The Padma Awards,
India’s civilian state honours, were conferred on people who have displayed
excellence in their respective fields of work on Monday. President Ram Nath
Kovind
conferred the honours in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and other dignitaries.

The Padma
Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour after the Bharat Ratna, was
conferred on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his contribution to
the field of public affairs. Late singer SP Balasubramaniam was also awarded
the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.

Other Padma awardees
from the world of entertainment were Hindi film actor Kangana Ranaut, singer
Adnan Sami, film director and producer Karan Johar and film and television
producer Ekta Kapoor.

Interestingly,
Kangana Ranaut and Karan Johar, two people from the film fraternity who have
been at loggerheads for long, won the Padma awards in the same here. Earlier,
during an interview with India Today, Kangana Ranaut addressed the issue
saying, “I heartily congratulate him, I think he totally deserves this award.”

“As a producer,
the kind of films he backs, whether it is ‘Kesari’ or ‘Good Newwz’, are
commendable, as is the position he has worked to achieve. Even though his
father gave him a head start, he has risen to the top because of his own
efforts and merit,” said Kangana, who has repeatedly criticised Johar over
nepotism.

At the event,
Kangana was seen clad in a golden saree and was pictured along with President
Ram Nath Kovind.

Another
interesting Padma awardee this year was singer Adnan Sami. A Pakistani-origin
singer, Sami became an Indian citizen in 2016. His Padma Shri was criticised by
opposition party members with the National Congress Party (NCP) calling it an “insult
to 130 crore Indians”.

At the time, Sami
had said, “The people who are criticising are some minor politicians. They are
doing it because of some political agenda that they have and it has nothing to
do with me. I am not a politician, I am a singer,” reported PTI.

The Padma awards
were presented to 119 awardees by President Ram Nath Kovind. The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma
Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards. 29 of the awardees are women, 16 posthumous
awardees and 1 transgender awardee.