The Bharat Ratna has been surrounded by several controversies and multiple Public-Interest Litigations (PILs) had been filed against the conferral of the award. Jawaharlal Nehru has been targeted of awarding Bharat Ratna to himself while serving as Prime Minister of India in 1955. This claim is not completely true as the then President of India, Rajendra Prasad confessed to have decided to confer this award on Nehru "suo motu". Similar claims have been made with regards to his daughter Indira Gandhi but this accusation has also been found to be somewhat correct. Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously after he was assassinated by LTTE in 1991.
Controversies
Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna | Controversies
Yes. Jawaharlal Nehru has been targeted of awarding Bharat Ratna to himself while serving as Prime Minister of India in 1955 Yes, it  has been surrounded by several controversies and multiple Public-Interest Litigations (PILs) had been filed against the conferral of the award The Bharat Ratna has been surrounded by several controversies and multiple Public-Interest Litigations (PILs) had been filed against the conferral of the award. Jawaharlal Nehru has been targeted of awarding Bharat Ratna to himself while serving as Prime Minister of India in 1955. Yes, one of them targeted Jawaharlal Nehru of awarding Bharat Ratna to himself while serving as Prime Minister of India.
who won the bharat ratna award in 2018
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Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
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when was this award initially given?
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2 January 1954
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what is the eligibility to receive this award?
user
One must be of exceptional service/performance of the highest order irrespective of race, occupation,position or sex
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who presents the award?
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President
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was it a part of any controversy?
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The Bharat Ratna has been surrounded by several controversies and multiple Public-Interest Litigations (PILs) had been filed against the conferral of the award. Jawaharlal Nehru has been targeted of awarding Bharat Ratna to himself while serving as Prime Minister of India in 1955. This claim is not completely true as the then President of India, Rajendra Prasad confessed to have decided to confer this award on Nehru "suo motu". Similar claims have been made with regards to his daughter Indira Gandhi but this accusation has also been found to be somewhat correct. Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously after he was assassinated by LTTE in 1991.
Bharat Ratna | Controversies
Similarly in 2015, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to award Madan Mohan Malaviya, who died in 1946, met with criticism. A few of the conferments have been criticised for honouring personalities only after they received global recognition. The award for Mother Teresa was announced in 1980, a year after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Satyajit Ray received an Academy Honorary Award in 1992 followed by the Bharat Ratna the same year. In 1999, Amartya Sen was awarded the Bharat Ratna, a year after his 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The award was proposed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to President K.
Bharat Ratna | Criticism
The seventh Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh was criticised for posthumously honouring B. R. Ambedkar to please the Dalits. The posthumous conferments of the award on the recipients who died before the Indian independence in 1947 or the award was instituted in 1954 have been criticised by historians. It was noted that such conferments could lead to more demands to honour people like Maurya Emperor Ashoka, Mughal Emperor Akbar, Maratha Emperor Shivaji, Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Hindu spiritualist Swami Vivekananda, and independence activist Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao (1991–96) was criticised for bestowing the award upon Vallabhbhai Patel in 1991, 41 years after his death in 1950; and upon Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992, who died in 1945.
Bharat Ratna | Criticism
Though, as per the statutes for the Bharat Ratna, the recommendations for the award can only be made by the Prime Minister to the President, there have been several demands from various political parties to honour their leaders. In January 2008, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L. K. Advani wrote to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recommending Singh's predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the award. This was immediately followed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) lobbying for their leader, Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal. Basu, India's longest-serving chief minister at that time, said that he would decline the honour, even if awarded.
Bharat Ratna | Popular demands
Former President of India ( Shri Pranab Mukharjee, Smt. Pratibha Devi Patil) former Prime Ministers of india ( Sri HD Devegowda, Dr. Manmohan Singh) and other eminent dignitaries were invited to give this award.
Hind Rattan | Introduction
It was noted that only an announcement had been made by press communiqué, but the government had not proceeded to confer the award by publishing the name in the "Gazette" and entering the name in the register. Furthermore, the then presidents, Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1987–92) and Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992–97), had not conferred a "Sanad" (certificate) with their signature and seal. On 4 August 1997, the Supreme Court delivered an order that since the award had not been officially conferred, it cannot be revoked and declared that the press communiqué be treated as cancelled. The court declined to pass any judgement on the posthumous mention of Bose and his death.
Bharat Ratna | Subhas Chandra Bose (1992)
The Bharat Ratna is conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The award was originally confined to the arts, literature, science, and public services, as per the 1954 regulations. In December 2011, the rules were changed to include "any field of human endeavour". The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards, but this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute, and Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first recipient to be honoured posthumously in 1966. Although there is no formal nomination process, recommendations for the award can only be made by the Prime Minister to the President with a maximum number of three nominees being awarded per year.
