NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, the country’s first Sikh to have risen to the highest position in the judiciary and who was part of the bench that criminalised ‘triple talaq’, and late Suzuki Corporation chairman Osamu Suzuki were on Saturday named for Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian award. The list this year also features celebrated violinist L Subramaniam, Kathak danseuse from Gujarat Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia, late Bihari singer Sharda Sinha, gastroenterologist D Nageshwar Reddy and Malayalam author and film director M T Vasudevan Nair.
The Padma Bhushan has a diverse cast, from the once-fiery VHP leader Sadhvi Rithambara who is now a social worker and runs an ashram for girls at Vrinadavan to former Maharashtra chief minister and late Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi to the late polyglot Bibek Debroy, who headed the economic advisory council to the prime minister to Chandrakant Sompura , the original architect of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya . Among the other Padma Bhushan awardees are film director Shekhar Kapur who made it big in Hollywood after his success here with Bandit Queen, Malayalam actress Shobhana, late ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas, former hockey player and coach P R Sreejesh, film actors Anant Nag and Nandamur Balakrishna. Former BJP leader from Bihar, late Sushil Modi, Zydus Lifesciences chairman Pankaj Patel and journalists A Surya Prakash and Rambahadur Rai have also been conferred the Padma Bhushan.
The Padma Shri list, like the past few years under the Narendra Modi govt, is a rich mix of accomplished celebrities in their field and unsung heroes, including foreigners, who have dedicated their lives to preserving and promoting Indian culture, tradition, innovative farming techniques and alternative healthcare. Former cricketer R Ashwin, former Indian football team captain I M Vijayan, singer Arijit Singh from Bollywood, Marathi actor Ashok Laxman Saraf who successfully forayed into Hindi movies, theatre personality and mentor to famous Bollywood names Barry John, and travel writers Hugh and Colleen Gantzer, have been chosen this year for Padma Shri honour. C S Vaidyanathan, the lawyer who argued in the Ayodhya title case for Ram Lalla, and former Indian hockey legend Harvinder Singh are the other names in the Padma Shri list.
This year, the President of India has approved the conferment of 139 Padma Awards in all, including 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. As many as 23 awardees are women, while 10 are in the category of foreigners, NRIs, persons of Indian origin (PIO) or overseas citizens of India (OCI). Thirteen awardees are being honoured posthumously.
A statewise breakup shows 14 awardees from Maharashtra, 13 from Tamil Nadu, 10 from UP, 9 each from West Bengal and Karnataka and 8 from Gujarat.
Two professors from Delhi School of Economics K L Krishna and V R Panchmukhi are among the Padma Shri awardees. Padma Bhushan awardee Bibek Debroy was also a DSE alumni.
