NEW DELHI (TIP): The list of the prestigious Padma awardees is ready. As per practice, these awards are announced on Republic Day. These awards are given in three categories, viz., Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The award seeks to recognize distinguished and exceptional service in all fields such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, Science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry etc.

The current list contains 120 names across the three categories.

List of probable awardees

Vinod Rai – Retired IAS officer and former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai is credited with being the face of the anti-corruption movement in India for his scathing reports on allocation of coal blocs and 2G licenses.

R C Bhargava – R C Bhargava is the former CEO and current Chairman of Maruti Suzuki Ltd, one of India’s largest automobile manufacturers.

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao – Ranoji Rao is head of the Ramoji Group which owns Ramoji Film City, Eenadu newspaper, ETV, Priya Foods and Ushakiran Movies.

Ashok Malik – Ashok Malik is a New Delhi-based senior Indian media person and columnist. He holds a position as senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and writes for a number of national and international publications.

Pushpesh Pant – A noted Indian academic, food critic and historian, he retired as a professor of International relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and is one of India’s leading experts on International Relations.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – He is a humanitarian leader, a spiritual teacher, and an ambassador of peace. Her spreads his vision of a stress-free, violence-free society through The Art of Living.

Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry – He is an Irish Indian construction tycoon and chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Forbes estimates his wealth at US$16.3 billion as of November 2015. With his 18.4% stake in Tata Sons, he is the single largest shareholder in the Tata Group.

Dilip Sanghvi – Dilip Shanghvi is the founder and managing director of Sun Pharmaceuticals and one of the richest persons in India. As per the 2015 Forbes real time ranking, he is the richest Indian having surpassed Mukesh Ambani on the list.

Mahesh Chandra Mehta – He is a public interest attorney and has been recognised for his persistent fight against pollution-causing industries in courts. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Asia for Public Service in 1997.

Ujjwal Nikam – A lawyer by profession, Nikam is an Indian Public Prosecutor and has been involved in several high profile cases including the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder, the Pramod Mahajan murder and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Barjinder Singh Hamdard – He is the managing editor of the Punjabi newspaper Daily Ajit. He has also been a member of India’s upper house, Rajya Sabha.

Ram Vanji Sutar – A sculptor by profession and has created more than fifty monumental sculptures in the last forty years of his career. The government bestowed upon him the Padmashri Award in 1999.

Jaya Jaitly – A politician, social worker and former president of the erstwhile Samata Party. Became active in politics after the 1984 Sikh riots and joined the Janata Party. Jaitly and George Fernandes later went on to form the Samata Party.

Prof Panjab Singh – A noted academician, Professor Singh is a former vice-chancellor of the prestigious Banaras Hindu University.

Dr. Praveen Chandra – A leading cardiologist and Chairman of Interventional Cardiology at Medanta – The Medicity, Gurgaon, India, he is proficient in a lot of new devices and technologies.

Dr. Pradeep Chowbey – A pioneer in the cadre of laparoscopic surgeons in India, he was one of the first to perform Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in North India. He serves as Joint Managing Director, Chief – Surgery & Allied Surgical Specialities and Director – at Max Healthcare Institute Ltd.

Prof. D S Gambhir – Considered an icon in the field of Clinical as well as Interventional Cardiology in India. He currently serves as the Group Director of Cardiology, Kailash Group of Hospitals, New Delhi & Noida, and Director of Cardiology, Kailash Hospital & Heart Institute, Noida.

Piyush Pandey – India’s premiere adman, Piyush is an award-winning co-executive chairman and national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather India and vice-chairman of O&M Asia-Pacific. He has several successful ad campaigns to his credit.

Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah – A senior journalist and former President of The Editors’ Guild of India, Bezbaruah was Editor of ‘The Sentinel’, a popular newspaper of the northeast.

Shri Tejomayananda – Swami Tejomayananda is the current Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide. He has been associated with the Chinmaya mission since 1993.

Rajinikanth – The Tamil movie star did not restrict himself to regional cinema. He debuted in the year 1975 with a Tamil movie and since then he has done movie in Bollywood, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hollywood and Bengali films as well. Apart from being a superstar whose movies run houseful, Rajinikanth philanthropic deeds prove why he is a real hero as well. Recently, on his 65th birthday on 12th December he called off celebrations to mourn the loss Chennai faced due to floods. He is likely to be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

Anupam Kher – He will be conferred with the Padma Bhushan. Anupam Kher is one of the few acclaimed Bollywood actors who have made their mark across the globe. He has featured in many Hollywood movies. Apart from acting in plays and movies, Anupam is a strong voice of India. He is an active participant in political debates and quite recently took it upon him to narrate the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in almost every eminent news channel of the country.

Priyanka Chopra – Bollwyood’s desi girl Priyanka Chopra won lauds from every corner of the globe with her debut American TV series ‘Quantico’. With this thriller, Priyanka became the first Bollywood actress to play the protagonist in an American show. She bagged the People’s choice award for best debutant.