Padma Awards announced; Pratibha Ray from Odisha to receive Padma Bhushan

New Delhi: Padma Awards – one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.

This year, Pratibha Ray from Odisha will receive Padma Bhushan for her contributions in Literature and Education field.

Padma Shri will be conferred on Srimad Baba Balia from Odisha in Social Work, Aditya Prasad Dash from Odisha in Science and Engineering, Shyamamani Devi from Odisha in Art, Pramod Bhagat from Odisha in Sports and Narasingha Prasad Guru from Odisha in Literature and Education field, Guruprasad Mohapatra (Posthumous) in Civil Service category.

The President has approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards including two duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. A total of 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees.