NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has approved conferment of Padma awards to 89 persons on the eve of the Republic Day including seven Padma Vibhushan and a similar number of Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri to 79 persons including political veterans Sharad Pawar, Murli Manohar Joshi, cricketer Virat Kohli and playback singer Anuradha Paudwal among others.
Those honoured with Padma Vibhushan, second highest civilian honour, include Carnatic musician and playback singer KJ Yesudas (Kerala) for Art-Music, spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (Tamil Nadu), politicians Sharad Pawar, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sunder Lal Patwa (posthumous) and PA Sangma (posthumous) and former ISRO chairman Prof Udipi Ramachandra Rao (Karnataka) for Science and Engineering.
VIEW GALLERY: A look at the prominent Padma awardees this year
Those selected for the Padma Bhushan include classical instrumentalist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Rajasthan) for Art and Music, Sanskrit Prof Devi Prasad Dwivedi (Uttar Pradesh) for Literature and Education, father of laproscopic surgery in India Tehemton Udwadia (Maharashtra) for Medicine, Jain spiritual guru Ratna Sundar Maharaj of Gujarat, yoga guru Swami Niranjana Nanda Saraswati of Bihar, Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Late journalist Cho Ramaswamy (Tamil Nadu).
The highest civilian honour---Bharat Ratna---will not be conferred on anybody this year.
Out of the 89 shortlisted for Padma awards, 19 of the awardees are women, five persons from the foreigners category including NRIs and PIOs and 6 posthumous awardees.
In a significant departure, the Padma list does not include anyone from the Bollywood even as the Government decided to honour 21 persons of eminence in the unsung category.
In the Padma Shri category, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, Sakshi Malik, the first woman wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal, former Lok Sabha Secretary General T K Vishwanathan,Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, former diplomat Kanwal Sibal and singer Kailash Kher are among 75 people chosen for this year's Padma Shri awards.
Playback singer Anuradha Paudwal, reputed endocrinologist M M Godbole, film critic Bhawana Somaaya, Farsi writer K N Pandita and French historian Michel Danino were among others who will receive the Padma Shri award this year.
The government had received 18,000 nominations this time out of which 4,000 were submitted online. Ultimately, only 89 persons were selected from shortlist of 150 persons.
Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service among others.
‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.