Jaspal Bhatti
Noted physicist Yash Pal, space scientist Roddam Narasimha, renowned sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra and painter S. Haider Raza were chosen for this year’s Padma Vibhushan while yesteryear film actors late Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Rahul Dravid were selected for Padma Bhushan. The government came out with a list of 108 Padma awardees that included actress Sridevi, actors Nana Patekar and Malayalam star Madhu of Chemmeen fame and Olympians Mary Kom, Yogeshwar Dutt and Vijay Kumar. In all four personalities were awarded Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and 80 Padma Shri. Of the awardees 24 are women, 11 belong to the category of foreigners, NRI, PIOs and posthumous.