Shahbaz Khan
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others during a Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, Monday, May 25, 2026. President Droupadi Murmu on Monday conferred the Padma Vibhushan on Bollywood actor Dharmendra posthumously and classical musician and violinist N Rajam at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.As the name of Dharmendra’s wife Hema Malini, a BJP MP, was announced to receive his award for his exceptional and distinguished service in the field of art, their daughter Ahana Deol, sitting in the audience, broke down in tears.Rajam was honoured for her pioneering contribution to Indian classical music, especially for revolutionising violin performance through the ‘Gayaki Ang’ style that replicates vocal music on the instrument.Murmu conferred the Padma Bhushan on Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Uttarakhand chief minister; Shatavadhani R Ganesh, acclaimed polymath who revived the challenging classical Indian art form ‘Avadhana’; Uday Suresh Kumar Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank; and gastroenterologist Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy.She also conferred the award posthumously on ad guru Piyush Pandey and former parliamentarian Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Pandey’s wife and Malhotra’s son received the awards.For 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards -- five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri. At the ceremony on Monday, she conferred two Padma Vibhushan, six Padma Bhushan and 58 Padma Shri.The remaining Padma awardees will be conferred in the second round of the ceremony to be held later, sources saidText: PTIPhoto:
