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The Vyas Samman, a literary award for Hindi, was first awarded in which year?
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Answer: Option C — 1991
Detailed Solution
Explanation
The Vyas Samman was instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991 and first given in the same year. It is presented every year for an outstanding literary work in Hindi, written by an Indian citizen and published in the previous ten years.
The first Vyas Samman was given to Dr. Ram Vilas Sharma, a famous Hindi critic, poet and scholar, for his book "Bharat Ke Prachin Bhasha Parivar Aur Hindi", a study of the ancient language families of India and their relationship with Hindi. The award is named after Maharishi Vyasa, the legendary sage who is traditionally believed to have composed the Mahabharata and arranged the Vedas. It carries a cash prize, a citation and a plaque, and it is one of the most respected awards in Hindi literature.
The K.K. Birla Foundation was set up in 1991 by the industrialist Krishna Kumar Birla to promote literature, culture and education. It gives three major literary awards:
The Saraswati Samman, for an outstanding literary work in any of the languages of the Eighth Schedule. Its first recipient was Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1991), for his four-volume autobiography.
The Vyas Samman, for an outstanding literary work in Hindi.
The Bihari Puraskar, for an outstanding work in Hindi or Rajasthani by a writer from Rajasthan.
Other important Indian literary awards include the Jnanpith Award (first given in 1965), the Moortidevi Award (from 1983), both given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, and the Sahitya Akademi Award (first given in 1955).
Why not the other options?
- ✗1965 is the year the first Jnanpith Award was given.
- ✗1983 is the year the Moortidevi Award was instituted.
- ✗2001 is not linked with the first Vyas Samman.
💡 Exam tip
Link the Vyas Samman with Hindi, the K.K. Birla Foundation (1991) and its first recipient, Ram Vilas Sharma.💬 Discussions on this question
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Awards & Honours — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Awards & Honours, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers national and international awards: Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards, gallantry awards, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards, sports awards, Nobel Prizes, the Ramon Magsaysay Award and other global honours, along with the fields they recognise and notable winners. Static questions ask about the field each award is given for, the year it started, and the first winners. For example, the Jnanpith Award is for literature and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is for cinema. Questions on recent winners change every year, so revise those from the latest announcements and treat older winner lists as background only. Practise the awards and honours questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.