President Droupadi Murmu on Monday presented Padma awards to 66 recipients at the first civil investiture ceremony for 2026. The ceremony was held in the Ganatantra Mandap of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Some of the top awardees included late legendary actor Dharmendra, advertising legend late Piyush Pandey, women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
A teary eyed Hema Malini, MP and wife of late actor Dharmendra received the award on his behalf.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vice president CP Radhakrishnan and Union home minister Amit Shah were among the top attendees at the ceremony.
For the year 2026, the President approved conferment of 131 Padma awards including five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards.
The remaining Padma awardees will be conferred in the second round of the ceremony to be held later, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.
The awards are announced on the occasion of the Republic Day every year.
The coveted civilian honours are given in various fields -- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
See full list of winners here:
Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, former UGC Chairman - Literature and Education
K Pajanivel - Traditional martial arts
Satyanarayan Nuwal, Solar Group chairman-Defence manufacturing ecosystem
Kailash Chandra Pantenior, senior journalist
Praveen Kumar, Paralympic gold medalist
Harmanpreet Kaur, Indian women's cricket team captain
R. Krishnan Kitna (Posthumous)
Prof. (Dr.) Lars-Christian Koch
HV Hande
Gafaruddin Mewati Jogi
Mir Haji Kasam
Raghuvir Khedkar
Prosenjit Chatterjee
Devaki Amma G
Ramchandra Godbole & Suneeta Godbole (Duo)
Techi Gubin
Ratilal Mohanlal Borisagar
Kumar Bose
Janardan Bapurao Bothe
Swami Brahamdev
Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous)
Bharat Singh Bharti
Taga Ram Bheel
Shatavadhani Dr. R. Ganesh
Bhagat Singh Koshyari
Uday Sureshkumar Kotak
Vijay Kumar Malhotra (Posthumous)
Late Dharmendra, legendary actor
Dr. N. Rajam
Late Piyush Pandey, advertising legend
Dr. Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy
Source: Hindustan Times
