NEW DELHI : Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Prince Aga Khan, K K Venugopal were among a host of personalities who were today presented the Padma awards by President Pranab Mukherjee here.
At a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several of his Cabinet Ministers, veteran BJP leader L K Advani, former Miss World and Amitabhs son Abhishek Bachchan daughter-in law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the President presented the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards to several personalities. Those presented the Padma Vibhushan include Amitabh, Dharamsthala Veerendra Heggade, Prince Aga Khan, Prof Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan and Mr Venugopal. Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar was also to be conferred the Padma Vibhushan but could not be present due to his ill health. Seven personalities received the Padma Bhushan including filmmaker Jahnu Barua, Prof Manjul Bhargava, Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Dr Subhash C Kashyap, Pandit Gokulotsavji Maharaj and Dr Ambrish Mittal while 36 personalities received the Padma Shree. Among those who were conferred the Padma Shree were womens hockey player Saba Anjum, scientist S Arunan, social worker Ashok Bhagat, novelist Lakshmi Nandan Bora, economist Bibek Debroy, noted surgeon K Pharidas, author Sunil Jogi, social Veerendra Raj Mehta, educationist Mohandas pai, women cricketer Mithali Raj, Telugu actor Kota Srinivas Rao, singer and music composer Shekhar Sen and doctor Hargovind Trivedi. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were among the prominent dignitaries present during the event. This is Big B’s third Padma Awards. In 1989, he was honoured with Padma Shree and in 2001 he was honoured with Padma Bhushan for his contribution in the field of Indian cinema. The entire Bachchan clan, including his wife Jaya, Abhishek, Aishwarya Rai, granddaughter Aaradhya, daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda with husband Nikhil Nanda and grandchildren Navya and Agastya attended the ceremony in Delhi. (AGENCIES)
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