Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 25

BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, leading thespians of hindi cinema Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan are on the list of Padma awardees announced by the government tonight. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda Gates, are also on the list under the category of social work.

Advani, Badal, Bachchan and Dilip Kumar are among the nine to be conferred with the Padam Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour after Bharat Ratna. This year the President has approved conferment of Padma awards to 104 persons, including 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shri awardees. 17 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 17 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs or Persons of Indian origin (PIO) and four Posthumous awardees.

Padma award is one of the highest civilian awards of the country. The 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.

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, lawyer Harish Salve, former wrestler Satpal and mathematician Prof Manjul Bhargava have been conferred with the Padma Bhushan.

PGI, Chandigarh, Director Prof Yogesh Kumar Chawla, Chewang Norphel, who has earned fame in Ladakh by harnessing rivulets which freeze in the winters, lyricist Prasoon Joshi, Hindi film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, badminton ace PV Sindhu, Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh, women hockey player Saba Anjum, economist Bibek Debroy and former Infosys honcho TV Mohandas Pai and eye surgeon at AIIMS Prof Yog Raj Sharma are on the list of Padma Shri awardees.