Padma Bhushan

The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is announced on the occasion of Republic Day of India every year. It is conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan sometime around March/ April.

History

The award was established on 2 January 1954 by the president of India. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field. As of December 2015, 1230 people have thus far received the award. In 2013 the veteran playback singer Mrs.S. Janaki rejected the award, stating that the honour came to her too late and that the artists of South India were not duly recognised.

Famous refusals

Although the Padma awards, including the Padma Vibhushan, are the highest civilian awards in India and those selected for the award are famous for their contribution to Indian social, cultural, economic, political or other spheres of life, several noted public figures have refused the award on various grounds. The eminent jurist and former Chief Justice of India J. S. Verma was awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2014. His family refused to accept the award as they believed Justice Verma in principle "was never a man to yearn or lobby for any acclaim, reward or favour."."

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for the "exceptional and distinguished service", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The criteria includes the "service in any field including service rendered by Government servants" but excluding those working with the Public sector undertakings with the exception of doctors and scientists. As of 2016, the award has been bestowed on 294 individuals, including 6 posthumous and 19 non-citizen recipients.

The Padma Vibhushan award recipients are announced every year on Republic Day and registered in The Gazette of India—a publication released weekly by the Department of Publication, Ministry of Urban Development used for official government notices. The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication in the Gazette. Recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, are also registered in the Gazette and are required to surrender their medals when their names are struck from the register. As of 2016, none of the conferments of Padma Vibhushan have been revoked or restored. The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, the Ministries of the Government of India, the Bharat Ratna and previous Padma Vibhushan award recipients, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals. The recommendations received during 1 May and 15 September of every year are submitted to the Padma Awards Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister of India. The Awards Committee later submits their recommendations to the Prime Minister and the President of India for the further approval.

Padma River

Padma is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for 120 kilometres (75 mi) to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the banks of the river.

History

Etymology

The Padma, Sanskrit for lotus flower, is mentioned in Hindu mythology as a byname for the Goddess Lakshmi.

The name Padma is given to the lower part of the course of the Ganges (Ganga) below the point of the off-take of the Bhagirathi River (India), another Ganges River distributary also known as the Hooghly River. Padma had, most probably, flowed through a number of channels at different times. Some authors contend that each distributary of the Ganges in its deltaic part is a remnant of an old principal channel, and that starting from the western-most one, the Bhagirathi (in West Bengal, India), each distributary to the east marks a position of a newer channel than the one to the west of it.

Geographic effects

Puthiya Thalaimurai

Puthiya Thalaimurai (Tamil: புதிய தலைமுறை) is one of the leading Tamil magazines published from Chennai, India by New Generation Media. The magazine mostly publishes articles about education and Tamil Nadu politics. The magazine tries to publish authentic news avoiding rumours. Puthiya Thalaimurai Television started its satellite TV relay on 24 August 2011 and has been successfully broadcasting all its events, acquiring a huge local and international Tamil population as its regular viewers. It is also known for promoting the view of Church when reporting events related to KKNPP, the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, and the Kachatheevu issue. On weekdays, it broadcasts about 25 different programs from 6 a.m. through midnight.

"Agni Paritchai" is a program featuring interviews of popular icons from Tamil Nadu. Agni Paritchai brings contemporary icons from various platforms of society to answer the questions of the interviewer. This program is telecast once a week. The Puthiya Thalaimurai TV is the first Tamil news television channel that started its free live streaming through internet, which allowing access across the state of Tamil Nadu. This channel has as its slogan "Unmai udanukkudan," which means "Truth, immediately." This channel belongs to SRM Group, Chennai .

Padma Shri

Padma Shri (also Padmashree) is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Awarded by the Government of India, it is announced every year on India's Republic Day.

History

Padma Awards were instituted in 1954 to be awarded to citizens of India in recognition of their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Medicine, Social Service and Public Affairs. It has also been awarded to some distinguished individuals who were not citizens of India but did contribute in various ways to India.

The selection criteria have been criticized in some quarters with the claim that many highly deserving artists have been left out in order to favor certain individuals.

On its obverse, the words "Padma", meaning lotus in Sanskrit, and "Shri", a Sanskrit-derived honorific equivalent to 'Mr.' or 'Ms.', appear in Devanagari above and below a lotus flower. The geometrical pattern on either side is in burnished bronze. All embossing is in white gold.