Bharat Ratna | Regulations
Following the announcement, in November 2013, that C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar were to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, multiple PILs were filed challenging the conferring of the award. The PIL filed against Rao declared that other Indian scientists, such as Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, had contributed more than Rao and his claim of publishing 1400 research papers was "physically impossible". The suit stated that as Rao had proven cases of plagiarism, he should not be presented with the award but rather should be annulled. The PIL filed against Tendulkar to the Election Commission under the Right to Information Act indicated that the awarding him the Bharat Ratna was a violation of the model code of conduct.
Bharat Ratna | C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar (2013)
Saghir Ahmad. On 15 December 1995, the Special Division Bench restored the awards and delivered a judgement that the "Bharat Ratna and Padma awards are not titles under Article 18 of the Constitution".
Bharat Ratna | Civilian awards as "Titles" (1992)
Poonia was accused of lobbying for the award by one of the committee member Anjali Bhagwat, but the accused met the then Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh to promote her case and also rubbished the lobbying allegations. The Ministry conducted a separate enquiry by Secretary of Department of Sports and decided not to increase the number of awards "to maintain the stature of the awards". Following an announcement, in August 2015, that tennis player Sania Mirza was to be awarded, a Public-Interest Litigation was filed in the Karnataka High Court. The petitioner, Paralympic athlete Girisha, mentioned that his performance was ignored by the committee.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Controversies
The Bharat Ratna, along with other personal civil honours, was briefly suspended from July 1977 to January 1980, during the change in the national government; and for a second time from August 1992 to December 1995, when several public-interest litigations challenged the constitutional validity of the awards. In 1992, the government's decision to confer the award posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose was opposed by those who had refused to accept the fact of his death, including some members of his extended family. Following a 1997 Supreme Court decision, the press communiqué announcing Bose's award was cancelled; it is the only time when the award was announced but not conferred.
Bharat Ratna | Introduction
In 1988, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (1984–89) conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously on movie actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran, in a bid to influence voters prior to the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 1989. The decision was criticised for awarding Ramachandran before independence activist B. R. Ambedkar and Vallabhbhai Patel, who were bestowed the honour in 1990 and 1991, respectively. While Ravi Shankar was accused of lobbying for the award, the decision by Indira Gandhi to posthumously honour K. Kamaraj was considered to have been aimed at placating Tamil voters for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 1977.
Bharat Ratna | Criticism
Girisha claimed to be a top contender for the award with 90 points, owing to his silver medal winning act at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the Men's High Jump F42 event. The petition mentioned that the points for Mirza's Grand Slam titles from 2011 until 2015 should not be counted as the events were not a part of the list of sports events to be considered for the performance evaluation. The court withheld the conferment and sought replies from the Ministry about the selection process. The Ministry nevertheless presented the award to Mirza on 29 August 2015 amidst the case processing.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Controversies
The petitioner requested the whereabouts of Bose from 18 August 1945 to date, based on the information collected by the 1956 Shah Nawaz Committee and the 1970 Khosla Commission. Bose's family members expressed their unwillingness to accept the award. To deliver the judgement, the Supreme Court formed a Special Division Bench with Judge Sujata V. Manohar and G. B. Pattanaik. The Solicitor General noted that to confer the award per the appropriate regulations pertaining to the Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri, the name of the recipient must be published in "The Gazette of India" and entered in the recipients register maintained under the direction of the President.
Bharat Ratna | Subhas Chandra Bose (1992)
Subsequently, several sportspersons' names were discussed; among the most talked-about of these was field-hockey player Dhyan Chand, who was recommended multiple times for the posthumous honour. In 2011, 82 members of parliament recommended Chand's name for the award to the Prime Minister's Office. In January 2012, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports forwarded his name again, this time along with 2008 Summer Olympics gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. Bindra had earlier been recommended for the award in May 2013 by the National Rifle Association of India. In July 2013, the ministry again recommended Dhyan Chand.
Bharat Ratna | Popular demands
However, in November 2013, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became the first sports-person to receive the honour and this garnered much criticism for the government. A PIL was filed in the Karnataka High Court where in the petitioner requested the court to issue a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider their representation dated 26 October 2012 and confer the Bharat Ratna upon Mahatma Gandhi. On 27 January 2014, a counsel appearing for the petitioner noted that after multiple representations from the petitioner, they were provided with the information under RTI that the recommendations to confer the award on Gandhi have been received multiple times in the past and were forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office.
Bharat Ratna | Popular demands
Mr. T.S. Krishna Murthy and Mr N. Gopalaswami, both former Chief Election Commissioner of India presented the Awards on 1 May 2010. Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and Mr S. Ramasubbu were the recipients of the Award. Former Indian President Mr APJ Abdul Kalam addressed the function via phone live from Delhi.
