India’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh were posthumously conferred Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian honour. The Union Home Ministry announced the Padma Awards on the eve of the Republic Day.
Covid-19 vaccine makers—Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institue and Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech—Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have been honoured with Padma Bhushan. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and actor Victor Banerjee have also been given Padma Bhushan.
Late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa and former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi have also been named for the third highest civilian honour.
Singer Sonu Nigam and Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra will be honoured with Padma Shri.
There are 17 Padma Bhushan awardees and 107 Padma Shri awardees across various disciplines.
Apart from General Rawat (Civil Service) and Kalyan Singh (Public Affairs), the other Padma Vibushan awardees are late Radheyshyam Khemka (Literature and Education) and Prabha Atre (Art).