Sports, Awards & Miscellaneous
🟢 Lite — Quick Review (1h–1d)
Nobel Prizes
- Established by: Alfred Nobel’s will (1895); first awarded 1901
- Categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, Economic Sciences (1968)
- Nobel Prize in Peace: Often controversial; some notable exclusions (Mahatma Gandhi — never awarded)
- 2023 Winners:
- Physics: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, Anne L’Huillier (attosecond physics)
- Chemistry: Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, Alexei Ekimov (quantum dots)
- Medicine: Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman (mRNA vaccines)
- Literature: Jon Fosse (Norwegian playwright)
- Peace: Narges Mohammadi (Iranian human rights activist)
- Economics: Claudia Goldin (women’s labour market outcomes)
- India-related: Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913); C.V. Raman (Physics, 1930); Har Gobind Khorana (Medicine, 1968); Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979); Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Physics, 1983); Amartya Sen (Economics, 1998); Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Chemistry, 2009); Kailash Satyarthi (Peace, 2014); Abhijit Banerjee (Economics, 2019)
Major Sports Events
- Olympics: Summer (every 4 years) and Winter (every 4 years, offset by 2 years)
- Tokyo 2020 (held 2021); Paris 2024; Los Angeles 2028; Brisbane 2032
- Winter: Beijing 2022; Milano-Cortina 2026; Salt Lake City 2030
- Commonwealth Games: Every 4 years; Birmingham 2022; Victoria 2026
- FIFA World Cup: Every 4 years; Qatar 2022 (Argentina won); USA 2026 (expanded to 48 teams)
- Cricket World Cup: ICC ODI (2019 — England won); ICC T20 (2022 — England won); ICC Test Championship (2023 — India vs Australia — India won)
- Asian Games: Every 4 years; Hangzhou 2022 (India finished 4th with 107 medals); Aichi-Nagoya 2026
- IPL (Indian Premier League): Annual T20 cricket; 2008 started; 10 teams (2024); BCCI
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India (42 total — 4th largest)
- Cultural (34): Taj Mahal (Agra), Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Sun Temple Konark, Mahabalipuram Group, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort (Delhi), Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, etc.
- Natural (10): Kaziranga, Keoladeo National Park, Nanda Devi + Valley of Flowers, Sundarbans, Western Ghats (serial), etc.
- Mixed (1): Khangchendzonga National Park
⚡ Exam Tip: AILET GK asks about recent awardees, upcoming sports events, government schemes in news, and UNESCO sites. Focus on Indian achievements and recent/current affairs in sports and awards.
🟡 Standard — Regular Study (2d–2mo)
Major Sports Events — Detailed
Olympics — India
- First participation: 1900 (Norman Pritchard — 2 silver in athletics)
- Independent India first: 1948
- Gold medals:
- 1948: Hockey (first independent India)
- 1952: Hockey; KD Jadhav (wrestling — freestyle bantamweight)
- 1956: Hockey
- 1960: Hockey
- 1964: Hockey
- 1980: Hockey
- 2021: Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw — men’s javelin)
- Total medals: 38 (as of Paris 2024)
- India’s best performance: 7 medals (Tokyo 2020); 6 medals (1952 Helsinki)
- Sports with medals: Hockey, shooting, badminton (PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal), wrestling (Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia), boxing (Vijender Singh), athletics (Neeraj Chopra)
Commonwealth Games — India
- 2022 Birmingham: 61 medals (22 gold, 16 silver, 23 bronze); 4th on medal table
- Notable: India topped medal tally in 2010 Delhi (101 gold)
- Discipline: Shooting, boxing, wrestling, badminton, table tennis strong areas
FIFA World Cup
- 2022 Qatar: Argentina (Messi) won; France runner-up; Morocco (3rd — first African team in semi-finals)
- India never qualified for FIFA World Cup (only 1950 — withdrew)
- Cricket: India in ICC T20 WC 2022 (semi-final); ICC ODI WC 2023 (runners-up to Australia)
Asian Games
- 2023 Hangzhou: India 4th time at Asian Games; 107 medals (28 gold, 38 silver, 41 bronze); best ever
- Highlights: Cricket, tennis, squash, archery, shooting medals
- 2026 Aichi-Nagoya
National Sports Awards
-
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (Arjuna Award renamed 2021): Highest sporting honour; individual achievements
- 2023: Sheethal, Suresh Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Lakshya Sen, Antim, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, etc.
