The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order...without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex." The award criteria include "service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" including doctors and scientists, but exclude those working with the public sector undertakings. As of 2020, the award has been bestowed on 1270 individuals, including twenty-four posthumous and ninety-seven non-citizen recipients.
Padma Shri, also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the arts, education, industry, literature, science, acting, medicine, social service and public affairs". It is awarded by the Government of India every year on India's Republic Day.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia under the collaborative name Shiv–Hari and composed music for such hit Indian films as Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), and Lamhe (1991).
Adnan Sami Khan is an Indian singer, musician, music composer and pianist. He performs Indian and Western music, including for Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil movies. He has been awarded with Padma Shri for his remarkable contribution in music. His most notable instrument is the piano. He has been credited as "the first musician to have played the santoor and Indian classical music on the piano". A review in the US-based Keyboard magazine described him as the fastest keyboard player in the world and called him the keyboard discovery of the nineties.
Helen Ann Richardson Khan, known mononymously as Helen, is an Indian actress and dancer. She has appeared in over 700 films, making her a prolific performer in Hindi cinema. She is known for her supporting, character roles and guest appearances in a career spanning seventy years.
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Pandit Bhajan Sopori was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument.
Ustad Rashid Khan is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Soma Khan.
Amitabh Mattoo is one of India's leading thinkers and writers on Modern and Contemporary History, Political science, International relations. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009. He is a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and honorary professor of international relations at the University of Melbourne. Mattoo is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and was recently elected unanimously as its Deputy Chair. He was the founding CEO of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne and served as chairman of the governing board of Miranda House, University of Delhi, the highest-ranked women's college in India, and served as Chair of Kirori Mal College earlier He has also been a member of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. In 2002, he was the youngest person to be appointed as vice chancellor of a public university in independent India. Mattoo's advice on policy matters has been sought across political parties and across governments, including by Prime Ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh. Until 19 June 2018, he served as Advisor to the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, with the status of a Cabinet Minister. Following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, he has offered a political roadmap for securing the future of Jammu and Kashmir. He has been a persistent advocate of multiculturalism and of reconciliation between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims.
Jagdish Prasad was a Calcutta-based Indian classical vocalist of the Patiala gharana.
Ustad Ghulam Sadiq Khan was an Indian classical vocalist. He belonged to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana.
Sharda Sinha is an Indian folk and classical singer. Sharda Sinha is a popular Maithili and Bhojpuri singer from Mithila. She is a famous traditional female singer for 'Maithili' and Bhojpuri songs. She has sung many regional songs like "Vivah Geet", "Chhath Geet". In 1991, she received the Padma Shri award for her contribution to music. She was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, on the eve of Republic Day in 2018.
Rewben Mashangva, also Guru Rewben Mashangva, is a folk musician and singer from Manipur, India. He is known for reviving musical tradition of the Tangkhul Naga of Manipur, and use of traditional musical instruments in his songs. Influenced by musicians such as Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, Rewben Mashangva has created many Naga tribal folk songs based on blues and ballad rhythms. He is known by different names including, 'Bob Dylan of the Nagas' and 'King of Naga folk blues', plus 'Father of Naga folk blues'. He received the National Tribal Award 2011-12, for his contribution to the development of tribal music from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The Government of India honoured him in 2021, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his rich contribution to art.
Iti Srikanta is a 2004 Bengali period drama film directed by Anjan Das. This film is based on novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel, Srikanta (1917) In an interview in 2005, Das, director of the film, told about his depiction of the character Srikanta– "Several films have been made on Srikanta but all these had mainly dealt with specific chapters from Srikanta, the novel. I wanted to present the complete man — his inner conflict and turmoil over the two women in his life, torn between a baiji and a vaishnavi". He also felt, the crisis felt by Srikanta as shown in Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel are still relevant.
Jalees Ahmed Khan Tareen, also known as J.A.K. Tareen, was born in Mysore, Karnataka, India in 1947. He was the vice-chancellor of B. S. Abdur Rahman University, in Chennai, India from 2013 to 31 March 2015. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri award 2009 for the Literature & Education given by the Government of India. He is one of the current advisory board member of South Asia Foundation (SAF) from India.
Prafulla Kar was an Odia musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2015 for his contribution in the field of arts.
S. Ballesh Bhajantri is a popular Indian classical Hindustani shehnai player. He is a disciple of shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan, he is benares gharana shehnai player and a patiala gharana hindustani vocalist, ghazal singer, Indian playback singer and musician, Ballesh is credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. He is also a Prasar Bharati's All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan artist.
Pratapaditya Pal is an Indian scholar of Southeast Asian and Himalayan art and culture, specializing particularly in the history of art of India, Nepal and Tibet. He has served as a curator of South Asian art at several prominent US museums including Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, where he has organized more than 22 major exhibitions and helped build the museums' collection. He has also written over 60 books and catalogs, and over 250 articles on the subject, taught at several universities, and served as the editor of the Indian art magazine, Marg. In 2009 he was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contributions to the study of Indian art.
