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Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born on 26 August 1910. She was a Roman Catholic sister and missionary. She founded the Missionaries of Charity, which in 2012 consisted over 4500 sisters in 133 countries.
In 1948, she started her missionary work with the poor people of India. The foundation’s aim was to create a new community which could help the poorest of the poor. Mother Teresa runs many homes for poor with diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis & leprosy (soup kitchens; mobile clinics & dispensaries). For children’s they also started family counselling programmes, schools & orphanages.
Mother Teresa opened the 1st Home for the poor people in 1952, in city of Calcutta (Kolkata). With the help of Indian officials she converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the orphanages. For her incredible contribution to Indian Society she was awarded in 1979 with Nobel Peace Prize & the Bharat Ratna in 1980. She died on 5th September, 1997 in Kolkata, (West Bengal), India.
Mother Teresa is one of the most revered and beloved figures in modern history. She was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary who dedicated her life to helping the “poorest of the poor” in the slums of India. She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in what is now Skopje, North Macedonia.
She devoted her early adult life to teaching at a convent school in India. In 1946, she experienced a series of visions that led her to found the Missionaries of Charity, a religious order committed to providing medical care, food and shelter to the poor and vulnerable. The order expanded rapidly and soon had a worldwide presence.
Mother Teresa was known for her humility and compassion. She made it her mission to provide relief to the impoverished and suffering. She was not afraid to speak up for the rights of the underprivileged and voiced her support for human rights and the abolition of the death penalty. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
Mother Teresa was an inspiration to many and her legacy of selfless service and charitable work continues today. Her example of selfless love and dedication to serving others is an example to us all. Her words, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love”, remind us of the importance of doing our best to help those in need.
Bharat Ratna Award
The highest civilian award of the Republic of India is known as BHARAT RATNA. It came into existence on 2nd January 1954. The award was in recognition of extraordinary performance in the field of literature, science, public services, and arts only. This award belongs to all people of India without any discrimination of sex, race, and age. Previously award belonged to only limited criteria but in December 2011 the criteria were changed to include all fields of human endeavour.
Maximum 3 nominees may be awarded per year and recommendations for the same are specially made by the PM to the President. A Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion in the shape of a peepal leaf are the only two things being given to the recipients; no money is granted with the award.
In the Indian order of precedence, the Bharat Ratna award comes in the seventh position. But Bharat Ratna recipients are constitutionally prohibited to use the award name as the title as per Article 18 of the Constitution of India.
Since 1954, 44 distinguished individuals have been awarded this prestigious and highest civilian award in the country.
Get the list of Bharat Ratna Awardees by clicking here.
