Padma awards: S Jaishankar was awarded Padma Shri for Civil Service.
Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, film personalities Mohanlal and Prabhu Deva are among the 47 prominent personalities who were conferred Padma awards by President Ram Nath Kovind today.
Mr Jaishankar was awarded Padma Shri, while Malayalam actor Mohanlal and renowned journalist Kuldip Nayar (posthumous) were conferred Padma Bhushan at a special function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.
Bihar leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, former CEO of multinational techno giant Cisco systems John Chambers, Akali Dal leader Dhindsa were conferred the Padma Bhushan.
Renowned singer Shankar Mahadevan Narayan (Padma Shri), former Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha Karia Munda (Padma Bhushan), physicians Sandeep Guleria and Ilias Ali (both Padma Shri) and wrestler Bajrang Punia (Padma Shri) were also honoured today.
The Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian awards of the country -- are conferred in three categories: the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri.
As many as 112 "inspiring" personalities were selected for this year's Padma awards. The awards were announced on the eve of Republic Day this year.
The remaining awardees will be conferred the honour at another function to be held on March 16, said news agency PTI, quoting a Home Ministry official.
This year's awardees are from across the nation, all segments of society and the government has gone beyond excellence alone, recognising larger impact and their selfless service.
A record 50,000 nominations were received for the 2019 awards, over 20 times more than 2014, when there were just 2,200 nominations.
With additional inputs from PTI