Shinzo Abe, late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam honoured with Padma Vibhushan; Gogoi, Paswan conferred Padma Bhushan

The president has approved the conferment of 119 Padma awards: seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri, the Union home ministry said on the eve of Republic Day

|Jan 26, 2021, 00:09:35 IST

New Delhi: Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam have been honoured with India's second-highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan this year, while former chief ministers Tarun Gogoi and Keshubhai Patel and former union minister Ram Vilas Paswan have been awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously.Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is also among the 10 Padma Bhushan awardees announced on Monday, while no one has been named for the Bharat Ratna — India's highest civilian award.On the eve of the Republic Day, the Union Home Ministry said that President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the conferment of 119 Padma awards —seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri.The awardees include 29 women and a transgender theatre artist Matha B Manjamma Jogati.There are 10 persons from the category of foreigners, Non-Resident Indians (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) PIO and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), while 16 have been awarded posthumously.Sand artist Sudarshan Sahoo has been honoured with Padma Vibhushan. Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, religious leader Kalbe Sadiq (posthumous), and social worker Tarlochan Singh have been awarded Padma Bhushan.Former governor late Mridula Sinha and former union minister Bijoya Bijoya Chakravarty are among Padma Shri winners.The seven Padma Vibhushan awardees include Belle Monappa Hegde, an eminent cardiologist from Karnataka, Indian-American physicist Narinder Singh Kapany (posthumous), Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and archaeologist BB Lal.Balasubrahmanyam has been given the award posthumously.The Padma Bhushan awardees include Carnatic musician Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra, Kannada poet and playwright Chandrashekhar Kambara and industrialist Rajnikant Devidas Shroff.The 102 Padma Shri awardees include Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, a veteran of the Bangladesh liberation war, artist Gulfam Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh, basketball player P Anitha from Tamil Nadu and litterateur Sujit Chattopadhyay from West Bengal.Among the other awardees are table tennis player Mouma Das, physician from Punjab Rattan Lal Mittal, academician from Jammu and Kashmir Chaman Lal Sapru (posthumous) and social worker from Assam Birubala Rabha

J&K cop on Amarnath Yatra duty shot dead in Anantnag terror attack; TRF claims responsibility

The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack through a social media post

2 min read

Jaishankar meets Canada's Anita Anand, discusses bilateral cooperation and shared interests

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held talks on bilateral ties with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand, focusing on cooperation and common goals.

1 min read

Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad... Neet paper leak protest spreads nationwide even as govt reaches out to CJP, Opposition

Protests over the alleged NEET paper leak intensified across multiple cities, while the Centre signalled talks with the Opposition and the Cockroach Janta Party. The Delhi High Court also stepped in, seeking preservation of CCTV footage related to police action.

3 min read

Why is India seeing 95% cloud cover despite a Super El Niño?

India is witnessing nearly 95 per cent cloud cover despite a Super El Niño, a climate event usually linked to weaker monsoons. Regional weather systems, cyclonic circulations, the monsoon trough and moisture from two seas are temporarily overpowering one of the world's strongest climate phenomena

5 min read

Jaishankar, Rubio review trade, defence, AI cooperation at Manila meeting

Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed key pillars of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, including trade, defence, energy, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, while also exchanging views on regional and global developments.