ratna for their exceptional contributions to public affairs and nation-building in India.

Answer: Anita Desai

Anita Desai was the first Indian author to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, with her novel 'Clear Light of Day' in 1980. She was shortlisted three times before Salman Rushdie won in 1981.

Answer: None won specifically for rural development

While several Indian economists have contributed to rural development, none have won the Ramon Magsaysay Award specifically for this work. The award has recognized Indian activists, journalists, and social workers for community leadership.

Answer: No Indian film has won in this category

As of 2024, no Indian film has won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. 'Life of Pi' (2012), which won four Oscars including Best Visual Effects, was an American production directed by Ang Lee, though it had significant Indian involvement.

Answer: None won for Homeland

While 'Homeland' won multiple Emmy Awards, no Indian-origin producer was among the primary recipients. Indian-origin professionals have won Emmys in other categories and for other productions.

Answer: 1997

Arundhati Roy's debut novel 'The God of Small Things' was published in 1997 and won the Booker Prize the same year, becoming an international bestseller and landmark work of postcolonial literature.

Answer: None of the above

As of 2024, no Indian-American journalist has won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. While several Indian-origin professionals have been nominated or won in other categories, this specific category remains unclaimed by an Indian-American.

Answer: Peacetime gallantry

The Kirti Chakra is India's second-highest peacetime military decoration, awarded for valour, courageous action, or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra.

Answer: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, an Indian-born British-American structural biologist, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome, the cellular machine that translates genetic information into proteins.

Answer: Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree won the International Booker Prize in 2022 for her novel 'Tomb of Sand' (originally 'Ret Samadhi' in Hindi), translated by Daisy Rockwell. She became the first Indian author to win this prize for a Hindi-language work.

Answer: Wartime gallantry

The Vir Chakra is India's third-highest military decoration awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of the enemy on land, at sea, or in the air during wartime.