Here Are the Padma Awardees of 2016, Recipients of One of India’s Highest Civilian Honours

Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian honours of the country, are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The awards are given in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – to eminent personalities from different fields like public service, art, sports, medicine, entertainment etc.

Padma Vibhushan – This is the second-highest civilian award of India, given for exceptional and distinguished service. The awardees are:

1. Ramoji Rao

Source: Twitter

Ramoji Rao is a businessman, film producer, educationist, journalist and media entrepreneur. He heads the Ramoji Group, which owns the Ramoji Film City – the world’s largest integrated film city. He is being honoured for his contribution to the fields of journalism, literature and education.

2. Rajinikanth

Source: Twitter

Rajinikanth is one of the most popular personalities from the Indian film industry. He primarily works in the Tamil film industry and has also acted in Bollywood, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hollywood and Bengali films. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2000.

3. Shri Shri Ravi Shankar

Source: Wikimedia

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

4. Jagmohan

Source: Twitter

Jagmohan received the Padma Shri in 1971 and the Padma Bhushan in 1977. He is the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir; the former Lieutenant Governor Delhi, Daman and Diu, and Goa; and a retired civil servant.

5. Yamini Krishnamurthy

Source: Twitter

75-year-old Yamini Krishnamurthy is a renowned Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dancer. She teaches dance at her institute, the Yamini School of Dance in New Delhi.

6. V K Aatre

Source: Twitter

Dr. Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre is a scientist and former head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He also served as the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and is a Padma Bhushan recipient.

7. Late Dhirubhai Ambani

Source: Twitter

Late Dhirubhai Ambani was the eminent Indian business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries. He will be honoured posthumously for his contributions to the field of trade and industry.

8. Girija Devi

Source: Facebook

86-year-old Girija Devi is an Indian classical singer of the Banaras gharana. She performs classical and light classical music. She made her public debut on All India Radio Allahabad, in 1959.

9. Avinash Dixit

Source: Twitter

Avinash Dixit, a 71-year-old Indian-American economist, is a professor at Princeton University, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics at Lingnan University and Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.

10. Viswanathan Shanta

Source: Twitter

Dr. V. Shanta is a well-known cancer specialist and the Chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai. Prior to this, she has received the Magsaysay Award, Padma Shri, and Padma Bhushan.

Padma Bhushan: The third highest civilian award is given for distinguished service of a high order.

1. Vinod Rai - Former CAG 2. Anupam Kher - Actor 3. Udit Narayan - Singer 4. Robert D Blackwill - Former US Ambassador to India 5. Saina Nehwal - Badminton Player 6. Sania Mirza - Tennis Player 7. Indu Jain - Chairperson of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd 8. Ram V. Sutar - Sculptor 9. Heisnam Kanhailal - Manipuri theatre personality 10. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad - Hindi and Telugu writer 11. N. S. Ramanuja Tatacharya - Sanskrit scholar 12. Barjinder Singh Hamdard - Punjabi journalist 13. Nageshwar Reddy - Gastroenterologist 14. Hafeez Contractor - Architect 15. Ravindra Chandra Bhargava - Chairman of Maruti Suzuki 16. Dr. AV Rama Rao - Scientist 17. Late Swami Dayanand Sarawasati (posthumous) - Spiritual leader 18. Pallonji Shapoorji - Industrialist

Padma Shri: The fourth highest civilian award is given for distinguished service.

