President Droupadi Murmu will confer Padma Awards for the year 2023, at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan today evening, March 22. Of the 106 Padma awards that were announced, six are Padma Vibhushan, nine are Padma Bhushan and 91 are Padma Shri. Nineteen of the awardees are women. Oral Rehydration Solution, ORS pioneer Dilip Mahalanobis will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in the field of Medicine (Pediatrics).
He pioneered the wide use of ORS, believed to have saved over five crore lives globally. Former Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously in the field of public affairs. Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain will also be awarded Padma Vibhushan. Those who will be honoured with Padma Bhushan include Kannada novelist and screenwriter S L Bhyrappa, Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and Author and Philanthropist Sudha Murthy.
