Four industry leaders get Padma Shri

Four industrialists have been included in the list of this year's Padma awards, and all four have been named for the Padma Shri. Among those who were selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the highest of the Padma awards, were scientist R A Mashelkar and yoga guru B K S Iyengar. Former Chief Justice of India J S Verma got a Padma Bhushan posthumously.

Mallika Srinivasan, the woman behind TAFE, the second-largest tractor maker after Mahindra & Mahindra, was honoured with a Padma Shri.

Ravi Kumar Narra, a Telugu Desam Party leader credited with floating the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Entrepreneur Forum that helped people from these communities secure credit to set up businesses, was selected for a Padma Shri.

Industrialist Rajesh Saraiya was named for the Padma Shri. Saraiya studied aeronautical engineering in Russia and later moved to Ukraine, where he runs multinational company SteelMont, which deals in metals. He is often termed the first dollar millionaire from the Dalit community.

Pratap Govind Rao Pawar, chairman of Sakal Papers, also found place in the Padma Shri list. Pawar, brother of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and a batch mate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at BITS Pilani, has been an independent non-executive director of Force Motors since January 28, 2006 and of Bharat Forge since May 24, 2005.

Several sportspersons, including tennis player Leander Paes and former badminton player Pullela Gopichand; 25 doctors, including specialists in oncology, orthopedics and neurology; actors such as Kamal Hassan and Vidya Balan; fashion designers such as Wendell Rodricks; and scores of artists, musicians and sculptors were among those who were selected for the three categories of awards.