Bharat Ratna Award

Bharat Ratna Award:

India has produced a legacy of brave hearts since times immemorial. Probably there is not enough space to measure their sacrifices. However, we cannot close our eyes to those people who have made our country proud by excelling in their own fields and bringing us international recognition. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order.

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. This design was altered after a year.

The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954. The first ever Indian to receive this award was the famous scientist, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. Since then, many dignitaries, each a whiz in varied aspects of their career has received this coveted award.

In fact, our former President, Shri A. P. J Abdul Kalam is also a recipient of this esteemed honour (1997). There is no written provision that Bharat Ratna should be awarded to Indian citizens only. The award has been awarded to a naturalized Indian citizen, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980) and to two non-Indians – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela (1990). It is also not mandatory that Bharat Ratna be awarded every year. The last time this award was given was in 2008, to Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi.

Bharat Ratna Awardees List:

 1. Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi - Arts : 2008 : Karnataka

 2. Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar - Arts : 2001 : Maharashtra

 3. Late. Ustad Bismillah Khan  - Arts : 2001 : Uttar Pradesh

 4. Prof. Amartya Sen  - Literature & Education : 1999 : United Kingdom

 5. Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi  - Public Affairs : 1999 : Assam

 6. Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan  - Public Affairs : 1999 : Bihar

 7. Pandit Ravi Shankar - Arts : 1999 : United States

 8. Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam  - Public Affairs : 1998 : Tamil Nadu

 9. Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi  - Arts : 1998 : Tamil Nadu

10. Shri (Dr.) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam  - Science & Engineering. : 1997 : Delhi

11. Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali  - Public Affairs : 1997 : Delhi

12. Shri Gulzari Lal (Shri) Nanda  - Public Affairs : 1997 : Gujarat

13. Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata  - Trade & Industry : 1992 : Maharashtra

14. Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad  - Public Affairs : 1992 : West Bengal

15. Shri Satyajit Ray  - Arts : 1992 : West Bengal

16. Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai  - Public Affairs : 1991 : Gujarat

17. Shri Rajiv Gandhi  - Public Affairs : 1991 : Delhi

18. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel  - Public Affairs : 1991 : Gujarat

19. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr  - Public Affairs : 1990 : Maharashtra

20. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela  - Public Affairs : 1990 : South Africa

21. Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran  - Public Affairs : 1988 : Tamil Nadu

22. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan  - Social Work : 1987 : Pakistan

23. Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave  - Social Work : 1983 : Maharashtra

24. Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Teresa  - Social Work : 1980 : West Bengal

25. Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj  - Public Affairs : 1976 : Tamil Nadu

26. Shri V.V. Giri  - Public Affairs : 1975 : Odisha

27. Smt. Indira Gandhi  - Public Affairs : 1971 : Uttar Pradesh

28. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri - Public Affairs : 1966 : Uttar Pradesh

29. Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane  - Social Work : 1963 : Maharashtra

30. Dr. Zakir Hussain  - Public Affairs : 1963 : Andhra Pradesh

31. Dr. Rajendra Prasad  - Public Affairs : 1962 : Bihar

32. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy - Public Affairs : 1961 : West Bengal

33. Shri Purushottam Das Tandon - Public Affairs : 1961 : Uttar Pradesh

34. Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve - Social Work : 1958 : Maharashtra

35. Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant  - Public Affairs : 1957 : Uttar Pradesh

36. Dr. Bhagwan Das  - Literature & Education : 1955 : Uttar Pradesh

37. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru  - Public Affairs : 1955 : Uttar Pradesh

38. Dr. M. Vishweshwariah  - Civil Service : 1955 : Karnataka

39. Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari  - Public Affairs : 1954 : Tamil Nadu

40. Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman  - Science & Engineering. : 1954 : Tamil Nadu

41. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan  - Public Affairs : 1954 : Tamil Nadu

Padma Awards - 2012

Padma Awards, the country's highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. 'Padma Vibhushan' is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; 'Padma Bhushan' for distinguished service of high order and 'Padma Shri' for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

The President of India has approved the conferment of Padma Awards-2012. This year the President has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 women among the awardees.

