Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award instituted in 1954, is given in recognition of exceptional service, performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for this award.
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.
On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
The award was briefly suspended twice in its history.The first suspension occurred after Morarji Desai was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister in 1977(Reson for suspension of the award given that Award Opposes the fundamental right provided in article 18 that is Abolition of title). 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The suspension was rescinded on 25 January 1980, after Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister.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
Specifications of award
The original 1954 specifications of the award was a circle made of gold 35 mm in diameter with a centred sunburst 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 centre of the reverse side with the national motto, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari Script, inscribed in silver-gilt on the lower edge.
A year later(In 1955), the design was modified The current medal is in the shape of a peepal leaf, approximately 59 mm long,48 mm wide and 3.2 mm thick and rimmed in platinum. The embossed sunburst design, made of platinum. The words "Bharat Ratna" on the obverse side remained the same as the 1954 design as did the emblem of India and "Satyameva Jayate" on the reverse side. In 1957, the silver-gilt decoration was changed to burnished bronze.
The Bharat Ratna medals are produced at Alipore Mint, Kolkata along with the other civilian and military awards like Padma Vibushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, and Param Veer Chakra.
Important Points
1. Bharat Ratna award does not carry any monetary grant. The award cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the recipient’s name.
2.The first-time Award was given to Chakravarti Rajagopalachari(Indian politician, independence activist, lawyer, writer and statesman), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan(Indian philosopher and statesman) and Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman ( The physicist)
3. Last time (In 2015) this Award given to Educationist Madan Mohan Malviya and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are the 44th and 45th distinguished personalities who have been conferred with country’s highest civilian award
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