Sansad Ratna Award | UnSung Heroes Award 2010
The decision spurred criticism for ignoring the achievements of the shooter and Bhagwat and the National Rifle Association of India expressed their "disappointment" with the decision. Later, the government accepted all the recommendations "as an exception" and jointly awarded Beenamol and Bhagwat for the year 2002. In August 2013, the selection committee headed by Michael Ferreira recommended sport shooter Ronjan Sodhi for the award, with some committee members questioning the process of selection. A committee member noted that discus thrower Krishna Poonia, and Paralympic athlete Girisha Nagarajegowda were shortlisted and Sodhi was not the initial choice. However, Girisha's name was removed, and the final voting was done between Sodhi and Poonia.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Controversies
The Bharat Ratna (; "Jewel of India") is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but the government expanded the criteria to include "any field of human endeavour" in December 2011. The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year. The recipients receive a "Sanad" (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion.
Bharat Ratna | Introduction
Journalist and civil servant K. Subrahmanyam also refused his 1999 bestowal citing that "bureaucrats and journalists should not accept any award from the government because they are more liable to be favoured." In 2003, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) volunteer Dattopant Thengadi rejected the award until K. B. Hedgewar (RSS founder) and M. S. Golwalkar (RSS ideologue) are offered the Bharat Ratna. Civil servant S. R. Sankaran turned down the award in 2005 without citing any reason. In 2013, playback singer S. Janaki refused to accept her award and stated that "the award has come late in her five-and-half-decade long career." The singer also mentioned that she is not against the Government and expressed happiness for the recognition but requested the Government to "show some more consideration to the artists from the southern parts of the country." In 2014, family members of J.
Padma Bhushan | Refusals and controversies
On 23 January 1992, a press release was published by the President's Secretariat to confer the award posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose. The decision triggered much criticism and a PIL was filed in the Calcutta High Court to revoke the award. The petitioner took objection to the conferral of the award and its posthumous mention of Bose, saying that honouring a personality higher than the award is "ridiculous", and it was an act of "carelessness" to classify such a person with past and future recipients. It said that the award cannot be conferred to Bose posthumously as the Government had not officially accepted his death on 18 August 1945.
Bharat Ratna | Subhas Chandra Bose (1992)
R. Narayanan who agreed to the proposal.
Bharat Ratna | Criticism
In 1992, two PILs were filed in the High Courts; one in the Kerala High Court on 13 February 1992 by Balaji Raghavan and another in the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Indore Bench) on 24 August 1992 by Satya Pal Anand. Both petitioners questioned the civilian awards being "Titles" per an interpretation of of the Constitution. On 25 August 1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued a notice temporarily suspending all civilian awards. A Special Division Bench of the Supreme Court was formed comprising five judges; A. M. Ahmadi C. J., Kuldip Singh, B. P. Jeevan Reddy, N. P. Singh, and S.
Bharat Ratna | Civilian awards as "Titles" (1992)
The petitioner noted that as Tendulkar was an Indian National Congress nominated Member of Rajya Sabha, the decision to award him the Bharat Ratna would influence the voters of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram where the election process was underway at the time. Another PIL was filed against Tendulkar and a few ministers, "alleging a conspiracy to ignore" an Indian field hockey player Dhyan Chand. On 4 December 2013, the Election Commission rejected the petition stating that conferring the award on people from non-polling states did not amount to a violation of the code. Other High Courts as well rejected the petitions raised against Rao and Tendulkar.
Bharat Ratna | C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar (2013)
The 2002 selection committee headed by former football player Pradip Kumar Banerjee made twenty one recommendations for the Arjuna Award and two recommendations for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, athlete K. M. Beenamol and shooter Anjali Bhagwat. The government rejected the recommendations and asked the committee to cut down the list to comply with the award guidelines, where only one sportsperson for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and fifteen sportspersons along with one disabled athlete for the Arjuna Awards could be recommended each year. The committee revised the list to recommend Beenamol for the award over Bhagwat but also put a request "to consider everyone".
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Controversies
As with many official announcements, recipients are announced and registered in "The Gazette of India", a publication released by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Urban Development used for official government notices; without publication in the "Gazette", conferral of the award is not considered official. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, are registered in the "Gazette". Recipients whose awards have been revoked are required to surrender their medals, and their names are struck from the register.
Bharat Ratna | Regulations
Journalist Nikhil Chakravarty rejected the award in 1990 stating that the "journalists should not be identified with the establishment." Historian Romila Thapar refused to accept the award twice, for the first time in 1992, and later again in 2005, stating that she would accept awards only "from academic institutions or those associated with my professional work." For her 2005 bestowal, Thapar sent a clarification letter to the then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam mentioning that she had declined to accept the award when the Ministry of Human Resource Development had contacted her three month prior to the award announcement and had explained her reasons for not accepting the award.
Padma Bhushan | Refusals and controversies
The third recipient of the award was Amitabh Bachchan, an actor of Hindi Cinema. It was conferred on him on 20 November 2018 at Vadodara.
Sayaji Ratna Award | Third recipient
However, in 1999, four individuals were awarded the honour. The recipient receives a "Sanad" (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion without any monetary grant. Usage of the title 'Bharat Ratna' as a prefix by the awardee is exempt from Article 18 (1) of the Constitution, as per the Supreme Court's precedent in Balaji Raghavan/S.P. Anand v. Union of India in 1995. Additionally, recipients may either use the expression "Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President" or "Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award" to indicate that they have been honoured with the award. The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.
Bharat Ratna | Regulations
Veteran octogenarian parliamentarian Mr Era Sezhiyan and Mr N Vittal presented the Awards in May 2011 to Mr Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and Mr S. Ramasubbu.
Sansad Ratna Award | UnSung Heroes Award 2011
Questions were raised in Indian Parliament. Mr Tariq Anwer, Minister of State for Agriculture has answered that an enquiry has been initiated to look into the issues. However, reports suggest that ICAR has hushed up the matter and RTI queries for the outcome of the enquiry were not answered.
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award | Controversy
After his death in 1987, he became the third Chief Minister from the state of Tamil Nadu to receive the Bharat Ratna after C. Rajagopalachari and K. Kamaraj. The timing of the award was controversial, due to the fact that it was given so quickly after his death and he was elected as Chief Minister only 11 years before the award. Many opponents, mostly outside Tamil Nadu, criticised then ruling party INC, under Rajiv Gandhi to have influenced the selection committee to give the award to help win the upcoming 1989 Lok Sabha election. The ruling party forming a coalition with Jayalalithaa, the successor to MGR at that time, were able to sweep Tamil Nadu, winning 38 out of 39 seats, INC were however unable to win nationally.
M. G. Ramachandran | Bharat Ratna
It has been awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa in 1980, and to two non-Indians, Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1990. M. S. Subbulakshmi from Tamil Nadu became the first musician to receive the honour. Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 40, became the youngest person and first sportsperson to receive the honour. In a special ceremony on 18 April 1958, Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday. , the award has been conferred upon 45 people with 12 posthumous declarations. The award was briefly suspended twice in its history.
Bharat Ratna | History
On 2 January 1954, a press communiqué was released from the office of the secretary to the President announcing the creation of two civilian awards—Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, and the three-tier Padma Vibhushan, classified into "Pahela Warg" (Class I), "Dusra Warg" (Class II), and "Tisra Warg" (Class III), which rank below the Bharat Ratna. On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards; the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the three, followed by the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens.
Bharat Ratna | History
A Division bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice B.V. Nagarathna dismissed the petition stating that the subject is not amenable to any adjudication process and the nominations and conferment process is stated to be informal and in the discretion of the highest authority in the Government.
Bharat Ratna | Popular demands
There is no monetary grant associated with the award. Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence. The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna were: the last Governor-General of the Dominion of India – C. Rajagopalachari, second President and the first Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Nobel Prize Laureate, Physicist C. V. Raman; who were honoured in 1954. Since then, the award has been bestowed upon 48 individuals, including 16 who were awarded posthumously. The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but were amended in January 1955 to permit them. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honoured posthumously.
Bharat Ratna | Introduction
In August 2010, Narang had publicly expressed his displeasure after being ignored for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award thrice and he threatened to skip the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to lack of motivation. However, intense pressure from his family and fans, he later decided to participate.
Gagan Narang | Controversy
The first suspension occurred after Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister in 1977. His government withdrew all personal civil honours on 13 July 1977. The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister. The civilian awards were suspended again in mid-1992, when two Public-Interest Litigations were filed, one in the Kerala High Court and another in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, challenging the "constitutional validity" of the awards. The awards were reintroduced by the Supreme Court in December 1995, following the conclusion of the litigation.
Bharat Ratna | History
In 2018, he refused to attend to attend the Kalabooshana state awards festival to protest the October 26 political conspiracy. In social media, he condemns the anti-democratic and anti-constitutional acts of president Maithripala Sirisena and receiving an award from such a person is disgusting to him.
W. Jayasiri | Controversy
In April 2013, the Award ceremony was hosted again by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Ten MPs were selected for the Award, of which six MPs received the Award in person. Dr Konijeti Rosaiah, The Governor of Tamil Nadu and Mr T. S. Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India presented the Awards. Mr Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal and Mr S. Ramasubbu, Mrs Rama Devi and Mrs Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi received the Awards in person.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Awards 2013
The president of India, Mrs. Pratibha Patil awarded National Award for “Best Sound Design” for Film “KRAMASHA” in the year 2009.
