INDIA ANNOUNCES PADMA AWARD WINNERS 2008
New Delhi, January 25, 2008 (IANS)

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar, veteran singer Asha Bhonsle and corporate captains Ratan Tata, L.N. Mittal and N.R. Narayana Murthy were among those named Friday for India's second highest civilian awards on the eve of the country's Republic Day. The list of 119 Padma awardees represents the best in their spheres, including public life, arts, science and business. But, unlike previous years, there appeared to be more from the trade and industry and the arts, and less of people from politics and public affairs.

The other recipients of Padma Vibhushan include Everest hero Edmund Hillary - who has been honoured posthumously - world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand, former chief justice A.S. Anand and former civil servant P.N. Dhar, who was principal secretary to late prime minister Indira Gandhi.

As expected, no Bharat Ratna was awarded this year - perhaps because of the political controversy surrounding it. The last recipients of the Bharat Ratna were Ustad Bismillah Khan and playback singer Lata Mangeshkar in 2001.

As many as 35 people were named for the Padma Bhushan, including commentator Jasdev Singh, author Dominique Lapierre, former home secretary K. Padmanabhiah, sociologist T.K. Oommen, London-based economist Lord Meghnad Desai and Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams.

Corporate India was big in the Padma awards this year as were literary personalities. Apart from Tata, Mittal and Infosys chief Narayana Murthy, hotelier P.R.S. Oberoi was also honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

ICICI managing director K.V. Kamath, software entrepreneur Shiv Nadar and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit were chosen for the Padma Bhushan, indicating the increasing recognition of the contribution of the business and economy sectors in the global recognition the country has achieved.

Unlike last year when the announcement of the awards was inordinately delayed, the list came well in time this year.

Seven foreigners figured in the list of Padma awardees this year including Prof Ji Xianlin from China, and Yuli Mikhailovitch Vorontsov (posthumous), the former Soviet ambassador to India who became his country's foreign minister. They were honoured with the Padma Bhushan. Russian artist Gennadi Mikhailovich Pechinkov and Canadian biochemist Joseph H. Hulse were named for the Padma Shri.

News television's star anchors Barkha Dutt and Vinod Dua of NDTV and Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN were named for Padma Shri awards. Prof Amitabh Mattoo, vice-chancellor of Jammu University, was also named for the award.

Literary personalities also constituted a huge chunk of the awardees. Prominent among them were Kaushik Basu, Padma Desai (both Padma Bhushan) and Sukhadeo Thorat and Surjya Kanta Hazarika (Padma Shri).

Thirty-five people have been named for the Padma Bhushan 71 for the Padma Shri.

10 people from trade and industry in Padma list

Steel tycoon Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, Infosys mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and Tata boss Ratan Naval Tata lead the 10 names from trade and industry in the Padma awards list announced here Friday on the eve of Republic Day. Steel tycoon Mittal, who acquired European steel giant Arcelor last year, has won the Padma Vibhushan. Others in the category are Narayana Murthy, hotelier P.R.S. Oberoi and Tata, who launched the Rs.100,000 car Nano this year.

The Padma Bhushan category includes five from the field of trade and industry. Suresh Kumar Neotia of Gujarat Ambhuja Cement Limited has been named for social work, along with trade and industry.

Baba Neelkanth Kalyani, an MIT-trained engineer who owns Bharat Forge Ltd, ICICI group head K.V. Kamath, HCL head Shiv Nadar and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit are the others to have been named for the Padma Bhushan.

Kalyani is one of the top names in the forging industry of the world with factories in several countries. Kamath is credited with making ICICI a big name in the banking sector in the last decade.

Shiv Nadar heads the HCL group and is credited with starting NIIT, the computer education centre that made several youngsters computer literate in the last decade and a half.

Vikram Pandit, a former Morgan Stanley executive, became CEO of Citigroup in December 2007.

Amit Mitra, an economist and secretary general of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) is the only person to be named for a Padma Shri in the trade and industry category this year.

Nation honours 49 from the arts and entertainment

The list embodies a nation's homage to Indian arts, literature and entertainment - with one of the highest number of such awardees named since the prestigious civilian honours was instituted in 1954. Forty-nine recipients, including Bollywood singing sensation Asha Bhonsle, actress Madhuri Dixit, artist Amarnath Sehgal (posthumous), Hollywood filmmaker Manoj "Night" Shymalan, actor Tom Alter and French writer Dominique Lapierre lead the list of artistes in the Padma awards.

What sets the list apart this year is the fact that India remembered several unsung performing and visual artistes in the list like eminent Khasi author from Meghalaya Helen Giri, Sufi exponent from Punjab, Hans Raj Hans, and classical dance exponents like Jatin Goswami of Assam and Gangadhar Pradhan, an Odissi dancer credited with setting up the biggest dance and culture academy in his state. Jatin Goswami specialises in the dance-dramas performed by the 15th century disciples of Mahant Shankardeva, a devotee of Lord Krishna.

The list also includes eminent sculptor and artist (late) Amarnath Sehgal, who died this month. According to the visual arts fraternity: "The award for Amarnath Sehgal, often called the Henri Moore of India, was long overdue. He was the one who had campaigned for the artist's right to retain his work and won a landmark case in court against the government of India."

The list of awardees in the arts and literature sections has even representation from across the states and includes a healthy mix of all disciplines - education, visual and performing arts and literature. Last year, writer-journalist Khushwant Singh, poet Neeraj, lyricist Javed Akhtar, US-based litterateur and educationist Raja Rao (posthumous), Prof Giriraj Kishore and Kerala-based artist Ramankutty were among the artists, literary and entertainment luminaries honoured.

Reactions in Bollywood and elsewhere in the entertainment industry to Asha Bhonsle's inclusion, ranged from "joy to euphoria". The refrain was: "It is not enough". The actress who has devoted her whole life to Bollywood deserved nothing less.

From "Piya tu ba to aaja", Dum maro dum" to "Kambakth Ishq", singing diva Asha Bhonsle, whose career spans almost 60 years, has been enthralling listeners with her vivacious numbers. She has bagged many prestigious awards, including the National Award and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. From Madhubala to Helen to reigning super heroines like Kareena Kapoor and Urmila Martondkar, Asha Bhonsle's evergreen voice bound them all.

In contrast, Madhuri Dixit was a rather surprise entry. The actress who made a comeback after five years in Anil Mehta's "Aaja Nachle" was "rather low" on the priority list. "But going by her contribution and the number of hits she has churned out, we guessed it was justified," said a Bollywood insider without wanting to be named. The '90s heartthrob has several mega hits to her credit, including "Tezaab", "Dil" "Dil To Pagal Hain" and "Devdas".

What touched many hearts particularly those of the vast community of artists, performers and literary personalities of Indian origin abroad was the tribute to young Hollywood-based film-maker Manoj "Night" Shyamalan, writer Kaushik Basu and Indophile Russian artist Gennadi Mikshailovich, who has spent several years working with ethnic artists in India.

Born in India and raised in suburban Penn Valley of Philadelphia, Manoj 'Night' Shyamalan, the son of doctor parents, has carved a niche for himself in Hollywood with films like the "Wide Awake" (1998), "The Sixth Sense" (1999), "The Signs" (2002) and "The Village" (2004).