Republic Day Special: Padma Vibhushan Award Winners

The Padma Awards seek to acknowledge the achievements made in all fields of disciplines where a component of public service is involved. The Padma Vibhushan Awards are India’s second highest civilian honor.

PADMA AWARDS

One of the highest civilian honors of India is the Padma Awards. They are announced annually on the Republic Day of every year. The Padma Awards are given in three categories:

Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service),
Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order), and
Padma Shri (distinguished service).

The Padma Awards seek to acknowledge the achievements made in all fields of disciplines where a component of public service is involved. On the recommendations for The Padma Awards to be bestowed are made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. The process of nomination is open to the public. Self-nomination can even be made.

The Padma Vibhushan Awards are India’s second highest civilian honor. We in this article; are going to tell about the Padma Vibhushan Award winners. The questions regarding the winners of the Padma Vibhshan Award arise very often in the minds of the people. Here is a list which spans the history of the Padma Vibhushan of the famous Padma Vibhushan Award winners. This list is a walk down the memory lane of the most memorable and well-known Padma Vibhushan winners (2001-2018) who hold golden influence for all times.

1.Shri P. Parameswaran (2018)

1927

(Born in Cherthala, Kerala)

About:

P. Parameswaran completed his graduation from University College, Thiruvananthapuram with distinctions in BA (Hons.) in History.
He is one of the senior most RSS pracharak and ideologues in Kerala.
He received the Padma Vibhushan Award on Republic Day for Literature & Education in the year 2018.

Research:

P. Parameshwaran has authored several books on cultural, social, and religious themes and Indian philosophy as well. He has also been the editor of the magazines ‑ ‘Kesari’ and ‘Manthan’. He is currently the editor of the monthly ‘Yuva Bharathi’ and the quarterly ‘Vivekananda Kendra Patrika’. He has also written books on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, Marx and Vivekananda, Chhatrapati Shivaji, and Swami Vivekananda.

2. Shri Ramoji Rao (2016)

16^th November 1936

(Born in Pedaparupudi, Andhra Pradesh)

About:

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao is an Indian businessman, film producer, educationist, journalist and media entrepreneur.
Rao is the head of the Ramoji Group. The world’s largest film production facility, Ramoji Film City and film Production Company Ushakiran Movies.
In 2016, he was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, for his contributions in literature, journalism, and education.

Research:

Companies owned by the Ramoji group include Margadarsi Chit Fund, Eenadu newspaper, ETV, Ramadevi Public School, Priya Foods, Ushakiran Movies, and the Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad.
Rao is also the chairman of Dolphin group of hotels in Andhra Pradesh.

3. Shri Avinash Dixit (Foreigner) (2016)

6^th August 1944

(Born in Bombay, India)

About:

In 1965, Avinash Dixit received a B.A. from Cambridge University in Mathematics. In 1968 he became a Ph.D. holder from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Economics.
He is the author of “Investment under Uncertainty” (With Robert Pindyck) which the first textbook exclusively about the real options approach to investments.
He received the Padma Vibhushan Award on Republic Day for Literature & Education in the year 2016.

Research:

Avinash Dixit is an Indian-American economist.
He was the senior research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and Sanjaya Lall Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford.

4. Sitakant Mahapatra (2011)

17^th September 1937

(Born in Cuttack district, Odisha)

About:

Sitakant Mahapatra is an eminent Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English.
Since 1961 he was in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) until retiring in 1995.
He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011.

Research:

Apart from numerous translations, he has published over 15 poetry collections, 5 essay collections, a travelogue, and over 30 contemplative works.
His remarkable works include Sabdar Akash (1971) (The Sky of Words), Samudra (1977) and Anek Sharat (1981).

5. O. N. V. Kurup (2011)

27^th May 1931 – 13^th February 2016

(Born in Chavara Village, Kerala)

About:

O. N. V. Kurup was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India.
He was the leader of All India Students Federation (AISF).
He received the Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan on Republic Day in 2011.

Research:

‘Munnottu’ (Forward) was O. N. V.’s first published poem. It appeared in a local weekly in 1946.
Porutunna Soundaryam was his first poetry collection which came out in 1949.
he was also one of the leading lyricists in Malayalam film/drama/album industry.