Ajit Singh Rathore | Awards and honors
Similar demands were made by Telugu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Shiromani Akali Dal for their respective leaders N. T. Rama Rao, Kanshi Ram, and Parkash Singh Badal. In September 2015, regional political party Shiv Sena demanded the award for the independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar stating that he had been "deliberately neglected by previous governments" but his family clarified that they are not making such demand and that the freedom fighter is known for his contribution towards independence movement and did not need an award for recognition. Per the original statutes, sportspersons were not eligible for the Bharat Ratna; however, a revision of the rules in December 2011 made eligible "any field of human endeavour".
Bharat Ratna | Popular demands
In 2012 the Award was renamed as the 'Sansad Ratna Award'. The Award ceremony was held in April and was hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. Mr Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi presented the Awards. Mr Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Mr Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Mr Arjun Ram Meghwal and Mr S. Ramasubbu were the recipients of the Sansad Ratna Award.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Award 2012
The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2009, for his contributions to science and technology.
Bhakta B. Rath | Introduction
The Government can nominate up to two sportspersons in deserving cases where no such nominations have been received from the nominating authorities. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Nominations
He was awarded Bharat Ratna on 4 February 1961, India's highest civilian honour.
Bidhan Chandra Roy | Introduction
Giri was honoured with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975 for his contributions in the area of public affairs. As president, Giri had suo motu conferred the Bharat Ratna on Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972. Giri was in turn conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1975 on the recommendation of Prime Minister Gandhi, in an act seen as a quid pro quo measure. Giri was the fourth of the six Presidents of India to have been conferred the Bharat Ratna (viz. Rajendra Prasad, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam and Pranab Mukherjee).
V. V. Giri | Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country, was instituted in the year 1954. Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, gender or religion is eligible for this award. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service or performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a "Sanad" (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
Orders, decorations, and medals of India | Bharat Ratna
The top 10 nominees have all received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
The Greatest Indian | Top ten nominees
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, C. V. Raman, Bhagwan Das, Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, Jawaharlal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant, Dhondo Keshav Karve, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Purushottam Das Tandon, Rajendra Prasad, Zakir Hussain, Pandurang Vaman Kane, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, V. V. Giri, K. Kamaraj, Mother Teresa, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, M. G. Ramachandran, B. R. Ambedkar, Nelson Mandela, Rajiv Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Abul Kalam Azad, J. R. D. Tata, Satyajit Ray, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Gulzarilal Nanda, Aruna Asaf Ali
Sare Jahan se Accha (drawing) | Bharat Ratna Laureates
In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient; while social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday. The first singer to be awarded Bharat Ratna was M. S. Subbulakshmi. Though usually conferred on India-born citizens, the Bharat Ratna has been awarded to one naturalised citizen – Mother Teresa, and to two non-Indians: Abdul Ghaffar Khan (born in British India and later citizen of Pakistan) and Nelson Mandela, born in and citizen of South Africa. On 25 January 2019, the government announced the award to social activist Nanaji Deshmukh (posthumously), singer-music director Bhupen Hazarika (posthumously) and to the former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
Bharat Ratna | Introduction
Sangeet Ratna Award is given by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, which has been set up in the memory of Ustad Bismillah Khan in India.The award was announced by then Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2006.
Sangeet Ratna Award | Introduction
Sansad Ratna Award ("Gem of Parliament") is a private award established in 2010 by the Prime Point Foundation and e-magazine PreSense to honour "top performing" Members of the Indian Lok Sabha, based on the suggestions given by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India. It is in no way related to the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award given by the Indian Parliamentary Group. The Founders claim that Sansad Ratna Awards are given on behalf of "civil society" through a transparent selection process by a Jury committee of eminent Parliamentarians, based on the data on various performance parameters.
Sansad Ratna Award | Introduction
The second recipient of the Sayaji Ratna Award is Ratan Tata, KBE, an Indian businessman of the Tata Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate. Presently he holds the position of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, which is an honorary and advisory position. The award is conferred to him on 1-Dec-2015 in Vadodara.
Sayaji Ratna Award | Second recipient
A few have even questioned the accuracy of the polygraph results. MP Kamal Akhtar took up the issue in the Rajya Sabha, arguing that the questions asked in the show were against Indian culture and demanding a halt to its screening.
Sacch Ka Saamna | Controversy
In 1955, Nehru was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. President Rajendra Prasad awarded him the honour without taking advice from the Prime Minister as would be the normal constitutional procedure.
Jawaharlal Nehru | Awards
The Prime Point Foundation jointly with the ezine PreSense decided to honour Parliamentarians who, in their opinion, performed well in the Lok Sabha, based on their participation in debates, raising questions, introducing Private Members Bills and Attendance. In May 2010, the Award was presented for the first time under the name "UnSung Heroes' Award". Since its launch in 2010, the Award has been presented annually, around April or May. The Award was renamed in 2012 and has since been known as the "Sansad Ratna Award". Prime Minister of India has appreciated the Foundation for the 'proactive initiative' and congratulated the 2018 Awardees.
