• Source:JND
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The Padma Awards 2025 ceremony was held on Monday at the Rashtrapati Bhavan's grand Durbar Hall in New Delhi, where President Droupadi Murmu conferred awards upon 71 prominent personalities. The event was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Of the 139 recipients announced on the eve of the 76th Republic Day, 71 were felicitated on Monday, while the others will be honoured at a later date.

Among the recipients were popular figures such as Telugu superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna, actor Ajith Kumar, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, singer Arijit Singh and Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej. The late singer Pankaj Udhas was honoured posthumously. Other notable awardees included cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, hockey player P R Sreejesh, and gastroenterologist D Nageshwar Reddy.

Four personalities were awarded the Padma Vibhushan, including the late Osamu Suzuki (former chief of Suzuki Motor), violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam, gastroenterologist D Nageshwar Reddy and Malayalam writer and filmmaker M T Vasudevan Nair (posthumous).

Ten individuals, including Balakrishna, Kapur, Ajith Kumar, Sreejesh, Zydus Lifesciences chairperson Pankaj Patel, and Indian-American engineer Vinod Dham, were conferred the Padma Bhushan.

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A total of 57 distinguished personalities received the Padma Shri award. This list featured former State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, industrialist Pawan Kumar Goenka, wildlife researcher and Marathi author Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli, and master puppeteer Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara, a pioneer of the Togalu Gombeyaata (leather puppetry) art form. Former AIIMS and SGPGI director A K Mahapatra and Punjabi singer Jaspinder Narula Kaul were also among the Padma Shri recipients.

This year, 30 unsung heroes were recognised, including 100-year-old Libia Lobo Sardesai, a significant figure in Goa’s freedom movement. She co-founded the underground radio station 'Voz da Liberdade (Voice of Freedom)' in 1955 to rally support against Portuguese rule.

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The Padma Awards celebrate excellence across disciplines such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service. The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

(With PTI Inputs)