The government of India (GoI) announced that two former Prime Ministers(PMs), Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao, and the father of India’s ‘green revolution’ Dr MS Swaminathan will be awarded Bharat Ratna in 2024.
- With this, the total number of Bharat Ratna recipients in 2024 becomes five. This is the highest number of Bharat Ratnas awarded in a year since its inception in 1954.
Note: In January 2024, GoI announced Bharat Ratna for Former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna (LK) Advani and Former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur (posthumously).
About PV Narasimha Rao:
i.He was born on June 28, 1921, in Karimnagar in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh(AP) (now Telangana).
ii.He was affiliated with the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as Chief Minister(CM) of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh from 1971 to 1973.
iii.He served as a Member of the AP Legislative Assembly from 1957-1977; and a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from 1977 to 1998.
iv.He has also served as the Minister of External Affairs; Home Affairs; Defence and Human Resource Development.
v.He served as PM of India from 1991 to 1996. He was the first PM from South India (United Andhra Pradesh) and the 1st PM from a non-Hindi-speaking region (Telugu).
vi.He died at the age of 83 on 9 December 2004.
About Chaudhary Charan Singh:
i.He was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
ii.He joined Congress and was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces from Chaprauli in Meerut District in 1937. He represented the constituency in 1946, 1952, 1962, and 1967.
iii.He left Congress in 1967 and formed his independent party known as the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
iv.In 1967, he was elected as leader of the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal and served as the Chief Minister(CM) of UP for the 1st time.
v.In February 1970, he became the CM of UP for the 2nd time.
vi.He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in the 1977 General Elections and served as Home Minister.
vii.In 1979, he was appointed Finance Minister and subsequently elevated to the post of Deputy PM.
viii.He sworn in as the PM of India on 28 July 1979, and held the post till January 1980. He passed away on 29 May 1987.
About MS Swaminathan:
i.MS Swaminathan, popularly known as the Father of the Indian Green Revolution, was born on 7 August 1925 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. He is a native of Mankombu, Alappuzha district of Kerala.
ii.He joined the faculty of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), in Delhi in 1954 and served as Director of IARI from 1961-72.
iii.He served as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) from 1972-79 and as President of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) from 1984 to 1990.
iv.In 1988, he founded M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), a research center in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), and served as its Chairman, Emeritus Chairman, and Chief Mentor.
v.He passed away at the age of 98 in 2023.
Awards:
i.The Government of India (GoI) honoured him with the Padma Shri (1967); Padma Bhushan (1972); and Padma Vibhushan (1989) for Science and Engineering.
ii.He is also the recipient of the Japan Prize (1987), the World Food Prize (1996), the Wolf Prize from Israel (2000) and the China International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award (2001).
About Bharat Ratna:
i.Bharat Ratna, instituted in 1954, is awarded to recognise exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.
ii.The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister (PM) to the President.
iii.The award includes a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
- The Award does not carry any monetary grant.
About Ministry of Home Affairs:
Union Minister– Amit Shah (Constituency- Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat)
Ministers of State– Nityanand Rai (Constituency- Ujiarpur, Bihar); Ajay Kumar Mishra (Constituency- Kheri, Uttar Pradesh); Nisith Pramanik (Constituency- Coochbehar, West Bengal)
