Chapter 17 — Awards, culture and public recognition

Coverage window: 1 January–10 October 2026

Revision checked: 11 October 2026

Question set: CA26-AWD-001 to CA26-AWD-025

Awards questions test exact names, category, field, recipient, date and status. The 2026 Padma Awards provide an Andhra Pradesh connection and a practical way to separate an announcement from a ceremony. The official list was announced on 25 January; later, the President conferred awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan. A name appearing on the announcement list is not the same fact as the date an award was presented.

1. Padma Awards: three categories and their meanings

The Ministry of Home Affairs lists three Padma categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The official description says Padma Vibhushan is for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order; and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards cover many fields, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.

The awards are announced on Republic Day. The President confers them at ceremonial functions at Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually around March or April. For the 2026 list, the President approved 131 awards including two duo cases, each counted as one award in the official total. The category totals were five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. The figures add to 131.

The list also reported 19 women awardees, six persons in the Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI category and 16 posthumous awards. These are attributes of the official list, not additional award categories. A posthumous award is granted after the recipient’s death; a duo case recognises two people together while counting as one award for the total.

2. Andhra Pradesh recipients in the 2026 list

The official list identifies four recipients against Andhra Pradesh:

• Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad — Padma Shri, Art.
• Garimella Balakrishna Prasad — Padma Shri, Art, posthumous.
• Maganti Murali Mohan — Padma Shri, Art.
• Vempaty Kutumba Sastry — Padma Shri, Literature and Education.

A separate PIB Vijayawada release dated 25 May records that the President conferred Padma Shri awards on Prof. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry and, posthumously, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Garimella’s son received the award on his behalf. That release identifies Sastry’s category as Literature and Education and Garimella’s as Art.

Garimella Balakrishna Prasad was recognised for work connected with Indian classical and devotional music and the compositions of Annamacharya. The state release describes him as a vocalist, composer and vaggeyakara associated with the TTD Annamacharya Project. This provides a useful bridge between an awards fact and Andhra Pradesh’s musical heritage. In a question, however, answer only what is asked: award category, field, recipient or cultural contribution.

The official list’s state/country column is a source classification for the listed recipient. It should not be treated as a complete statement of birthplace, residence, language, citizenship or identity unless a separate source establishes that fact.

3. Build an award note that survives distractors

Create a four-part card: name; award/category; field; source date/status. Then add “announced” or “conferred” and, where applicable, “posthumous” or “duo.” This avoids common mix-ups: the President announces versus confers; a field such as Art differs from the award category Padma Shri; and a posthumous recipient differs from the family member who physically receives the medallion.

When using an award list, verify spelling directly. The Government of India’s official list spells one recipient “Vempaty Kutumba Sastry,” while the award ceremony release uses “Vempaty Kutumba Sastry” in its title and prose. This chapter follows the source spelling and preserves the associated category.

Award card

Quick recall

• What distinguishes Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in the official descriptions?
• How many awards were in the 2026 list, and how are the categories distributed?
• Which four names are listed against Andhra Pradesh?
• Which recipient received the Padma Shri posthumously for Art?
• What category and field are linked to Vempaty Kutumba Sastry?
• Why is 25 May different from the 25 January announcement date?
• Who received Garimella Balakrishna Prasad’s award at the ceremony?

Complete the 25 original questions. For each missed item, identify whether you confused the award tier, field, person, announcement date or conferment status.

Figure 17.1 — Padma Awards and AP arts. Original teaching visual; schematic, not to scale unless the chapter specifies units.

Original practice questions

1. How many categories are used for the Padma Awards?

A. Three

B. Two

C. Four

D. Five

Answer: A. The categories are Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Source CA26-007.

2. How many women were included among the Padma Award recipients announced for 2026?

A. Six

B. Nineteen

C. Sixteen

D. One hundred thirty-one

Answer: B. The official 2026 list identifies 19 women among the 131 awardees. Source CA26-007.

3. Which category is described as recognising distinguished service of a high order?

A. Padma Vibhushan

B. Padma Shri

C. Padma Bhushan

D. Arjuna Award

Answer: C. That is the official description of Padma Bhushan. Source CA26-007.

4. How many Padma Bhushan awards were included in the 2026 list?

A. Five

B. One hundred thirteen

C. Two

D. Thirteen

Answer: D. The category distribution was five Padma Vibhushan, thirteen Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. Source CA26-007.

5. Which Andhra Pradesh recipient was recognised posthumously in the 2026 Padma list?

A. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad

B. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

C. Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad

D. Maganti Murali Mohan

Answer: A. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad was listed posthumously in the Padma Shri category. The later conferment report records his son receiving the medal. Sources CA26-007 and CA26-008.

6. How many Padma Awards were approved for 2026, including duo cases counted as one award each?

A. 113

B. 131

C. 19

D. 16

Answer: B. The official list totals 131 awards. Source CA26-007.

