Bharat Ratna

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Award Information
Bharat Ratna

Type	Civilian
Category	General
Instituted	1954
Last Awarded	2001
Total Awarded	41
Awarded by	Govt. of India
Description	An image of the Sun along with the words "Bharat Ratna", inscribed in Devanagari script, on a peepul leaf
First Awardee(s)	Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Last Awardee(s)	Lata Mangeshkar Ustad Bismillah Khan
Award Rank
none ← Bharat Ratna → Padma Vibhushan

Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order". Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the order of precedence. Bharat Ratna roughly translates as 'Gem of India'. It was established by the President of India, on 2nd January, 1954.

[edit] History

The order was established by Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India, on the second of 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there have been ten posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn.

While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption. There has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and two to non-Indians — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour though, has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such state awards.

[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 and motto. It was to be worn around the neck from a white ribbon. There is no indication that any specimens of this design were ever produced and one year later the design was altered.

[edit] Complete list of the Awardees

S.No	Name	Birth / death	Awarded	Notes	State(If Indian) else Country
1.	Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	1888–1975	1954	Former President, Educationist	Tamil Nadu
2.	Chakravarti Rajagopalachari	1878–1972	1954	Former Governor-General, Freedom Fighter, Lawyer, Hindu Philosopher, Writer	Tamil Nadu
3.	Dr C.V. Raman	1888–1970	1954	Noble prize winning Physicist	Tamil Nadu
4.	Dr Bhagwan Das	1869–1958	1955		Uttar Pradesh
5.	Dr Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya	1861–1962	1955		Karnataka
6.	Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru	1889–1964	1955	Former Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter	Uttar Pradesh
7.	Govind Ballabh Pant	1887–1961	1957		Uttar Pradesh
8.	Dr Dhondo Keshav Karve	1858–1962	1958		Maharashtra
9.	Dr B. C. Roy	1882–1962	1961		West Bengal
10.	Purushottam Das Tandon	1882–1962	1961		Uttar Pradesh
11.	Dr Rajendra Prasad	1884–1963	1962	Former President, Freedom Fighter, Jurist	Bihar
12.	Dr Zakir Hussain	1897–1969	1963	Former President, Educationist	Andhra Pradesh
13.	Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane	1880–1972	1963		Maharashtra
14.	Lal Bahadur Shastri	1904–1966	1966	Posthumous, Former Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter	Uttar Pradesh
15.	Indira Gandhi	1917–1984	1971	Former Prime Minister	Uttar Pradesh
16.	V.V. Giri	1894–1980	1975	Former President, Lawyer, Trade Unionist	Andhra Pradesh
17.	K. Kamraj	1903–1975	1976	Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu known for clean image, spread of education and first leader to provide free meals to school children	Tamil Nadu
18.	Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa)	1910–1997	1980	Naturalized Indian citizen, Noble Prize Winner, Christian Missionary	West Bengal
19.	Acharya Vinoba Bhave	1895–1982	1983	Posthumous, Social Reformer, Freedom Figher, Gandhian, Hindu Philospher	Maharashtra
20.	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan	1890–1988	1987	First non-Indian, Freedom Fighter, Gandhian	Pakistan
21.	Dr M.G. Ramachandran	1917–1987	1988	Posthumous, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, legendary Indian Actor, leader of social reform movement	Tamil Nadu
22.	Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar	1891–1956	1990	Posthumous, Architect of Indian Constitution, Jurist, Writer, Social Reformer, Iconic Leader of former Untouchables	Maharashtra
23.	Nelson Mandela	b. 1918	1990	Second non-Indian, Leader of Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, Gandhian	South Africa
24.	Rajiv Gandhi	1944–1991	1991	Posthumous, Former Prime Minister	New Delhi
25.	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel	1875–1950	1991	Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Iron Man of India, responsible for integrating over 500 pricely states into Indian Republic	Gujarat
26.	Morarji Desai	1896–1995	1991	Former Prime Minister, Freedom Fighter and Gandhian. Only Indian to be awarded Pakistan's highest civilian honour	Gujarat
27.	Maulana Abul Kalam Azad	1888–1958	1992	Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Educationist, Islamic, Arabic Scholar	West Bengal
28.	J.R.D. Tata	1904–1993	1992	industrialist, 1st Indian pilot, set up Air-India	Maharashtra
29.	Satyajit Ray	1922–1992	1992	Legendary Indian Film Director	West Bengal
30.	Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose	1897–1945(?)	1992	Legendary freedom fighter, set up Indian National Army to secure freedom by active rebellion against the British. Award was refused by his family for belated recognition	West Bengal
31.	Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	b. 1931	1997	Father of India's missile program, later became President of India	Tamil Nadu
32.	Gulzarilal Nanda	1898–1998	1997	Freedom Fighter, Gandhian, twice acting Prime Minister during crucial junctures	Punjab
33.	Aruna Asaf Ali	1908–1996	1997	Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Communist Leader	West Bengal
34.	Dr M.S. Subbulakshmi	1916–2004	1998	Legendary classical singer, philanthropist, freedom fighter, actress best remembered for portraying Meera bai in Hindi film, rose from being a Devadasi (Temple Singer) tradition family to the status of national treasure. Represented India at the United Nations	Tamil Nadu
35.	C Subramaniam	1910–2000	1998	Freedom Fighter, Agriculture Minister, best known as architect of green revolution that transformed India from net food importer to self sufficiency in late 1960s	Tamil Nadu
36.	Jayaprakash Narayan	1902–1979	1998	Posthumous, Freedom Fighter, Social Reformer, Socialist Icon, best remembered as leader of resistance movement opposed to illegal emergency declared by Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1974	Uttar Pradesh
37.	Pandit Ravi Shankar	b. 1920	1999	Leading classical sitar (musical instrument) player, responsible for its spread in the West	Uttar Pradesh
38.	Dr Amartya Sen	b. 1933	1999	Noble prize winning economist	West Bengal
39.	Gopinath Bordoloi	1890–1950	1999	Posthumous, freedom fighter	Assam
40.	Lata Mangeshkar	b. 1929	2001	Legendary play back singer, holder of world record for singing maximum film songs	Maharashtra
41.	Ustad Bismillah Khan	1916-2006	2001	Legendary Shehnai (musical instrument) player, played at Red Fort when India won independence in 1947	Uttar Pradesh

Indian Honours System - Civilian Awards
International: Gandhi Peace Prize National: Bharat Ratna - Padma Vibhushan - Padma Bhushan - Padma Shri Literature: Jnanpith Award Fine Arts: Sangeet Natak Akademi award Movies: Dadasaheb Phalke Award Sports: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - Arjuna Award Sports Coaching: Dronacharya Award
Indian Honours System - Gallantry Awards
War Time Awards: Param Vir Chakra - Maha Vir Chakra - Vir Chakra Peace Time Awards: Ashoka Chakra - Kirti Chakra - Shaurya Chakra Distinguished Service Medals: Sena Medal (Army) - Naosena Medal (Navy) - Vayusena Medal (Air Force)