6. D. P. Chattopadhyaya (2009)

November 5^th, 1933

(Born in Tamil Nadu)

About:

He is the Founder/Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi.
Presently, he is the Chairman of the Centre for Studies in Civilizations, and General Editor of the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, which has produced a multi-volume cultural history of India.
Many books on culture and philosophy have been authored by him. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan In 2009.

7. Sri K. Raja Rao (2007)

8^th November 1908 – 8^th July 2006

(Born in Hassan, Karnataka)

About:

K. Raja Rao studied for his degree at Nizam’s College at the Osmania University after matriculation in 1927
His first stories published were in French and English. During 1931–32 he contributed four articles for Jaya Karnataka, an influential journal written in Kannada.
He received the Padma Vibhushan Award for Literature & Education on Republic Day in the year 2007.

Research:

His novel Kanthapura (1938) was based on the impact of Gandhi’s teaching on non-violent resistance against the British.
Rao died at the age of 97 due to heart failure on 8^th July 2006, at his home in Austin, Texas.

8. Mahasweta Devi (2006)

14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016

(Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh)

About:

She was an Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist
. Her remarkable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar.
Devi was honored with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award (in Bengali), Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India’s civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan (in 2006).

Research:

She has written over 100 novels and over 20 collections of short stories majorly in Bengali.
In 1956 her first novel, titled Jhansi Rani was published which was based on a biography of the Rani of Jhansi.

9. Amrita Pritam (2004)

31^st August 1919 – 31 October 2005

(Born in Gujranwala, Pakistan)

About:

She was an Indian novelist, essayist, and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi.
She was known as the most important voice for the women in Punjabi literature.
In 2004 she was honored with India’s highest literary award, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (given by the Sahitya Akademi) given to the “immortals of literature” for lifetime achievement and also received the Padma Vibhushan on Republic Day in the same year.

Research:

Amrita Pritam is considered as the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist.
She is the leading 20^th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both sides of the India-Pakistan border.

10. Bal Ram Nanda (2003)

1917 – 30 May 2010

About:

Bal Ram Nanda was a writer from New Delhi. He was the dominant Indian biographer of Mahatma Gandhi.
After completing his studies in student of History at Lahore University, B.R. Nanda becomes the first Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library.
He received the Padma Bhushan in 1988 and Padma Vibhushan Award for Literature & Education in the year 2003.

11. C. Rangarajan (2002)

1932

(Born in Tamil Nadu)

About:

C. Rangarajan is an Indian economist and a former Member of Parliament. He is the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and resigned the day, the UPA lost power.
He received the Padma Vibhushan Award for Literature & Education on Republic Day in the year 2002.

Research:

C. Rangarajan is the Founding Chairman of the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science; and the Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad.
He also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 24^th November 1997 to 3^rd January 2003. After relinquishing that office, he took charge as the chairman of the Twelfth Finance Commission.

12. Kotha Satchidananda Murthy (2001)

1924-2011

(Born in Sangam Jagarlamudi, Andhra Pradesh)

About:

Kotha Satchidananda Murthy was an Indian philosopher and professor.
He served as the Professor of Philosophy, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and Vice-Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati in the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India.
He received the Padma Bhushan in 1984 and Padma Vibhushan Award for Literature & Education in the year 2001.

Research:

After graduation from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, he carried out Ph.D. research in Philosophy from the same university.
His lectures on Philosophy of Religion – “The Realm of Between” have gained extensive acclaim.
In 1975, a group of professors in Andhra University published his lectures in a volume entitled Collected Criticism of K. Satchidananda Murthy.

13. John Kenneth Galbraith (2001)

October 15^th, 1908 – April 29^th, 2006

(Born in Iona Station, Canada)

About:

John Kenneth Galbraith was an economist, public official, and diplomat. He was also a leading proponent of the 20^th-century American liberalism.
He stayed as a professor of economics at Harvard University and was a long-time Harvard faculty member for half a century. He was a prolific author as well who wrote four dozen books.
He received the Padma Vibhushan Award for Literature & Education on Republic Day in the year 2001.

Research:

His works included many books like the trilogy on economics, American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958), and The New Industrial State (1967).
As an economist, he leaned toward post-Keynesian economics from an institutionalist perspective.

Here was the list of the winners of Padma Vibhushan award, from the year 2001-2018. The Padma Visbhushan Award is rewarded on the Republic Day every year. We hope that we as Indians thrive for more to achieve this award and the number of Padma Vibhushan award winners increases every year and so in 2019.

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