Padma Awards Announced: Late CDS Bipin Rawat, Sonu Nigam & Neeraj Chopra among awardees

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards this year. Padma Awards, one of the country's highest civilian honours, are divided into three categories: Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.

The awards are granted in a variety of disciplines/activities, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medical, literature and education, sports, civil service, and so on.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is conferred for exceptional & 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.

These honours are bestowed by the President of India at ceremonial occasions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan every year around March/April. According to the list below, the President has approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards, including two pair cases (the Award is counted as one in a dual case).

There are four Padma Vibhushan awards, seventeen Padma Bhushan awards, and 107 Padma Shri awards on the list. There are 34 women among the winners, as well as 10 foreigners, NRIs, PIOs, and OCIs, and 13 posthumous recipients.

Padma Vibhushan was bestowed on four people, as listed below:

• Prabha Atre- Art

• Radheyshyam Khemka (Posthumous) - Literature and Education

• General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous) - Civil Service

• Kalyan Singh (Posthumous) - Public Affairs

On the eve of Republic Day, the Centre declared the list of Padma award recipients on Tuesday. The Padma Vibhushan has been given to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh and the first Chief of Defence Staff, late General Bipin Rawat.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and SII MD Cyrus Poonawalla will all get the Padma Bhushan. Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella, his co-founder wife Suchitra Ella, and Olympians Neeraj Chopra, Pramod Bhagat, and Vandana Kataria will receive Padma Bhushan, while musician Sonu Nigam will receive the Padma Shri. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, will also receive the Padma Bhushan.