Padma Vibhushan

1. Shri K G Subramanyan - Art-Painting & Sculpture - West Bengal

2. Late Shri Mario De Miranda - Art-Cartoonist - Goa*

3. Late (Dr.)Bhupen Hazarika - Art- Vocal Music - Assam*

4. Dr. Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti - Medicine - Orthopedics - Maharashtra

5. Shri T V Rajeswar - Civil Service - Delhi

Padma Bhushan

1. Smt. Shabana Azmi - Art - Cinema - Maharashtra

2. Shri Khaled Choudhury - Art - Theatre - West Bengal

3. Shri Jatin Das - Art - Painting - Delhi

4. Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta - Art - Instrumental Music - Sarod - West Bengal

5. Shri Dharmendra Singh Deol alias Dharmendra - Art - Cinema - Maharashtra

6. Dr. Trippunithwra Viswanathan Gopalkrishnan - Art - Classical vocal and instrumental music - Tamil Nadu

7. Ms. Mira Nair - Art - Cinema - Delhi

8. Shri M.S. Gopalakrishnan - Art - Instrumental Music-Violin - Tamil Nadu

9. Shri Anish Kapoor - Art - Sculpture - UK*

10. Shri Satya Narayan Goenka - Social Work - Maharashtra

11. Dr. (Judge) Patibandla Chandrasekhar Rao - Public Affairs - Germany*

12. Shri George Yong-Boon Yeo - Public Affairs - Singapore*

13. Prof. Shashikumar Chitre - Science and Engineering - Maharashtra

14. Dr. M S Raghunathan - Science and Engineering - Maharashtra

15. Shri Subbiah Murugappa Vellayan - Trade and Industry - Tamil Nadu

16. Shri Balasubramanian Muthuraman - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra

17. Dr. Suresh H. Advani - Medicine - Oncology - Maharashtra

18. Dr. Noshir H Wadia - Medicine-Neurology - Maharashtra

19. Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty - Medicine-Cardiology - Karnataka

20. Prof. (Dr.) Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar - Literature and Education - Maharashtra

21. Prof. Vidya Dehejia - Literature and Education - USA*

22. Prof. Arvind Panagariya - Literature and Education - USA*

23. Dr. Jose Pereira - Literature and Education - USA*

24. Dr. Homi K. Bhabha - Literature and Education - UK *

25. Shri N Vittal - Civil Service - Kerala

26. Shri Mata Prasad - Civil Service - Uttar Pradesh

27. Shri Ronen Sen - Civil Service - West Bengal

Padma Shri

1. Shri Vanraj Bhatia - Art - Music - Maharashtra

2. Shri Zia Fariduddin Dagar - Art - Music - vocal - Maharashtra

3. Smt. Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi - Art - Music- Khongjom Parba - Manipur

4. Shri Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani - Art - Yakshagana dance drama - Karnataka

5. Shri Moti Lal Kemmu - Art - Playwright - Jammu and Kashmir

6. Shri Shahid Parvez Khan - Art - Instrumental Music-Sitar - Maharashtra

7. Shri Mohan Lal Kumhar - Art - Terracotta - Rajasthan

8. Shri Sakar Khan Manganiar - Art - Rajasthani Folk Music - Rajasthan

9. Smt. Joy Michael - Art - Theatre - Delhi

10. Dr. Minati Mishra - Art - Indian Classical Dance-Odissi. - Orissa

11. Shri Natesan Muthuswamy - Art - Theatre. - Tamil Nadu

12. Smt. R. Nagarathnamma - Art - Theatre - Karnataka

13. Shri Kalamandalm Sivan Nambootiri - Art - Indian Classical Dance- Kutiyattam - Kerala

14. Smt. Yamunabai Waikar - Art - Indian Folk Music-Lavani. - Maharashtra

15. Shri Satish Alekar - Art - Playwright - Maharashtra

16. Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey - Art - Chhau dance and choreography - Jharkhand

