Which one of the following books written by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and published in July, 2021?
- (a)Development and Freedom
- (b)The Argumentative Indian
- (c)Home in the World
- (d)The Idea of Justice
Correct — C, Home in the World. Nobel laureate (Economic Sciences, 1998) Amartya Sen's memoir 'Home in the World: A Memoir' was published in July 2021 (Allen Lane / Penguin, 8 July 2021). It traces his life and intellectual journey from Santiniketan and Dhaka through Calcutta, Cambridge and beyond, reflecting on the many 'homes' and ideas that shaped him. Hence 'Home in the World' is the July-2021 book.
- (a)Development and Freedom — Wrong — Sen's famous book is titled 'Development as Freedom' (published 1999), not 'Development and Freedom'; this is a distorted title and, in any case, a 1999 work, not a July-2021 one.
- (b)The Argumentative Indian — Wrong — 'The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity' is a 2005 essay collection by Sen, not a 2021 publication.
- (d)The Idea of Justice — Wrong — 'The Idea of Justice' is Sen's 2009 work on the theory of justice; it long predates 2021.
Amartya Sen (b. 1933) won the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in welfare economics and social choice theory, and received the Bharat Ratna in 1999. He is a prolific author, and current-affairs questions often turn on dating his works: 'Development as Freedom' (1999), 'The Argumentative Indian' (2005), 'The Idea of Justice' (2009) and his 2021 memoir 'Home in the World'.
All four options are genuine Sen-associated titles (option a is a near-miss of 'Development as Freedom'), so the discriminator is the July-2021 publication date. The memoir 'Home in the World' is the only 2021 title among them.
- Amartya Sen's memoir 'Home in the World: A Memoir' was published in July 2021 (Allen Lane).
- Sen won the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (welfare economics, social choice).
- His other major books include 'Development as Freedom' (1999), 'The Argumentative Indian' (2005) and 'The Idea of Justice' (2009).
- He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, in 1999.
- Confusing 'Development as Freedom' (1999) with the fabricated 'Development and Freedom' or with the 2021 memoir
- Assuming any famous Amartya Sen title is the 2021 book
UPPSC & UPSC ask 'which book was written by X / published in year Y' — pair contemporary authors with their latest books; here Amartya Sen + July 2021 = 'Home in the World'.
Who of the following is the author of the books 'The India Way' and 'Why Bharat Matters'?
- (a) Bhupender Yadav
- (b) Nalin Mehta
- (c) Shashi Tharoor
- (d) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Answer(d) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Same concept — matching a notable contemporary non-fiction book to its author, exactly the recall skill this Amartya Sen question tests.
Who of the following is the author of the book "The Audacity of Hope" ?
- (a) Al Gore
- (b) Barack Obama
- (c) Bill Clinton
- (d) Hillary Clinton
Answer(b) Barack Obama
Same concept — identifying the author of a well-known book, the book-and-author current-affairs pattern this question follows.
Who is the Author of the famous Novel “All the Lives We Never Lived”, which received the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2022?
- (a) Shobha De
- (b) Anuradha Roy
- (c) Anita Desai
- (d) Sudha Murthy
Answer(b) Anuradha Roy
Same concept — UPPSC again tests identifying the author of a notable recent book, the same book-and-author recall as this Amartya Sen question.
- practice — not a real PYQ
For which field did Amartya Sen win the Nobel Prize?
- (a)Peace
- (b)Literature
- (c)Economic Sciences
- (d)Physics
Answer(c) Economic Sciences — he won the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize for welfare economics and social choice theory.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The book 'The Idea of Justice' (2009) was written by which of the following?
- (a)Jean Dreze
- (b)Amartya Sen
- (c)Kaushik Basu
- (d)Raghuram Rajan
Answer(b) Amartya Sen — 'The Idea of Justice' (2009) is his work on the theory of justice.