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Bharat Ratna

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INDIA 2012

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Bharat Ratna :

The highest civilion award. It is given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science and in recognition of public service of the highest order. Since its inception in 1954, 41 persons have been decorated with Bharat Ratna so far.

RECIPIENTS OF BHARAT RATNA

S. No. Name Awarded in

1. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the only governor general of India (1878-1972) 1954

2. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India’s first vice-president and second president, eminent philosopher and writer (1888-1975) 1954

3. Dr Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman (1888-1970) 1954

4. Dr Bhagwan Das, eminent theosophist and freedom fighter (1869-1958) 1955

5. Sir Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, the former Diwan of Mysore and a man often hailed as the “Father of Indian Civil Engineering” (1861-1962) 1955

6. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister and, before he became PM, he was already an internationally renowned writer. (1889-1964) 1955

7. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, freedom fighter and first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was conferred the award. Pant was also the Union home minister in 1955-1961. (1887-1961) 1957

8. Dr Dhondo Keshave Karve: Social reformer Maharishi Karve, known for his work in the field of women’s welfare (1858-1962) 1958

9. Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, former West Bengal chief minister. Roy, who began his career as a physician, later became a freedom fighter and an important member of the West Bengal Congress. (1882-1962) 1961

10. Rajrishi Purushottam Das Tandon: is remembered for his efforts which went a long way in Hindi becoming India’s official language. (1882-1962) 1961

11. Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, (1884-1963) 1962

12. Dr Zakir Hussain, then an eminent educationist who had helped set up Jamia Milia Islamia; also Vice President and later President of India (1897-1969) 1963

13. Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane, Indologist (1880-1972) 1963

14. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous), former Prime Minister (1904-1966) 1966

15. Smt. Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister (1917-1984) 1971

16. Shri Varahagiri Venkata Giri, former president of India (1894-1980) 1975

17. Shri Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous), former Tamil Nadu chief minister (1903-1975) 1976

18. Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Mother Teresa, the first and only naturalised citizen of India to be given the Bharat Ratna. Mother Teresa, a social reformer, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, was born in modern-day Macedonia (Skopje). (1910-1997) 1980

19. Shri Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous), social reformer, founder of the Bhoodan (land gift) movement Bhave also received the Ramon Magsasay award in 1958. (1895-1982) 1983

20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as the Frontier Gandhi, was born in undivided India became the first foreigner to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. A freedom fighter of Pakhtun ethnicity, Khan was the founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God) movement. Khan became a Pakistani citizen because of the subcontinent’s independence from British rule and partition in 1947. (1890-1988) 1987

21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran [MGR], Tamil Nadu chief minister, legendary cinema megastar, popularly called Makkalthilagam (people's tilak) and Puratchi Thalaivaar (revolutionary leader). He founded the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) (Posthumous) (1917-1987) 1988

22. Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous), architect of India’s constitution. (1891-1956) 1990

23. Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, freedom fighter, anti-apartheid crusader, and the first black president of South Africa. Dr Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize three years later in 1993. (b-1918) 1990

24. Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous),former prime minister (1944-1991) 1991

25. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister (Posthumous) (1875-1950) 1991

26. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai. prime minister of India 1977-1979. (1896-1995) 1991

27. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, freedom fighter (Posthumous) (1888-1958) 1992

28. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata, industrialist (1904-1993) 1992

29. Shri Satyajit Ray, noted filmmaker (Posthumous) (1922-1992) 1992

30. Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda, twice an interim prime minister of India, (Posthumous) (1898-1997) 1997

31. Smt. Aruna Asaf Ali, freedom fighter (Posthumous) (1909-1996) 1997

32. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, then a former aerospace engineer with Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). He later served as India’s 11th president between 2002 and 2007. (b-1931) 1997

33. Smt. Madurai Sanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, pre-eminent singer, Carnatic classical music (1916-2005) 1998

34. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam (1910-2000) 1998

35. Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, social worker (Posthumous) (1902-1979) 1999

36. Professor Amartya Sen, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 (b-1933) 1999

37. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi, freedom fighter and the first chief minister of Assam. (Posthumous) 1999

38. Pandit Ravi Shankar, sitar player who popularised Indian classical music not only abroad but also within India (b-1920) 1999

39. Sushri Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar, singer of popular songs (b-1929) 2001

40. Ustad Bismillah Khan, sarod player (1916-2006) 2001

41. Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi, singer, Hindustani classical music (1922-201) 2009

42 Sachin Tendulkar, cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP (1973-) 2013 See Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 1: A timeline; Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar: 2 (records, factoids, tributes)

43 CNR Rao, scientist, space research (1943-) 2013

44 Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister 2014

45 Madan Mohan Malaviya, educationist founder of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) 2014

Bharat Ratna awardees by age

The Times of India [1] arranged all Bharat Ratna awardees till 2013 by the age at which they were awarded the nation's highest honour.

The awardees: an analysis

1954-2008

The Times of India

Don’t devalue awards

Anil Dharker

26/01/2008

does not include the 2008 list

From the time that the Bharat Ratna was instituted in 1954 till 2008, it had been given to 40 people, the first recipient being the scientist C V Raman. The awards have been given to five people representing the arts (Satyajit Ray, M S Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, Bismillah Khan and Lata Mangeshkar), two representing literature and education (Bhagwan Das and Amartya Sen) and two men of science (Raman and Abdul Kalam).

In the list are five people listed for social service (D K Karve, Pandurang Kane, Mother Teresa, Vinoba Bhave and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan) and one for civil service (M Visvesaraya). Trade and industry is listed as a category, but you are unlikely to guess how many Bharat Ratnas have been given to our captains of industry. Just one — J R D Tata, as late as 1992. This adds up to a grand total of 16 awards given in 53 years to distinguished Indians in the arts, science and engineering, literature and education, social and civil service.

Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us — but somehow it still does — that, in contrast, as many as 24 Bharat Ratnas have been awarded for what is euphemistically called public affairs, but really means politics. There are four presidents in the list (Rajendra Prasad, S Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and V V Giri) plus C Rajagopalachari, who as governor general, preceded them. There are five prime ministers (Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai and Rajiv Gandhi). The remaining 14 include one foreigner (Nelson Mandela) and sundry politicians ranging from Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad and Jaiprakash Narain to Gulzari Lal Nanda, C Subramaniam and K Kamaraj.

In other words, it’s a case of politicians, once again, rewarding themselves. And doing so, without any feeling of impropriety, quite disproportionately. The timing of many of these awards have, more often than not, served narrow political purposes, such as honouring M G Ramachandran just before crucial Tamil Nadu elections, or V P Singh’s anointing of B R Amdbedkar around the time Singh was championing Dalits with the implementation of the Mandal commission’s recommendations on reservations.

See also

Padma awards <> Bharat Ratna Padma awards: 2011<> Padma awards: 2012<> Padma awards: 2014