NEW DELHI: Late singer Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika was Thursday posthumously conferred India's second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan by President Pratibha Patil.
The other two who received the prestigious award were former Uttar Pradesh governor T.V. Rajeshwar and renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti.
Among those who received the Padma Bhushan include painter Jatin Das, artist Anish Kapoor, filmmaker Mira Nair, former diplomat Ronen Sen and heart specialist Dr Devi Prasad Shetty.
Among those who were awarded the Padma Shri were homeopath Dr Mukesh Batra, music composer Vanraj Bhatia, classical singers Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha, singer Anup Jalota, theatre personality Joy Michael, journalist Vijay Dutt Shridhar and social worker Binny Yanga.
President Patil honoured the awardees at a glittering ceremony in the magnificent Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P. Chidamabaram were among those who attended the ceremony.
In all, around 55 people were to be conferred the awards, announced on the eve of Republic Day (Jan 26), 2012 under the three categories but two were absent.
Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished service in any field. A total of 109 people were named for the award this year. This included five recipients of the Padma Vibhushan, 29 of the Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shris.