Awards are official recognitions given to individuals for exceptional service, bravery, or achievements. In India, awards are classified into four main categories: Civilian Honours (like Bharat Ratna), Military Decorations (like Param Veer Chakra), Sports Awards (like Khel Ratna), and International Awards (like Nobel Prize)
💡KEY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
Indian civilian awards follow a hierarchy - Bharat Ratna (highest), followed by Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Military awards also have hierarchy - Param Veer Chakra (highest gallantry), Maha Veer Chakra, and Veer Chakra for wartime; Ashoka Chakra (highest peacetime), Kirti Chakra, and Shaurya Chakra for peacetime bravery.
Identify award category - Param Veer Chakra contains 'Veer' (brave)
2
Apply military award logic - 'Param' means highest
3
Connect to service type - Military gallantry award
4
Specify condition - Highest gallantry award for wartime bravery
5
Answer - Exceptional acts of valor during wartime
SHORTCUT TRICK 3 - NOBEL PRIZE MEMORY: Remember '6 CATEGORIES' - Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, Economics. Economics was added later in 1968
→Indians who won
Raman (Physics), Har Gobind Khorana (Medicine), Mother Teresa (Peace), Amartya Sen (Economics), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace)
⚠️#1 MOST COMMON TRAP
Students confuse between gallantry awards and peacetime bravery awards. Remember - Param Veer Chakra, Maha Veer Chakra, Veer Chakra are for WARTIME only. Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra are for PEACETIME bravery. Many questions specifically test this distinction
⚠️ANOTHER FREQUENT ERROR
Mixing up award amounts and maximum numbers. Bharat Ratna has no monetary reward but limited to 3 per year. Sports awards have specific cash prizes that get updated - always check recent notifications
📋EXAM SUCCESS STRATEGY
Focus on recent 2-3 years' winners, learn award hierarchies using memory tricks, and practice distinguishing between similar-sounding awards. Create a timeline chart of major award winners to visualize patterns.