National and International Awards

In the previous chapter, we navigated the complex world of economic data, banking policies, and financial indices. But policies and numbers do not exist in a vacuum—they are driven by people. This chapter is about the exceptional individuals who push the boundaries of human achievement.

When you study awards for a competitive exam, you are not just memorizing a list of names and dates. You are learning the story of what humanity currently values. Who is writing the books that capture our cultural moment? Which scientists are solving the climate crisis or curing diseases? Who has dedicated their life to public service in India? Examiners test this topic because a future civil servant or government official must be deeply aware of the people shaping the nation and the world.

We will break this down into clear, logical categories: India's highest civilian honours, major national literary and film awards, the Nobel Prizes, and the top global literary and environmental honours. We will focus on the most recent winners (2024, 2025, and 2026) and, most importantly, we will explain why they won, so the facts stick in your memory naturally.

India's Highest Civilian Honours

The Republic of India acknowledges exceptional service and achievements through a structured hierarchy of civilian awards. These are not political prizes; they are the nation's highest expression of gratitude.

The Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on January 2, 1954, it is awarded in recognition of "exceptional service or performance of the highest order" in any field of human endeavour.

Historically, the government restricts the Bharat Ratna to a maximum of three individuals in a single year. However, the year 2024 was a historic exception where the President conferred the award on five towering figures who shaped modern India. Because these are the most recent recipients, their names and contributions are highly testable:

1. 1Karpoori Thakur (Posthumous): Known affectionately as "Jan Nayak" (People's Leader), he served as the Chief Minister of Bihar. He was a lifelong champion of social justice and the empowerment of backward classes.
2. 2Lal Krishna Advani: A veteran statesman who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India and the Home Minister. He is recognized for his decades of monumental public service and parliamentary leadership.
3. 3P.V. Narasimha Rao (Posthumous): The former Prime Minister who steered India through its most severe economic crisis in 1991. He is widely hailed as the political architect of India's economic liberalization.
4. 4Chaudhary Charan Singh (Posthumous): A former Prime Minister and a legendary champion of Indian farmers. He played a crucial role in dismantling the Zamindari system and drafting pro-farmer agricultural policies.
5. 5M.S. Swaminathan (Posthumous): A legendary agricultural scientist known as the Father of India's Green Revolution. His work in developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice saved India from mass famine in the 1960s.

The Padma Awards

Just below the Bharat Ratna sit the Padma Awards, which are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day (January 25th). They are given in three categories, in descending order of precedence:

• Padma Vibhushan: For exceptional and distinguished service.
• Padma Bhushan: For distinguished service of a high order.
• Padma Shri: For distinguished service in any field.

For the year 2026, the President approved the conferment of 131 Padma Awards. While it is impossible to memorize all 131 names, you must know the five recipients of the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in the country:

1. 1Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol (Posthumous) – Awarded in the field of Art (Maharashtra).
2. 2Shri K.T. Thomas – Awarded in the field of Public Affairs (Kerala). A former judge of the Supreme Court of India known for his landmark judgments.
3. 3Ms. N. Rajam – Awarded in the field of Art (Uttar Pradesh). A legendary Hindustani classical violinist who pioneered the "Gayaki Ang" (vocal style) on the violin.
4. 4Shri P. Narayanan – Awarded in the field of Literature and Education (Kerala).
5. 5Shri V.S. Achuthanandan (Posthumous) – Awarded in the field of Public Affairs (Kerala). A veteran political leader and former Chief Minister of Kerala.

Major National Literary Awards

India has a rich, multilingual literary heritage. To honour writers who contribute to this vast cultural tapestry, several national awards have been established.

The Jnanpith Award

The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and highest Indian literary award. Instituted in 1961 by the Bharatiya Jnanpith trust, it is given annually to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature." It is only awarded to Indian citizens writing in any of the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, as well as English.

The winner receives a cash prize of ₹11 lakh, a citation, and a beautiful bronze replica of Vagdevi (the Hindu goddess Saraswati).

The 60th Jnanpith Award (2025) was awarded to the eminent Tamil poet and lyricist R. Vairamuthu.

