(Image source from: Zee News)

President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Monday conferred 55 of the 112 Padma awards - a Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan, and 46 Padma Shri - to eminent personalities from different fields including a doctor pair.

The Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian honor was presented to theatre personality and writer Balwant Moreshwar Purandare from Maharashtra.

The other prominent recipients from the film industry were late journalist-writer Kuldip Nayar, actor-director Prabhu Deva, music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan, Manoj Bajpayee and the late veteran actor Kader Khan.

Doctors Ravindra and Smita Kolhe were awarded as a duo, which is counted as one Padma Shri award, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

The awards were given away at a Civil Investiture Ceremony.

There are a total of four Padma Vibhushan award winners.

The Padma Bhushan awards, India's third highest civilian honor, were presented to Punjab political leader and Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa; former Cisco Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the United States-India Strategic Partnership forum John Chambers; Malayalam film actor Viswanathan Mohanlal; and former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Kariya Munda.

Parliamentarian Hukumdev Narayan Yadav and sitar player Budhaditya Mukherjee are among the Padma Bhushan recipients. Kuldip Nayar's award was collected by his wife Bharti.

The Padma Shri awards were conferred upon table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal, wrestler Bajrang Punia, chess player Harika Dronavalli, doctors Ilias Ali and Mammen Chandy, architect Bimal Pate, archaeologist Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, educationist Ganpat I. Patel, spiritualist Bangaru Adigalar, social workers Muktaben Pankajkumar Dagli, Rajani Kant and Bulu Imam, Bihar Member of Legislative Assembly Bhagirathi Devi, Carnatic music exponent Kadamputharamadom Gopalan Thanthri Jayan as well as former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar.

The remaining recipients will be awarded in a ceremony later.

Twenty-one of the total awardees is women, 11 foreigners or non-resident Indians or Person of Indian Origin or Overseas Citizen of India and one transgender person.

The awards are conferred in art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service among others.

The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for distinguished and exceptional service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

By Sowmya Sangam