17. Shri Ramakant Gundecha and Shri Umakant Gundecha# - Art - Indian Classical Music- Vocal - Madhya Pradesh

18. Shri Anup Jalota - Art-Indian Classical Music- Vocal - Maharashtra

19. Shri Soman Nair Priyadarsan - Art - Cinema- Direction - Kerala

20. Shri Sunil Janah - Art-Photography - Assam

21. Ms. Laila Tyebji - Art-Handicrafts - Delhi

22. Shri Vijay Sharma - Art-Painting - Himachal Pradesh

23. Smt. Shamshad Begum - Social Work - Chattisgarh

24. Smt. Reeta Devi - Social Work - Delhi

25. Dr. P.K. Gopal - Social Work - Tamil Nadu

26. Smt. Phoolbasan Bai Yadav - Social Work - Chattisgarh

27. Dr. G. Muniratnam - Social Work - Andhra Pradesh

28. Shri Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya - Social Work - Maharashtra

29. Dr. Uma Tuli - Social Work - Delhi

30. Shri Sat Paul Varma - Social Work - Jammu and Kashmir

31. Smt.Binny Yanga - Social Work - Arunachal Pradesh

32. Shri Yezdi Hirji Malegam - Public Affairs - Maharashtra

33. Shri Pravin H. Parekh - Public Affairs - Delhi

34. Dr. V. Adimurthy - Science and Engineering - Kerala

35. Dr. Krishna Lal Chadha - Science and Engineering - Agriculture - Delhi

36. Prof. Virander Singh Chauhan - Science and Engineering - Delhi

37. Prof. Rameshwar Nath Koul Bamezai - Science and Engineering - Jammu and Kashmir

38. Dr. Vijaypal Singh - Science and Engineering - Agricultural Research - Uttar Pradesh

39. Dr. Lokesh Kumar Singhal - Science and Engineering - Punjab

40. Dr. Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan - Science and Engineering - Karnataka

41. Prof. Jagadish Shukla - Science and Engineering - USA*

42. Ms. Priya Paul - Trade and Industry - Delhi

43. Shri Shoji Shiba - Trade and Industry - Japan*

44. Shri Gopinath Pillai - Trade and Industry - Singapore*

45. Shri Arun Hastimal Firodia - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra

46. Dr. Swati A. Piramal - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra

47. Prof. Mahdi Hasan - Medicine-Anatomy - Uttar Pradesh

48. Dr. Viswanathan Mohan - Medicine - Diabetology - Tamil Nadu

49. Dr. J. Hareendran Nair - Medicine - Ayurveda - Kerala

50. Dr. Vallalarpuram Sennimalai Natarajan - Medicine - Geriatrics - Tamil Nadu

51. Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh - Medicine - Oncology - Bihar

52. Dr. Shrinivas S. Vaishya - Medicine-Healthcare - Daman and Diu

53. Dr. Nitya Anand - Medicine - Drugs Research - Uttar Pradesh

54. Late Dr. Jugal Kishore - Medicine - Homoeopathy - Delhi *

55. Dr. Mukesh Batra - Medicine-Homeopathy - Maharashtra

56. Dr. Eberhard Fischer - Literature and Education - Switzerland*

57. Shri Kedar Gurung - Literature and Education - Sikkim

58. Shri Surjit Singh Patar - Literature and Education - Poetry - Punjab

59. Shri Vijay Dutt Shridhar - Literature and Education - Journalism - Madhya Pradesh

60. Shri Irwin Allan Sealy - Literature and Education - Uttarakhand

61. Ms. Geeta Dharmarajan - Literature and Education - Delhi

62. Prof. Sachchidanand Sahai - Literature and Education - Haryana

63. Smt. Pepita Seth - Literature and Education - Kerala

64. Dr. Ralte L. Thanmawia - Literature and Education - Mizoram

65. Shri Ajeet Bajaj - Sports - Skiing - Delhi

66. Smt. Jhulan Goswami - Sports - Women's Cricket - West Bengal

67. Shri Zafar Iqbal - Sports-Hockey - Uttar Pradesh

68. Shri Devendra Jhajrija - Sports - Athletics- Paralympics - Rajasthan

69. Shri Limba Ram - Sports - Archery - Rajasthan

70. Shri Syed Mohammed Arif - Sports - Badminton - Andhra Pradesh

71. Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi - Sports- Commentary - Delhi

72. Shri Prabhakar Vaidya - Sports-Physical Education - Maharashtra

73. Shri T. Venkatapathi Reddiar - Others-Horticulture - Puducherry

74. Dr. K. (Kota) Ullas Karanth - Others-Wildlife Conservation and Environment Protection - Karnataka

75. Shri K Paddayya - Others-Archaeology - Maharashtra

76. Shri Swapan Guha - Others-Ceramics - Rajasthan

77. Dr. Kartikeya V. Sarabhai - Others - Environmental Education – Gujarat

* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous.

"FIRST INDIAN TO DEFEND World Cup Title in Shooting"

                            WC FINAL : GOLDEN ENCORE FOR SODHI
Shotgn shooter "Rojan Sodhi" did what no Indian had done befor him - he successfully defended his prestigious World Cup Final title. The delhi based double trap marksman clinch the gold in AL Ain (UAE) to cap a fine year during which he touched the pinnacle in world ranking.
                                               Sodhi defended the title after defeating chinese shooter "Binyuan Hu" with 187 points. With a total of 185 points, Russia's Vitaly Fokeev won the bronze.