Republic Day 2018: Ilayaraja, Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Dhoni, Pankaj Advani among 85 personalities conferred with Padma Awards this year

At least 85 eminent personalities were conferred with Padma Awards this year – three Padma Vibhushan, nine Padma Bhushan and 73 Padma Shri –  said the India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday. “Among them 16 are NRIs, PIO. Last year 89 persons were awarded Padma,” said MHA in a statement. Like last year, Padma Awards continue to have the category as ‘unsung heroes’.

The second highest civilian award was processed through online nominations, where nearly 35,000 applications were received.  As many as 22 persons were chosen this year with special emphasis on giving recognition to people who have rendered selfless service at a grassroots level. A senior government official said, “Not just excellence, but “Excellence Plus” was the criteria throughout the entire process”.

Legendary Tamil film music director Ilayaraja was among those awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award. It must be noted that Ilayaraja got Padma Bhushan in 2010. Classical musician Ghulam Mustafa Khan from Maharashtra and P Pramshwaran, a Hindu thinker and orator from Kerala, were among the three Padma Vibhusan awardees.

Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and billiards player Pankaj Advani were among the ones to be conferred with Padma Bhushan. Folk singer Sharda Sinha was also among the one to be conferred with Padma Awards. Noted actor Manoj Joshi, who recently acted in videos that were aired before the Gujarat elections for BJP, was awarded Padma Shri.

Amitava Roy was conferred with Padma Shri under Science and Engineering from West Bengal. In all, 73 eminent personalities were conferred with Padma Shri. Out of 85, three persons got the award posthumously and 14 were women while 16 were foreigners, NRIs.

Among the awardees are Lakshmikutty for Medicine from Kerala, Bhajju Shyam, a Gond artist from Madhya Pradesh, Sudhanshu Biswas, a 99-year-old freedom fighter from West Bengal for rendering social service, MR Rajagopal from Kerala for treating terminally-ill patients, Arvind Gupta from Maharashtra for inspiring students to learn from trash.

Similarly, Vijayalkashmi Navaneetha Krishnan was conferred with Padma Shri for Literature & Education from Tamil Nadu. She is an acclaimed Tamil folk art exponent. Murlikant Petkar was given in Sports (Swimming) from Maharashtra. He lost an arm in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.

Rajagopalan Vasudevan received for Science & Engineering (Innovation) from Tamil Nadu, Subhasini Mistry for social work from West Bengal, Sulagatti Narasamma for Medicine from Karnataka and Yeshi Dhoden for Medicine from Himachal Pradesh.

Couple Rani and Abhay Bang were awarded for doctors who transformed health care in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and Lentina Ao Thakkar from Nagaland, who served for decades at a Gandhi Ashram in Nagaland.

The prestigious awards, which include Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, are announced annually on the eve of the Republic Day. These awards are given in various fields such as literature and education, art, sports, social work, medicine, science and engineering, civil service, public affairs, trade and industry.

Full list of Padma Awardees:

Padma Vibhushan:

1. Shri Illaiyaraja
Art-Music
Tamil Nadu

2. Shri Ghulam Mustafa Khan
Art-Music
Maharashtra

3. Shri Parameswaran Parameswaran
Literature and Education
Kerala

Padma Bhushan:

4. Shri Pankaj Advani
SportsBilliards/Snooker
Karnataka

5. Shri Philipose Mar Chrysostom
Others-Spiritualism
Kerala

6. Shri Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Sports-Cricket
Jharkhand

7. Shri Alexander Kadakin
(Foreigner/Posthumous)
Public Affairs
Russia

8. Shri Ramachandran Nagaswamy
Others-Archaeology
Tamil Nadu

9. Shri Ved Prakash Nanda
(OCI) Literature and Education
USA

10. Shri Laxman Pai
Art-Painting
Goa

11. Shri Arvind Parikh
Art-Music
Maharashtra

12. Ms. Sharda Sinha
Art-Music
Bihar

Padma Shri:

