Osamu Suzuki, who transformed Suzuki Motor into a global leader in small cars with significant success in India, was among seven people who received the Padma Vibhushan by the President on the eve of Republic Day. Others included former Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, Malayalam literary figure MT Vasudevan Nair, and celebrated singer Sharda Sinha.
Exceptional and distinguished service” is rewarded with the highest civilian awards of India under the Padma Vibhushan.
Amongst the 19 Padma Bhushan, some notable names were that of Bibek Debroy, former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council; Manohar Joshi, the ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker; ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas; and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi. It recognizes “distinguished service of high order”.
Film director Shekhar Kapur, known for Masoom, Mr. India, and Bandit Queen, was also awarded the Padma Bhushan. The Indian-American engineer Vinod Dham, popularly known as the “Father of the Pentium chip,” and malaria researcher Chetan Chitnis were the other awardees. The Telugu actor and MLA N Balakrishna was also given, while Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu while praising him said he would continue the legacy of his father, NT Rama Rao.
The Padma Shri, which is given for “distinguished service in any field,” was awarded to 113 people, including playback singer Arijit Singh, music composer Ricky Kej, and Paralympian Harvinder Singh, who won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Other recipients included former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, cricketer R Ashwin, and industrialist Pawan Goenka.
The theatre legend Barry John, who mentored actors like Shah Rukh Khan and Manoj Bajpayee, and singer Jaspinder Narula received the Padma Shri awards. Many unsung heroes also were recognized as Libia Lobo Sardesai, a 100-year-old freedom fighter from Goa, who co-founded an underground radio station, and Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara, a 96-year-old master of Togalu Gombeyaata, a traditional leather puppetry art form, got the award.
Other Padma Shri winners were wildlife researcher Maruti Chitampalli, tribal musician Pandi Ram Mandavi, and social worker Chaitram Devchand Pawar who saved 400 hectares of forest land in Maharashtra. The list of winners also had oncologist Vijayalakshmi Deshamane who provides free cancer treatment to the poor and underprivileged, and Tangaliya weaver Lavjibhai Nagjibhai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, congratulated them saying, “Congratulations to all the Padma awardees! India is proud to honor and celebrate their extraordinary achievements” he posted on X. He also said Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted how awards are given in recognition of a community’s emancipators.
Here is the full list of recipients:
Padma Vibhushan
1. Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy – Medicine
2. Justice (Retd.) JS Khehar – Public Affairs
3. Kumudini Lakhia – Art
4. Lakshminarayana Subramaniam – Art
5. MT Vasudevan Nair (Posthumous) – Literature and Education
6. Osamu Suzuki (Posthumous) – Trade and Industry
7. Sharda Sinha (Posthumous) – Art
Padma Bhushan
1. A Surya Prakash – Literature and Education (Journalism)
2. Anant Nag – Art
3. Bibek Debroy (Posthumous) – Literature and Education
4. Jatin Goswami – Art
5. Jose Chacko Periappuram – Medicine
6. Kailash Nath Dikshit – Archaeology
7. Manohar Joshi (Posthumous) – Public Affairs
8. Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti – Trade and Industry
9. N Balakrishna – Art
10. PR Sreejesh – Sports
11. Pankaj Patel – Trade and Industry
12. Pankaj Udhas (Posthumous) – Art
13. Rambahadur Rai – Literature and Education (Journalism)
14. Sadhvi Ritambhara – Social Work
15. S Ajith Kumar – Art
16. Shekhar Kapur – Art
17. Shobana Chandrakumar – Art
18. Sushil Modi (Posthumous) – Public Affairs
19. Vinod Dham – Science and Engineering
Padma Shri
1. Shri Adwaita Charan Gadanayak – Art
2. Shri Achyut Ramchandra Palav – Art
3. Shri Ajay V Bhatt – Science and Engineering
4. Shri Anil Kumar Boro – Literature and Education
5. Shri Arijit Singh – Art
6. Smt Arundhati Bhattacharya – Trade and Industry
7. Shri Arunoday Saha – Literature and Education
8. Shri Arvind Sharma – Literature and Education
9. Shri Ashok Kumar Mahapatra – Medicine
10. Shri Ashok Laxman Saraf – Art
11. Shri Ashutosh Sharma – Science and Engineering
12. Smt. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande – Art
13. Shri Baijnath Maharaj – Others – Spiritualism
14. Shri Barry Godfray John – Art
15. Smt. Begam Batool – Art
16. Shri Bharat Gupt – Art
