Noted jurist Fali Nariman, eminent litterateur Khushwant Singh and Centre's pointsman on Jammu and Kashmir N N Vohra were honoured with the coveted Padma Vibhushan awards while steel tycoon Jamshed J Irani and classical music exponents Rajan and Sajan Misra were bestowed with this year's Padma Bhushan.
President A P J Abdul Kalam gave away the awards to 58 eminent personalities from different walks of life at a glittering ceremony held at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Former cabinet secretary and Indian envoy to the US Naresh Chandra and former BHEL chairman V Krishnamurthy were the other two recipients of the Padma Vibhushan award.
Besides Irani and the Misra brothers, ten other personalities, including Suzuki Motor Corporation chief Osamu Suzuki and South African parliamentarian and African National Congress leader Ela Gandhi, were presented with Padma Bhushan.
Other recipients of Padma Bhushan are political philosopher Bhikhu Parikh, educationist Gabriel Chiramel, agricultural scientist G S Kalkat, biologist Manju Sharma, industrialist N Mahalingam, orthopaedic surgeon P S Maini, Kathakali exponent Ramankutty Nair, economist T N Srinivasan and social activist V Mohini Giri.