New Delhi: A distinguished cohort of individuals, including veteran actress Vyjayanthimala Bali, Telugu luminary Konidela Chiranjeevi, the late M Fathima Beevi, the first female judge of the Supreme Court, and Hormusji N Cama, proprietor of “Bombay Samachar,” were honored with Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.
Also among the recipients were BJP leader O Rajagopal, spiritual leader Togdan Rinpochey of Ladakh, the late Tamil actor “Captain” Vijayakant (awarded posthumously), and Kundan Vyas, the group editor and CEO of the Gujarati newspaper ‘Janmabhoomi’. These distinguished individuals were bestowed with Padma awards during a civil investiture ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Vyjayanthimala Bali and Chiranjeevi were conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, while Beevi, Cama, Rajagopal, Vijayakant, Rinpochey, and Vyas were honored with the Padma Bhushan.
Family members of Beevi, Vijayakant, and Rinpochey accepted the awards on their behalf.
The ceremony was graced by the presence of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Padma Awards, counted among the highest civilian honors in the country, are bestowed in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
These awards recognize exceptional contributions across various disciplines such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.
Padma Vibhushan is conferred for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
Annually announced on the eve of Republic Day, the President approved the conferment of 132 Padma awards for the year 2024, including two duo cases where the award is counted as one.
The list includes five Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 110 Padma Shri awardees.
Thirty of the awardees are women, with the list also comprising eight individuals from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and nine posthumous awardees.
While more than half of the recipients were honored on April 22, the remaining were conferred with the awards on Thursday.
