15 Apr :ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, historian Ramachandra Guha and noted billiard player Pankaj Advani were among the 63 personalities who received the Padma awards on Tuesday.
The recipients also include social activist Sunderlal Bahuguna and veteran actor Helen Khan.President Prathibha Patil gave away the Padma awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday.
While Nair received the Padma Vibhushan, Bindra and Guha received the Padma Bhusan. Advani and Helen also received the Padma Shri award.Cricketers M S Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh, who were announced as Padma Shri winners, were not present at the function.
The Padma Vibhushan winners also include Debi Prasad Chattopadhyaya who is chairman of the Centre for Studies in Civilisation and cardiologist Purshotam Lal.
Bhakta Bhusan Rath, who is the head of the Materials Science and Component Technology Directorate at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, and economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia were conferred the Padma Bhusan.