Awards

Master key national honors and awards in India, including civilian (Bharat Ratna, Padma), military gallantry (PVC), sports, cinema, and literary honors.

15 Mins Read 30 Practice MCQs Honours & Awards

I. Highest Civilian Awards

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I.ABharat Ratna (Highest Civilian Award)

The Bharat Ratna (literally ‘Jewel of India’) is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.

Property	Details
Criteria & Purpose	Conferred in recognition of “exceptional service/performance of the highest order”. Originally restricted to achievements in arts, literature, science, and public services, the criteria were expanded in December 2011 to include “any field of human endeavor”.
Institution Date	Instituted on 2 January 1954.
First Recipients (1954)	C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and C. V. Raman.
Latest Recipients (2024)	Karpoori Thakur, Lal Krishna Advani, Charan Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao, and M. S. Swaminathan.
Total Awards	As of 2024, the award has been bestowed upon 53 individuals.
Reward/Insignia	Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion. The award does not include a monetary grant.
Precedence	Recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.

Posthumous Awards: Initially not permitted, the statutes were amended in January 1966 to allow posthumous awards. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first individual honored posthumously (1966).
Youngest Recipient: Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became the youngest recipient at age 40 in 2014, and the first sportsperson to receive the honour.
Oldest Recipient: Social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve was the oldest recipient, awarded on his 100th birthday in 1958.
Non-Indian/Naturalized Citizens: The award has been conferred on one naturalized citizen, Mother Teresa (1980), and two non-Indians, Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Pakistan, 1987) and Nelson Mandela (South Africa, 1990).
Suspension: The award was briefly suspended twice: from July 1977 to January 1980, and again from August 1992 to December 1995 due to legal challenges.
Cancelled Award: The government’s decision to confer the award posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose in 1992 was later cancelled following a Supreme Court decision in 1997, making it the only time the award was announced but not conferred.

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II. Military Gallantry Awards (Wartime)

2 Subsections

III. Sports, Cinema & Literary Awards

3 Subsections

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Practice Questions on Awards

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Property

Details

Criteria & Purpose

Conferred in recognition of “exceptional service/performance of the highest order”. Originally restricted to achievements in arts, literature, science, and public services, the criteria were expanded in December 2011 to include “any field of human endeavor”.

Institution Date

Instituted on 2 January 1954.

First Recipients (1954)

C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and C. V. Raman.

Latest Recipients (2024)

Karpoori Thakur, Lal Krishna Advani, Charan Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao, and M. S. Swaminathan.

Total Awards

As of 2024, the award has been bestowed upon 53 individuals.

Reward/Insignia

Recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion. The award does not include a monetary grant.

Precedence

Recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.