Famous Personalities
Key Concepts & Formulas
Provide 5-7 essential concepts for Famous Personalities:
| # | Concept | Quick Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bharat Ratna Awardees | India’s highest civilian award - remember first 3 (C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C.V. Raman) and recent ones |
| 2 | Nobel Prize Indians | Indians who won Nobel: Tagore (Literature), Mother Teresa (Peace), Raman (Physics), Amartya Sen (Economics), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace) |
| 3 | Miss Universe/Miss World Indians | Sushmita Sen (1st Miss Universe 1994), Aishwarya Rai (Miss World 1994), Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra, Manushi Chhillar |
| 4 | First in India | First President (Dr. Rajendra Prasad), PM (Jawaharlal Nehru), Woman President (Pratibha Patil), Woman PM (Indira Gandhi) |
| 5 | Sports Personalities | Major Dhyan Chand (Hockey), Sachin Tendulkar (Bharat Ratna), PV Sindhu (Olympic medal), Neeraj Chopra (Olympic Gold) |
| 6 | Railway-related Personalities | First Railway Minister (John Mathai), Suresh Prabhu (introduced Train-18), Ashwini Vaishnaw (current), Fairy Queen operator |
10 Practice MCQs
Q1. Who was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize? A) C.V. Raman B) Rabindranath Tagore C) Mother Teresa D) Amartya Sen
Answer: B) Rabindranath Tagore
Solution: Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his work “Gitanjali”. He was the first Indian and first Asian to win a Nobel Prize.
Shortcut: Remember “RT” - Rabindranath Tagore (RT = First Right)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Nobel Prize winners
Q2. Who is known as the “Father of Indian Space Program”? A) Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam B) Vikram Sarabhai C) Homi Bhabha D) Satish Dhawan
Answer: B) Vikram Sarabhai
Solution: Vikram Sarabhai established ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) in 1969 and is considered the father of India’s space program.
Shortcut: “Vikram” = “Vikram” (space lander) - ISRO connection
Concept: Famous Personalities - Science & Technology
Q3. Who was India’s first woman President? A) Indira Gandhi B) Pratibha Patil C) Sonia Gandhi D) Sushma Swaraj
Answer: B) Pratibha Patil
Solution: Pratibha Patil served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012, becoming India’s first woman President.
Shortcut: “PP” = “First Female President” (Patil, Pratibha)
Concept: Famous Personalities - First in India
Q4. Which Indian cricketer is also known as “Master Blaster”? A) Virat Kohli B) M.S. Dhoni C) Sachin Tendulkar D) Rohit Sharma
Answer: C) Sachin Tendulkar
Solution: Sachin Tendulkar earned the nickname “Master Blaster” for his explosive batting style and is the only cricketer to score 100 international centuries.
Shortcut: “Master” = “Sachin” (Master of Cricket)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Sports
Q5. Who wrote the national anthem “Jana Gana Mana”? A) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee B) Rabindranath Tagore C) Subhash Chandra Bose D) Mahatma Gandhi
Answer: B) Rabindranath Tagore
Solution: Rabindranath Tagore wrote “Jana Gana Mana” in 1911, which became India’s national anthem in 1950.
Shortcut: Tagore = Two firsts (First Nobel + National Anthem)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Literature & Patriotism
Q6. Which Indian won Miss Universe in 2021? A) Harnaaz Sandhu B) Manushi Chhillar C) Sushmita Sen D) Lara Dutta
Answer: A) Harnaaz Sandhu
Solution: Harnaaz Sandhu won Miss Universe 2021, becoming the third Indian to win after Sushmita Sen (1994) and Lara Dutta (2000).
Shortcut: “HS” = “Highest Score” (Recent winner 2021)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Beauty Pageants
Q7. Who is known as the “Missile Man of India”? A) Vikram Sarabhai B) Homi Bhabha C) Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam D) Satish Dhawan
Answer: C) Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Solution: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam led India’s missile development programs (SLV-3, Prithvi, Agni) and is called the “Missile Man of India”.
Shortcut: “Kalam” = “K Missile” (K for Kalam)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Defense & Science
Q8. Who was the first Indian railway minister to later become Prime Minister? A) Lal Bahadur Shastri B) Morarji Desai C) Charan Singh D) V.P. Singh
Answer: A) Lal Bahadur Shastri
Solution: Lal Bahadur Shastri was Railway Minister (1952-56) before becoming India’s second Prime Minister (1964-66).
Shortcut: “LBS” = “Local Before Super” (Railway before PM)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Railway Connection
Q9. Which Indian scientist won the Nobel Prize for work on black holes? A) C.V. Raman B) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar C) Venki Ramakrishnan D) Abhijit Banerjee
Answer: B) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Solution: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical studies of stellar evolution and black holes.
Shortcut: “Chandra” = “Chandrasekhar limit” (black hole theory)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Indian Diaspora Nobel Winners
Q10. Who was the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal? A) Milkha Singh B) Abhinav Bindra C) Neeraj Chopra D) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Answer: B) Abhinav Bindra
Solution: Abhinav Bindra won gold in 10m Air Rifle at 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist.
