CDS General Bipin Rawat (Representative Image) (Pic Via Twitter)Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister late Kalyan Singh and India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat who died in a tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu recently were awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India, posthumously on Tuesday (25 January), according to an official release.
Meanwhile, veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and former West Bengal CM and CPI(M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were given Padma Bhushan.
Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, which manufactured COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, and Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech, which produced India's indigenous coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, were also given Padma Bhushan.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were conferred Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award.
Late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, actor Victor Banerjee and former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi have been awarded Padma Bhushan.
Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and singer Sonu Nigam were awarded Padma Shri.
The President approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards, including two duo cases, this year, according to a Union Home Ministry statement.
In a duo case (of Bharat Biotech's Krishna and Suchitra Ella), the award is counted as one, the ministry said.
The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri awards. Thirty-four of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees.
(With inputs from PTI)
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.