Indian Honours and Awards

Dr. Hargobind Khorana received the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for deciphering the genetic code and its role in protein synthesis. His work was fundamental to understanding how DNA translates into proteins.

Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award, instituted in 1954. It is awarded for exceptional service in advancement of art, literature, science, and public service. Padma awards (Vibhushan, Bhushan, Shri) are lower in hierarchy.

Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna. The Padma awards hierarchy is: Padma Vibhushan (highest), then Padma Bhushan, then Padma Shri. Ashoka Chakra is a military award.

The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honour, given for outstanding contribution to Indian literature. It was instituted in 1961 and is awarded to writers for their lifetime work in any Indian language.

The Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions in their field or to society. It honors achievements that empower women and advance gender equality.

According to the Indian Constitution (Article 18), titles like Bharat Ratna and Padma awards cannot be used as prefixes or suffixes to names. No citizen can accept titles from any foreign state, and the government itself cannot confer titles. These are awards and honors, not titles that can be displayed before or after names.

Mohamed ElBaradei, former Director General of the IAEA, received the 2008 Indira Gandhi Prize for his work on nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of atomic energy. Wen Jiabao, Taro Aso, and Nicolas Sarkozy were world leaders but not recipients of this specific award in 2008.

M.S. Dhoni received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2007-08, recognizing his outstanding leadership in leading India to the inaugural T20 World Cup victory in 2007. This was India's first World Cup win in any format since 1983. The award was presented in 2008 for his performance year.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, born in India, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for their studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam received all three major civilian honors from the Government of India: Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990), and Bharat Ratna (1997). Each award recognized his contributions to defense research, aerospace, and public service. Since he received all three, 'All of the above' is the correct answer.

Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to receive a Nobel Prize in 1913 for Literature, specifically for his collection of poems 'Gitanjali'. Mother Teresa (1979, Peace) and C.V. Raman (1930, Physics) won later. Hargobind Khorana won in 1968 but was a US citizen by then.

Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times (1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and 1948, the last nomination being posthumous shortly after his assassination). Despite being one of the most iconic nominees, he never received the prize. The Nobel Committee has expressed regret that he was not awarded the prize.