7. How many recipients in the 2026 Padma list were recorded as posthumous?

A. Six

B. Nineteen

C. Sixteen

D. One hundred thirty-one

Answer: C. The official list records 16 posthumous awardees. Source CA26-007.

8. How many Padma Bhushan awards were included?

A. 5

B. 113

C. 19

D. 13

Answer: D. The official list records 13 Padma Bhushan awards. Source CA26-007.

9. How many Padma Shri awards were included in the 2026 list?

A. 113

B. 13

C. 5

D. 131

Answer: A. The list includes 113 Padma Shri awards. Source CA26-007.

10. Which arithmetic check matches the official category totals?

A. 5 + 13 + 113 = 141

B. 5 + 13 + 113 = 131

C. 5 + 13 + 113 = 121

D. 5 + 13 + 113 = 151

Answer: B. The three category counts add to the 131-award total. Source CA26-007.

11. How many women awardees were reported in the 2026 list?

A. 16

B. 6

C. 19

D. 131

Answer: C. The official announcement states 19 women awardees. Source CA26-007.

12. How many posthumous awardees were reported?

A. 19

B. 6

C. 113

D. 16

Answer: D. The list reports 16 posthumous awardees. Source CA26-007.

13. How many duo cases were included in the official 2026 total?

A. Two

B. Six

C. Thirteen

D. Nineteen

Answer: A. The list notes two duo cases and counts each as one award. Source CA26-007.

14. Who confers the Padma Awards at the ceremonial functions?

A. Chief Election Commissioner

B. President of India

C. Chief Justice of India

D. Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Answer: B. The Ministry says the President confers the awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Source CA26-007.

15. Which four names are listed against Andhra Pradesh in the 2026 Padma list?

A. Mammootty, Vijay Amritraj, Alka Yagnik and Uday Kotak

B. K T Thomas, N Rajam, P Narayanan and V S Achuthanandhan

C. Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, Maganti Murali Mohan and Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

D. Neeraj Chopra, Savita Punia, Rohit Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur

Answer: C. These four names appear with Andhra Pradesh in the official list. Source CA26-007.

16. Which 2026 Padma Shri recipient from Andhra Pradesh was listed in the field of Literature and Education?

A. Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad

B. Maganti Murali Mohan

C. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad

D. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

Answer: D. The official list assigns Vempaty Kutumba Sastry to Literature and Education. Source CA26-007 and CA26-008.

17. Which field was listed for Vempaty Kutumba Sastry?

A. Literature and Education

B. Art

C. Medicine

D. Public Affairs

Answer: A. The list assigns him to Literature and Education. Source CA26-007 and CA26-008.

18. Which AP recipient was listed for Padma Shri in Art, posthumously?

A. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

B. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad

C. Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad

D. Maganti Murali Mohan

Answer: B. Garimella Balakrishna Prasad was listed posthumously in Art. Source CA26-007 and CA26-008.

19. Which Padma category did Garimella Balakrishna Prasad receive?

A. Padma Bhushan

B. Padma Vibhushan

C. Padma Shri

D. Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri together

Answer: C. The official list places him among Padma Shri awardees. Source CA26-007.

20. Who accepted Garimella Balakrishna Prasad’s award on his behalf at Rashtrapati Bhavan?

A. Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

B. The AP Governor

C. A TTD official

D. His son, Garimella Anil Kumar

Answer: D. The 25 May PIB release says his son received it on his behalf. Source CA26-008.

21. On what date did PIB Vijayawada report conferment to Vempaty Kutumba Sastry and Garimella Balakrishna Prasad?

A. 25 May 2026

B. 25 January 2026

C. 13 May 2026

D. 16 September 2026

Answer: A. The conferment report is dated 25 May 2026. Source CA26-008.

22. Which award field was assigned to Garimella Balakrishna Prasad?

A. Literature and Education

B. Art

C. Science and Engineering

D. Civil Service

Answer: B. The official list and conferral release place him in Art. Source CA26-007 and CA26-008.

23. Which statement correctly distinguishes announcement from conferment?

A. Both occurred on 25 January

B. Both occurred on 25 May

C. The 2026 list was announced on 25 January; conferment was reported on 25 May

D. The President announced the list only after the 2026 Asian Games

Answer: C. The official announcement and the later ceremony release have different dates. Sources CA26-007 and CA26-008.

24. What was Garimella Balakrishna Prasad recognised for in the 2026 Padma list?

A. Medicine

B. Sports

C. Trade and Industry

D. Art

Answer: D. The Padma list assigns the posthumous award in the field of Art. Source CA26-007.

25. Which fact is a category count rather than a separate Padma award category?

A. 19 women awardees

B. Padma Vibhushan

C. Padma Bhushan

D. Padma Shri

Answer: A. The number of women is a demographic attribute in the list; the three award categories are Vibhushan, Bhushan and Shri. Source CA26-007.