• He is only the third Tamil writer to receive this prestigious prize, and the first to be recognized primarily for Tamil poetry.
• Known by the title Kaviperarasu (Emperor of Poets), Vairamuthu has penned over 8,000 songs and has previously won seven National Film Awards for Best Lyrics. His Sahitya Akademi-winning novel Kallikattu Ithikasam is considered a masterpiece of modern Tamil literature.

The Sahitya Akademi Award

While the Jnanpith is given to one writer for their lifetime contribution, the Sahitya Akademi Award is given annually to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 24 major Indian languages recognized by the Akademi (the 22 languages of the Eighth Schedule, plus English and Rajasthani). It is a crucial award for promoting regional literature across the country.

The National Film Awards

The National Film Awards are the most prominent film award ceremonies in India. Established in 1954, they are administered by the Directorate of Film Festivals (now under the National Film Development Corporation of India) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Unlike commercial film awards (which are often decided by magazine readers or industry guilds), the National Film Awards are decided by a national panel appointed by the government, ensuring a focus on artistic merit and national values. The awards are presented by the President of India at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

The 71st National Film Awards were announced in August 2025 and presented in September 2025, honouring the best of Indian cinema from the year 2023.

Here are the major winners you need to remember:

• Best Feature Film: 12th Fail (Directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra). This inspiring film about a UPSC aspirant overcoming extreme poverty resonated deeply across the nation.
• Best Actor (Shared):
• Shah Rukh Khan for his role in the blockbuster Jawan. (This was his first-ever National Award in a career spanning over three decades).
• Vikrant Massey for his critically acclaimed performance in 12th Fail.
• Best Actress: Rani Mukerji for her powerful portrayal of a mother fighting a foreign legal system in Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.
• Best Direction: Sudipto Sen for The Kerala Story.

The Nobel Prizes (2025)

Moving to the international stage, the Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.

They were established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist and the inventor of dynamite. The 2025 awards were announced in October 2025. To memorize these, you must understand a little bit about what the scientists actually discovered.

1. Physiology or Medicine

• Winners: Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi.
• The Discovery: Peripheral immune tolerance and Regulatory T cells (Tregs).
• Simply Explained: Your immune system is designed to attack foreign invaders like viruses. But how does it know not to attack your own healthy organs? These scientists discovered a special group of immune cells called "Regulatory T cells."
• Why it matters: These cells act as the "peacekeepers" of the body. If we can control them, we can cure autoimmune diseases (where the body attacks itself) or prevent the body from rejecting transplanted organs.

2. Physics

• Winners: John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis.
• The Discovery: Macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.
• Simply Explained: In the bizarre world of quantum physics, particles can sometimes pass straight through solid barriers—a trick called "quantum tunnelling." For decades, scientists thought this magic only happened at the invisible, subatomic level. These three physicists proved that quantum effects can be made real in a physical, tangible electronic circuit large enough to hold in your hand (macroscopic).
• Why it matters: This discovery laid the foundational hardware for modern quantum computers, which will one day solve problems in seconds that would take today's supercomputers millions of years.

3. Chemistry

• Winners: Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi.
• The Discovery: The development of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).
• Simply Explained: The laureates invented a revolutionary new type of material. By linking metal ions with organic molecules, they created highly porous, crystalline structures.
• Why it matters: Think of MOFs as microscopic, highly customizable sponges. They have so many tiny holes that a single gram of MOF can have the surface area of a football field. They can be engineered to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, store hydrogen fuel safely, or even harvest drinking water from dry desert air.

4. Literature

• Winner: László Krasznahorkai (Hungary).
• The Citation: "For his powerful and visionary body of work that, amid apocalyptic darkness, reasserts the enduring strength and significance of art."
• Background: He is a master of complex, long-flowing sentences and dark, philosophical themes, often exploring the collapse of societal structures.

5. Peace

• Winner: María Corina Machado (Venezuela).
• The Citation: For her steadfast advocacy of democratic rights in Venezuela and her determined pursuit of a peaceful shift from dictatorship to democracy.
• Background: The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, Norway (the rest are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden). Machado was recognized for her fearless political opposition and human rights work in South America.

6. Economic Sciences

• Winners: Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt.
• The Discovery: The theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.
• Simply Explained: How does an economy actually grow over centuries? These economists mathematically modelled the concept of "creative destruction"—the idea that for an economy to move forward, old technologies and obsolete jobs must constantly be destroyed and replaced by new innovations.

