THE JEWEL OF INDIA – `BHARAT RATNA`

WE ALWAYS THINK OF BAD PEOPLE AND FOR A CHANGE LET US READ AND THINK OF THE LIVES OF GREAT PEOPLE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO OUR LIVES

`BHARAT RATNA` THE JEWEL OF INDIA`

The Bharat Ratna, `Jewel of India`, in English, is India’s highest civilian honour.

It is generally conferred on 23rd of January for rendering outstanding services in art, literature, scientific achievements, social service and even sports.

The award was instituted by the President of India on 2nd January 1954.

Three people can get Bharat Ratna award in one year.

The award can also be granted posthumously.

The top 4 civilian honours –Bharat Ratna , Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan , Padma Shri do not carry any prize money.

On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.

The medal or decoration is in the form of a peepal leaf, about 5.8 cm long, 4.7 cm wide and 3.1 mm thick. It is of toned bronze.

On its obverse is embossed a replica of the sun, 1.6 cm in diameter, below which the words Bharat Ratna are embossed in Devanagari script. On the reverse are State emblem and the motto, also in Devanagari.

The emblem, the sun and the rim are of platinum. The inscriptions are in burnished bronze. The ribbon is white. The awards are produced at Kolkata Mint.

Holders of the Bharat Ratna decoration comes in seventh position jointly with former Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers of the Union, Leaders of Chief Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India and the respective Chief Ministers of States.

List of recipients

	Name	Birth / Death	Awarded Year	Notes
1	Chakravarti Rajgopalachari	1878–1972	1954	Independence activist, last Governor-General
2	C. V. Raman	1888–1970	1954	Physicist
3	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	1888–1975	1954	Philosopher, India’s First Vice President (1952-1962), and India’s Second President(1962-1967)
4	Bhagwan Das	1869–1958	1955	Independence activist, author, Founder of Kashi Vidya Peeth
5	Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya	1861–1962	1955	Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore
6	Jawaharlal Nehru	1889–1964	1955	Independence activist, author, first Prime Minister
7	Govind Ballabh Pant	1887–1961	1957	Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister
8	Dhondo Keshav Karve	1858–1962	1958	Educator, social reformer
9	Bidhan Chandra Roy	1882–1962	1961	Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
10	Purushottam Das Tandon	1882–1962	1961	Independence activist, educator
11	Rajendra Prasad	1884–1963	1962	Independence activist, jurist, first President
12	Zakir Hussain	1897–1969	1963	Independence activist, Scholar, third President
13	Pandurang Vaman Kane	1880–1972	1963	Indologist and Sanskrit scholar
14	Lal Bahadur Shastri	1904–1966	1966	Posthumous, independence activist, second Prime Minister
15	Indira Gandhi	1917–1984	1971	Third Prime Minister
16	V. V. Giri	1894–1980	1975	Trade unionist and fourth President
17	K. Kamaraj	1903–1975	1976	Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State
18	Mother Teresa	1910–1997	1980	Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity
19	Vinoba Bhave	1895–1982	1983	Posthumous, social reformer, independence activist
20	Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan	1890–1988	1987	First non-citizen, independence activist
21	M. G. Ramachandran	1917–1987	1988	Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
22	B. R. Ambedkar	1891–1956	1990	Posthumous, Chief architect of the Indian Constitution,Crusader against Untouchablity, Dalit Icon, Social Reformer, Historian, politician, economist, and scholar
23	Nelson Mandela	b. 1918	1990	Second non-citizen and non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement
24	Rajiv Gandhi	1944–1991	1991	Posthumous, Sixth Prime Minister
25	Vallabhbhai Patel	1875–1950	1991	Posthumous, independence activist, first Home Minister
26	Morarji Desai	1896–1995	1991	Independence activist, fourth Prime Minister
27	Abul Kalam Azad	1888–1958	1992	Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education
28	J. R. D. Tata	1904–1993	1992	Industrialist and philanthropist
29	Satyajit Ray	1922–1992	1992	Filmmaker
30	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	b. 1931	1997	Aeronautical Engineer,11th President of India
31	Gulzarilal Nanda	1898–1998	1997	Independence activist, interim Prime Minister
32	Aruna Asaf Ali	1908–1996	1997	Posthumous, independence activist
33	M. S. Subbulakshmi	1916–2004	1998	Carnatic classical singer
34	Chidambaram Subramaniam	1910–2000	1998	Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture
35	Jayaprakash Narayan	1902–1979	1999	Posthumous, independence activist and politician
36	Ravi Shankar	1920–2012	1999	*Sitar* player
37	Amartya Sen	b. 1933	1999	Economist
38	Gopinath Bordoloi	1890–1950	1999	Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam
39	Lata Mangeshkar	b. 1929	2001	Playback singer
40	Bismillah Khan	1916–2006	2001	Hindustani classical *shehnai* player
41	Bhimsen Joshi	1922–2011	2008	Hindustani classical singer
42	C. N. R. Rao^[	b. 1934	2014 (announced)	Scientist
43	Sachin Tendulkar	b. 1973	2014 (announced)	Cricketer (FIRST IN SPORTS CATEGORY)

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