Indian President Ram Nath Kovind will confer two Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan, and 54 Padma Shri Awards for the year 2022, at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
Amongst the prominent awardees at today’s Investiture ceremony will be Padma Vibhushan recipients; Shri Radhey Shyam and General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous).
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Smt. Gurmeet Bawa (Posthumous), Shri N. Chandrasekharan, Shri Devendra Jhajharia, Shri Rashid Khan, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, and Shri Sachchidanand Swami who will receive the Padma Bhushan awards. The Civil Investiture Ceremony –II is scheduled to be held on March 28.
What are Padma Awards?
Padma Awards are given in various disciplines and fields of activities such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year and are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri.
‘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 conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
This year a total of 128 Padma Awards are being conferred, including two duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).
The list of awardees comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri Awards.
Notably, 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.