President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday conferred Padma awards to former Chief Minister of Karnataka S M Krishna, renowned industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and well-known playback singer Suman Kalyanpur at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Along with them, a number of unsung heroes as well as billionaire stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away last year, received the honour posthumously.
On the eve of this year’s Republic Day, the president gave his approval for the presentation of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).
More than 50 of these recipients received the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awards on Wednesday.
The Padma Vibhushan was given to Krishna, who served as the external affairs minister in the UPA government led by the Congress and later joined the BJP.
The second-highest civilian honour in the nation, the Padma Vibhushan, was also bestowed upon renowned architect Balkrishna Doshi (posthumously).
The Padma Bhushan, the nation’s third-highest civilian honour, was given to Birla, Delhi-based professor Kapil Kapoor, who is well-known for his books on Indian grammatical theories and models, spiritual leader Kamlesh D. Patel, and Kalyanpur.
The awards are given in a variety of fields and disciplines, including, arts, social work, politics, science, engineering, business, medicine, literature, education, sports, public service, and so on.