Republic Day 2021: Shinzo Abe, SP Balasubramaniam among Padma Vibhushan awardees

The Padma awards are conferred by the President on the eve of Republic Day every year.

The government announced the list of Padma awards on Monday, on the eve of India's 72nd Republic Day. This year, the government has chosen seven people for Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seen in this file photo. Abe and his Cabinet are set to resign Wednesday morning, clearing the way for his successor to take over after parliamentary confirmation later in the day. (AP Photo)

Among these seven is former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, who has been given the award for his achievements in Public Affairs.

The other recipients are noted singer S P Balasubramaniam, who passed away last year. He was 74. The singer was admitted to hospital after he contracted Covid-19, but later tested negative. Balasubramaniam suffered a cardio- respiratory arrest which led to his death in September last year.

Dr Belle Monappa Hegde has been given Padma Bhushan in Medicine, Narinder Singh Kapany (Posthumously) in Science and Engineering, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan in spiritualism, B B Lal in Archaeology and Sudarshan Sahoo in Art.

All these people have made exceptional contributions in their respective fields.

The Padma awards are conferred by the President on the eve of Republic Day every year.

These awards were instituted in the year 1954 and are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

Even though these awards do not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name, the recipients are given a small replica of the medallion, which they can wear during any ceremonial or state functions.