Azad among three awardees from J&K

Jammu: Former chief minister, and veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad among three awardees from Jammu and Kashmir, who were included in the list of Padma awards released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Azad, 72, will be conferred with Padma Bhushan by President Ram Nath Kovind for his contribution in the field of public affairs while Faisal Ali Dar conferred with Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of sports and Viswanmitri Shastri also conferred with Padma Shri for his contribution in the field literature and education.
‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field.
The other recipients of the Padma awards included General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff who was killed last year in a helicopter crash, vaccine makers Krishna Ella, Suchitra Ella, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Indian-origin Silicon Valley titans Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai.
No names were announced for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, which was last awarded in 2019 to former President Pranab Mukherjee, social reformer Nanaji Deshmukh and noted singer Bhupen Hazarika.
Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India, which manufactured COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, and Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech, which produced India's indigenous coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, were also given Padma Bhushan..
Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and singer Sonu Nigam were awarded Padma Shri.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the President approved conferment of 128 Padma Awards, including two duo cases, this year. In a duo case, the award is counted as one.
The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri awards.
Thirty-four of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees.
Among the awardees include many "unsung heroes" who have been contributing to the society through different ways.
The Narendra Modi government has been honouring many such "unsung heroes" with Padma awards since 2014.
Padma Awards are conferred in three categories, namely Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
'Padma Vibhushan' is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; 'Padma Bhushan' for distinguished service of high order and 'Padma Shri' for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
Notably, Azad, before serving as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha for close to seven years, was the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare in the second UPA government between 2009 and 2014.
He had served as the seventh chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir between November 2005 and July 2008.