Nation honours 131 personalities with Padma awards
Context: The Centre announced Padma honours for 2026, with five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri awards. The recipients include eight personalities from Kerala, 11 from West Bengal, and 13 from Tamil Nadu, all poll-bound States.
- A former Kerala Chief Minister and Communist stalwart, the late V.S. Achuthanandan, and the late actor Dharmendra have been posthumously named for the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian award. Former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas and educationist P. Narayanan, both from Kerala, and violinist N. Rajam are the other three to get the Padma Vibhushan.
- A former Jharkhand Chief Minister and tribal leader, the late Shibu Soren, has been named for the Padma Bhushan posthumously.
Diverse disciplines
- Actor Mammootty, singer Alka Yagnik, banker Uday Kotak, and tennis legend Vijay Amritraj are among the 13 selected for the Padma Bhushan.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all the awardees for their contribution to diverse fields.
- “Congratulations to all the Padma Awardees for their outstanding contributions to our nation. Their excellence, dedication, and service enrich the fabric of our society,” he said in a post on X.
- The Padma awards are given in disciplines such as social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, among others. While the Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan is for distinguished service of high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.