Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, former External Affairs minister in the UPA government S M Krishna and tabla maestro Zakir Hussain were among six luminaries selected for the country's second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan.

According to an official statement released on the eve of Republic Day, Yadav, medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis who returned from the US to serve in 1971-Bangladesh war refugee camps, and noted architect Balkrishna Doshi were selected for the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

No one has been named for the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations to those who have been conferred the Padma Awards.

"India cherishes their rich and varied contributions to the nation and their efforts to enhance our growth trajectory," he said.

US-based mathematician Srinivas Varadhan was also selected for the Padma Vibhushan award.

Noted industrialist Kumara Mangalam Birla, novelist S L Bhyrappa and author Sudha Murthy were among nine people awarded Padma Bhushan, the statement said.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (posthumous), actor Raveena Tandon, Manipur BJP president Thounaojam Chaoba Singh were among 91 luminaries awarded the Padma Shri award.

Music director M M Keeravaani, whose composition for Telugu blockbuster 'RRR' won Golden Globes recently, famous playback singer Suman Kalyanpur, renowned singer from Tamil Nadu Vani Jairam were also selected for Padma Shri.

Organic farmer from Himachal Pradesh Nekram Sharma, hero of Jharkhand's Ho tribal language Janum Singh Soy were also selected for the Padma Shri.

Eighty-year-old linguistics professor from Telangana B Ramakrishna Reddy, Toto language preserver from West Bengal Dhaniram Toto, folk dancer from Kodagu in Karnataka Rani Machaiah were also selected for Padma Shri, the statement said.

These awards are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions which are held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

For 2023, the President has approved conferment of 106 Padma awards, including three duo cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).

Nineteen of the awardees are women and the list also includes two people from the category of foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and seven posthumous awardees.

Padma awards, one of the highest civilian awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities - 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.

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