Padma Bhushan for corporate honchos

Industrialists GK Birla, Chairman Emeritus of Raymond Ltd Vijaypat Singhania, Chairman of HDFC Ltd Deepak Parekh, Tata Consultancy Services chief S Ramadorai, Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani and KPP Nambiar are among the 36 Padma Bhushan awardees this year.

Confederation of Indian Industries' chief mentor Tarun Das has also been awarded the Padma Bhushan. Entrepreneur Shahnaz Hussain and author and Infosys founder Narayan Murthy's wife Sudha Murthy have been awarded the Padma Shri.

In all, the government announced nine winners of the Padma Vibhushan award "" the country's second highest civilian honour.

The list included author Mahashweta Devi, architect Charles Correa, Mexican scientist Norman Borlaug, film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande. Around 36 eminent personalities, including six businessmen, have been awarded the Padma Bhushan awards.

The largest number of awards, 61, were given out in the Padma Shri category. The list of awardees included Shahnaz Hussain, Sudha Murthy, sportswoman Sania Mirza, trade and industry bigwig Suresh Krishna and journalist Mrinal Pande.

The government declined to award the nation's highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna for the second time this year.

Writer Mahashweta Devi said she was overwhelmed by the honour. For the business world, the honours came thick and fast this year with several businessmen finding their way into the list.

The awards will be given at a glittering ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan by President APJ Abdul Kalam later this month.

These awards are given as a mark of recognition for excellence in various fields and are awarded in tandem with the bravery and gallantry medals for the police and armed forces. This year the representation from the Mumbai film industry was low.