Sansad Ratna Award | Introduction
National Awards: State Awards: Other Awards:
Rathnamala Prakash | Awards
The nominations for the award are received from all government recognised National Sports Federations, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Sports Promotion and Control Boards, and the state and the union territory governments with not more than two eligible sportspersons nominated for each sports discipline. In case of cricket, the nominations are received from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and SAI is authorised to submit the nominations on behalf of all the de-recognised or under suspension National Sports Federations. The previous award recipients can also nominate one sportsperson for the discipline for which they themselves were awarded.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Nominations
Delhi based NGO PRS Legislative Research closely monitors the "performance" of all the Members of Parliament and releases the data of their individual performance. Selection of Awardees is based on the participation of debates, raising questions, introduction of Private Members Bills and attendance in the House and Committee Meetings, Usage of MPLADS, etc. at the end of Budget Session of every year. The Awards are then presented to the Members of Parliament in a ceremony held around June / July every year. For the 16th Lok Sabha, a "Jury Committee" headed by Anandrao Vithoba Adsul with members Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and Arjun Ram Meghwal has been formed to select the Award winners.
Sansad Ratna Award | Selection Methodology
This time he stated that he would not accept any award that other sitar players, his juniors and in his opinion less deserving, had been given before him. "If there is any award for sitar in India, I must get it first", he said, adding that "there has always been a story of wrong time, wrong person and wrong award in this country". He alleged that the Sangeet Natak Akademi had been influenced by lobbying, politics and favouritism while deciding the awardees.
Vilayat Khan | Controversy
He was awarded the Ratna Darpan (excellence in media) in 2002.
D. B. Karnik | Awards
In August 2015, the Ministry announced the award to Romeo James (Hockey), Shiv Prakash Mishra (Tennis), and T. P. Padmanabhan Nair (Volleyball). A Public-Interest Litigation was filed in the Madras High Court by Paralympic athlete Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan. The petitioner mentioned that he submitted the nomination after fulfilling the criteria by getting 60% for medals and 30% for contributing for sports promotion. Kumar requested to annul the award announced on three recipients. The Court ordered a notice to the Ministry seeking an explanation about the selection.
Dhyan Chand Award | Controversies
Ratan Tata received the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the third and second highest civilian honours awarded by the Government of India. Other notable awards include:
Ratan Tata | Honours and awards
He is the Convenor of the Council for Promotion of Dogri Language, Culture and History a body which awards the Dogra Ratan awards. In 2011 the President of India Pratibha Patil, presented the awards at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium.
Bhim Singh (politician) | Dogra Ratan Awards
S. Verma who served as 27th Chief Justice of India refused the posthumous conferral stating that "Verma himself would not have accepted" the honour as he "never hankered or lobbied for any acclaim, reward or favour." Kannada novelist K. Shivaram Karanth, who was awarded in 1968, returned his award to protest against the Emergency declared in the country in 1975. Novelist Khushwant Singh, who accepted the award in 1974 in the field of literature and education, returned it in 1984 as a notion of protest against the Operation Blue Star. Singh was later awarded with Padma Vibhushan in 2007. Pushpa Mittra Bhargava, 1986 recipient and scientist and founder-director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), returned his award in 2015 in protest of the Dadri mob lynching and out of concern at the "prevailing socio-politico situation" in the country.
Padma Bhushan | Refusals and controversies
Bhargava received Padma Bhushan from the President of India in 1986, but returned it in 2015 as an act of protest against the Indian government's active erosion of spaces for dissent within the country.
Pushpa Mittra Bhargava | Awards
In 1974, the Government of India conferred on him the Padma Bhushan, one of the premier civilian awards, second only to the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan. The award was presented in recognition of his work in the field of literature and education.
Camille Bulcke | Recognition
On 27 May 2017, 8th Edition of Sansad Ratna Award ceremony was held at Indian Institute of Technology Madras to honour the top performing Parliamentarians of 16th Lok Sabha (up to 10th session). Justice (Retd.) P. Sathasivam, Hon'ble Governor of Kerala presented the Awards. Bhartruhari Mahtab. N.K. Premachandran, Shrirang Barne, Rajiv Satav, Dhananjay Mahadik, Dr Heena Gavit, Sanjay Raut, K. N. Balagopal and T. N. Seema were honoured with Sansad Ratna Awards.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Awards 2017
Of 50 nominees, 15 have received the Bharat Ratna and 6 are women. The oldest living nominees at the time of the poll were Ravi Shankar (92), M. S. Swaminathan (87) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (88), while Sachin Tendulkar (39) was the youngest.
The Greatest Indian | List of original fifty nominees
The Uttarakhand Ratna award was constituted by former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat in 2016, on the occasion of 16th anniversary of Uttarakhand State Foundation Day which falls on 9 November each year.
