President confers Padma awards on Dhirubhai Ambani, Saina among others

New Delhi: A bevy of stalwarts from different walks of life, including founder of Reliance Industries late Dhirubhai Ambani, former Governor Jagmohan, actors Anupam Kher and Ajay Devgn and badminton star Saina Nehwal were honoured with Padma awards Monday.

Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, renowned dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy, former CAG Vinod Rai, folk singer Malini Awasthi, 'sage of agriculture' Subhash Palekar and celebrated chef Mohammed Imtiaz Qureshi were among the 56 eminent persons who were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Kokilaben Ambani received the Padma Vibhushan given to her husband Dhirubhai Ambani posthumously amidst loud applause and in attendance of close family members, including two sons -- Reliance India Limited chief Mukesh Ambani and Reliance ADAG Chairman Anil Ambani.

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani and wife Neeta along with Anil Ambani and wife Tina at the Padma Awards 2016 function at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Photo: PTI)

Apart from Ambani, US-based economist Avinash Kamalakar Dixit, former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan, one of the greatest exponents of Indian classical dance Yamini Krishnamurthy and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar were awarded with Padma Vibhushan.

Those who were honoured with Padma Bhushan include renowned architect Hafeez Sorab Contractor, Editor-in- Chief of Ajit group of newspapers Barjinder Singh Hamdard, Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, construction tycoon and chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji group Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, Badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, renowned scientist Alla Venkata Rama Rao and chairman of Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy.

The President presented five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and 43 Padma Shri awards at the Civil Investiture Ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The 43 Padma Shri awardees include Director of ISRO Satellite Centre Mylswamy Annadurai, folk singer Malini Awasthi, President and CEO of Master Card Ajaypal Singh Banga, film maker Madhur R Bhandarkar, leading harmonium player Pandit Tulsidas Borkar, chairman of Interventional Cardiology at Medanta hospital Praveen Chandra and Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn.

 

Anupam Kher, Ajay Devgn and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar at Padma Awards 2016 (Photo: PTI)

Social worker from Assam Ajoy Kumar Dutta, Gujarati folk artist Bhikhudan Govindbhai Gadhvi, cardio-thoracic and transplant surgeon Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, renowned painter from Telangana Kala Laxma Goud, ophthalmologist Mahipati M Joshi, philanthropist from Tamil Nadu Damal Kandadai Srinivasan and vice-chancellor of King George's Medical University, Lucknow Ravi Kant were honoured with Padma Shri.

Archer Deepika Kumari, pediatrician Shiv Narain Kureel, theatre director and film maker of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Naresh Chander Lal, columnist Ashok Malik, Supreme Court lawyer M N Krishnamani, environmentalist Mahesh Chander Mehta, Kerala industrialist Sundar Menon, Odiya poet Haladhar Nag, Gandhian and freedom fighter P Gopinath Nair were given Padma Shri by the President.

President Pranab Mukherjee presents Padma Bhushan to badminton star Saina Nehwal during Padma Awards 2016 (Photo: PTI)

Maharashtra-based farmer Subhash Palekar, who is known as 'sage of agriculture' for helping around 50 lakh farmers across the country for increasing production, film-maker from Odisha Nila Madhab Panda, advertisement guru Piyush Pandey, columnist Pushpesh Pant, celebrated chef Mohammed Imtiaz Qureshi, founder of Sun Pharma Dilip S Shanghvi, literature and educationist from Assam Prahlad Chandra Tasa were honoured with the Padma Shri.

Government had announced Padma awards for 112 eminent persons on the eve of Republic Day.

The rest of the awardees, including superstar Rajinikanth, actor Priyanka Chopra and tennis star Sania Mirza, will be given the honour at a separate function to be held next month.

Following is the full list:

PADMA VIBHUSHAN

• Yamini Krishnamurthi Art-Classical dance, Delhi
• Rajinikanth Art-Cinema, Tamil Nadu
• Girija Devi Art-Classical Vocal, West Bengal
• Ramoji Rao Literature & Education,Andhra Pradesh
• Viswanathan Shanta Medicine-Oncology, Tamil Nadu
• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Others- Spiritualism, Karnataka
• Jagmohan Public Affairs, Delhi
• Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre Science & Engineering, Karnataka
• Avinash Dixit Economist
• Dhirubhai Ambani (Posthumous) Industry, Maharashtra.

