Eminent scientist R A Mashelkar was on Monday conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, while acclaimed artist Kamal Haasan and ace shuttler P Gopichand were among the 12 personalities conferred the Padma Bhushan by President Pranab Mukherjee here.
Award-winning actor Vidya Balan, coach of Indian women kabaddi team Sunil Dabas, sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik and activist Jawahar Lal Kaul were among the 53 personalities conferred the Padma Shri award at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Durbar Hall.
The award ceremony was attended, among others, by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, Union Ministers Sushuilkumar Shinde, P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar and Sriprakash Jaiswal, and Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath.
UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and leaders from the Opposition and other political parties were not present.
Mashelkar (71) is well-known globally for his path-breaking research in polymer science and engineering. He has chaired 12 high-powered national-level committees to look into diverse issues of higher education, national auto fuel policy and measures to deal with the menace of spurious drugs.
Anumolu Ramakrishna, who pioneered the use of precast concrete technology, was conferred the Padma Bhushan posthumously. He passed away last year at the age of 73.
Kaul (69), known for his voluntary services for the blind, had lost his sight due to smallpox at the age of five. The President climbed down from the podium to confer the Padma Shri on him.
Rethink on Award
The Padma award selection committee will examine the possibility of conferring the Padma Vibhushan to the late Justice J S Verma as his family has refused to accept the Padma Bhushan announced on January 25.
Express reported on January 5 that Justice Verma had been short-listed for the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in the country.
However, in the official list released on the eve of the Republic Day, it was amended to the Padma Bhushan, triggering a controversy.
The government had conferred 127 Padma awards, including two Padma Vibhushans, 24 Padma Bhushans and 101 Padma Shris.
According to sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs will forward the letter of Justice Verma’s wife to the selection panel, which includes the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary to the President and Union Home Secretary for reconsideration.
“The panel will take a decision before April 26,” an official said.
Justice Verma passed away in April last year.