General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, who was killed last year in a helicopter crash, will be honoured with the Padma Vibhushan Award posthumously, the government announced on Tuesday
Vaccine makers Krishna Ella, Suchitra Ella and Cyrus Poonawalla have been named for the Padma Bhushan awards, the third-highest civilian award in India.
Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have also been named for the Padma Bhushan Award on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day.
However, Bhattacharjee on Tuesday night refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award.
“None has told me yet officially about the Padma Bhushan award, and I am unaware of it. If the Centre has conferred me with the award, I am refusing it,” the CPI-M veteran has said.
Meanwhile, Indian-origin Silicon Valley titans Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai were also named for the country’s top civilian awards on Tuesday.
The Padma Bhushan list also includes ustad Rashid Khan and Bengal actor Victor Banerjee.
Singer Sonu Nigam and Olympian gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra has been named for Padma Sri Award, which is the fourth-highest civilian award.
Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.
This year the President has approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards including 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards.
