New Delhi: The authorities on Thursday introduced the Padma awards, the best civilian honours within the nation, on the eve of the seventy fifth Republic Day. The record of 132 awardees included 5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri recipients. The Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, was conferred on former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, megastar Konidela Chiranjeevi and well-known actor of yesteryears Vyjayantimala Bali, amongst others.
The late Bindeshwar Pathak, the founding father of Sulabh International, and famend classical dancer Padma Subrahmanyam had been additionally honoured with the Padma Vibhushan. The Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, was given to actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty, former Union Minister Ram Naik and singer Usha Utthup, amongst others.
The Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award, was awarded to 110 eminent personalities from numerous fields and disciplines, corresponding to artwork, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, commerce and trade, medication, literature and training, sports activities and civil service. The Padma awards are given for distinctive and distinguished service in any discipline.
The awards are introduced on the event of Republic Day yearly and are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial features held at Rashtrapati Bhawan often round March or April yearly. Thirty of the awardees are ladies and the record additionally contains eight individuals from the class of foreigners, NRI, PIO OCI and 9 posthumous awardees.
