Bharat Ratna
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Template:India Honours and Decorations 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, in 2nd January, 1954.
History
The order was established by Dr Rajendra Prasad, President of India, in 2nd 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there have been ten posthumous awards, including the award to Subhash Chandra Bose in 1992, which was later withdrawn due to a legal technicality, the only case of an award being withdrawn.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.
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.
Complete list of the Awardees
| Name | Birth / death | Awarded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan | 1888–1975 | 1954 | |
| Chakravarti Rajagopalachari | 1878–1972 | 1954 | |
| Dr C.V. Raman | 1888–1970 | 1954 | |
| Dr Bhagwan Das | 1869–1958 | 1955 | |
| Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya | 1861–1962 | 1955 | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | 1889–1964 | 1955 | |
| Govind Ballabh Pant | 1887–1961 | 1957 | |
| Dr Dhondo Keshave Karve | 1858–1962 | 1958 | |
| Dr B. C. Roy | 1882–1962 | 1961 | |
| Purushottam Das Tandon | 1882–1962 | 1961 | |
| Dr Rajendra Prasad | 1884–1963 | 1962 | |
| Dr Zakir Hussain | 1897–1969 | 1963 | |
| Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane | 1880–1972 | 1963 | |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | 1904–1966 | 1966 | Posthumous |
| Indira Gandhi | 1917–1984 | 1971 | |
| V.V. Giri | 1894–1980 | 1975 | |
| K. Kamraj | 1903–1975 | 1976 | Posthumous |
| Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) | 1910–1997 | 1980 | Naturalized Indian citizen |
| Acharya Vinoba Bhave | 1895–1982 | 1983 | Posthumous |
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan | 1890–1988 | 1987 | First non-Indian |
| M.G. Ramachandran | 1917–1987 | 1988 | Posthumous |
| Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar | 1891–1956 | 1990 | Posthumous |
| Nelson Mandela | b. 1918 | 1990 | Second non-Indian |
| Rajiv Gandhi | 1944–1991 | 1991 | Posthumous |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | 1875–1950 | 1991 | Posthumous |
| Morarji Desai | 1896–1995 | 1991 | |
| Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | 1888–1958 | 1992 | Posthumous |
| J.R.D. Tata | 1904–1993 | 1992 | |
| Satyajit Ray | 1922–1992 | 1992 | |
| Subhash Chandra Bose | 1897–1945(?) | 1992 | Later withdrawn |
| A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | b. 1931 | 1997 | |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 1898–1998 | 1997 | |
| Aruna Asaf Ali | 1908–1996 | 1997 | Posthumous |
| M.S. Subbulakshmi | 1916–2004 | 1998 | |
| C Subramaniam | 1910–2000 | 1998 | |
| Jayaprakash Narayan | 1902–1979 | 1998 | Posthumous |
| Ravi Shankar | b. 1920 | 1999 | |
| Amartya Sen | b. 1933 | 1999 | |
| Gopinath Bordoloi | 1890–1950 | 1999 | Posthumous |
| Lata Mangeshkar | b. 1929 | 2001 | |
| Bismillah Khan | b. 1916 | 2001 |
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