Former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has been conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee at Vajpayee's residence, with Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbed the day as 'historic' and showered praise on President Pranab Mukherjee for departing from convention and personally visiting Vajpayee to confer him the honour.
Madan Mohan Malviya too honoured
Later, on Monday Mukherjee conferred the Bharat Ratna on freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya (posthumously). The family of the noted educationist was present at the Rashtrapati Bhavan to receive the award. Born on December 25, 1861, Pandit Malviya was catapulted into the political arena immediately after his first moving speech at the second Congress session held in Kolkata in 1886. He was president of INC in 1909 and 1918. His main achievement was the establishment of the Banaras Hindu University.
President Mukherjee also gave away the honours to senior politicians L K Advani, Parkash Singh Badal, sportspersons P V Sindhu, Arunima Singh, academician David Frawley and film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Among the Padma Vibhushan awardees were Advani, Badal and Jagadguru Swami Rambhadracharya. Padma Bhushan was awarded to lawyer Harish Salve and journalists Swapan Dasgupta and Rajat Sharma.
Among the prominent Padma Shri awardees were film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, writer-lyricist Prasoon Joshi, physician Dr Randeep Guleria, creator of popular cartoon character “Chacha Chaudhary” Pran Kumar Sharma (posthumously), shuttler P V Sindhu, hockey star Sardara Singh and amputee Everest climber Arunima Sinha.
Speaking after the ceremony , badminton ace Sindhu, one of the youngest recipients, said, “It is a great day. I was not expecting to receive this award and initially couldn't believe it. But I feel this will give me confidence to perform better and win more medals for the country.” Another awardee Arunima, a former national level volleyball player and the first female amputee to conquer Mt Everest, said, “I am very honoured. I plan to start a non-profit school for the specially-abled and hope that the government will help me in setting up infrastructure.” Joshi said the award was very special and was for his parents. “This has made them very happy,'' he said.