Uttarakhand Ratna | History
He also received Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan from Government of India. On 16 November 2013, the Government of India selected him for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, making him the third scientist after C.V. Raman and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to receive the award. He received the award on 4 February 2014 from President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
C. N. R. Rao | Introduction
On 11 June 2016, 7th Edition of Sansad Ratna Award ceremony was held at Indian Institute of Technology Madras to honour the top performing Parliamentarians of 16th Lok Sabha (up to 7th session). Dr. C. Rangarajan, Former Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Reserve Bank of India presented the Awards. Shivaji Adhalrao Patil. P P Choudhary, Shrirang Barne, Rajiv Satav, Dr Heena Gavit and P. Rajeev were honoured with Sansad Ratna Awards.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Awards 2016
The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, the Ministries of the Government of India, the Bharat Ratna and previous Padma Vibhushan award recipients, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals. The committee later submits their recommendations to the Prime Minister and the President of India for the further approval. The award recipients are announced on Republic Day. The first recipients of the award were Satyendra Nath Bose, Nand Lal Bose, Zakir Hussain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, and V.
Padma Vibhushan | Introduction
The award was promulgated on Independence Day in 1972.
Rattan Nath Sharma | Military career
Sanu resigned from the award selection committee and chairmanship of the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust (VRMT) in September 2019, specifying that he was suffering from health issues. A few days later, during an interview, he clarified the controversy of his resignation from the trust. Sanu stated that he was being pressurized to select a book. which, according to him, scored the least during evaluation. He also said that the piece "Nireeshwaran" by author V. J. James had scored the highest points in the last stage of the assessment. Later in September 2019, VRMT chose "Nireeshwaran" by V. J. James for the Vayalar Rama Varma Literary Award 2019.
M. K. Sanu | Controversies
He has founded Sansad Ratna Award through Prime Point Foundation. The Awards are presented to top performing Members of Indian Lok Sabha every year since 2010 during April / May.
Krishnaswamy Srinivasan | Background
He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 2019 (Posthumously) and Padma Vibhushan in 1999.
Nanaji Deshmukh | Appreciation and recognition
In 2013, playback singer S. Janaki refused to accept her award and stated that "the award has come late in her five-and-half-decade long career". The singer also mentioned that she is not against the Government and expressed happiness for the recognition but requested the Government to "show some more consideration to the artists from the southern parts of the country". In 2014, family members of J. S. Verma who served as 27th Chief Justice of India refused the posthumous conferral stating that "Verma himself would not have accepted" the honour as he "never hankered or lobbied for any acclaim, reward or favour".
List of Padma Bhushan award recipients (2010–2019) | Controversies and refusals
In 1996 he won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award. in 2013, he received Living Legend Award at the prestigious Bharat Nirman Awards.
Somnath Chatterjee | Awards and honors
Some of the bestowals of the Padma Bhushan have been refused or returned by the recipients. A Bengali theatre activist Sisir Bhaduri (1959) was the first awardee who refused their conferment as "he felt state awards merely help create a sycophantic brigade" and "did not want to encourage the impression that the government was serious about the importance of theatre in national life." Sitar player Vilayat Khan declined to accept the award in 1968, with him stating that "the selection committees were incompetent to judge [his] music." Khan had earlier refused Padma Shri in 1964 and later also turned down Padma Vibhushan in 2000.
Padma Bhushan | Refusals and controversies
Instituted in 1991–1992, the award was given for the performance by a sportsperson in a year. Based on the suggestions provided by 2014 award selection committee, the Ministry revised the criteria in February 2015 to consider the performance over a period of four years. The nominations for a given year are accepted till 30 April or last working day of April with not more than two sportspersons nominated for each sports discipline. A twelve-member committee evaluates the performances of a sportsperson at various International events like Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. The committee later submits their recommendations to the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports for further approval.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Introduction
Several VIPs also participate in the function. The main attraction during the celebrations is the questions posed by members of the audience and quick answers given by Cho. On 25 January 2017, the Government of India announced the Padma Bhushan award for his contribution towards Literature & Education – Journalism.
Cho Ramaswamy | Literature
Another successful candidate, Anika Kalra Kalha, was not even called for an audition and reporting skills test, and the remark in the relevant columns read “Did not qualify for this stage”. Similarly, the weightage given to interviews was arbitrarily increased two days before they were held.
Prasar Bharati | Controversy over candidate selection
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, however, defended the organisers, saying "Those who drive Fiats were given Mercs. And still they're grumbling!". Film journalist Bharati S. Pradhan wrote in "The Telegraph" that the awards ceremony was a "baggy, poorly-arranged show by all accounts" and the reason Gupta was defending the organisers was that he had close relations with them.
