By Aleem Shaikh (Mumbai)
Sharad Pawar, U R Rao, K J Yesudas and Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev to be honoured with Padma Vibhushan.
Anuradha Paudwal, Kailash Kher and Bhawana Somaaya to get Padma Shri
Veteran politician,founder of Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar, noted space scientist and former Chairman of ISRO as well as Prasar Bharati, Dr. U.R.Rao, playback singer K J Yesudas, Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev and former Union HRD Minister Prof. Murli Manohar Joshi are among the seven persons to be conferred the coveted Padma Vibhushan Awards this year.
Party celebration, Nariman point Mumbai:
On Saturday NCP head quarter at Nariman Point was full of senior leaders like Chitra Wagh Maharashtra State Chief Ladies Wing ,Haji Gaffar Malik President Minority,Ajit Dada Pawar,Jayant Patil,Sunil Tatkare,Munaf Hakim and others.The party workers across Maharshtra from Jalgaon ,Akola,Kolahapur,Baramati,Latur .Beed,Parbhani,Pune took part in this celebration.
Noted music composer and founder of Mohan Veena, Vishwa Mohan Bhat and Mumbais noted Gastroenterologits Dr. Tehemton Udwadia are among those to be honoured with the Padma Bhushan Awards. Noted columnist Cho Ramaswamy will be awarded posthomously
Playback singers Anuradha Paudwal and Kailash Kher, noted film journalist Bhavana Somaaya and the celebrity chef and cookery show presenter Sanjeev Kapoor are the prominent names from Maharashtra included in the Padma Shri list of 75 persons. Virat Kohli, Sakshi Malik, Deepa Karmakar and Vikas Gowda are prominent among the sportspersons to get the Padma Shri
State wise, Maharashtra has got the maximum 8 Padma Awards, followed by Tamil Nadu and Gujarat 7 each, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana 6 each and UP and Delhi 5 each.
Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
