• Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and late singer S.P. Balasubramaniam have been honoured with India’s second-highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan this year, while former chief ministers Tarun Gogoi and Keshubhai Patel and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan have been awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously.
• The Union Home Ministry said that President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the conferment of 119 Padma awards, including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).
• The seven Padma Vibhushan awardees include Sand artist Sudarshan Sahoo, Belle Monappa Hegde — an eminent cardiologist from Karnataka, Indian-American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous), Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and archaeologist B.B. Lal.
• Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is also among the 10 Padma Bhushan awardees, while no one has been named for the Bharat Ratna — India’s highest civilian award.
• There are 10 persons from the category of foreigners, Non-Resident Indians (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) PIO and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), while 16 have been awarded posthumously.
Padma Awards
• The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.
The awards are given in three categories:
• Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service).
• Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order).
• Padma Shri (distinguished service).
• The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
• The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the prime minister every year. The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
Bharat Ratna
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. It is treated on a different footing from Padma Award. The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the prime minister to the president. No formal recommendations for Bharat Ratna are necessary. The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.
When were the awards instituted?
• The government instituted two civilian awards - Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan in 1954.
• Padma Vibhushan had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg. These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
• The award seeks to recognise works of distinction and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements / service in all fields of activities / disciplines.
The fields include:
• Art (includes music, painting, sculpture, photography, cinema and theatre)
• Social Work (includes social service, charitable service and community projects)
• Public Affairs (includes law, public life and politics)
• Science & Engineering (includes space engineering, nuclear science, information technology and research & development)
• Trade & Industry (includes banking, economic activities, management, promotion of tourism and business)
• Medicine (includes medical research, distinction / specialisation in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Siddha, Allopathy and Naturopathy)
• Literature & Education (includes journalism, teaching, book composing, literature, poetry, promotion of education and literacy, and education reforms)
• Civil Service (includes distinction / excellence in administration by government servants)
• Sports (includes popular sports, adventure, mountaineering and yoga)
• Others (fields not covered above and may include propagation of Indian culture, protection of human rights, wildlife protection and conservation).
• The awards are presented by the president usually in March/April every year where the awardees are presented a certificate signed by the president and a medallion.
This year’s awardees
Padma Vibhushan
1) Shinzo Abe - Public Affairs -Japan
2) S.P. Balasubramaniam (posthumous) - Art -Tamil Nadu
3) Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde - Medicine - Karnataka
4) Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous) - Science and Engineering - USA
5) Maulana Wahiduddin Khan - Spiritualism - Delhi
6) B.B. Lal - Archaeology - Delhi
7) Sudarshan Sahoo - Art - Odisha
Padma Bhushan
1) K.S. Chithra - Art - Kerala
2) Tarun Gogoi (posthumous) - Public Affairs - Assam
3) Chandrashekhar Kambara - Literature and Education - Karnataka
4) Sumitra Mahajan - Public Affairs - Madhya Pradesh
5) Nripendra Misra - Civil Service - Uttar Pradesh
6) Ram Vilas Paswan (posthumous) - Public Affairs - Bihar
7) Keshubhai Patel (posthumous) - Public Affairs - Gujarat
8) Kalbe Sadiq (posthumous) - Spiritualism - Uttar Pradesh
9) Rajnikant Devidas Shroff - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra
10) Tarlochan Singh - Public Affairs - Haryana
Padma Shri
1) Gulfam Ahmed - Art - Uttar Pradesh
2) P. Anitha - Sports - Tamil Nadu
3) Rama Swamy Annavarapu - Art - Andhra Pradesh
4) Subbu Arumugam - Art - Tamil Nadu
5) Prakasarao Asavadi - Literature and Education - Andhra Pradesh