-
Arjuna Award: For outstanding sports performance; 1961 started
- 2023: 41 athletes
-
Dronacharya Award: For coaches; 1985 started
- 2023: 8 coaches
-
Padma Awards (Sports): Padma Shri (4th highest); Padma Bhushan (3rd); Padma Vibhushan (2nd)
- Not same as sporting awards; for distinguished service
Nobel Prize Winners — Detailed
Physics:
- 1901: Wilhelm Röntgen (X-rays)
- 1903: Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, Henri Becquerel (radioactivity)
- 1921: Albert Einstein (photoelectric effect)
- 1930: C.V. Raman (Raman effect)
- 1983: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (stellar evolution)
- 2019: James Peebles (cosmology), Michel Mayor, Didier Queloz (exoplanets)
- 2020: Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez (black holes)
- 2023: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, Anne L’Huillier (attosecond physics)
Chemistry:
- 1911: Marie Curie (radium)
- 1968: Har Gobind Khorana (genetic code)
- 2009: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (ribosome structure)
- 2020: Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna (CRISPR gene editing)
- 2023: Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, Alexei Ekimov (quantum dots)
Medicine:
- 1968: Har Gobind Khorana, Robert Holley, Marshall Nirenberg (genetic code)
- 1979: Mother Teresa: Actually Peace Prize (see below)
- 2020: Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, Charles M. Rice (Hepatitis C)
- 2021: David Julius, Ardem Patapoutian (temperature and touch receptors)
- 2023: Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman (mRNA vaccines)
Literature:
- 1913: Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali; first Asian Nobel laureate)
- 1991: Nadine Gordimer; 1993: Toni Morrison; 2018: Olga Tokarczuk
- 2020: Louise Glück; 2021: Abdulrazak Gurnah; 2022: Annie Ernaux; 2023: Jon Fosse
Peace:
- 1906: Theodore Roosevelt; 1919: Woodrow Wilson
- 1979: Mother Teresa (service to humanity)
- 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi (though later criticized for Rohingya crisis)
- 2014: Kailash Satyarthi (children’s rights); Malala Yousafzai (2014 with Satyarthi)
- 2019: Abiy Ahmed (Ethiopia)
- 2022: Ales Bialiatski, Memorial, Center for Civil Liberties
- 2023: Narges Mohammadi
Economics:
- 1998: Amartya Sen (welfare economics; famine prevention)
- 2019: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer (poverty alleviation experiments)
- 2023: Claudia Goldin (women in labour market)
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India — Complete List
| Site | Year | State/Region | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajanta Caves | 1983 | Maharashtra | Cultural |
| Agra Fort | 1983 | Uttar Pradesh | Cultural |
| Ellora Caves | 1983 | Maharashtra | Cultural |
| Taj Mahal | 1983 | Uttar Pradesh | Cultural |
| Sun Temple, Konark | 1984 | Odisha | Cultural |
| Mahabalipuram Group | 1984 | Tamil Nadu | Cultural |
| Kaziranga | 1985 | Assam | Natural |
| Keoladeo National Park | 1985 | Rajasthan | Natural |
| Khajuraho Group | 1986 | Madhya Pradesh | Cultural |
| Group of Monuments at Hampi | 1986 | Karnataka | Cultural |
| Khangchendzonga | 2015 | Sikkim | Mixed |
| Sun Temple | 1984 | Odisha | Cultural |
| Sun Temple | 1984 | Odisha | Cultural |
Famous Personalities
- Sports: Neeraj Chopra (javelin), PV Sindhu (badminton), Saina Nehwal (badminton), R. Ashwin (cricket), Virat Kohli (cricket), MS Dhoni (cricket), Sunil Chhetri (football), Rani Rampal (hockey), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing)
- Literature: R.K. Narayan, Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things), Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh
