New Delhi (TIP) – Former vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, yesteryear stalwart Vyjayanthimala, Sulabh founder Bindheshwar Pathak, and Bharatnatyam exponent Padma Subrahmanyam are the five people awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, the government announced on Thursday, January 25.
For 2024, the President approved 132 Padma awards, including 17 Padma Bhushan honours, and 110 Padma Shri awards. Thirty of the awardees are women and the list also includes eight people who are foreigners, non-resident Indians, people of Indian origin or those who hold overseas citizenship of India. Four of the five Padma Vibhushan laureates hailed from south India. Nine awardees were posthumously honoured — including Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth and India’s first woman Supreme Court judge, M Fathima Beevi who were both awarded the Padma Bhushan.
Among the 17 Padma Bhushan awardees were actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup, industrialist Sitaram Jindal, Taiwan based Foxconn chairman Young Liu, politicians Ram Naik and O Rajagopal, and journalist Hormusji Cama.
At least four French citizens from different fields were given the Padma Shri award this year, including Charlotte Chopin (Yoga), Pierre Sylvain Filliozat (literature and education), Fred Negrit (literature and education), and Kiran Vyas (Yoga). French President Emmanuel Macron is the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations this year.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to the change makers of our society who have been selected for the Padma Awards for their distinguished contributions to different fields. PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has rationalised the Padma Awards ceremony to make it a platform to appreciate individuals setting pioneering examples for social change. The individuals conferred with the Padma Awards have not only created brilliant examples for others to follow but also have elevated the pride of the nation with their service,” Union home minister Amit Shah tweeted soon after the list was released.
The government flagged 34 of the Padma Shri winners separately as “unsung heroes”. These, to name a few, included Jankilal, a third-generation performer from Bhilwara who is a master in the fading Behrupiya art; Badrappan M, an 87-year-old Valli Oyil Kummi folk dance guru from Coimbatore; Chami Murmu, a tribal environmentalist and women empowerment champion; Omprakash Sharma, a Mach theatre artist from Malwa who has devoted seven decades to this traditional dance drama; Gopinath Swain, a centenarian from Ganjam who has been performing Krishna Leela for over nine decades; Uma Maheshwari D, the first woman Harikatha exponent who has performed globally in different ragas; and Parbati Baruah, India’s first woman mahout from Assam who started taming wild tuskers at the age of 14.
The prestigious Padma awards are conferred in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – and given in various disciplines ranging from art to social work, science to industry, medicine to literature, and sport to public service. The awards, announced on the eve of Republic Day, are conferred by the President at ceremonial event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in March or April every year. Source: HT