Padma awards announced, no word on Bharat Ratna

President Pratibha Patil has approved the conferment of Padma Awards 2012. This year the president has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of foreigners/non-resident Indians/ Persons of India Origin/ posthumous. These comprise five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 ladies among the awardees.

Among the five persons selected for the Padma Vibhushan award are late cartoonist Mario Miranda and legendary musician Dr Bhupen Hazarika for their contribution to the field of art.

The others given the honour are K G Subramanyan (art -- painting and sculpture), Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti (medicine) and T V Rajeswar (civil service).

Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service.

...

Actors Shabana Azmi and Dharmedra, film director Mira Nair and renowned cardiologist Devi Prasad Shetty are awarded with Padma Bhushan.

The other recipients of the award are: Khaled Choudhury (art – theatre), Jatin Das (Art – Painting), Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta (art - instrumental music – Sarod), Dr Trippunithwra Viswanathan Gopalkrishnan (art - classical vocal and instrumental music), M S Gopalakrishnan (art - instrumental music –violin), Anish Kapoor (art – sculpture), Satya Narayan Goenka (social work), Dr (Judge) Patibandla Chandrasekhar Rao (public affairs), George Yong-Boon Yeo (public affairs), Shashikumar Chitre (science and engineering), M S Raghunathan (science and engineering), Subbiah Murugappa Vellayan (trade and industry), Balasubramanian Muthuraman (trade and industry), Suresh H Advani (medicine – Oncology, Noshir H Wadia (medicine – neurology), Devi Prasad Shetty (medicine –Cardiology), Prof (Dr) Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar (literature and education), Prof Vidya Dehejia (literature and education), Prof Arvind Panagariy (literature and education), Dr Jose Pereira (literature and education), Dr Homi K Bhabha (literature and education), N Vittal (civil service), Mata Prasad (civil service) and Ronen Sen (civil service).

Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, industrialist Swati Piramal, wildlife conservationist Ullas Karanth, former hockey captain Zafar Iqbal, woman cricket captain Jhulan Goswami and archer Limba Ram have been conferred the Padma Shri.

The others honoured with the award are Vanraj Bhatia (art – music), Zia Fariduddin Dagar (art - music – vocal), Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi (art - music- Khongjom Parba), Ramachandra Subraya Hegde Chittani (art - Yakshagana dance drama), Moti Lal Kemmu (Art – Playwright), Shahid Parvez Khan (art), Mohan Lal Kumhar (art), Khan Manganiar (art), Joy Michael (art – theatre), Minati Mishra (art - Indian classical dance), Natesan Muthuswamy (art – theatre), R Nagarathnamma (art – theatre), Kalamandalm Sivan Nambootiri (art - Indian classical dance), Yamunabai Waikar (art - Indian Folk Music), Satish Alekar (art – playwright), Pandit Gopal Prasad Dubey (art - Chhau dance and choreography), Ramakant Gundecha (art - Indian classical music – vocal), Umakant Gundecha (art - Indian classical music- vocal), Soman Nair Priyadarsan (art – cinema – direction), Sunil Janah (art – photography), Laila Tyebj (art handicrafts), Vijay Sharma (art – painting), Shamshad Begum (social work), Reeta Devi (social work), PK Gopal (social work), Phoolbasan Bai Yadav (social work), G Muniratnam (social work), Niranjan Pranshankar Pandya (social work),  Uma Tuli (social work), Sat Paul Varma (social work), Binny Yanga (social work), Yezdi Hirji Malegam (public affairs), Pravin H Parekh (pubic affairs), Dr V Adimurthy (science and engineering), Krishna Lal Chadha (science and engineering), Prof Virander Singh Chauhan (science and engineering), Prof Rameshwar Nath Koul Bamezai (science and engineering), Dr Vijaypal Singh (science and engineering -- agricultural research), Dr Lokesh Kumar Singhal (science and engineering), Dr Yagnaswami Sundara Rajan (science and engineering), Prof Jagadish Shukla (science and engineering), Priya Paul (trade and industry), Shoji Shiba (trade and industry), Gopinath Pillai (trade and industry), Arun Hastimal Firodia (trade and industry), Swati A Piramal (trade and industry), Mahdi Hasan (medicine anatomy), Dr Viswanathan Mohan (medicine -- diabetology), Dr J Hareendran Nair (medicine -- Ayurveda), Dr Vallalarpuram Sennimalai Natarajan (medicine -- geriatrics), Dr Jitendra Kumar Singh (medicine -- Oncology), Dr Shrinivas S Vaishya (medicine – healthcare), Dr Nitya Anand (medicine -- drugs research), Late Dr Jugal Kishore (medicine – homoeopathy), Dr Mukesh Batra (medicine – homeopathy), Dr Eberhard Fischer (literature and education), Kedar Gurung (literature and education), Surjit Singh Patar (literature and education), Vijay Dutt Shridhar (literature and education – journalism), Irwin Allan Sealy (literature and education), Geeta Dharmarajan (literature and education), Prof Sachchidanand Sahai (literature and education), Pepita Seth (literature and education), Ralte L Thanmawia (literature and education), Ajeet Bajaj (sports – skiing), Devendra Jhajrija (sports -- athletics- Paralympics), Syed Mohammed Arif (sports – badminton), Ravi Chaturvedi (sports -- commentary), Prabhakar Vaidya (sports -- physical education), T Venkatapathi Reddiar (horticulture), Dr. K (Kota) Ullas Karanth (wildlife conservation and environment protection), K Paddayya (archaeology), Swapan Guha (ceramics) and Dr Kartikeya V Sarabhai (environmental education).

Padma Shri is awarded for distinguished service in any field.

Padma Awards, the country's highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in all disciplines -- fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.