- Science: C.V. Raman, Homi Bhabha (nuclear programme), Vikram Sarabhai (space programme), APJ Abdul Kalam, Harish-Chandra (mathematics), S. Ramanujan (mathematics — 32 short years, 3,900 theorems)
- Social: Mother Teresa, Baba Amte, Kiran Bedi, Sunitha Sinha
🔴 Extended — Deep Study (3mo+)
Government Schemes — Major Ones
Social Welfare:
- PM-KISAN (2019): Rs. 6,000/year to farmer families; 3 installments; Direct Benefit Transfer
- PM Fasal Bima Yojana (2016): Crop insurance; premium subsidised; risk coverage for yield loss, post-harvest
- Ayushman Bharat (2018): Health insurance up to Rs. 5 lakh; 10 crore families (bottom 40%); 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres; golden card
- PM Awas Yojana (2015): Affordable housing; urban (Credit Linked Subsidy), rural (grant); target: Housing for All by 2022
Financial Inclusion:
- Jan Dhan Yojana (2014): Zero balance account; RuPay debit card; Rs. 2 lakh overdraft; insurance (PMJJBY, PMSBY)
- Mudra Yojana (2015): Loans up to Rs. 10 lakh for small/micro enterprises; Shishu, Kishore, Tarun categories
- Stand Up India (2016): Bank loans Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 crore; SC/ST and women entrepreneurs
- Sukanya Samriddhi (2015): Savings for girl child; high interest rate; tax benefits under 80C
Skill & Employment:
- Skill India (2015): NSDC; various schemes; short-term training
- PM-KISAN: Direct income support
- PM GARIB KALYAN Yojana: Free food grains (5 kg/person/month) during COVID-19
Digital & Infrastructure:
- Digital India (2015): Broadband in villages; Wi-Fi hotspots; e-governance; BHIM app; UPI
- Make in India (2014): 25 sectors; increase manufacturing; FDI norms relaxed
- PM Gati Shakti (2021): Holistic infrastructure planning; Rs. 100 lakh crore; multimodal connectivity; 16 ministries integrated
Agriculture:
- eNAM (2016): Electronic National Agriculture Market; online trading platform; 1,000+ mandis integrated
- Soil Health Card (2015): Soil testing; nutrient status; crop-specific recommendations
Environment:
- Swachh Bharat (2014): ODF (Open Defecation Free); toilet construction; waste management; urban and rural
- National Clean Air Programme (2019): 122 cities; reduce PM2.5 by 20-30% by 2024
Health:
- Mission Indradhanush (2015): Immunisation; 12 diseases; catch-up immunisation for left-out children
- Poshan Abhiyaan (2018): National Nutrition Mission;消灭 malnutrition; ICDS integrated
Recent Schemes (2023-2024):
- PM Vishwakarma (2023): Support for traditional artisans; skill training; modern tools; marketing support
- Bharat Ratna (2024): PM Narasimha Rao, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (posthumous); also Chaudhary Charan Singh (posthumous)
- UPI123PAY: Enhanced UPI payments for feature phone users
- IndiaAI: National programme on AI; compute infrastructure; startups; research
Major International Days
| Day | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| UN Day | Oct 24 | UN founding (1945) |
| Human Rights Day | Dec 10 | UDHR adoption (1948) |
| World Water Day | Mar 22 | Water conservation |
| World Environment Day | Jun 5 | Hosted by India 2023 (beat plastic pollution) |
| International Day of Yoga | Jun 21 | International recognition (2014 UN); mass yoga |
| World Health Day | Apr 7 | WHO founding |
| International Day of Non-Violence | Oct 2 | Gandhi Jayanti |
| Constitution Day | Nov 26 | Adoption of Indian Constitution |
Major Summits Hosted by India (2023-2024)
- G20 New Delhi Summit (2023): Major success; African Union joined
- SCO Summit (virtual, 2023): India as chair
- ASEAN-India Summit (2023): 30 years of dialogue
- Voice of Global South Summit (2023): India’s outreach to developing nations
Famous Personalities — Detailed
