The Padma Awards 2021 were announced on the eve of Republic Day. Under this, three categories of Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are awarded to citizens who have made special contribution in a particular area. Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Balasubramanian (posthumously), Sand artist Sudarshan Sahu, Archaeologist Bibi Lal have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
List of Padma Vibhusan
Shinzo Abe
Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan award for outstanding work in the field of public service. During his tenure, there was considerable progress in bilateral relations between India and Japan. Abe started quadrilateral security talks between Japan, America, Australia and India in the year 2007. A three-day visit to India in August 2007 agreed on a long history of friendly bilateral relations between India and Japan for a new bilateral Asian alliance.
SP Balasubramanian (Posthumous)
India’s famous singer SP Balasubrahmanyam sang over 40,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam in a 50-year singing career. Bala has also worked as music director in more than 40 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. He has been awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2011. He died on 25 September 2020.
Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde
Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde is a renowned cardiologist from Karnataka. He is also an educationist, motivational speaker and writer. He has written several books on medical practice and ethics. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan Award in 2010.
Narinder Singh Kapani
Indian American Kapani is physicists. He was nominated by Forbes Magazine as Unsung Heroes in Business of the Century Edition. It was he who coined the term fibre optics in 1956. Kapani’s research and inventions include fibre-optics communications, lasers, biomedical instrumentation, solar power and pollution monitoring. He holds more than a hundred patents and was a member of the National Inventors Council.
Maulana Waheeduddin Khan
Maulana Waheeduddin Khan, living in Delhi, was born on 1 January 1925 in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. He is a famous Islamic scholar and peace activist. He was awarded the Demirgus Peace International Award by President Mikhail Gorbachev during the Soviet Union. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2000. He has translated the Quran into simple and contemporary English and has also written a commentary on the Quran and continues to deliver lectures on several television channels.
Bibi Lal
Bibi Lal, the famous archaeologist of Delhi, has been the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). There was a lot of debate about his book ‘Ram, his historicity, temples and bridges: literature, archeology and other sciences’. It was said to be a temple under the disputed structure. He has been given the Padma Bhushan earlier.
Sudarshan Sahu
Sudarshan Sahu of Odisha is a famous sculptor. He specializes in molding mythology into sand sculptures. The exhibitions of his artworks are famous in the country and abroad. He has previously been awarded the Padma Shri. He often painted pictures of players during cricket matches.
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan awardees include Kerala artist Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chitra, former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi (posthumously), Karnataka litterateur Chandrashekar Kambara, former speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Ayodhya temple construction committee chairman Nripendra Mishra, former minister Ram Vilas Paswan (posthumous), Former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel (posthumously), UP’s Shia leader Kalbe Sadiq (posthumously), Maharashtra industrialist Rajinikanth Devidas Shroff and Haryana leader Tarlochan Singh are among the names.
Padma Shri
The names of 102 people, including litterateur Mridula Sinha (posthumously) and Bangladesh’s Colonel Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir. Most of the awardees in this category are people whose names were never heard before. The government has honored the unheard heroes of the society with Padma awards this time, continuing the tradition started in the last few years.