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Awards (2025-2026)

SwaPrep presents · A chapter in Current Affairs

Awards 2025-2026

In one fifteen-month window, a Telugu poet, a Hungarian novelist and a Venezuelan democrat all walked up to collect the year's highest honours — and APPSC was watching.

6 acts · 10 scenes · scroll to play

I

The Roll of Honour

The window2025

Fifteen months of names worth memorising

Current affairs awards are not trivia — for AP Group 2 (APPSC) they are guaranteed marks, drawn from the major national and international honours announced between January 2025 and March 2026. Three clusters sit at the top of the priority list: the Telugu Sahitya Akademi winner, the Nobel Prizes, and the Padma Awards. Learn these three cold, and the rest is bonus.

Marks-winning facts

  • Coverage window: January 2025 – March 2026
  • Exam: AP Group 2 (APPSC), Current Affairs section
  • Top three priorities: Telugu Sahitya Akademi · Nobel Prizes · Padma Awards

II

The Nation Honours Its Own

Padma 20252025

One hundred and thirty-nine names

The 2025 Padma list ran to 139 awards — 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. Two of the Vibhushan went posthumously: the Malayalam literary giant M.T. Vasudevan Nair, and the folk-music voice of Bihar, Sharda Sinha. Among the Padma Shri were the playback singer Arijit Singh and the cricketer R. Ashwin.

Marks-winning facts

  • Total 2025: 139 = 7 Vibhushan + 19 Bhushan + 113 Shri
  • Vibhushan (posthumous): M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Literature)
  • Vibhushan (posthumous): Sharda Sinha (Folk Music)
  • Padma Shri: Arijit Singh (Music) · R. Ashwin (Cricket)
Padma 20262026

A leaner list, two screen and political legends

The 2026 list was leaner at 131 awards — 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and again 113 Padma Shri. The cinema veteran Dharmendra took a Padma Vibhushan, as did the Kerala communist stalwart V.S. Achuthanandan, awarded posthumously for Public Affairs.

Marks-winning facts

  • Total 2026: 131 = 5 Vibhushan + 13 Bhushan + 113 Shri
  • Vibhushan: Dharmendra (Cinema)
  • Vibhushan (posthumous): V.S. Achuthanandan (Public Affairs)

III

The World's Highest Prizes

Nobel — the sciences2025

Tunnelling circuits, molecular cages, and the immune brake

The 2025 science Nobels rewarded three deep ideas. Physics went to Clarke, Devoret and Martinis for demonstrating quantum tunnelling in electrical circuits. Chemistry honoured Kitagawa, Robson and Yaghi for metal-organic frameworks, the MOFs that act like molecular cages; and Medicine went to Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi for unlocking immune tolerance — how the body learns not to attack itself.

Marks-winning facts

  • Physics — Clarke, Devoret, Martinis: quantum tunnelling in circuits
  • Chemistry — Kitagawa, Robson, Yaghi: metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
  • Medicine — Brunkow, Ramsdell, Sakaguchi: immune tolerance
Nobel — letters, peace, economics2025

A visionary novelist, a democratic fighter

The Literature Nobel crowned the Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai for his visionary oeuvre. The Peace Prize went to Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado for her struggle for democratic rights, and the Economics prize was shared by Mokyr, Aghion and Howitt for explaining technological progress. The Literature and Peace winners are the two most exam-likely names of the set.

Marks-winning facts

  • Literature — Laszlo Krasznahorkai (Hungary): visionary oeuvre
  • Peace — Maria Corina Machado (Venezuela): democratic rights
  • Economics — Mokyr, Aghion, Howitt: technological progress

IV

Letters and Languages

Sahitya Akademi2026

A Telugu poet takes the top prize

The Sahitya Akademi Award 2025 was given across 24 languages, with the ceremony held on 31 March 2026. The single most important name for AP aspirants is the Telugu winner: Nandini Sidha Reddy, for the poetry collection 'Animesha'. The English award went to Navtej Sarna for 'Crimson Spring', and the Hindi award to Mamta Kalia for 'Jeete Jee Allahabad'.

Marks-winning facts

  • 24 languages; ceremony held 31 March 2026
  • Telugu — Nandini Sidha Reddy: 'Animesha' (poetry)
  • English — Navtej Sarna: 'Crimson Spring'
  • Hindi — Mamta Kalia: 'Jeete Jee Allahabad'

V

Stages, Pages and Screens

The literary prizes2025

Two Bookers, one Pulitzer, and a Kannada first

The Booker Prize 2025 went to David Szalay for 'Flesh', while the International Booker 2025 was won by Banu Mushtaq and her translator Deepa Bhasthi for the Kannada work 'Heart Lamp' — the first short story collection ever to take the prize. Across the Atlantic, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2025 was awarded to Percival Everett for 'James'.

Marks-winning facts

  • Booker Prize 2025 — David Szalay: 'Flesh'
  • International Booker 2025 — Banu Mushtaq & Deepa Bhasthi (Kannada): 'Heart Lamp', first short story collection to win
  • Pulitzer Fiction 2025 — Percival Everett: 'James'
Service and screen2025

A first for a foundation, a long-awaited Phalke

The Ramon Magsaysay Award 2025 went to the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally — the first time the Indian recipient was an organisation rather than an individual. And the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2023, presented in September 2025, honoured the Malayalam superstar Mohanlal for his contribution to Indian cinema.

Marks-winning facts

  • Ramon Magsaysay 2025 (India) — Foundation to Educate Girls Globally: first organisational win
  • Dadasaheb Phalke 2023 — Mohanlal (presented September 2025)

VI

The Examiner's Eye

The high-frequency answers

The five names APPSC will almost certainly ask

Some answers are near-certain. The Telugu Sahitya Akademi 2025 winner is Nandini Sidha Reddy for 'Animesha'; the Nobel Literature 2025 winner is Laszlo Krasznahorkai of Hungary; and the Nobel Peace 2025 winner is Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela. Add the International Booker 2025 — Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi for the Kannada 'Heart Lamp' — and the Padma 2025 total of 139.

Marks-winning facts

  • Telugu Sahitya Akademi 2025 — Nandini Sidha Reddy ('Animesha', poetry)
  • Nobel Literature 2025 — Laszlo Krasznahorkai (Hungary)
  • Nobel Peace 2025 — Maria Corina Machado (Venezuela)
  • International Booker 2025 — Banu Mushtaq & Deepa Bhasthi (Kannada), 'Heart Lamp'
  • Padma Awards 2025 total — 139
The detail traps

Cricketers, films, foundations and frameworks

The remaining likely questions reward attention to detail. The cricketer who received a Padma Shri in 2025 was R. Ashwin; the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2023 went to Mohanlal; and the Ramon Magsaysay 2025 Indian recipient was the Foundation to Educate Girls Globally. Know too that the Nobel Chemistry 2025 was for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and that the Padma Vibhushan 2026 for cinema went to Dharmendra.

Marks-winning facts

  • Padma Shri 2025 cricketer — R. Ashwin
  • Dadasaheb Phalke 2023 — Mohanlal
  • Ramon Magsaysay 2025 (India) — Foundation to Educate Girls Globally
  • Nobel Chemistry 2025 — metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)
  • Padma Vibhushan 2026 (cinema) — Dharmendra

End of chapter

Now make it yours

Three clusters win the marks: the Telugu Sahitya Akademi winner, the Nobel Prizes, and the Padma totals. Open the full notes, then test yourself.

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