President Ram Nath Kovind confers Padma awards
New Delhi, Mar 16 (UNI): President Ramnath Kovind on Saturday conferred three Padma Vibhushan, six Padma Bhushan and 48 Padma Shri Awards at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
The awards were conferred upon ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, mountaineer Bachendri Pal and folk singer Teejan Bai, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, film actor Manoj Bajpayee among others.
Trade and industry leader Mahashay Dharam Pal Gulati of the MDH fame was awarded the Padma Bhushan while footballer Sunil Chhetri was awarded the Padma Shri.
A total of 112 personalities were selected for the Padma awards this year, which was announced on the eve of Republic Day.
RSS leader Darshan Lal Jain who is trying to find the mythical river Saraswati, medical professional Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade and former CAG V K Shunglu were among those awarded Padma Bhushan.
On the ocassion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Rajnath Singh, Harsh Vardhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Goel besides senior BJP leader L K Advani and senior government officials were also present.
Noted tabla player of Lucknow Gharana Swapan Chaudhuri, lawyer H S Phoolka who fought a long legal battle for 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims, scientist Sudam Laxman Kate considered a pioneer in sickle cell research, veteran archaeologist Muhammed K K and particle physicist Rohini Madhusudan Godbole also received the award.
A record 50,000 nominations were received for the 2019 awards, over 20 times more than 2014, when there were just 2,200 nominations.
Image Credit: UNI
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