Context:
In a grand ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall, President Droupadi Murmu conferred Padma awards on 71 of the 139 awardees named on the eve of India’s 76th Republic Day. The event was attended by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other dignitaries.
Key Highlights
- Awards Conferred:
- Padma Vibhushan (2nd highest civilian honour): 4 recipients
- Padma Bhushan: 10 recipients
- Padma Shri: 57 recipients
- Prominent Padma Vibhushan Awardees:
- Osamu Suzuki (former chief of Suzuki Motor Corporation) — posthumous
- M.T. Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam writer and filmmaker) — posthumous
- D. Nageshwar Reddy (Gastroenterologist, AIG Hospitals)
- Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (Renowned violinist)
- Prominent Padma Bhushan Awardees:
- Shekhar Kapur (Film director)
- Nandamuri Balakrishna (Telugu actor)
- Pankaj Udhas (Singer)
- Sushil Kumar Modi (Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister)
- P.R. Sreejesh (Former hockey player)
- S. Ajith Kumar (Tamil actor)
- Pankaj Patel (Chairperson, Zydus Lifesciences)
- Vinod Dham (Engineer, ‘Father of the Pentium’)
- Notable Padma Shri Awardees:
- Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer (Publisher, Dinamalar)
- Arundhati Bhattacharya (Former SBI Chairperson)
- Pawan Kumar Goenka (Industrialist)
- Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli (Wildlife researcher and Marathi author)
- Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara (Master puppeteer, Togalu Gombeyaata art)
- A.K. Mahapatra (Former Director, AIIMS and SGPGI)
- Jaspinder Narula Kaul (Punjabi singer)
Focus on Unsung Heroes
- 30 unsung heroes were honoured, recognising grassroots contributions across fields.
- Notable among them: 100-year-old Libia Lobo Sardesai, a significant figure in Goa’s freedom movement.
