Padma Vibhushan for ex-HUL chief

Former Hindustan Unilever Ltd chairman Ashok Shekhar Ganguly has been nominated for the country’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan. Ganguly, a member of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, is the only one from the world of business among the 10 recipients of this year’s Padma Vibhushan awards.

After obtaining his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois, USA, Ganguly started as a research scientist in Unilever and rose to the post of chairman, which he occupied for 10 years. He has been involved for many years in formulation of government policy in areas ranging from scientific research to investment.

Among the Padma Bhushan recipients this year are business thinker C K Prahlad, Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations Chairperson Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Planning Commission Member Kirit Shantilal Parikh, National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda and Larsen & Toubro Chairman & Managing Director Anil Manibhai Naik.

RK Krishna Kumar, the vice-chairman of Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company, healthcare entrepreneur Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty and Tirupur Exporters Association President Arunmugam Sakthivel are among the recipients of the Padma Shri awards.

A year after India clinched the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and sent its first spacecraft to the moon, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar and Indian Space Research Organisation chief G Madhavan Nair have been nominated for the Padma Vibhushan award. Himalayan environmentalist-conservationist Sundarlal Bahuguna is another name on the list for this award.

Singer Shamshad Begum will share the dais with journalist Shekhar Gupta and historian Ramchandra Guha for this year’s Padma Bhushan awards. India’s first Olympic individual gold medalist Abhinav Bindra is also among the 30 recipients of this year’s Padma Bhushan.

From the world of entertainment, actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Helen Khan (Hindi cinema’s dancing queen of yesteryears) and Akshay Kumar, music director Hridaynath Mangeshkar, and playback singers Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan have been nominated for Padma Shri.

Cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh and “prince of Indian billiards” Pankaj Advani too are among the recipients of the Padma Shri award. Theatre exponent Saoli Mitra, gazal singer Penaz Masani and radio commentator Ameen Sayani have also been nominated for this award.