History

The award was established by Presidential decree on 2 January 1954. The Padma Vibhushan was originally established as the Pahela Varg (First Class) of a three-class "Padma Vibhushan" awards. However the structure was changed in 1955 and there is no record of the award being presented to recipients in the original structure. The award was suspended between 1977 and 1980 and between 1992 and 1998.

As of the end of 2011, only 283 people have thus far been awarded this honour.^[1][2]

Medallion details

First medallion (1954-1955)

The initial medal was a circular gold medal, 1-3/8 inches in diameter, with an embossed lotus flower in the center and the legend "Padma Vibhushan" above and a floral wreath below. The obverse side had the Indian state emblem with the legend Desh Seva (National Service) above and a lotus wreath below. No record exists to show whether this design was used to present a medal to the awardees.

Second medallion (1955-1957)

In 1955, the badge design was altered to be a "mainly circular" 1-3/16-inch toned bronze badge with geometrical patterns. The center had a lotus flower with four major petals embossed in white gold. Above and below this flower, the name of the decoration Padma Vibhushan was embossed in silver-gilt.

Current medallion (1957-current)

Padma Shri

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Padma Shri
Award Information
Type	Civilian
Category	National
Instituted	1954
First Awarded	1954
Last Awarded	2010
Total Awarded	2336
Awarded by	Government of India
Award Rank
Padma Bhushan ← Padma Shri → none

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. It is awarded by the Government of India.

[edit]History

It is to citizens of India to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Medicine, Social Service and public life. However it has also been awarded to some distinguished individuals who were not citizens of India and who did contribute in various ways to India.

On its obverse, the words "Padma", meaning lotus in Sanskrit and "Shri", in Devanagari, appear above and below a lotus flower. The geometrical pattern on either side is in burnishedbronze. All embossing is in white gold.

As of 2010, 2336 people have received the award.^[1][2]

[edit]List of Awardees

• Padma Shri Awards (1954–1959)
• Padma Shri Awards (1960–1969)
• Padma Shri Awards (1970–1979)
• Padma Shri Awards (1980–1989)
• Padma Shri Awards (1990–1999)
• Padma Shri Awards (2000–2009)
• Padma Shri Awards (2010–2019)

[edit]

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. Many variations exist, with its most popular form played on an oval-shaped outdoor arena known as a cricket field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard (20.12 m) longpitch that is the focus of the game. A game (or match) is contested between two teams of eleven players each. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismissthe batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. A run is scored by the striking batsman hitting the ball with his bat, running to the opposite end of the pitch and touching the crease there without being dismissed. The teams switch between batting and fielding at the end of an innings.

There are also variations in the length of a game of cricket. In professional cricket this ranges from a limit of 20 overs per side (Twenty20) to a game played over 5 days (Test cricket, which is the highest level of the game). Depending on the form of the match being played, there are different rules that govern how a game is won, lost, drawn or tied. The rules of two-innings games are known as the Laws of Cricket and maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC); additional Standard Playing Conditions for Test matches and One Day Internationals augment these laws.^[1] In one version of Indoor Cricket, matches include just 6 players per side and include two 12-over innings.^[2]

Cricket was first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international matches were being held. The ICC is the game's governing body and currently has105 member countries.^[3] Cricket is most popular in the Test playing countries.

Early life

Lal Bahadur was born in Mughal Sarai, United Provinces, British India to Sharada Srivastava Prasad, a school teacher, who later became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad,^[1] and Ramdulari Devi. When he was three months old, he slipped out of his mother's arms into a cowherder's basket at the ghats of the Ganges. The cowherder, who had no children, took the child as a gift from God and took him home. Lal Bahadur's parents lodged a complaint with the police, who traced the child, and returned him to his parents.^[2]

