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The Padma Awards, which is the highest civilian award in the country, were conferred to over 119 individuals from across fields and disciplines including sports, literature, civil service, art, social work, science and education, on Monday, November 8, by President Ram Nath Kovind. This year, seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards for the year 2020 were conferred on Monday morning at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
Among the individuals who received the Padma Vibushan were Former Japanese Shinzo Abe, sculpture artist Sudrashan Sahoo, Dr Belle Monappa Hegde, a cardiologist and former vice-chancellor of Manipal University, and late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam. The Padma Bhushan went to former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi (who received the award posthumously), Kannada literature doyen Chandrashekhar Khambara, singer KS Chitra, former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, among others.
This year's Padma Shri awardees include Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation, vocalist Bombay Jayashri and Matha B Manjamma Jogati. Bollywood personalities Kangana Ranaut, Adnan Sami, Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar were also among the Padma Shri awardees, along with Tamil actor and TV debate personality Solomon Pappiah, visually challenged Malayalam writer Balan Pootheri, Balinese performing artist I Wayan Dubia, applied mathematician Rangasami Lakhminarayana Kashyap, and others.
119 Padma Awards to be presented by President Ram Nath Kovind this year, the ceremony for which will begin shortly.
— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2021
The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards. 29 of the awardees are women, 16 Posthumous awardees and 1 transgender awardee. pic.twitter.com/OlyRT9q4Zz
The Padma Awards for 2020 were given out as well on Friday. Four Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 61 Padma Shri awards were conferred on various individuals for the year 2020. Those awarded Padma Vibhushan were former Union ministers George Fernandes (posthumous), Arun Jaitley (posthumous), Sushma Swaraj (posthumous) and Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, Hindustani classical and semi-classical vocalist. Badminton player PV Sindhu also received the 2020 Padma Bhushan.
Lately, several people have batted for late Kannada star Puneeth rajkumar to be conferred with a Padma Shri award posthumously. State Agriculture Minister BC Patil, who used to be an actor, said, Puneeth Rajkumar should have been given Padma Shri when he was alive for his achievements, but since he passed away unexpectedly, it must be given posthumously.
unfortunately as he is no longer with us physically, it has to be given to him posthumously .The sentiment was echoed by many including Minister for Tourism Anand Singh, Kannada actor Prem and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who recently urged Prime Minister Modi to award the Padma Shri to Puneeth posthumously.
(With PTI inputs)