C.V. Raman (1888-1970):
- Nobel Prize Physics 1930 for Raman Effect (scattering of light)
- First Asian to win Nobel in sciences
- National Institute for Ramanagram; Raman Research Institute (Bangalore)
Har Gobind Khorana (1922-2011):
- Nobel Prize Physiology/Medicine 1968 (shared)
- Showed how nucleotides in nucleic acids code for proteins
- Served at MIT and Wisconsin
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995):
- Nobel Prize Physics 1983 (shared)
- Chandrasekhar Limit (1.4 solar masses — white dwarf mass limit)
- Astrophysicist; Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal
Mother Teresa (1910-1997):
- Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (Albanian); worked in India from 1928
- Founded Missionaries of Charity (1950); service to poorest
- Nobel Peace Prize 1979; Bharat Ratna 1980
- Canonised 2016 (Saint Teresa of Calcutta)
Amartya Sen (1933-):
- Nobel Prize Economics 1998
- Welfare economics; development economics; famine prevention (Bengal Famine of 1943 study)
- “Development as Freedom”; WIDER institute
Abhijit Banerjee (1961-):
- Nobel Prize Economics 2019 (with Esther Duflo, Michael Kremer)
- Field experiments in development economics; J-PAL (Poverty Action Lab)
Nobel Laureates in Peace — Controversies:
- Mahatma Gandhi: Nominated 5 times (1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, 1948 — posthumous January); never awarded; International Committee of the Red Cross has refused to comment
- Mahatma Gandhi nominated for 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 (twice), 1948 — Peace Prize never given
Sports Records — India
Cricket:
- First Test: 1932 vs England at Lord’s (lost)
- First ODI: 1974 vs England
- First T20I: 2006 vs South Africa
- 1983 World Cup: Kapil’s Devils (Kapil Dev); beat West Indies in final; first Cricket World Cup win
- 2007 T20 WC: India won; Yuvraj Singh hit 6 sixes in an over (first in T20 WC)
- 2011 WC: Dhoni’s India beat Sri Lanka; Dhoni’s winning six (helicopter shot)
- 2023 ODI WC: India lost to Australia in final; Rohit Sharma (captain)
- Highest individual ODI score: Rohit Sharma (264 vs Sri Lanka, 2014)
- First Indian 100 in Cricket World Cup: Sourav Ganguly (1992 vs England)
Other Sports:
- Chess: Viswanathan Anand (World Champion 2000-2002, 2007-2013); 5-time world champion; women’s (Humpy, Koneru)
- Badminton: Saina Nehwal (World No. 1, Olympic bronze 2012); PV Sindhu (World Champion 2019, Olympic silver 2016, 2021); P.V. Sindhu first Indian woman to win Worlds
- Boxing: Vijender Singh (Olympic bronze 2008; World Championships silver)
- Wrestling: Sushil Kumar (Olympic silver 2012, bronze 2008); Sakshi Malik (bronze 2016)
- Athletics: Neeraj Chopra (Olympic gold 2021, World Champion 2023) — first Indian javelin gold at Olympics
- Shooting: Abhinav Bindra (Olympic gold 2008 — first individual Olympic gold); Abhishek Verma, Rahi Sarnobat
- Hockey: 8 Olympic gold medals (most by any country); 2022 bronze at Commonwealth; 2023 Asian Champions Trophy winners
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing Padma Shri with Padma Bhushan — check order
- Forgetting that Mother Teresa won Peace Prize (not Literature)
- Mixing up UNESCO cultural and natural sites
- Not knowing difference between Commonwealth Games and Olympics
- Confusing FIFA World Cup host years (2022 Qatar, 2026 USA)
- Thinking Mahatma Gandhi won Nobel — he never did
Practice Tips
- Create flashcards for Nobel Prize winners (especially Indian/Indian-origin)
- Map UNESCO sites in India — location and state
- Practice questions on government schemes and their launch years
- Solve AILET GK on Sports, Awards, Miscellaneous
- Focus on recent achievements and current affairs (2023-2024)