17. Shri Bheru Singh Chouhan – Art
18. Shri Bhim Singh Bhavesh – Social Work
19. Smt. Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara – Art
20. Shri Budhendra Kumar Jain – Medicine
21. Shri CS Vaidyanathan – Public Affairs
22. Shri Chaitram Deochand Pawar – Social Work
23. Shri Chandrakant Sheth (Posthumous) – Literature and Education
24. Shri Chandrakant Sompura – Others – Architecture
25. Shri Chetan E Chitnis – Science and Engineering
26. Shri David R Syiemlieh – Literature and Education
27. Shri Durga Charan Ranbir – Art
28. Shri Farooq Ahmad Mir – Art
29. Shri Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid – Literature and Education
30. Smt. Gita Upadhyay – Literature and Education
31. Shri Gokul Chandra Das – Art
32. Shri Guruvayur Dorai – Art
33. Shri Harchandan Singh Bhatty – Art
34. Shri Hariman Sharma Others – Agriculture
35. Shri Harjinder Singh Srinagar Wale – Art
36. Shri Harvinder Singh – Sports
37. Shri Hassan Raghu – Art
38. Shri Hemant Kumar – Medicine
39. Shri Hriday Narayan Dixit – Literature and Education
40. Shri Hugh and Colleen Gantzer (Posthumous) (Duo)* – Literature and Education
41. Shri Inivalappil Mani Vijayan – Sports
42. Shri Jagadish Joshila – Literature and Education
43. Smt. Jaspinder Narula Art Maharashtra
44. Shri Jonas Masetti – Others – Spiritualism
45. Shri Joynacharan Bathari – Art
46. Smt. Jumde Yomgam Gamlin – Social Work
47. Shri K. Damodaran Others – Culinary
48. Shri K L Krishna – Literature and Education
49. Smt. K Omanakutty Amma – Art
50. Shri Kishore Kunal (Posthumous) – Civil Service
51. Shri L Hangthing – Others – Agriculture
52. Shri Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer – Literature and Education – Journalism
53. Shri Lalit Kumar Mangotra – Literature and Education J
54. Shri Lama Lobzang (Posthumous) – Others – Spiritualism
55. Smt. Libia Lobo Sardesai – Social Work
56. Shri MD Srinivas – Science and Engineering
57. Shri Madugula Nagaphani Sarma – Art
58. Shri Mahabir Nayak – Art
59. Smt. Mamata Shankar – Art
60. Shri Manda Krishna Madiga – Public Affairs
61. Shri Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli – Literature and Education
62. Shri Miriyala Apparao (Posthumous) – Art Andhra Pradesh
63. Shri Nagendra Nath Roy – Literature and Education
64. Shri Narayan (Bhulai Bhai) (Posthumous) – Public Affairs
65. Shri Naren Gurung – Art Sikkim
66. Smt. Neerja Bhatla – Medicine
67. Smt. Nirmala Devi – Art
68. Shri Nitin Nohria – Literature and Education
69. Shri Onkar Singh Pahwa – Trade and Industry
70. Shri P Datchanamoorthy – Art
71. Shri Pandi Ram Mandavi – Art
72. Shri Parmar Lavjibhai Nagjibhai – Art
73. Shri Pawan Goenka – Trade and Industry
74. Shri Prashanth Prakash – Trade and Industry
75. Smt. Pratibha Satpathy – Literature and Education
76. Shri Purisai Kannappa Sambandan – Art
77. Shri R Ashwin – Sports
78. Shri R G Chandramogan – Trade and Industry
79. Smt. Radha Bahin Bhatt – Social Work
80. Shri Radhakrishnan Devasenapathy – Art
81. Shri Ramdarash Mishra – Literature and Education
82. Shri Ranendra Bhanu Majumdar – Art
83. Shri Ratan Kumar Parimoo – Art
84. Shri Reba Kanta Mahanta – Art
85. Shri Renthlei Lalrawna Literature and Education Mizoram
86. Shri Ricky Gyan Kej – Art
87. Shri Sajjan Bhajanka – Trade and Industry
88. Smt. Sally Holkar – Trade and Industry
89. Shri Sant Ram Deswal – Literature and Education
90. Shri Satyapal Singh – Sports
91. Shri Seeni Viswanathan – Literature and Education
92. Shri Sethuraman Panchanathan – Science and Engineering
93. Smt. Sheikha Shaikha Ali Al-Jaber Al-Sabah – Medicine
94. Shri Sheen Kaaf Nizam (Shiv Kishan Bissa) – Literature and Education
95. Shri Shyam Bihari Agrawal – Art
96. Smt. Soniya Nityanand – Medicine
97. Shri Stephen Knapp – Literature and Education
98. Shri Subhash Khetulal Sharma – Others – Agriculture Maharashtra
99. Shri Suresh Harilal Soni – Social Work
100. Shri Surinder Kumar Vasal – Science and Engineering Delhi
101. Shri Swami Pradiptananda (Kartik Maharaj) – Others – Spiritualism
102. Shri Syed Ainul Hasan – Literature and Education
103. Shri Tejendra Narayan Majumdar – Art
104. Smt. Thiyam Suryamukhi Devi – Art
105. Shri Tushar Durgeshbhai Shukla – Literature and Education
106. Shri Vadiraj Raghawendracharya Panchamukhi – Literature and Education
107. Shri Vasudeo Kamath – Art
108. Shri Velu Aasaan – Art
109. Shri Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar – Art
110. Shri Vijay Nityanand Surishwar Ji Maharaj – Others – Spiritualism
111. Smt. Vijayalakshmi Deshamane – Medicine
112. Shri Vilas Dangre – Medicine
113. Shri Vinayak Lohani – Social Work
The Padma Awards are a way of celebrating excellence across all spectrums and honor achievements that inspire a nation.