Police
The Arjuna Award was started in:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option C — 1961
Detailed Solution
The Arjuna Award was instituted by the Government of India in 1961 to recognise outstanding achievement by sportspersons in national and international sports.
About the Arjuna Award:
- It is named after Arjuna, the great archer of the Mahabharata, who is a symbol of skill, concentration and dedication.
- It is given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
- To receive it, a sportsperson must have shown consistently good performance at the international level over the previous four years, along with leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.
- The award consists of a bronze statuette of Arjuna, a certificate and a cash prize (currently ₹15 lakh).
- Since 2023, the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been given in place of the earlier Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement.
Among the first recipients in 1961 were footballer P. K. Banerjee, cricketer Salim Durani and athletes Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and others.
Many sportspersons are honoured every year, usually around National Sports Day (29 August) or at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
India's National Sports Awards:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: India's highest sporting honour, started in 1991-92 as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and renamed in 2021. The first recipient was Viswanathan Anand.
Arjuna Award: started in 1961.
Dronacharya Award: for coaches, started in 1985.
Dhyan Chand Award: for lifetime achievement, given from 2002 to 2022.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: for organisations, started in 2009.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: for universities, started in 1956-57.
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award: for adventure sports.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1956 is the year (1956-57) the MAKA Trophy was instituted.
- ✗1985 is the year the Dronacharya Award was started.
- ✗1991 is the year (1991-92) the Khel Ratna was instituted.
Quick tip
Remember: Arjuna Award = 1961 (sportspersons, bronze statuette of Arjuna); Dronacharya = 1985 (coaches); Khel Ratna = 1991-92; MAKA Trophy = 1956-57.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Sports Questions
View all ›More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, 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 sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports 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.