Sonu Nigam, Chandraprakash Dwivedi named for Padma Shri, Victor Banerjee for Padma Bhushan

Renowned classical vocalist Dr. Prabha Atre of the Kirana Gharana was on Tuesday awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second-highest civilian honour.

Veteran actor Victor Banerjee, known for films such as Satyajit Ray's classic "Ghare Baire" and David Lean's epic "A Passage of India", was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of the country. The names from the Indian arts field who have been chosen for Padma Awards also include Punjabi folk singer Gurmeet Bawa (posthumous) and classical musician Rashid Khan, who will be felicitated with Padma Bhushan.

Popular playback singer Sonu Nigam, director Chandraprakash Dwivedi, best known for directing television epic "Chanakya" and critical hit "Pinjar", and veteran actor Sowcar Janaki have been conferred the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the country. Besides Nigam, Dwivedi, and Janaki, the list for Padma Shri awardees also include Nalini and Kamalini Asthana, Madhuri Barthwal, S Ballesh Bhajantri, Khandu Wangchuk Bhutia, Sulochana Chavan, Lourembam Bino Devi, Shyamamani Devi, Arjun Singh Dhurve, Gosaveedu Shaik Hassan (posthumous), Shivnath Mishra, among others.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the President approved the conferment of 128 Padma Awards, including two duo cases, this year. In a duo case, the award is counted as one.
The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri awards. Thirty-four of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees.

The Padma awards are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.