New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday conferred the Padma Awards on 47 prominent personalities, including Malayalam actor Mohanlal, former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, and renowned journalist Kuldip Nayar (posthumous).
Bihar leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav (Padma Bhushan), former CEO of multinational techno giant Cisco Systems John Chambers (Padma Bhushan), and the renowned dancer and filmmaker Prabhu Deva (Padma Shri) were also honoured at a special function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.
While Viswanathan Mohanlal, Mr Dhindsa, and Nayar (posthumous) were conferred the Padma Bhushan, Mr Jaishankar was honoured with the Padma Shri. Nayar’s wife received the award from the President.
The Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian awards of the country, is conferred in three categories — the Padma Vibh-ushan, the Padma Bhus-han, and the Padma Shri.
Other notable awardees include renowned singer Shankar Mahadevan Narayan (Padma Shri), former deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Karia Munda (Padma Bhushan), physicians Sandeep Guleria and Ilias Ali (both Padma Shri), and wrestler Bajrang Punia (Padma Shri).
As many as 112 “inspiring” personalities were selected for this year’s Padma Awards and their names were announced on the eve of Republic Day this year. The remaining awardees are likely to be conferred the honour at another function to be held on March 16, a home ministry official said.
This year’s awardees are from across the nation and the government has gone beyond excellence alone, recognising larger impact and their selfless service, an official said.
The nomination process for Padma Awards was made online in 2016.
