The Hindu : Front Page : President gives Padma awards

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 01, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

President gives Padma awards

NEW DELHI, JUNE 30. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today conferred Padma awards on 86 eminent personalities from various walks of life.

The second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan, was given to the former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachaliah, while the other two awardees — poet and novelist Amrita Pritam and astronomer and astrophysicist Jayant Vinshu Narlikar — did not turn up.

Gulzar, lyricist and writer; Gopichand Naran, Urdu scholar; M.V. Kamath, journalist; T.N. Seshagopalan, music composer; and N. Rajam, violinist, were among the 17 who received the Padma Bhushan. Yoshiro Mori, who was chosen for the award for promoting India-Japan friendship, was absent.

The Indian cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly, and the vice-captain, Rahul Dravid, singer A. Hariharan, actor Anupam Kher, Tamil filmmaker Bharati Rajaa, Mohiniattam exponent Bharati Shivaji, cartoonist Sudhir Tailang and athlete K.M. Beenamol were among the 74 Padma Shri awardees.

The President presented a medal and a certificate to each awardee. Dr Kalam came down the podium at least 14 times whenever the recipients were elderly or had difficulty in walking.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

Harsud residents: Holding on to their homes despite facing submersion

States oppose direct funding of panchayats

Five Governors to be replaced

Saddam in Iraq's legal custody

President gives Padma awards

Liberhan report `very soon'

EPF issue

GDP growth

HRD ministry charts new policy

VHP's deadline

UP Ministers quit