New Delhi: Noted music composer Ilaiyaraaja, Hindutva thinker P Parameswaran and former Team India captain M S Dhoni were among 85 people chosen for the prestigious Padma awards of 2018.
Among the awardees, 16 are from the category of foreigners, non-resident Indians and three are posthumous.
Considered as the seniormost Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer in Kerala, Parameshwaran is the director of Bharatiya Vichara Kendra and president of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari.
Born in Cherthala in 1927, Parameshwaran studied at SB College Changanassery and graduated from University College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Mar Chrysostom has been a bishop for over 64 years, which makes him the longest-serving bishop in India. He turned 100 in April 2017.
74-year-old Ilaiyaraaja, who has been conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2009, was selected for Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna.
Besides him, noted Hindustani classical singer Ghulam Mustafa Khan and president of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari P Parameswaran from Kerala were honored with Padma Vibhushan.
Dhoni, cueist Pankaj Advani, former Russian ambassador to India late Alexander Kadakin, Hindustani classical musician Arvind Parikh, Tamil Nadu-based archaeologist Ramachandran Nagaswamy and Goan artist Laxman Pai were among nine prominent personalities who were honored with Padma Bhushan.
Keeping its promise of honoring "unsung heroes", the government honored with Padma awards several personalities who served the poor, set up free schools and popularized tribal arts globally.
Lakshmikutty, a tribal woman from Kerala, who prepares 500 herbal medicine from memory and help thousands of people especially in snake and insect bite cases, is among the awardees.
She teaches at Kerala Folklore Academy and lives in a small hut made of palm leaves roof in tribal settlement in a forest. She is the only tribal woman from her area to attend school in the 1950s.
Arvind Gupta, an IIT Kanpur alumnus who inspired generations of students to learn science from thrash, has also been honored with Padma Shri.
Gupta visited 3,000 schools in four decades, made 6,200 short films on toy-making in 18 languages and also hosted popular TV show Tarang in 1980s.
Internationally-acclaimed Gond artist Bhajju Shyam has also been awarded the Padma Shri.
Shyam is famous for depicting Europe through Gond paintings, a tribal style of painting of Madhya Pradesh. Born in a poor tribal family, he worked as a night guard and electrician to support family before becoming a professional artist.
His 'The London Jungle Book' sold 30,000 copies and it was published in five foreign languages.
Noted Kashmir theater artist Pran Kishore Kaul, who shot to fame with his screen play of famous TV serial Gul Gulshan Gulfaam, has been awarded Padma Shri.
West Bengal's Sudhanshu Biswas, a 99-year-old freedom fighter who serves poor, runs school and orphanages and set up free school for poor, is also among the winners.
Kerala's medical messiah to terminally ill, M R Rajagopal, has also been honored with Padma Shri.
Rajagopal has specialized in pain relief care for neo natal cases.
Since last year, the Modi government has been honoring "unsung heroes" with the Padma awards to recognize people who have dedicated their lives to working for the poor or have risen from deprived backgrounds to excel in their own fields.
Maharashtra's Murlikant Petkar, India's first para- Olympic gold medalist, who lost his arm in 1965 Indo-Pak war, is another winner of the Padma Shri.
Tamil Nadu's Rajagopalan Vasudevan, who is known as plastic road-maker of India, developed a patented and innovative method to reuse plastic waste to construct roads, has also been given the Padma Shri.
Subhasini Mistry, a poor lady from rural West Bengal, who toiled 20 years as housemaid and daily labourer to build a hospital for poor in the state, is another awardee.
Nonagenarian farm laborer Sulagatti Narasamma, who provides midwifery services in backward region of Karnataka without any medical facility, too was awarded the Padma Shri.
Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan, an acclaimed Tamil folk exponent, who has dedicated her life towards collection, documentation and preservation of Tamil folk and tribal music, has also been given Padma Shri.
Another awardee is Yeshi Dhoden, monk physician of Tibetan herbal medicine working in remote areas of Himachal Pradesh.
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