Shortcut: “AB” = “ABove all” (First individual gold)
Concept: Famous Personalities - Olympic Champions
5 Previous Year Questions
PYQ 1. Who was the first woman to win Bharat Ratna? [RRB NTPC 2021 CBT-1]
Answer: Indira Gandhi
Solution: Indira Gandhi received Bharat Ratna in 1971, becoming the first woman to win India’s highest civilian award.
Exam Tip: Remember “First Female” awards - Indira Gandhi (Bharat Ratna), Pratibha Patil (President), Sushmita Sen (Miss Universe)
PYQ 2. Which Indian won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014? [RRB Group D 2022]
Answer: Kailash Satyarthi
Solution: Kailash Satyarthi won Nobel Peace Prize 2014 for his struggle against child labor and for children’s rights.
Exam Tip: Recent Nobel winners are frequently asked - remember Malala (shared with Satyarthi) and Abhijit Banerjee (Economics 2019)
PYQ 3. Who is known as the “Father of Indian Railways”? [RRB ALP 2018]
Answer: Lord Dalhousie
Solution: Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India (1848-56), planned the first railway line and is called Father of Indian Railways.
Exam Tip: Railway history questions focus on British era - Dalhousie (Planning), First train (1853, Bombay-Thane)
PYQ 4. Which Indian cricketer has scored the most international runs? [RRB JE 2019]
Answer: Sachin Tendulkar
Solution: Sachin Tendulkar scored 34,357 international runs (Tests + ODIs + T20s), the highest by any Indian cricketer.
Exam Tip: Cricket records - Tendulkar (most runs/centuries), Dhoni (most wins as captain), Kohli (fastest to milestones)
PYQ 5. Who was India’s longest serving Prime Minister? [RPF SI 2019]
Answer: Jawaharlal Nehru
Solution: Jawaharlal Nehru served as PM for 16 years 286 days (1947-1964), the longest tenure in Indian history.
Exam Tip: PM tenures - Nehru (longest), Indira (first woman), Modi (first born after independence)
Speed Tricks & Shortcuts
| Situation | Shortcut | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Remembering Bharat Ratna scientists | “CRV” formula | C.V. Raman (Nobel), Homi Bhabha (Nuclear), Vikram Sarabhai (Space) |
| Miss Universe/World Indians | “SLAP Manushi” | Sushmita (U), Lara (U), Aishwarya (W), Priyanka (W), Manushi (W) |
| Nobel Prize Indians by field | “TLPER” sequence | Tagore (L), Mother (P), CV Raman (P), Economics (Sen), Peace (Satyarthi) |
| First in India (Women) | “PP-PM-MU” chain | Pratibha Patil (President), Indira Gandhi (PM), Sushmita Sen (Miss Universe) |
| Railway Ministers who became PM | “L-M-C” timeline | Lal Bahadur, Morarji Desai, Charan Singh (all were Railway Ministers) |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Why Students Make It | Correct Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Confusing Miss Universe with Miss World | Both held annually, similar names | Remember: Universe = Global, World = International; Sushmita (Universe), Aishwarya (World) |
| Mixing up Nobel Prize fields | Multiple Indians won in different categories | Make category-wise list: Peace (3), Literature (1), Physics (2), Economics (2) |
| Forgetting diaspora Indians | Focus only on resident Indians | Include: Chandrasekhar, Ramakrishnan, Banerjee (all foreign citizens) |
| Confusing Bharat Ratna with Padma awards | Similar civilian awards | Hierarchy: Bharat Ratna > Padma Vibhushan > Padma Bhushan > Padma Shri |
| Missing sports personalities’ nicknames | Remember only achievements | Link nicknames: Tendulkar (Master Blaster), Dhoni (Captain Cool), Kohli (Run Machine) |
Quick Revision Flashcards
| Front (Question/Term) | Back (Answer) |
|---|---|
| First Indian Nobel Prize | Rabindranath Tagore (1913, Literature) |
| Miss Universe 1994 | Sushmita Sen |
| Father of Indian Space Program | Vikram Sarabhai |
| “Missile Man of India” | Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam |
| First Woman President of India | Pratibha Patil (2007-2012) |
| Bharat Ratna 2019 | Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika |
| Olympic Gold 2021 (Tokyo) | Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw) |
| First Indian Woman Olympic Medal | Karnam Malleswari (Bronze, 2000 Sydney) |
| Longest Bridge in India | Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu (9.15 km, Assam) |
| Current Railway Minister | Ashwini Vaishnaw (as of 2024) |
Topic Connections
How Famous Personalities connects to other RRB exam topics:
- Direct Link: Static GK (awards, honors, firsts), Current Affairs (recent achievements), Sports GK (Olympics, cricket records)
- Combined Questions: Awards + Year (Who won Bharat Ratna in 2019?), Sports + Records (Most centuries by Indian cricketer?), Geography + Bridges (Named after which personality?)
- Foundation For: Advanced GK questions on international awards, comparative achievements, chronological ordering of events
BETA
