Category Awards

When Mumbai-born cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s name was announced in 2013 for the award, it was unique on two counts. What were they?

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former international cricketer from India and a former captain of the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the highest run scorer of all time in International cricket. Considered as the world’s most prolific batsman of all time, he is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a One Day International (ODI), the holder of the record for the most runs in both Test and ODI cricket, and the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.

In 2013, he was the only Indian cricketer included in an all-time Test World XI named to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. He is affectionately known as Little Master or Master Blaster.

He retired from Twenty20 cricket in October 2013 and subsequently retired from all forms of cricket on 16 November 2013 after playing his 200th Test match, against the West Indies in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Tendulkar played 664 international cricket matches in total, scoring 34,357 runs.

 

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In 1992, which filmmaker from West Bengal became the second from the film industry to receive the award?

Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, writer, and illustrator. He was one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century. Ray was born in Calcutta into a Bengali family which was prominent in the field of arts and literature. Starting his career as a commercial artist, he was drawn into independent filmmaking after meeting French filmmaker Jean Renoir and viewing Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948) during a visit to London.

Ray’s first film, Pather Panchali (1955), won eleven international prizes, including the inaugural Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. This film, along with Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) (1959), form The Apu Trilogy. Ray did the scripting, casting, scoring, and editing, and designed his own credit titles and publicity material. Ray received many major awards in his career, including 32 Indian National Film Awards, a Golden Lion, a Golden Bear, 2 Silver Bears, a number of additional awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies, and an Academy Honorary Award in 1992. The Government of India honored him with the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian award, in 1992. Ray had received many noticeable awards and gained a prestigious position over his life time.

 

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In 1980, the honour was given to which naturalized citizen who was born in present-day North Macedonia and passed away in Kolkata?

Mother Mary Teresa honoured in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She was born in Skopje (now the capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After living in Skopje for eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.

Teresa received a number of honors, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day. A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work. She was praised and criticized on various counts, such as for her views on abortion and contraception, and was criticized for poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her authorized biography was written by Navin Chawla and published in 1992, and she has been the subject of films and other books. On 6 September 2017, Teresa and St. Francis Xavier were named co-patrons of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.

 

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Which singer-musician from Assam was posthumously awarded earlier in 2019?

Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika was most popular in Bengal and Bangladesh and was responsible for introducing the culture and folk music of Assam and northeast India to Hindi cinema. Popularly known as Sudhakantha, meaning the nightingale, he had received the National Film Award, Padmashri, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, Padma Vibhushan, and many other prestigious honours. He was known for his baritone voice and for making music on themes ranging from romance to social and political commentary. Some of his renowned works in Assamese music which audiences still enjoy includes “Bistirno Parore”, “Moi Eti Jajabo”, “Ganga Mor Maa”, and “Bimurto Mur Nixati Jen”.

 He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in 2012. Hazarika also held the position of the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 2019.

 

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Which Bihar-born musician who popularized the shehnai was given the award in 2001?

Ustad Bismillah Khan almost single-handedly popularised the shahnai as a classical instrument. He had won a number of awards including Bharat Ratna (2001), Padma Vibhushan (1980), Padma Bhushan (1968), Padma Shri (1961), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1956) among several others.

Ustad Bismillah Khan was popular not only in India but across the globe. It can almost be said safely that he and his shehnai were almost synonyms to each other. He had also performed on the eve of India’s first Republic day on January 26 1950. The great maestro passed away on August 21, 2006, in Varanasi following cardiac arrest.

His Independence Day recitals became a part of the cultural celebrations; and were telecast live by Doordarshan, the official national TV network; after the speech of the Prime Minister at Red Fort.

 

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In 1966, which Prime Minister from Uttar Pradesh became the first to receive the award posthumously?

Lal Bahadur Shastri was an Indian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of India. He promoted the White Revolution – a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk – by supporting the Amul milk co-operative of Anand, Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board. Underlining the need to boost India’s food production, Shastri also promoted the Green Revolution in India in 1965. This led to an increase in food grain production, especially in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

He led the country during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. His slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” (“Hail to the soldier; Hail to the farmer”) became very popular during the war. The war formally ended with the Tashkent Agreement on 10 January 1966; he died the following day, still in Tashkent, with the cause of his death in dispute; it was reported to be a cardiac arrest but his family was not satisfied with the proffered reason. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.

 

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In 1990, which chief architect of our Constitution born in Madhya Pradesh was given the award posthumously?

Dr. Ambedkar is known as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and has been bestowed with the country’s highest civilian honor, Bharat Ratna in 1990 posthumously.
 
Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar was born on 14th April, 1891 at Mhow, now known as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in Madhya Pradesh. Dr. Ambedkar was a known jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who worked hard throughout his life to end social discrimination against weaker sections of the society.
 Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy as a socio-political reformer is respected across the world. His thoughts has played important role in transforming the views towards India’s socio-economic problems.

 

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