New DelhiFormer Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Hindutva ‘poster boy’ late Kalyan Singh and India’s first chief defense chief General Bipin Rawat, who was a victim of a recent helicopter crash, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Tuesday. The award will be conferred with the Posthumous Padma Vibhushan, while Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad and former West Bengal Chief Minister and CPI(M) leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will be honored with the Padma Bhushan.
Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, who developed the anti-COVID-19 vaccine ‘Kovshield’, and Krishna Illa and Suchitra Illa of Bharat Biotech, a company producing the indigenous corona virus vaccine ‘Covaxin’, will also be awarded the Padma Bhushan. Kalyan Singh and General Rawat will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian honour, posthumously.
Govt announces Padma Awards 2022
CDS Gen Bipin Rawat to get Padma Vibhushan (posthumous), Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to be conferred with Padma Bhushan pic.twitter.com/Qafo6yiDy5
– ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2022
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be honored with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award. Late Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa, actor Victor Banerjee and former Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will be honored with Padma Bhushan.
At the same time, Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra and singer Sonu Nigam will be honored with Padma Shri. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the President approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards this year including two double cases. In the double case, the prize is calculated as one. The list includes four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri awards. Among the awardees, 34 are women.