His father died when he was only a year and a half old. His mother took him and his two sisters to her father's house and settled down there.^[3] Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather Hazari Lal's house till he was ten. He studied up to class IV at Railway School Mughalsarai. Since there was no high school in the town, he was sent to Varanasi, where he stayed with his maternal uncle and joined the Harischandra High School. While in Varanasi, Shastri once went with his friends to see a fair on the other bank of the Ganges. On the way back he had no money for the boat fare. Instead of borrowing from his friends, he jumped into the river and swam to the other bank.^[4]

As a boy, Lal Bahadur loved reading books and was fond of Guru Nanak's verses. He revered Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter. After hearing a speech ofMahatma Gandhi at Varanasi in 1915, he dedicated his life to the service of the country.^[5] He also dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his caste and he was against the caste system.^[1]During the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, he joined processions in defiance of the prohibitory order. He was arrested but let off as he was a minor.^[6] He then enrolled at the nationalist Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi. During his four years there, he was greatly influenced by the lectures of Dr. Bhagawandas on philosophy. Upon completion of his course at Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1926, he was given the title Shastri ("Scholar"). The title was a bachelor's degree awarded by the Vidya Peeth, but it stuck as part of his name.^[3] He also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans at Muzaffarpur.^[7]Later he became the President of the Society.^[8]

In 1927, Shastri married Lalita Devi of Mirzapur. In spite of the prevailing hefty dowry tradition, Shastri accepted only a charkha and a few yards of khadi as dowry. In 1930, he threw himself into the freedom struggle during Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. He was imprisoned for two and a half years.^[9] Once, while he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. He was released for fifteen days, on the condition that he not take part in the freedom movement. However, his daughter died before he reached home. After performing the funeral rites, he voluntarily returned to prison, even before the expiration of the period.^[10] A year later, he asked for permission to go home for a week, as his son had contracted influenza. The permission was given, but his son's illness was not cured in a week. In spite of his family's pleadings, he kept his promise to the jail officers and returned to the prison.^[10]

Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937.^[11] In 1940, he was sent to prison for one year, for offering individual Satyagraha support to the freedom movement.^[12] On 8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank inMumbai, demanding that the British leave India. Shastri, who had just then come out after a year in prison, travelled to Allahabad. For a week, he sent instructions to the freedom fighters from Jawaharlal Nehru's hometown, Anand Bhavan. A few days later, he was arrested and imprisoned until 1946.^[12]Shastri spent almost nine years in jail in total.^[13] During his stays in prison, he spent time reading books and became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. He also translated the autobiography of Marie Curie into Hindi.^[9]

In government

Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state,Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds.^[14] In 1951, he was made the General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister. He was directly responsible for the selection of candidates and the direction of publicity and electioneering activities. He played an important role in the landslide successes of the Congress Party in the Indian General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

In 1951, Nehru nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation.^[15]Three months later, he resigned accepting moral and constitutional responsibility for a railway accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu that resulted in 144 deaths. While speaking in Parliament on the incident, Nehru stated that he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsible for the accident.^[3] Shastri's unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by the citizens.

In 1957, Shastri returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry.^[7] In 1961, he became Minister for Home.^[3] As Union Home Minister he was instrumental in appointing the Committee on Prevention of Corruption under the Chairmanship of K. Santhanam.^[16]

Prime minister

In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated:^[17]

Shastri worked by his natural characteristics to obtain compromises between opposing viewpoints, but in his short tenure he was ineffectual in dealing with the economic crisis and food shortage in the nation. However, he commanded a great deal of respect in the Indian populace, and he used it to gain advantage in pushing the Green Revolution in India, which directly led to India becoming a food-surplus nation, although he did not live to see it. During the 22-day war with Pakistan, Lal Bahadur Shastri created the slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer"), underlining the need to boost India's food production. Apart from emphasizing the Green Revolution, he was instrumental in promoting the White Revolution.^[16] Greatly impressed by a visit to the Kaira district in October 1964, he urged the rest of the country to learn from the successful experiment at Anand. The National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965 during his tenure as Prime Minister.