President Droupadi Murmu confers Padma Awards

Actor Dharmendra, Violinist N Rajam honoured

By Baljit Singh Brar

New Delhi, May 25

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday conferred the Padma Vibhushan on Bollywood actor Dharmendra posthumously and classical musician and violinist N Rajam at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Dharmendra’s award for exceptional and distin- guished service in the field of art was received by his wife and MP Hema Malini. Rajam was honoured for her pioneering contribution to Indian classical music, espe- cially for revolutionising vio- lin performance through the ‘Gayaki Ang’ style that repli- cates vocal music on the instrument. Murmu con- ferred the Padma Bhushan on Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Uttarakhand chief minister; Shatavadhani R Ganesh, acclaimed polymath who revived the challenging classical Indian art form ‘Avadhana’; Uday Suresh Kumar Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank; and gastroenterologist Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy. She also conferred the award posthumously on ad guru Piyush Pandey and former parliamentarian Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Pandey’s wife and Malhotra’s son, respectively, received the awards. India women’s cricket team cap- tain Harmanpreet Kaur, actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, para athlete Praveen Kumar and former Central Reserve Police Force director-general K Vijay Kumar received the Padma Shri. The ceremony, which was held in the Gantantra Mandap of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, began with an instrumental rendi- tion of the national song, ‘Vande Mataram’, followed by the national anthem. It was attended by Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others. For 2026, the President has approved con- ferment of 131 Padma Awards – five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. The awards will be con- ferred at two separate Civil Investiture ceremonies. The Padma Awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. The coveted civilian honours are given in various fields, including art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and indus- try, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.