Noted scientist R.A. Mashelkar, yoga expert B.K.S. Iyenger, actors Kamal Haasan and Vidya Balan, tennis player Leander Paes, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, and former chief justice of India J.S.Verma have been conferred the Padma awards on the occasion of the 65th Republic Day.
While Mashelkar and Iyengar were the two named for Padma Vibhushan, 24 eminent people including Verma, Haasan, writers Anita Desai and Ruskin Bond, badminton player P.Gopichand and Paes got the Padma Bhushan.
The 101 conferred the Padma Shri include Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal, cricketers Yuvraj and Anjum Chopra, Odisha sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, and fashion designer Wendell Rodricks.
Padma Awards - the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred to eminent people for their contribution in the field of social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service.
The awards will be presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan around March/April.