Dhirubhai honoured posthumously; Girija Devi, Sania & Saina on list too
Dhirubhai honoured posthumously; Girija Devi, Sania & Saina on list too
Superstar Rajinikanth, Reliance empire founder Dhirubhai Ambani (posthumously), and Art of Living founder and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are among those chosen for the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second-highest civilan honour, on the eve of Republic Day. Former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India Vinod Rai, who served from 2008 to 2013 during UPA rule and brought out the report on 2G spectrum allocation pointing to huge losses to the exchequer, was awarded the Padma Bhushan, that also went to actor Anupam Kher, former US ambassador to India Robert D. Blackwill, badminton star Saina Nehwal, tennis ace Sania Mirza, and architect Hafeez Contractor.
Bureaucrat-turned politician Jagmohan, who was a minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government and had also been a governor, former DRDO chief V.K. Aatre, cancer specialist and Adyar Cancer Institute chief V. Shanta and top Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Krishnamurthi, classical vocalist Girija Devi and Indian-American economist Avinash Dixit are the other reciepients of the Padma Vibhushan.
Filmstars Ajay Devgn and Priyanka Chopra were awarded the Padma Shri along with lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, the prosecution counsel in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case. Besides a handful of spiritual gurus who were conferred Padma awards this year, the Narendra Modi government has given three Padmas to yoga experts. Padma Shri awardees for yoga include Dr H.R. Nagendra and two foreign nationals, Hui Lan Zhang from China and Predrag K. Nikic from Serbia.
On the eve of Republic Day, the government on Monday announced 10 Padma Vibhushan awards, 19 Padma Bhushans and 83 Padma Shri awards. The awardees include four SCs, four STs and four OBCs; 19 women and 19 NRIs or foreigners. Those honoured include Subhash Palekar from Maharashtra, who hails from drought-prone Vidarbha region and is a graduate in agriculture acclaimed for his campaign for zero budget natural farming. He got a Padma Shri.
Spiritual leaders late Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Tejomayananda and industrialist Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry and Maruti Suzuki chairman R.C. Bhargava are among 19 eminent people chosen for the Padma Bhushan.
The list also includes renowned sculptor Ram V. Sutar, Manipuri theatre personality Heisnam Kanhailal, Hindi and Telugu writer Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, Sanskrit scholar N.S. Ramanuja Tatacharya, commentator Ashok Malik, Punjabi journalist Barjinder Singh Hamdard, gastroenterologist D. Nageshwar Reddy and scientist A.V. Rama Rao.
The late Saeed Jaffrey, MasterCard CEO Ajaypal Singh Banga, archer Deepika Kumari, Bharatanatyam dancer Prathibha Prahlad, Gujarati folk musician Bhikhudan Gadhvi, Goan musician Tulsidas Borkar and scientist Onkar Nath Srivastava are among those honoured with the Padma Shri.
