New Delhi, 08 November: Former Defense Minister George Fernandes was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan at the Padma Award distribution ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.
President Ram Nath Kovind presented this honour to his wife Laila George.
In a grand ceremony organized in the historic Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President honoured 141 people for the year 2020 for doing excellent work in various fields.
The President posthumously awarded Padma Vibhushan to former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. This honour was received by his daughter. For this former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
President Kovind honoured Chhannulal Mishra with Padma Vibhushan for his unprecedented contribution in the field of singing. Seven celebrities have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan this year.
Apart from this, 16 personalities were honoured with Padma Bhushan and 118 personalities were honoured with Padma Shri.
On Tuesday, the President will confer the Padma Awards on 119 people for 2021. Padma awards are the highest civilian honour of the country. These awards are given in three categories β Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
Awarded for excellence in various fields viz- arts, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service etc.
The ‘Padma Vibhushan’ award is given for exceptional and distinguished service and the ‘Padma Bhushan’ award is given for distinguished service of a high order.
