New Delhi, 26 January 2025: Former Chief Justice of India, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar (retd), became the first Sikh to receive the Padma Vibhushan, as seven individuals were named for the country’s second-highest civilian honor.
Justice Khehar was recognized in the public affairs category for his contributions to India’s judiciary. Maruti Suzuki’s late CEO, Osamu Suzuki, also received the Padma Vibhushan for his role in revolutionizing the Indian automobile sector by co-founding Maruti Udyog in 1981.
Others on the list include Kathak dancer Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia, gastroenterologist Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy, violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam, literary and cinematic stalwart MT Vasudevan Nair, and folk singer Sharda Sinha, who was posthumously honored.
This year’s Padma awards include seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri. Notably, 23 of the awardees are women, while 13 individuals were recognized posthumously, and 10 come under the NRI, PIO, OCI, and foreigner categories. President Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards during a ceremonial function at Rashtrapati Bhawan in March or April.
Among the Padma Bhushan recipients are hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who contributed to India’s Olympic bronze wins in 2020 and 2024, and late ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas. Others include filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, spiritual leader Sadhvi Ritambhara, archaeologist Kailash Nath Dikshit, and cardiac surgeon Jose Chacko Periappuram.
Late BJP leader Sushil Modi, former Maharashtra CM Manohar Joshi, economist Bibek Debroy, and Prasar Bharati ex-chairperson A Surya Prakash were also honored.
Padma Shri Spotlight: Singers Arijit Singh and Jaspinder Narula, music composer Ricky Kej, and Gurbani singer Harjinder Singh Srinagar Wale feature among Padma Shri recipients. Other awardees include Hariman Sharma from Himachal Pradesh for developing a low-altitude apple variety and para archer Harvinder Singh from Haryana. Farooq Ahmad Mir and Lalit Kumar Mangotra from J&K were recognized for contributions to art and literature, respectively.
Harjinder Singh performed at former PM Manmohan Singh’s antim ardas at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj in Delhi. Punjab’s Onkar Singh Pahwa, CMD of Avon Cycles, received the award for his contributions to trade and industry.
Regional Awards: Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu secured the highest number of Padma awards this year with 13 each, followed by Uttar Pradesh with nine. Karnataka, Gujarat, and Delhi had eight each, Bihar received six, and Kerala secured five.