6) Bhuri Bai - Art - Madhya Pradesh
7) Radhe Shyam Barle - Art - Chhattisgarh
8) Dharma Narayan Barma - Literature and Education - West Bengal
9) Lakhimi Baruah - Social Work - Assam
10) Biren Kumar Basak - Art - West Bengal
11) Rajni Bector - Trade and Industry - Punjab
12) Peter Brook - Art - United Kingdom
13) Sangkhumi Bualchhuak - Social Work - Mizoram
14) Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat - Art - Assam
15) Bijoya Chakravarty - Public Affairs - Assam
16) Sujit Chattopadhyay - Literature and Education - West Bengal
17) Jagdish Chaudhary (posthumous) - Social Work - Uttar Pradesh
18) Tsultrim Chonjor - Social Work - Ladakh
19) Mouma Das - Sports - West Bengal
20) Srikant Datar - Literature and Education - USA
21) Narayan Debnath - Art - West Bengal
22) Chutni Devi - Social Work - Jharkhand
23) Dulari Devi - Art - Bihar
24) Radhe Devi - Art - Manipur
25) Shanti Devi - Social Work - Odisha
26) Wayan Dibia - Art - Indonesia
27) Dadudan Gadhavi - Literature & Education - Gujarat
28) Parshuram Atmaram Gangavane - Art - Maharashtra
29) Jai Bhagwan Goyal - Literature and Education - Haryana
30) Jagadish Chandra Halder - Literature and Education - West Bengal
31) Mangal Singh Hazowary - Literature and Education - Assam
32) Anshu Jamsenpa - Sports - Arunachal Pradesh
33) Purnamasi Jani - Art - Odisha
34) Matha B. Manjamma Jogati - Art - Karnataka
35) Damodaran Kaithapram - Art - Kerala
36) Namdeo C. Kamble - Literature and Education - Maharashtra
37) Maheshbhai & Shri Nareshbhai Kanodia (duo) (posthumous) - Art - Gujarat
38) Rajat Kumar Kar - Literature and Education - Odisha
39) Rangasami Lakshminarayana Kashyap - Literature and Education - Karnataka
40) Prakash Kaur - Social Work -Punjab
41) Nicholas Kazanas - Literature and Education - Greece
42) K. Kesavasamy - Art - Puducherry
43) Ghulam Rasool Khan - Art - Jammu & Kashmir
44) Lakha Khan - Art - Rajasthan
45) Sanjida Khatun - Art - Bangladesh
46) Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar - Art - Goa
47) Niru Kumar - Social Work - Delhi
48) Lajwanti - Art - Punjab
49) Rattan Lal - Science and Engineering - USA
50) Ali Manikfan - Grassroots Innovation - Lakshadweep
51) Ramachandra Manjhi - Art - Bihar
52) Dulal Manki - Art - Assam
53) Nanadro B. Marak - Agriculture - Meghalaya
54) Rewben Mashangva - Art - Manipur
55) Chandrakant Mehta - Literature and Education - Gujarat
56) Dr. Rattan Lal Mittal - Medicine - Punjab
57) Madhavan Nambiar - Sports - Kerala
58) Shyam Sundar Paliwal - Social Work - Rajasthan
59) Dr. Chandrakant Sambhaji Pandav - Medicine - Delhi
60) Dr. J.N. Pande (posthumous) - Medicine - Delhi
61) Solomon Pappaiah - Literature and Education (Journalism) - Tamil Nadu
62) Pappammal - Agriculture - Tamil Nadu
63) Dr. Krishna Mohan Pathi - Medicine - Odisha
64) Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat - Trade and Industry - Maharashtra
65) Girish Prabhune - Social Work - Maharashtra
66) Nanda Prusty - Literature and Education - Odisha
67) K.K. Ramachandra Pulavar - Art - Kerala
68) Balan Putheri - Literature and Education - Kerala
69) Birubala Rabha - Social Work - Assam
70) Kanaka Raju - Art - Telangana
71) Bombay Jayashri Ramnath - Art - Tamil Nadu
72) Satyaram Reang - Art - Tripura
73) Dr. Dhananjay Diwakar Sagdeo - Medicine - Kerala
74) Ashok Kumar Sahu - Medicine - Uttar Pradesh
75) Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Singh Sanjay - Medicine - Uttarakhand
76) Sindhutai Sapkal - Social Work - Maharashtra
77) Chaman Lal Sapru (posthumous) - Literature and Education - Jammu & Kashmir
78) Roman Sarmah - Literature and Education - Journalism, Assam
79) Imran Shah - Literature and Education - Assam
80) Prem Chand Sharma - Agriculture - Uttarakhand
81) Arjun Singh Shekhawat - Literature and Education - Rajasthan
82) Ram Yatna Shukla - Literature and Education - Uttar Pradesh
83) Jitender Singh Shunty - Social Work - Delhi
84) Kartar Paras Ram Singh - Art - Himachal Pradesh
85) Kartar Singh - Art - Punjab
86) Dr. Dilip Kumar Singh - Medicine - Bihar
87) Chandra Shekhar Singh - Agriculture - Uttar Pradesh
88) Sudha Hari Narayan Singh - Sports - Uttar Pradesh
89) Virender Singh - Sports - Haryana
90) Mridula Sinha (posthumous) - Literature and Education - Bihar
91) K.C. Sivasankar (posthumous) - Art - Tamil Nadu
92) Guru Maa Kamali Soren - Social Work - West Bengal
93) Marachi Subburaman - Social Work - Tamil Nadu
94) P. Subramanian (posthumous) - Trade and Industry - Tamil Nadu
95) Nidumolu Sumathi - Art - Andhra Pradesh
96) Kapil Tiwari - Literature and Education - Madhya Pradesh
97) Father Vallés (posthumous) - Literature and Education - Spain
98) Dr. Thiruvengadam Veeraraghavan (posthumous) - Medicine - Tamil Nadu
99) Sridhar Vembu - Trade and Industry - Tamil Nadu
100) K.Y. Venkatesh - Sports - Karnataka
101) Usha Yadav - Literature and Education - Uttar Pradesh
102) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir - Public Affairs - Bangladesh.
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