Yesteryear actor Vyjayanthimala Bali, Telugu star Konidela Chiranjeevi, the first woman judge of the Supreme Court late M Fathima Beevi and ”Bombay Samachar” owner Hormusji N Cama were among the eminent persons conferred Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.BJP leader O Rajagopal, Ladakh’s spiritual leader Togdan Rinpochey, Tamil actor late ”Captain” Vijayakanth (both posthumous), group editor and CEO of Gujarati newspaper ”Janmabhoomi” Kundan Vyas were also conferred Padma awards at a civil investiture ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
While 90-year-old Bali and Chiranjeevi were given Padma Vibhushan, Beevi, Cama, Rajagopal, Vijayakant, Rinpochey and Vyas were conferred Padma Bhushan.
Family members of Beevi, Vijayakant and Rinpochey received the awards.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.
The Padma awards, among the highest civilian honours of the country, are conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service etc.
Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
The awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day every year.
For 2024, the president had approved the conferment of 132 Padma awards, including two duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).
The list comprises five Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri awards.
Thirty of the awardees are women. The list also includes eight people from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and nine posthumous awardees.
While more than half of the awardees were conferred the awards on April 22, the remaining were given the awards on Thursday.