Renowned
classical
vocalist
Dr
Prabha
Atre
of
the
Kirana
Gharana
was
on
Tuesday
awarded
the
Padma
Vibhushan,
the
nation's
second
highest
civilian
honour.
Veteran
actor
Victor
Banerjee,
known
for
films
such
as
Satyajit
Ray
classic
Ghare
Baire
and
David
Lean's
epic
A
Passage
of
India,
was
awarded
the
Padma
Bhushan,
the
third-highest
civilian
award
of
the
country.
The
names
from
Indian
arts
field
who
have
been
chosen
for
Padma
Awards
also
include
Punjabi
folk
singer
Gurmeet
Bawa
(posthumous)
and
classical
musician
Rashid
Khan,
who
will
be
felicitated
with
Padma
Bhushan.
Popular
playback
singer
Sonu
Nigam,
director
Chandraprakash
Dwivedi,
best
known
for
directing
television
epic
Chanakya
and
critical
hit
Pinjar,
and
veteran
actor
Sowcar
Janaki
have
been
conferred
the
Padma
Shri,
the
fourth
highest
civilian
award
of
the
country.
Besides
Nigam,
Dwivedi
and
Janaki,
the
list
for
Padma
Shri
awardees
also
includes
Nalini
and
Kamalini
Asthana,
Madhuri
Barthwal,
S
Ballesh
Bhajantri,
Khandu
Wangchuk
Bhutia,
Sulochana
Chavan,
Lourembam
Bino
Devi,
Shyamamani
Devi,
Arjun
Singh
Dhurve,
Gosaveedu
Shaik
Hassan
(posthumous),
Shivnath
Mishra,
among
others.
According
to
the
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
(MHA),
the
President
approved
the
conferment
of
128
Padma
Awards,
including
two
duo
cases,
this
year.
In
a
duo
case,
the
award
is
counted
as
one.
The
list
comprises
4
Padma
Vibhushan,
17
Padma
Bhushan
and
107
Padma
Shri
awards.
Thirty-four
of
the
awardees
are
women
and
the
list
also
includes
10
persons
from
the
category
of
Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI
and
13
posthumous
awardees.
The
Padma
awards
are
announced
annually
on
the
eve
of
Republic
Day.