Prathibha Prahlad: Art - Classical Dance Bhikhudan Gadhvi: Art - Folk Music Sribhas Chandra Supakar: Art - Textile Designing Ajay Devgn: Art - Cinema Priyanka Chopra: Art - Cinema Tulsidas Borkar: Art - Classical Music Dr. Soma Ghosh: Art - Classical Vocal Nila Madhab Panda: Art - Film Direction and Production S.S. Rajamouli: Art - Film Direction and Production Madhur Bhandarkar: Art - Film Direction and Production Prof. M. Venkatesh Kumar: Art - Folk Artist Gulabi Sapera: Art - Folk Dance Mamta Chandrakar: Art - Folk Music Malini Awasthi: Art - Folk Music Jai Prakash Lekhiwal: Art - Miniature Painting K. Laxma Goud: Art - Painting Bhalchandra Dattatray Mondhe: Art - Photography Naresh Chander Lal: Art - Theatre & Cinema Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah: Literature & Education Prahlad Chandra Tasa: Literature & Education Dr. Ravindra Nagar: Literature & Education Dahyabhai Shastri: Literature & Education Dr. Santeshivara Bhyrappa: Literature & Education Haldar Nag: Literature & Education Kameshwaram Brahma: Literature & Education - Journalism Prof. Pushpesh Pant: Literature & Education - Journalism Jawaharlal Kaul: Literature & Education - Journalism Ashok Malik: Literature & Education Dr. Mannam Gopi Chand: Medicine - Cardio Thoracic Surgery Prof. Ravi Kant: Medicine - Surgery Prof. Ram Harsh Singh: Medicine - Ayurveda Prof. Shiv Narain Kureel: Medicine - Paediatric Surgery Dr. Sabya Sachi Sarkar: Medicine - Radiology Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale: Medicine - Cardiac Surgery Prof. T.K. Lahiri: Medicine - Cardio Thoracic Surgery Dr. Praveen Chandra: Medicine - Cardiology Daljeet Singh Gambhir: Medicine - Cardiology Dr. Chandrasekar Shesadri Thoguluva: Medicine - Gastroenterology Dr. Anil Kumari Malhotra: Medicine - Homeopathy Prof. M.V. Padma Srivastava: Medicine - Neurology Dr. Sudhir V. Shah: Medicine - Neurology Dr. M. M. Joshi: Medicine - Ophthalmology Prof. John Ebnezar: Medicine - Orthopaedic Surgery Dr. Nayudamma Yarlagadda: Medicine - Paediatric Surgery Simon Oraon: Environment Conservation Imitiaz Qureshi: Culinary Piyush Pandey: Advertising & Communication Subhash Palekar: Farming Ravinder Kumar Sinha: Wildlife Conservation Dr. H.R. Nagendra: Yoga M. C. Mehta: Public Affairs M. N. Krishna Mani: Public Affairs Ujjwal Nikam: Public Affairs Tokheho Sema: Public Affairs Dr. Satish Kumar: Science & Engineering Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai: Science & Engineering Prof. Dipankar Chatterji: Science & Engineering Dr. Ganapati Dadasaheb Yadav: Science & Engineering Prof. Veena Tandon: Science & Engineering Onkar Nath Srivastava: Science & Engineering Sunita Krishnan: Social Work Ajoy Kumar Dutta: Social Work M. Pandit Dasa: Social Work P. P. Gopinathan Nair: Social Work Madeleine Herman de Blic: Social Work Srinivasan Damal Kandalai: Social Work Sudhakar Olwe: Social Work Dr. T.V. Narayana: Social Work Arunachalam Murugantham: Social Work Deepika Kumari: Sports - Archery Sushil Doshi: Sports - commentary Mahesh Sharma: Trade & Industry Saurabh Srivastava: Trade & Industry Dilip Sanghvi: Trade & Industry Dr. Keki Hormusji Gharda: Trade & Industry Late Prakash Chand Surana (Posthumous):Art - Classical Music Late Saeed Jaffrey (NRI/Posthumous): Art - Cinema Michael Postel (Foreigner): Art - Archaeology Salman Amin Sal Khan (NRI/Person Of Indian Origin): Literature & Education Hui Lan Zhang (Foreigner): Yoga Predrag K. Nikic (Foreigner): Yoga Dr. Sundar Aditya Menon (NRI/PIO): Social Work Ajaypal Singh Banga (NRI/PIO): Trade & Industry

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