Venkaiah Naidu, Vyjayantimala, Chiranjeevi honoured with Padma Vibhushan

Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, megastar Konidela Chiranjeevi, famous actor of yesteryears Vyjayantimala Bali are among personalities who have been honoured with Padma Vibhushan in the awards announced by the government on Thursday on the eve of 75th Republic Day.

The Home Ministry on Thursday announced the Padma awards which included five Padma Bhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri.

Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak has been awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

Renowned classical dancer Padma Subrahmanyam has also been conferred Padma Vibhushan.

The Padma Bhushan awardees include actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty and former Union Minister Ram Naik and singer Usha Utthup.

Padma Awards, the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The Awards are given in various disciplines and fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.

'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. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

The awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

Thirty of the awardees are women and the list also includes eightpersons from the category of foreigners, NRI, PIO OCI and nine posthumous awardees.