President presents Padma awards to 54 personalities

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday presented the Padma awards to 54 noted personalities, including scientist S Nambi Narayanan and actor Manoj Bajpayee. As many as 112 personalities were announced for this year's Padma awards on the eve of Republic Day and 47 dignitaries were conferred the awards on March 11.

The remaining awards were presented on Saturday in the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other Cabinet ministers, including Harsh Vardhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Vijay Goel.

The list of awardees included Telugu lyricist, poet and philosopher Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, folk singer Teejan Bai, L&T chief Anil Kumar Naik, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Darshan Lal Jain, MDH founder CEO Mahashay Dharam Pal Gulati, noted tabla player Swapan Chaudhuri, former Editor of "Panchjanya" Devendra Swarup and Ladakh surgeon Tsering Norboo, among others.