PADMA BHUSHAN

• Anupam Kher Art - Cinema, Maharashtra
• Udit Narayan Jha Art - Playback Singing, Maharashtra
• Ram V. Sutar Art - Sculpture, Uttar Pradesh
• Heisnam Kanhailal Art - Theatre Manipur
• Vinod Rai Civil Service, Kerala
• Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad Literature, Andhra Pradesh
• N S Ramanuja Tatacharya Literature, Maharashtra
• Barjinder Singh Hamdard Journalism, Punjab
• D Nageshwar Reddy Medicine, Telangana
• Swami Tejomayananda Other - Spiritualism, Maharashtra
• Hafeez Contractor Others - Architecture, Maharashtra
• Ravindra Chandra Bhargava Public Affairs, Uttar Pradesh
• Venkata Rama Rao Alla Science, Andhra Pradesh
• Saina Nehwal Sports - Badminton, Telangana
• Sania Mirza Sports - Tennis, Telangana
• Indu Jain Trade & Industry, Delhi
• Late Swami Dayanand Sarawasati (Posthumous) Spiritualism, Uttarakhand
• Robert Blackwill Public Affairs, USA
• Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry Trade & Industry, Ireland.

PADMA SHRI

• Prathibha Prahlad Art - Classical Dance, Delhi
• Bhikhudan Gadhvi Art - Folk Music, Gujarat
• Sribhas Chandra Supakar Art - Designing, Uttar Pradesh
• Ajay Devgn Art - Cinema, Maharashtra
• Priyanka Chopra Art - Cinema, Maharashtra
• Tulsidas Borkar Art - Classical Music, Goa
• Soma Ghosh Art - Classical Vocal, Uttar Pradesh
• Nila Madhab Panda Art - Film Direction, Delhi
• S S Rajamouli Art - Film Direction, Karnataka
• Madhur Bhandarkar Art - Film Direction, Maharashtra
• M Venkatesh Kumar Art - Folk Artist, Karnataka
• Gulabi Sapera Art - Folk Dance, Rajasthan
• Mamta Chandrakar Art - Folk Music, Chhattisgarh
• Malini Awasthi Art - Folk Music, Uttar Pradesh
• Jai Prakash Lekhiwal Art - Miniature Painting, Delhi
• K. Laxma Goud Art - Painting, Telangana
• Bhalchandra Dattatray Mondhe Art - Photography, MP
• Naresh Chander Lal Art - Theatre, Andaman & Nicobar
• Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah Literature & Education, Assam
• Prahlad Chandra Tasa Literature & Education Assam
• Ravindra Nagar Literature & Education, Delhi
• Dahyabhai Shastri Literature & Education, Gujarat
• Santeshivara Bhyrappa Literature & Education, Karnataka
• Haldar Nag Literature & Education, Odisha
• Kameshwaram Brahma Literature & Education, Assam
• Pushpesh Pant Literature & Education, Delhi
• Jawaharlal Kaul Literature, Jammu and Kashmir
• Ashok Malik Literature & Education, Delhi
• Mannam Gopi Chand Medicine, Telangana
• Ravi Kant Medicine - Surgery Uttar Pradesh
• Ram Harsh Singh Medicine - Ayurveda Uttar Pradesh
• Shiv Narain Kureel Medicine, Uttar Pradesh
• Sabya Sachi Sarkar Medicine - Radiology, Uttar Pradesh
• Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Medicine, Andhra Pradesh
• T K Lahiri Medicine, Uttar Pradesh
• Praveen Chandra Medicine - Cardiology, Delhi
• Daljeet Singh Gambhir Medicine - Cardiology, Uttar Pradesh
• Chandrasekar Shesadri Thoguluva Medicine, Tamil Nadu
• Anil Kumari Malhotra Medicine - Homeopathy, Delhi
• M V Padma Srivastava Medicine - Neurology, Delhi
• Sudhir V. Shah Medicine - Neurology, Gujarat