13. Shri Abhay Bang and Ms. Rani Bang (Duo)
Medicine
Maharashtra

14. Shri Damodar Ganesh Bapat
Social Work
Chhattisgarh

15. Shri Prafulla Govinda Baruah
Literature and Education-Journalism
Assam

16. Shri Mohan Swaroop Bhatia
Art-Folk Music
Uttar Pradesh

17. Shri Sudhanshu Biswas
Social Work
West Bengal

18. Ms. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
Sports-Weightlifting
Manipur

19. Shri Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi
Literature and Education-Journalism
Chhattisgarh

20. Shri Jose Ma Joey Concepcion III
(Foreigner)
Trade & Industry
Philippines

21. Ms. Langpoklakpam Subadani Devi
Art-Weaving
Manipur

22. Shri Somdev Devvarman
Sports-Tennis
Tripura

23. Shri Yeshi Dhoden
Medicine
Himachal Pradesh

24. Shri Arup Kumar Dutta
Literature and Education
Assam

25. Shri Doddarange Gowda
Art-Lyrics
Karnataka

26. Shri Arvind Gupta
Literature and Education
Maharashtra

27. Shri Digamber Hansda
Literature and Education
Jharkhand

28. Shri Ramli Bin Ibrahim
(Foreigner)
Art-Dance
Malaysia

29. Shri Anwar Jalalpuri
(Posthumous)
Literature and Education
Uttar Pradesh

30. Shri Piyong Temjen Jamir
Literature and Education
Nagaland

31. Ms. Sitavva Joddati
Social Work
Karnataka

32. Ms. Malti Joshi
Literature and Education
Madhya Pradesh

33. Shri Manoj Joshi
Art-Acting
Maharashtra

34. Shri Rameshwarlal Kabra
Trade & Industry
Maharashtra

35. Shri Pran Kishore Kaul
Art
Jammu and Kashmir

36. Shri Bounlap Keokangna
(Foreigner)
Others-Architecture
Laos

37. Shri Vijay Kichlu
Art-Music
West Bengal

38. Shri Tommy Koh
(Foreigner)
Public Affairs Singapore

39. Ms. Lakshmikutty
Medicine-Traditional
Kerala

40. Ms. Joyshree Goswami Mahanta
Literature and Education
Assam

41. Shri Narayan Das Maharaj
Others-Spiritualism
Rajasthan

42. Shri Pravakara Maharana
Art-Sculpture
Odisha

43. Shri Hun Many
(Foreigner)
Public Affairs
Cambodia

44. Ms. Nouf Marwaai
(Foreigner)
Others- Yoga
Saudi Arabia

45. Shri Zaverilal Mehta
Literature and Education-Journalism
Gujarat

46. Shri Krishna Bihari Mishra
Literature and Education
West Bengal

47. Shri Sisir Purushottam Mishra
Art-Cinema
Maharashtra

48. Ms. Subhasini Mistry
Social Work
West Bengal

49. Shri Tomio Mizokami
(Foreigner)
Literature and Education
Japan

50. Shri Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong
(Foreigner)
Others-Spiritualism
Thailand

51. Shri Keshav Rao Musalgaonkar
Literature and Education
Madhya Pradesh

52. Dr Thant Myint – U
(Foreigner) Public Affairs
Myanmar

53. Ms. V Nanammal
Others-Yoga
Tamil Nadu

54. Ms. Sulagitti Narasamma
Social Work
Karnataka

55. Ms. Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan
Art-Folk Music
Tamil Nadu

56. Shri I Nyoman Nuarta
(Foreigner)
Art- Sculpture
Indonesia

57. Shri Malai Haji Abdullah Bin Malai Haji Othman
(Foreigner) Social Work
Brunei Darussalam

58. Shri Gobaradhan Panika
Art-Weaving
Odisha

59. Shri Bhabani Charan Pattanaik
Public Affairs
Odisha

60. Shri Murlikant Petkar
Sports-Swimming
Maharashtra

61. Shri Habibullo Rajabov
(Foreigner)
Literature and Education
Tajikistan

62. Shri M R Rajagopal
Medicine-Palliative Care
Kerala

63. Shri Sampat Ramteke (Posthumous)
Social Work
Maharashtra

64. Shri Chandra Sekhar Rath
Literature and Education
Odisha

65. Shri S S Rathore
Civil Service
Gujarat

66. Shri Amitava Roy
Science and Engineering
West Bengal

67. Shri Sanduk Ruit (Foreigner)
MedicineOphthalmology
Nepal

68. Shri R Sathyanarayana
Art-Music
Karnataka

69. Shri Pankaj M Shah
Medicine-Oncology
Gujarat

70. Shri Bhajju Shyam
Art-Painting
Madhya Pradesh

71. Shri Maharao Raghuveer Singh
Literature and Education
Rajasthan

72. Shri Kidambi Srikanth
Sports-Badminton
Andhra Pradesh

73. Shri Ibrahim Sutar
Art-Music
Karnataka

74. Shri Siddeshwara Swamiji
Others-Spiritualism
Karnataka

75. Ms. Lentina Ao Thakkar
Social Work
Nagaland

76. Shri Vikram Chandra Thakur
Science and Engineering
Uttarakhand

77. Shri Rudrapatnam Narayanaswamy Tharanathan and Shri Rudrapatnam Narayanaswamy Thyagarajan (Duo)
Art-Music
Karnataka

78. Shri Nguyen Tien Thien (Foreigner)
Others-Spiritualism
Vietnam

79. Shri Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi
Literature and Education
Uttar Pradesh

80. Shri Rajagopalan Vasudevan
Science and Engineering
Tamil Nadu

81. Shri Manas Bihari Verma
Science and Engineering
Bihar

82. Shri Panatawane Gangadhar Vithobaji
Literature and Education
Maharashtra

83. Shri Romulus Whitaker
Others-Wildlife Conservation
Tamil Nadu

84. Shri Baba Yogendra
Art
Madhya Pradesh

85. Shri A Zakia
Literature and Education
Mizoram