The former Reserve Bank of India Governor, Y.V. Reddy; Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan; founder of Apollo Hospital group Prathap C. Reddy; theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi; theatre actor Zohra Segal; and percussionist and Mrudangam vidwan Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman have been honoured with Padma Vibhushan, country’s highest civilian award, on the occasion of the Republic Day.
Music composers A.R. Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja, actor Aamir Khan, danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, tabla exponent Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, Planning Commission member B.K. Chaturvedi, DLF chairman Kushal Pal Singh, cardiac surgeon Ramakant Madanmohan Panda and Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria are among the 43 persons chosen for Padma Bhushan.
Other Padma Bhushan awardees include historian Bipan Chandra, Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen, Leela Hotel group chairman C.P. Krishnan Nair and eye surgeon Noshir M. Shroff. U.S.-based hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal’s name also figures in the list, according to an official release.
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The Padma Shri award has gone to 81 persons. These include actor of yesteryears Rekha; vocalist Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar; actor Saif Ali Khan; industrialist Venu Srinivasan, who also heads the Confederation of Indian Industry; the former CBI Director, D. R. Karthikeyan; heart specialist K.K. Aggarwal; social worker Anu Aga; hockey player Ignace Tirkey; boxer Vijender Singh; cricketer Virender Sehwag; litterateur Sheldon Pollock; badminton player Saina Nehwal; and Formula One racer Narain Karthikeyan.
Other Padma Shri awardees include sound engineer Resul Pookutty, Kashmiri litterateur Hamidi Kashmiri, cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar and industrialists Kapil Mohan and T. N. Manoharan.
The awards will be conferred by President Pratibha Patil in March/April.
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The President approved 130 awards this year, including 13 in the category of foreigners/NRIs/PIOs.
The Padma awardees include 17 women.
The awards are given in disciplines such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.
The heading of a report (January 26, 2010, page 1) was “Padma Vibhushan for P.C. Reddy, Y.V. Reddy, [Nobel Laureate] Ramakrishnan”. A reader said his name is R. Venkatraman and not V. Ramakrishnan. The text and the photocaption of the report gave his name as Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. The website of the Nobel Laureate lists him as Venki Ramakrishnan (as he is popularly known as) while his curriculum vitae has it as V. Ramakrishnan. His publications have the author name as Ramakrishnan, V.