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Tabla exponent Zakir Hussain, who got the Padma Bhushan, and filmmaker Mani Ratnam, who was given the Padma Shri, took their awards amidst thundering applause at a glittering ceremony in the Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Cricketer Chandu Borde, US Congressman Frank Pallone, eminent jurist K K Venugopal, filmmaker Ismail Merchant and writer Habib Tanvir were among the Padma Bhushan awardees while Carnatic musician Mani Krishnaswami and sexologist Prakash Kothari were given the Padma Shri awards.
Vice President Krishan Kant, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Union Ministers Lal Kishenchand Advani and Jaswant Singh and a galaxy of other dignitaries were present at the brief ceremony.
Former foreign secretary M K Rasgotra, leading businessman Pravinchandra Gandhi, academic and Chairman of the Tamil Virtual University V C Kulandaiswamy, Director of Warwick Manufacturing Group, United Kingdom, S K Bhattacharya and Russian academician Guri Ivanovich Marchuk were the other Padma Bhushan awardees.
US Congressman Gary Ackerman, who was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, was not present.
Among the performing artistes given the Padma Shri were renowned sarangi player Ustad Abdul Latif Khan, Manipuri dancer Darshana Jhaveri, Bharatnatyam danseuse Pushpa Bhuyan, ghatam artiste T H Vinayakram and Sri Lankan musician W D Amaradeva.
Eminent surgeon Pradeep Kumar Chowbey, radiologist Harsh Mahajan, ophthalmologist Vijay Kumar Dada, orthopaedic surgeon Vikram Marwah, neurosurgeon Kamaljit Singh Paul and gastrologist Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy, scientists H S Kamath, I V Subba Rao, B N Suresh and Padmanabhan Balaram were also presented the honour.
The other awardees were Marathi writer Madhu Mangesh Karnik, journalist T K Rao, Greek diplomat Dimitris C Velissaropoulos, educationists Gyan Chand Jain and Munirathna Anandakrishnan, earthquake engineer Anand Swarup Arya, engineering professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, social activists Viresh Pratap Chaudhury, Sivananda Rajaram, Satish Chandra Rai, Prema Narendra Purao and Kiran Martin, and animal welfare activist Norma Alvares.
Distinguished photo journalist Rajan Devadas, who was also selected for the Padma Shri, was not present.
As many as 45 eminent personalities were given the Padma awards last week.
PTI
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