Credit: X/@PadmaAwards
New Delhi: Violin maestro L Subramaniam, former Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, late Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair and Suzuki former CEO late Osamu Suzuki were among seven eminent persons who were chosen for the country's second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan.
Eminent gastroenterologist D Nageshwar Rao, Kathak exponent Kumudini Rajnikanth Lakhia and folk singer late Sharda Sinha have also been honoured with Padma Vibhushan while the government chose prominent Hindutva leader Sadhvi Ritambhara, who played a key role in the Ram Mandir movement, as one among Padma Bhushan winners.
Former Prasar Bharati head A Surya Prakash and veteran actor Anant Nag joined the list of eminent personalities like late politicians Sushil Kumar Modi, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, and Manohar Joshi, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker to win the Padma Bhushan award.
Late economist Bibek Debroy, late ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, Telugu superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna, well-known filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, national award winning actress Shobana, Tamil actor Ajith and former Indian hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh were also among Padma Bhushan winners.
Cardiologist Jose Chacko Periapuram, who conducted the first successful heart transplant surgery in India in 2003 and won Padma Shri eight years later, has been awarded Padma Bhushan this time.
They are among 140 people who were chosen for 139 Padma awards, which were announced on the eve of Republic Day. Besides seven Padma Vibhushans, the Padma awards also include 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards.
Twenty-three of the awardees are women while 10 are from the category of foreigners, NRI, Person of Indian Origin or Overseas Citizen of India. Thirteen persons were given the award posthumously.
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.
Among the Padma Shri winners are playback singers Arijit Singh and Jaspinder Narula, Grammy winner Rickey Kej, former footballer IM Vijayan, former cricketer R Ashwin, former SBI head Arundhati Bhattacharya and two-time Jan Sangh MLA and longest serving BJP worker late Shri Narayana.
Former IPS officer Kishor Kunal, who later assumed the name of Acharya Kunal, was another Padma Shri winner. He has been the Officer on Special Duty on the Ayodhya dispute appointed by former Prime Minister VP Singh and continued under Chandrasekhar and PV Narasimha Rao government.
Manda Krishna Madiga, politician-activist who shared stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and known for his struggles for ensuring the rights of the marginalised Madiga community, was also chosen for Padma Shri.
Among the states, Maharashtra bagged the highest number of 14 Padma awards, followed by Tamil Nadu (13), Uttar Pradesh (10), Karnataka and West Bengal (9 each) and Gujarat and Bihar (8 each).