Nobel laureate Venky, Rahman, Aamir in Padma list

Nobel laureate of Indian origin Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Apollo hospital chief Pratap Reddy and former RBI Governor Y V Reddy were today chosen for the second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan while music maestro A R Rahman and Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan have been named for Padma Bhushan.

Eminent theatre personalities Zohra Segal and Ebrahim Alkazi and noted 'mridangam' Carnatic artist Umayalpuram K Sivaraman are the other three chosen for Padma Vibhushan award by the government which, in all, named 130 people, including 13 in the category of foreigners, NRIs and PIOs. Forty-three are Padma Bhushan and eighty-three are Padma Shri.

Cricketer Virendra Sehwag, Hockey national Ignace Tirkey, Formula 1 driver Narain Kartikeyan, Badminton star Saina Nehwal, Boxer Vijender Singh and Sachin Tendulkar's 'guru' Ramakant Achrekar have been selected for Padma Shri awards in sports category.

Among the Padma Bhushan awardees this year are noted NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, eminent neurosurgeon Satya Paul Agarwal and eminent cardiac surgeon Ramakant Panda, who performed 'beating heart' surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year.