Major Global Literary Awards

While the Nobel Prize in Literature honours a writer's entire lifetime of work, other major global awards focus on a single outstanding book published in a given year. The most famous of these are the Booker Prizes.

The Booker Prize (2025)

The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English-speaking world. It is awarded annually to the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

• 2025 Winner: David Szalay (a Hungarian-British author).
• Winning Book: Flesh.
• The Story: The novel follows a man's rise from extreme poverty in Hungary to immense wealth in London, exploring deep themes of fate, capitalism, and human connection.

The International Booker Prize (2025)

This is where examiners love to set traps. The International Booker Prize is a completely separate award. It is given to a book that was originally written in a language other than English, but has been translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The £50,000 prize money is split equally between the author and the translator, recognizing that translation is an art form of its own.

• 2025 Winner: Banu Mushtaq (Author) and Deepa Bhasthi (Translator).
• Winning Book: Heart Lamp.
• Significance: This is a massive moment for Indian literature. Heart Lamp was originally written in Kannada. Banu Mushtaq's victory marks a historic global recognition of regional Indian languages on the world stage.

Major Global Environmental Awards

With climate change dominating global policy, environmental awards have become highly relevant for competitive exams. You must know the two biggest honours in this space.

The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement

Often referred to as the "Nobel Prize for the Environment," the Tyler Prize is administered by the University of Southern California. It recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to environmental science and policy.

• 2026 Winner: Dr. Toby Kiers (Evolutionary Biologist).
• Her Work: Dr. Kiers won for her groundbreaking research on mycorrhizal fungi. She discovered that beneath our feet lies a vast, ancient underground network of fungi that connects with plant roots.
• Why it matters: This "Wood Wide Web" acts as a biological marketplace. The fungi trade nutrients with plants in exchange for carbon. Dr. Kiers proved that these hidden underground networks pull roughly 13 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the soil every year, making them one of Earth's most critical life-support systems and a massive weapon against climate change.

UNEP Champions of the Earth

Established in 2005, this is the United Nations' highest environmental honour. It recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.

In 2025, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized several global trailblazers, but one is of paramount importance for Indian exams:

• Supriya Sahu (India): An IAS officer and the Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu's Environment, Climate Change, and Forests Department.
• Her Contribution: She was awarded for her inspirational leadership in environmental conservation. She spearheaded "Operation Blue Mountain" to eliminate single-use plastics in the Nilgiris, launched the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company, and implemented sustainable "Cool Roof" projects in green schools to protect citizens from extreme heat. Her work has transformed Tamil Nadu into a global model for climate resilience.

Other notable 2025 Champions included the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (a youth-led movement that reshaped global climate law) and Imazon (a Brazilian research institute using AI to predict and prevent deforestation in the Amazon).

Quick Revision

Scan these high-yield points the night before your exam:

• Bharat Ratna (2024): 5 historic winners — Karpoori Thakur, L.K. Advani, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, M.S. Swaminathan.
• Padma Vibhushan (2026): 5 winners — Dharmendra Singh Deol, K.T. Thomas, N. Rajam, P. Narayanan, V.S. Achuthanandan.
• 60th Jnanpith Award (2025): Tamil poet and lyricist R. Vairamuthu.
• 71st National Film Awards: Best Film (12th Fail), Best Actor (Shah Rukh Khan & Vikrant Massey), Best Actress (Rani Mukerji).
• Nobel Physics (2025): Clarke, Devoret, Martinis (Macroscopic quantum tunnelling).
• Nobel Chemistry (2025): Kitagawa, Robson, Yaghi (Metal-Organic Frameworks / MOFs).
• Nobel Medicine (2025): Brunkow, Ramsdell, Sakaguchi (Regulatory T cells / immune tolerance).
• Booker Prize (2025): David Szalay for Flesh.
• International Booker Prize (2025): Banu Mushtaq for Heart Lamp (translated from Kannada).
• Tyler Prize (2026): Toby Kiers (Underground fungal networks).
• UNEP Champions of the Earth (2025): Includes India's Supriya Sahu (Tamil Nadu) for sustainable cooling and plastic pollution control.