Non-Resident Indian hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and businessman Vindi Banga were conferred the Padma Bhushan awards by President Pratibha Patil here on Wednesday.
(Some awards were given away on March 31.)
Noted mridangam exponent Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy and nonagenarian artiste Zohra Segal were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian awards at a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's ‘guru' Ramakant Achrekar, boxer Vijender Singh, leading actor of yesteryear Rekha, sound technician and Oscar Award winner Resul Pookutty and car racer Narain Karthikeyan were among those conferred with the Padma Shri.
The Ashoka Hall reverberated with applause as actor Saif Ali Khan walked up to to receive his Padma Shri at the function attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other guests. Painter Akbar Padamsee, former Cabinet Secretary and a current Planning Commission member B.K. Chaturvedi, Moosa Raza (civil service), educationists Anil Bordia and G.P. Chopra were honoured with the Padma Bhushan.
Other Padma Bhushan awardees were: cardiologist B.M. Hegde, nuclear scientist Bikash Sinha, historian Bipin Chandra, kathak exponent Kumudini Lakhia, panchavadya exponent Kuzhur Narayana Marar, versatile artiste Mallika Sarabhai, banker N. Vaghul, eye specialist Noshir Minoo Shroff, music composer Shrinivas Khale, sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan and ayurveda practitioner E.T. Narayanan Mooss.
Nemai Ghosh, , music exponent Shobha Raju, environment activist Ranjit Bhargava, TVS Motor Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan, businessmen Irshad Mirza, Kapil Mohan (trade and industry), founder of Nirma Karsanbhai Patel were among those who received the Padma Shri.
