Which one among the following Indian PSUs has been declared as the winner at the Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Award-2023?

Correct — A, NTPC. The results of the Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Awards for 2023 were announced on 7 December 2023, and NTPC, the Maharatna power utility under the Ministry of Power, was the Indian public sector undertaking among the winners, taking two silver awards. One was for the best advance in corporate wellbeing technology, for an individual-centred health care system built around teleconsultation, tele-intensive care and tele-emergency services at its stations, delivered with a hospital partner. The other was for the best advance in augmented and virtual reality, for using those technologies to train its workforce. The Brandon Hall Group is an American research and analyst firm whose awards recognise human capital and learning technology practice.

• (b)BHEL — Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is a Maharatna manufacturer of power plant equipment and a supplier to NTPC, but it was not the winner of this award in 2023.
• (c)Balmer Lawrie — Balmer Lawrie is a Miniratna diversified company under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, working in industrial packaging, greases, logistics and travel services. It was not among the 2023 winners.
• (d)HPCL — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is a Maharatna oil refining and marketing company. It has won other corporate awards, but not this one in 2023.

The Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Awards recognise organisations for the way they deploy technology in learning, talent management and employee wellbeing, with gold, silver and bronze in each category. Indian public sector undertakings enter such awards partly to benchmark their training and human resource systems against international practice, and NTPC has been among the more frequent Indian entrants.

An award question of this kind is pure current affairs, and the practical approach is to reason from fit. The two categories won were about employee wellbeing technology and about augmented and virtual reality in training. A power utility running large stations in remote locations has an obvious reason to invest in teleconsultation and in simulator-based training, which points to NTPC among the four. As of the 2024 examination NTPC remained a Maharatna under the Ministry of Power and the country's largest power generating company.

• NTPC won two silver awards at the Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Awards, announced on 7 December 2023.
• The categories were best advance in corporate wellbeing technology and best advance in augmented and virtual reality.
• The wellbeing entry covered teleconsultation, tele-intensive care and tele-emergency services at NTPC stations.
• NTPC is a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Power.
• The Brandon Hall Group is an American research and analyst firm working on human capital management.

• Assuming the largest or most familiar name in a list of public sector undertakings is the answer.
• Confusing NTPC, a generator, with BHEL, which manufactures the equipment it uses.
• Placing Balmer Lawrie in the Maharatna category; it is a Miniratna.

A one-line award recall, where the only usable reasoning is the fit between the winning categories and the company's business.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  NTPC, India's largest power generating company, functions under which ministry?

  • (a)Ministry of Heavy Industries
  • (b)Ministry of Power
  • (c)Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
  • (d)Ministry of Coal

  Answer(b) Ministry of Power — NTPC is a Maharatna under that ministry.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is classified as a Miniratna rather than a Maharatna company?

  • (a)NTPC
  • (b)BHEL
  • (c)Balmer Lawrie
  • (d)HPCL

  Answer(c) Balmer Lawrie — the other three carry Maharatna status.