Celebrated boxer M C Mary Kom will be conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award, while world champion shuttler P V Sindhu will get the Padma Bhushan among eight sportspersons named for the prestigious honours on Saturday. She is one of seven eminent personalities to be awarded the Padma Vibhushan this year.
'I feel I must decline as there is a general election looming and the timing of the award might be misconstrued, causing embarrassment both to the government and myself, which I would much regret,' Gita Mehta said.
Harivanshi Rai, Jaya, and Aishwarya Rai have been previous awardees.
Manu Bhaker has been shockingly ignored for this year's Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, a top sports ministry source has asserted
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No longer, Virendra Kapoor points out, are these awards given on the recommendation of ministers, or the Delhi-based liaison men who had ruled the roast till 2014.
Taking a jibe at pugilist Vijender Singh and badminton ace Saina Nehwal after the duo advertised their names for the Padma Bhushan, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said it's a great pity that the Indian athletes feel they have to lobby and threaten to receive awards.
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country's second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday.
President Pratibha Patil has approved the conferment of Padma Awards-2012. This year the President has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of foreigners/ non-resident Indians/ Persons of Indian Origin/Posthumous. These comprise five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 women among the awardees.
The Centre has asked all states to set up special search committees to find out talented people who could be nominated for Padma awards but so far have been left out of consideration despite their exceptional contributions.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday conferred Padma Vibhushan on veteran actor Dilip Kumar at latter's residence in Mumbai.
Freedom fighter and former member of Parliament Shashi Bhushan died at a hospital in Delhi on Friday. He was 88.
Kidambi Srikanth, whose stature has grown immensely following a phenomenal 2017, was nominated for the prestigious Padma Shri award by former Sports Minister Vijay Goel.
'Mark had such a profound understanding of India, which was, of course, the land of his birth as well as of his death... He loved India, and lived two-thirds of his life here.'
Mark Tully, the renowned journalist, author, and Indophile, has passed away at the age of 90. He spent a lifetime in India as a journalist, mingling with its people and telling their stories.
Aamir Khan to get a Padma Bhushan while Saif Ali Khan will get a Padma Shri.
Kejriwal defended Jain as a 'hardcore honest and patriot' person who was being framed in a 'false case' and hoped the minister will come out clean after the ED probe.
President Murmu had to move forward to give the award to the 86-year-old singer who has difficulty walking.
Indian men's hockey team captain Sardar Singh and former skipper of the national women's side Saba Anjum were conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award by President Pranab Mukherjee at a glittering ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and top businessman Vindi Banga were conferred the Padma Bhushan awards by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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Jayant Narlikar wrote alternative what-if histories, explained difficult scientific theories with funny analogies, and leavened his lectures with jokes and humorous asides.
Sudha Murty, who was on Friday nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President, holds a 0.83 per cent stake in IT bellwether Infosys which at current prices is worth close to Rs 5,600 crore. The 73-year-old philanthropist is the wife of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. She is the chairperson of the Murty Trust and has authored several books.
Vani Jayaram's husband predeceased her and she had no children, the singer's domestic help said.
Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, has not been conferred on anyone this year.
Nobel laureate of Indian origin Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, noted theatre personality Ebrahim Alkazi were on Wednesday conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi.
President A P J Abdul Kalam gave away the awards to 58 eminent personalities from different walks of life at a glittering ceremony held at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A large number of the civilian awards went to persons from the 'art' category.
Former Indian ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra, noted litterateur Raja Rao (posthumous) and scientist S E Chandy George and civil servant V Krishnamurthy were also selected for Padma Vibhushan.
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal clarified that his ministry received the letter of nomination of badminton star Saina Nehwal for the Padma Bhushan on Saturday.
Yoga guru Ramdev, who had declined Padma Vibhushan award, on Saturday said that a lot of lobbying takes place behind the selection of Padma and even Nobel prize awardees and those with political influence succeed.
Kapoor told the ED that he was told by the then petroleum minister Murli Deora that the refusal to buy the MF Husain painting will not only prevent him from building a relationship with the Gandhi family but also prevent him from getting the Padma Bhushan award.
Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid will be among 74 persons to be honoured with the Padma Shri.
Has a distinguished poet's memory been sullied, asks K Kunhikrishnan?
On her first visit to any state in the Indian Union after being sworn in as President of the Republic, Rashtrapati Droupadi Murmu was felicitated in Bengaluru by some of that city's luminaries.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan says the Indian Air Force would have slowed the Chinese offensive considerably during the 1962 War.
In 2021, the Centre renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. But many wonder, why despite the public sentiment the country's highest civilian honour continues to elude the man who put Indian hockey on the world map.
Deaflympics gold medallist Virender Singh Yadav, better known as Goonga Pehlwan, has now decided to return his Padma Shri to the government, showing solidarity with the country's top wrestlers.
Political stalwarts Murli Manohar Joshi, Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, cricketer Virat Kohli and Carnatic musician K J Yesudas were among the 89 people who were selected for this year's Padma awards.
'That a song can carry the weight of a people's dreams and move hearts across the world.' On Bhupen Hazarika's 99th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays rich tribute to the legendary singer and composer.
