Bharat Ratna | These 5 people were awarded the Bharat Ratna this year | English News | News18 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that former Prime Ministers PV Narasimha Rao and Joe Chaudhary Charan Singh and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan will be conferred with India’s highest civilian award, the ‘Bharatna Award’. Usually three Balatna Awards are awarded in a year. This year, however, the government appointed five people to Bharat Ratna, including veteran BJP leader LK Advani and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur.