On the night before India's Republic Day, the announcement of the list of Padma awardees was made. On Thursday (January 25), the country's Ministry of Home Affairs revealed the list of nominees for this year's Padma Awards.

The list includes eminent personalities like Chiranjeevi from southern India, noted actor Mithun Chakraborty, alongside music artiste Usha Uthup, folk music artiste and lyricist Ratan Kahar. Additionally, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya's name has been announced in the Padma Shri category for her contributions to Rabindra Sangeet in both Bangladesh and Kolkata.

Bharat Ratna is considered India's highest civilian honour. Following that, another significant honour is the Padma Awards. These awards are given in three categories - Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. This time, the names of five individuals have been announced in the Padma Vibhushan category, 17 individuals in the Padma Bhushan category, and 110 individuals in the Padma Shri category.

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Bannya wins Padma Shri Award

The Government of India presents the award annually in recognition of special contributions in various fields such as culture, arts, social work, public affairs, community welfare, science and technology, commerce, medicine, education, sports, and others.

The recipients of this year's honours in the specified categories include three awardees in the field of arts for the Padma Vibhushan award: Vyjayantimala Bali (actress), Chiranjeevi (actor), and Padma Subrahmanyam (dancer, choreographer).

Five honourees were awardees in the field of arts for the Padma Bhushan award amongst 17 nominees. They are Mithun Chakraborty (actor), Shri Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo alias Rajdutt (filmmaker), Pyarelal Sharma (music director), Vijaykanth (actor), Usha Uthup (singer).

Amongst Padma Shri winners are 47 awardees in the field of arts from 110 total nominees. They are Rezwana Choudhury Bannya (Rabindra Sangeet exponent, Bangladesh), Ratan Kahar (folk singer, lyricist), Ashok Kumar Biswas (artist), Balakrishnan Sadanam Puthiya Veetil (dance exponent), and Pandit Om Prakash Sharma (theatre artiste), amongst 42 others from arts category.