The 2019 Padma awards – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri – highest civilian awards after Bharat Ratna, were presented by President Ram Nath Kovind yesterday.
112 recipients were selected for the prestigious awards on the eve of the 70th Republic Day. The recipients include 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan, and 94 Padma Shri awardees.
Teejan Bai, a renowned exponent of Pandvani, a traditional performing art form of Chhattisgarh and Larsen & Toubro’s Chairman AM Naik, were among the 4 Padma Vibhushan awardees.
Mountaineer Bachendri Pal, who became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest was awarded with Padma Bhushan for her pioneering role in mountaineering and adventure sports.
While ex-ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan received the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Science and Engineering, eminent journalist Kuldip Nayar received the award in Literature & Education category, posthumously.
Actor Manoj Bajpayee won the Padma Shri in the category of Arts for his contribution to Indian cinema. He is known for his versatile roles and has worked in more than 60 films.
Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Indian Football captain Sunil Chhetri were also among the Padma Shri awardees in the Sports category.
At 107, Saalumarada Thimmakka, also known as the ‘Mother of trees’ was the oldest Padma awardee this year.
She received the Padma Shri in the category of Social Work for planting banyan trees along a 4 km stretch of highway from her village Hulikal to Kudur in Karnataka.
Narthaki Nataraj, a renowned Bharatnatyam dancer from Tamil Nadu became the first person from the trans community to be honoured with one of the top civilian awards in India.
She was presented with the Padma Shri in the category of Art.
Kamala Pujari, a tribal from Odisha’s Koraput district was awarded with the Padma Shri for her efforts in collecting endangered and rare types of seeds.
Other Padma Shri awardees include actor-dancer Prabhu Deva for his contributions to the field of dance and Late Kader Khan for his notable contribution to the field of films and acting.
You can check the complete list of recipients here.