Senior BJP leader LK Advani, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, actors Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, industrialist and philanthropist Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan and Chitrakoot’s Tusli Peeth seer Jagadguru Ramanandacharya will be among the nine recipients of Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in the country after Bharat Ratna, this year.
Noted nuclear scientist MR Srinivasan, D Veerendra Heggade of the famous Dharmasthala Jain temple in Karnataka and lawyer KK Venugopal will be among the rest of the three to get Padma Vibhushan.
The list of 20 Padma Bhushan awardees include former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami, Microsoft chief Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap, journalists Swapan Dasgupta and Rajat Sharma, senior lawyer Harish Salve, cardiologist Ashok Seth, Indian-American mathematician Manjul Bhargava and David Frawley who is also known as Vamdeva Shastri.
Frawley is founder director of American Institute of Vedic Studies in the US. Ram Bahadur Rai is another journalist who will be conferred with Padma Shri.
Besides Jagadguru Ramanandacharya, religious figures like — Swami Satyamitranand Giri (Padma Bhushan), Shivakumara Swami of Karnataka (Padma Bhushan) and Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maha Raja of Portugal (Padma Shri) are also on the honour list.
Yoga Guru Ramdev’s name is not in the list.
Late Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin has been chosen for Padma Shri.
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, economist Bibek Debroy, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who helped BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign, sports personality Saba Anjum, one of the founders of Infosys TV Mohandas Pai, badminton player PV Sindhu, woman cricketer Mithali Raj, Gujarati writer Tarak Mehta will also get Padma Shri.
Wrestler-turned-coach Satpal has been named for Padma Bhushan award, while national hockey team captain Sardar Singh is among the five sportspersons chosen for Padma Shri.
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, economist Bibek Debroy, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who helped BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign, sports personality Saba Anjum, one of the founders of Infosys TV Mohandas Pai, badminton player PV Sindhu, woman cricketer Mithali Raj, Gujarati writer Tarak Mehta will also get Padma Shri.
Wrestler-turned-coach Satpal has been named for Padma Bhushan award, while national hockey team captain Sardar Singh is among the five sportspersons chosen for Padma Shri.