Padma Award to 106 celebrities including Kumar Mangalam Birla, 19 women and two foreigners also included

The Padma Award is one of the country's highest civilian awards. These awards are given in various disciplines/fields of activities such as arts, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service etc. 'Padma Vibhushan' for exceptional and distinguished service, 'Padma Bhushan' for distinguished service of a high order and 'Padma Shri' for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced every year on the occasion of Republic Day. President Draupadi Murmu presented the Padma Award winners for the year 2023 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others were present at this function. See the list of Padma Samman winners of the year 2023.

This year's Padma awardees include noted industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Karnataka chief minister S.M. Krishna, famous playback singer Suman Kalyanpur and other celebrities. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards were presented to more than 50 people at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday evening.

The President has approved the conferment of 106 Padma Awards for the year 2023. The list includes 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri awardees. The list of awardees includes 19 women and 2 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 7 posthumous awardees. Four other Padma Bhushan/Padma Shri awardees are posthumous.

Billionaire stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away last year, was posthumously given the Padma award. Former External Affairs Minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister Krishna were awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Padma Vibhushan was also awarded posthumously to Professor Balkrishna Doshi for architecture.

Indian playback singer Suman Kalyanpur, who is known for innumerable hit songs in Hindi, Marathi and 11 other languages in a career spanning four decades, has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan. The President also honoured Professor Kapil Kapoor with the Padma Bhushan for literature and education. A former professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, he is known for attempting to indigenize higher education by integrating Indian knowledge systems and establishing dedicated institutions.