Bharat Ratna

C. Rajagopalachari received the Bharat Ratna in 1954. In 1963, Dr. Zakir Husain and P. V. Kane received the award; in the standard recipient list, P. V. Kane is placed last for this period. Dr. Rajendra Prasad received it in 1962, while Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi were awarded in later years. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna recipients along with their years, especially 1954, 1962, and 1963.

The Bharat Ratna was instituted in 1954, and C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Dr. C. V. Raman were honoured in that first year. Everyone in option B also received the Bharat Ratna, but they were recipients in 1955, making it a close but incorrect distractor. Exam tip: Memorise the three 1954 recipients as one group.

In 1955, Bhagwan Das, Sir M. Visvesvaraya and Jawaharlal Nehru were awarded the Bharat Ratna. All the personalities in option C were among the first Bharat Ratna awardees in 1954, making it a close but incorrect distractor. Exam tip: Memorise early Bharat Ratna awardees in year-wise groups.

Govind Ballabh Pant received the Bharat Ratna in 1957, followed by Dhondo Keshav Karve in 1958. Therefore, 1957 and 1958 is the correct order. Option A contains the same years but reverses the recipients’ order. Exam tip: In chronology questions, match the years carefully to the order in which the names are given.

In 1961, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy and Purushottam Das Tandon, so option D is correct. Dr. Rajendra Prasad received it in 1962 and Dr. Zakir Husain in 1963, making option A incorrect. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna recipients as year-wise pairs where applicable.

Dr Rajendra Prasad received the Bharat Ratna in 1962, while Dr Zakir Husain received it in 1963. Therefore, the correct respective order is 1962 and 1963. Option B reverses these two years. Exam tip: In award-year questions, always match the years to the names in the stated order.

In 1963, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to Dr Zakir Husain and Pandurang Vaman Kane, widely known as P. V. Kane, a noted scholar of law and Dharmashastra. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad received the award later, in 1992. Exam tip: Remember Dr Zakir Husain and P. V. Kane as the Bharat Ratna pair for 1963.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1966, making him the first recipient to receive it after death. K. Kamaraj received the award posthumously later, in 1976, so he was not the first. Exam tip: Remember Lal Bahadur Shastri—1966 as the first posthumous Bharat Ratna award.

The Bharat Ratna was instituted in 1954. Its rules were amended in 1955 to permit posthumous awards. The year 1966 does not mark this permission; it is associated with Lal Bahadur Shastri receiving the Bharat Ratna posthumously. Exam tip: Memorise an award’s institution year separately from the year of a rule change or first posthumous award.

Mother Teresa received the Bharat Ratna in 1980, while Acharya Vinoba Bhave received it in 1983. Option B reverses the two recipients. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna awardees as year-recipient pairs; Vinoba Bhave—1983 is an important one.

The correct sequence is Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan—1987 and Nelson Mandela—1990, so option B is correct. Option A contains the same years but reverses their order. Exam tip: In chronology questions, match each year to the names in the order given.

M. G. Ramachandran was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1988. He died in 1987, making 1987 a close but incorrect option. For exams, remember the award year separately from the year of death.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar and Nelson Mandela were awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990. Ambedkar was honoured for his contribution to social justice and the Indian Constitution, while Mandela was recognised for his struggle against apartheid. The close distractor, Rajiv Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, received the award in 1991. Exam tip: remember 1990 as the Ambedkar–Mandela pair.

In 1991, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to Rajiv Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Morarji Desai. The three people in option A received the award in 1992, so that option is a close but incorrect distractor. Exam tip: remember 1991 as the year associated with these three major political leaders.

In 1992, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, J. R. D. Tata and Satyajit Ray. They are associated respectively with education and nation-building, industry, and cinema. The three people in option B received the award in 1999, not 1992. Exam tip: remember 1992 as the year of education–industry–cinema.

Both Satyajit Ray and J. R. D. Tata received the Bharat Ratna in 1992. Ray was honoured for his exceptional contribution to Indian cinema, while Tata was recognised for his contributions to industry and civil aviation. 1999 is incorrect because Amartya Sen and Pandit Ravi Shankar received the award that year. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna recipients together with their award years.

In 1997, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, freedom fighter Aruna Asaf Ali, and former acting Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda. In option B, M. S. Subbulakshmi and C. Subramaniam received the award in 1998, while Amartya Sen received it in 1999. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna awardees in year-wise groups.

In 1998, Bharat Ratna awardees included renowned Carnatic vocalist M. S. Subbulakshmi and agricultural scientist-politician C. Subramaniam. Amartya Sen and Pandit Ravi Shankar received the award in 1999, so option A is not correct. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna recipients by linking the award year with their field of work.

Both Jayaprakash Narayan and Gopinath Bordoloi were awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1999. The year 1998 is a close distractor because C. Subramaniam received the award that year, not these two leaders. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna awardees in year-wise groups.

Both Lata Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan were awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001. Lata Mangeshkar was renowned for Indian playback singing, while Bismillah Khan was celebrated for shehnai music. The nearby distractor, 1999, is incorrect because Pandit Ravi Shankar received the award that year. Exam tip: associate 2001 with the music pair—Lata Mangeshkar and Bismillah Khan.

C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar received the Bharat Ratna in 2014. Rao is a distinguished chemist, while Tendulkar is an iconic cricketer. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya received the award in 2015, not 2014. Exam tip: remember the 2014 awardees as the science-and-sport pair.

The Bharat Ratna was awarded to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya in 2015. Vajpayee was a former Prime Minister of India, while Malaviya was a noted educationist and the founder of Banaras Hindu University. Option A is a close distractor because C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar received the award in 2014. Exam tip: Memorise Bharat Ratna recipients in year-wise pairs.

In 2019, the Bharat Ratna was awarded to Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika. Pranab Mukherjee was a former President, while Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika received the honour posthumously. The people in option B are also Bharat Ratna awardees, but they received it in different years. Exam tip: Memorise major award recipients in year-wise groups.

In 2019, Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika received the Bharat Ratna posthumously. Pranab Mukherjee was the living recipient that year, so any pair including him is incorrect. C. N. R. Rao received the Bharat Ratna in 2014, not in 2019. Exam tip: among the three 2019 awardees, remember that only Pranab Mukherjee was honoured while alive.

Lal Krishna Advani was alive when he was announced as a Bharat Ratna awardee in 2024. Karpoori Thakur, P. V. Narasimha Rao and M. S. Swaminathan received the honour posthumously. Exam tip: Remember Advani as the living 2024 awardee and the other three as posthumous awardees.