Gen Rawat, Kalyan Singh, vaccine makers, Pichai and Nadella named for Padma Awards
New Delhi, January 25
Late Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh will receive India’s top civil honour Padma Vibhushan, while veteran opposition politicians Ghulam Nabi Azad, former West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Covid vaccine makers Krishna Ella and Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla have been named in the list of 17 Padma Bhushan recipients.
On the eve of the Republic Day, the government unveiled the list of Padma Awards, naming four recipients for Padma Vibhushan, 17 for Padma Bhushan and 107 for Padma Shri.
Named among Padma Bhushan recipients is Punjab’s legendary folk singer late Gurmeet Bawa, founders of Bharat Biotech Krishna and Suchitra Ella who gave India the first indigenous Covid vaccine, Covaxin; Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, who manufactured Covishield, which continues to be the mainstay of India’s Covid inoculation drive.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google’s Sunder Pichai are also among the Padma Bhushan award winners.
Among Padma Vibhushan recipients alongside late Gen Rawat and Kalyan Singh is late Radheshyam Khemka, the owner of Gorakhpur-based Gita Press who pioneered the publication of Sanatan literature. Khemka died in 2021 at the age of 87 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally condoling the death.
Renowned Indian classical vocalist Prabha Atre of the Kirana Gharana has also been named as a Padma Vibhushan recipient.
Among Padma Shri recipients from the region are Olympic gold medallist in javelin throw neeraj Chopra (Haryana); Chardikala Time TV Group chairman Jagjit Singh Dardi (Chandigarh); Chancellor, Central University of Himachal Pradesh and former Prof and Head of Department, Hindi, at Guru Nanak Dev University (Punjab); Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat, poet of the Balti language (Ladakh); Faisal Ali Dar, martial arts coach from Kashmir’s Bandipora (J&K); Om Prakash Gandhi for social work (Haryana); Moti Lal Madan for science and engineering (Haryana); Tsering Namgyal for art (Ladakh); Vidyanand Sarek for literature and education (Himachal Pradesh); Vishwamurty Shastri, education (J&K); Prem Singh for social work (Punjab); Baba Iqbal Sigh for social work (Punjab); Raghuvendra Tanwar for education (Haryana).
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