Bharat Ratna

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Bharat Ratna

Award Information Type Category Instituted Last Awarded Total Awarded Awarded by Description First Awardee(s) Last Awardee(s) Civillian National 1954 2009 41 Government of India An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed inDevanagari script, on a peepul leaf C. Rajagopalachari Bhimsen Joshi Award Rank None Bharat Ratna Vibhushan Padma

Bharat Ratna (Hindi:

, translates to Jewel of India

[1]

or Gem of India [2] in English) is

the Republic of India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievemen ts, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." [3] Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Rat na carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the Indian order of precedence . The award was established by the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad, on 2 January 1954. [4] Along with other major national honours, such as the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, the awarding of the Bharat Ratna was suspended from 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980.

Contents
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1 History 2 Controversies o 2.1 Award to Subhas Chandra Bose o 2.2 Award to Abul Kalam Azad 3 Specifications 4 Living recipients o 4.1 Indian recipients o 4.2 Foreign recipients 5 Complete list of recipients 6 References 7 External links

[edit]History
The order was established by Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on 2 January 1954. The original statutes of January 1954 did not make allowance for posthumous awards (and this perhaps explains why the decoration was never awarded to Mahatma Gandhi), though this provision was added in the January 1955 statute. Subsequently, there have been twelve posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn. The award was briefly suspended from 13 July 1977 to 26 January 1980. While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption.[citation needed] Of the 41 awards so far, there has been one award to a naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa (1980), and to two non -Indians, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such. Originally, the specifications for the a ward called for a circular gold medal carrying the state emblem and motto, among other things. It is uncertain if a design in accordance with the original specifications was ever made. The actual award is designed in the shape of a peepul leaf and carries with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script. The reverse side of the medal carries the state emblem and motto. The award is attached to a 2 -inch-wide (51 mm) ribbon, and was designed to be worn around the recipient's neck.

[edit]Controversies [edit]Award

to Subhas Chandra Bose

Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. The award was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality. This is the only case of an award being withdrawn. It was withdrawn in response to a Supreme Court of India directive following a Public Interest Litigation filed in the Court against the posthumous nature of the award. The Award Committee could not give conclusive evidence of Boses death and thus it invalidated the posthumous award.

[edit]Award

to Abul Kalam Azad

When the award was offered to freedom fighter and India's first Minister of Education, Abul Kalam Azad, he promptly declined it saying that it should not be given to those who have been on the selection committee. Later he was awarded posthumously in 1992. [5]

[edit]Specifications
The original specifications for the award called for a circular gold medal, 35 mm in diameter, with the sun and the Hindi legend "Bharat Ratna" above and a floral wreath below. The reverse was to carry the state

emblem motto. It to be orn round t e neck from ite ribbon. ere i no indication t at any ecimens of t is desi n ere ever roduced and one year later t e desi n as altered.

[edit]Living reci ients [edit]Indian reci ients

   

A. P. . Abdul Kalam 1997 avi S ankar 1999 Amartya Sen 1999 Lata angeshkar 2001

[edit]Foreign reci ients



elson

andela 1990

[edit]Complete list of recipients Bi S.N o C R j i Name Image / Awarde death d 18 8 1954 19 2 1888 1954 19 0 1888 1954 19 5 18 9 1955 1958 18 0 1955 19 2 1889 1955 Notes

ti l

1.

Independence acti i t last Governor-General

2.

C. V. Raman

Physicist

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Philosopher, second President Independence activist, author Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore Independence activist, author, first Prime

4.

Bhagwan Das Mokshagunda m Visvesvarayya Jawaharlal Nehru

5.

1964 7. Govind Ballabh Pant Dhondo Keshav Karve Bidhan Chandra Roy Purushottam Das Tandon Rajendra Prasad 1887 1957 1961 1858 1958 1962 1882 1961 1962 1882 1961 1962 1884 1962 1963 1897 1963 1969 75px 1880 1963 1972 1904 1966 1966 1917 1971 1984

Minister Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister Educator, social reformer Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengal Independence activist, educator Independence activist, jurist, first President Scholar, third President Indologist and Sanskrit scholar Posthumous, independence activist, second Prime Minister

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Zakir Hussain

13.

Pandurang Vaman Kane Lal Bahadur Shastri

14.

15.

Indira Gandhi

Fourth Prime Minister

16.

V. V. Giri

1894 1975 1980 1903 1976 1975 1910 1980 1997 1895 1983 1982 1890 1987 1988 1917 1988 1987

Trade unionist and fourth President Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Madras State Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity Posthumous, social reformer, independence activist First non-citizen, independence activist Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Posthumous, chief architect of the Indian Constitution, politician, economist, and scholar Second non-citizen and first non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement

17.

K. Kamaraj

18.

Mother Teresa

19.

Vinoba Bhave Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

20.

21.

M. G. Ramachandran

22.

B. R. Ambedkar

1891 1990 1956

23.

Nelson Mandela

b. 1990 1918

24.

Rajiv Gandhi

1944 1991 1991 1875 1991 1950 1896 1991 1995 1888 1992 1958 1904 1992 1993 19221992 1992

Posthumous, Seventh Prime Minister Posthumous, independence activist, first Home Minister Independence activist, fifth Prime Minister Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education Industrialist and philanthropist

25.

Vallabhbhai Patel

26.

Morarji Desai

27.

Abul Kalam Azad

28.

J. R. D. Tata

29.

Satyajit Ray

Bengali filmmaker

30.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Gulzarilal Nanda Aruna Asaf Ali M. S. Subbulakshmi

b. 1997 1931 1898 1997 1998 1908 1997 1996 1916 1998

Aeronautical Engineer,11th President of India Independence activist, interim Prime Minister Posthumous, independence activist Classical Carnatic singer

31.

32. 33.

2004 34. Chidambaram Subramaniam Jayaprakash Narayan 1910 1998 2000 1902 1999 1979 b. 1999 1920 Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture Posthumous, independence activist and politician Sitar player

35.

36.

Ravi Shankar

37.

Amartya Sen

b. 1999 1933

Economist

38.

Gopinath Bordoloi Lata Mangeshkar Bismillah Khan Bhimsen Joshi

File:Gopinat 1890 h Bordoloi 1999 300.jpg 1950 b. 2001 1929 1916 2001 2006 19222008 2011

Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam Playback singer Hindustani classical shehnai play er Hindustani classical singer

39.

40. 41. [edit]

References

1. ^ Mahajan, Vidya Dhar (1971). The Constitution of India. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Eastern Book Company. p. 169. 2. ^ Hoiberg, Dale; Indu Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India. New Delhi: Encyclopedia Britannica (India). Vol. 3, p198. ISBN 978-085229-760-5.

3. ^ Pylee, Moolamattom Varkey (1971). The Constitution of India. New Delhi: S. Chand & Company Ltd.. p. 114. ISBN 978-81-219-2203-6. 4. ^ Dhawan, S. K. (1991). Bharat Ratnas, 19541991. Wave Publications. p. 9. ASIN B0006EYROK. 5. ^ Those who said no to top awards The Times of India, 20,Jan 2008.

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External links
[show]v d eBharat [show]v d eIndian

"Bharat Ratna Award". Government of India. "Bharat Ratna Award". Ministry of Home Affairs.

Ratna la

honours and