Ahead of Republic Day celebrations, President Ram Nath Kovind on January 25 announced the names of Padma award winners.
While India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan -- India’s second-highest civilian award -- posthumously, Bharat Biotech’s (maker of coronavirus vaccine Covaxin) Chairman Krishna Ella and his wife and co-founder of the firm Suchitra Ella will be awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, Serum Institute’s Cyrus Poonawalla, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai will also be conferred with the Padma Bhushan. They have been conferred the award in the ‘trade and industry’ category.
Among politicians, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad will be conferred with Padma Bhushan along with former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh will be conferred with the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
Other celebrated personalities who were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan are vocalist Prabha Atre and late Radheshyam Khemka, the president of Gita Press.
Notably, the Padma awards are divided into three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, such as 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. They are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions that are held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.
This year the President has approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards including two duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one). The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri Awards (including Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam).
Thirty-four of the awardees are women, while 10 persons belong to the category of foreigners/ NRI/ PIO /OCI, and 13 are posthumous awardees.
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