2nd Global Indian Film Awards | Award ceremony and reception
Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) and Dr Zakir Hussain (1963) were the earlier recipients of Bharat Ratna who later became the President of India. He was also the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam | Presidency
On 22 February 2014, the Award ceremony was held at Chennai Press Club to honour the top performing Members of 15th Lok Sabha. 12 MPs were selected to receive the Award, which includes Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi who is an MP from Hyderabad. 5 MPs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Gajanan Babar, Shivaji Adhalrao Patil, S. Ramasubbu and Rama Devi received the Awards from N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Awards 2014
Rao was awarded the Pratibha Murthy Lifetime Achievement Award. Many people across the party line supported the name of P. V. Narasimha Rao for Bharat Ratna. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao supported the move to give Bharat Ratna to Rao. Even BJP leader Subramanian Swamy supported the move to give Bharat Ratna to Rao. According to Sanjay Baru, PM Manmohan Singh wanted to give Bharat Ratna to Rao during his tenure. In September 2020, Telangana Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution seeking to confer Bharat Ratna on Rao. The resolution also requested the Central Government to rename the University of Hyderabad after him.
P. V. Narasimha Rao | Awards
The reply was, in part, that "The Netherlands respects the Indian legal system and therefore does not interfere in this ongoing case. The contact with Mr. Bharathan will be maintained also in view of the further development of the [Tulip] Award."
Marimuthu Bharathan | Questions in Dutch Parliament
If you give a prize for a building, shouldn’t the fellow who built the first floor be given the prize before those who built the second floor?"
E. C. George Sudarshan | Controversy regarding Nobel Prize
The Award comes with a gold medal weighing 50 gm, a citation, a memento and a shawl.
Karnataka Ratna | The Award
The original 1954 specifications of the award was a circle made of gold in diameter with a centred sun burst design on the obverse side. The text "Bharat Ratna", in Devanagari Script, is inscribed on the upper edge in silver gilt with a wreath set along on the lower edge. A platinum State Emblem of India was placed in the center of the reverse side with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" in Devanagari Script (; lit. "Truth alone triumphs"), inscribed in silver-gilt on the lower edge. A year later, the design was modified. The current medal is in the shape of a peepal leaf, approximately long, wide and thick and rimmed in platinum.
Bharat Ratna | Specifications
On 9 June 2018, 9th Edition of Sansad Ratna Award ceremony was held at Indian Institute of Technology Madras to honour the top performing Parliamentarians of 16th Lok Sabha (up to Budget Session 2018). Shri M. K. Narayanan, Former Governor of West Bengal and Shri T. S. Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India presented the Awards. Bhartruhari Mahtab, Supriya Sule, Shrirang Barne, Rajiv Satav, Dhananjay Mahadik and Dr Heena Gavit, were honoured with Sansad Ratna Awards. For the first time an Award was introduced for an outstanding Parliamentary Standing Committee. Dr Veerappa Moily, Chairman of Finance Committee received the Award on behalf of Finance Committee.
Sansad Ratna Award | Sansad Ratna Awards 2018
When instituted in 1991–92, the award was given for the performance by a sportsperson in a year. Based on the suggestions provided by 2014 award selection committee headed by Kapil Dev, the Ministry revised the criteria in February 2015 to consider the performance over a period of four years. The medals won in various International championships and events of the disciplines which include Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games are given 80% weightage. The remaining 20% weightage is given to the profile and standard of the events. For any other games not included in Olympic, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games like cricket and indigenous games, the individuals performance of a sportsperson is taken into consideration.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna | Selection process
The Jury committee members were themselves "outstanding performers" of the 15th Lok Sabha and recipients of 'Sansad Maha Ratna' awards for 15th Lok Sabha.
Sansad Ratna Award | Selection Methodology
Commenting that the event lacked a basic sense of planning, Murari said, "They should have ideally given a single pass for all the four days but artists had to wait everyday at the entrance to pick up their passes. I was told that most of the artists who were honoured had to return their shawls and mementos because the committee had run out of stock". On a different occasion, he faulted prominent Telugu film director K. Raghavendra Rao for being awarded honorary doctorate by the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM University) in the year 2014 at Visakhapatnam. "How can the Gitam University confer the director a Doctorate as he lacks dignity and held no social duty for over many years," he questioned.
K. Murari | Controversies
The Election Commission had held a referendum election in 2037 BS 1980 AD
Ratna Bahadur Bista | Introduction
First time following Rajasthanis were conferred award:- Except for Chundawat, Detha and Bhatt, the award was conferred posthumously.
Rajasthan Ratna | 2012
in 1878 and Raja in 1888 by the British Government. Mitra had expressed displeasure about these awards.
Rajendralal Mitra | Honours
He received "Kala Ratna" award from the government of Andhra Pradesh in 2017.
Gangadhara Sastry | Awards