New Delhi: The Union government has announced the list of Padma Award recipients for 2026, one of the country’s highest civilian honours. The awards are conferred in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri — in recognition of distinguished service across a wide range of fields including arts, public affairs, social work, science, sports, medicine, education and civil service.

The Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, will be conferred on five eminent personalities this year. Legendary actor Dharmendra and veteran political leader V. S. Achuthanandan have been selected for the honour posthumously. Former Supreme Court judge K. T. Thomas, renowned violinist N. Rajam, and P. Narayanan are the other recipients.

The Padma Bhushan awards will be presented to several well-known figures from cinema, music, sports, public life and business. Playback singer Alka Yagnik, actor Mammootty, former tennis star Vijay Amritraj, industrialist Uday Kotak, and advertising professional Piyush Pandey (posthumous) feature prominently on the list.

The Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award, has been awarded to a large number of individuals this year for their grassroots-level contributions and lifetime service in diverse fields. Among the recipients are cricketer Rohit Sharma, actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, tabla maestro Tarun Bhattacharya, chess administrator V. Kamakoti, and several social workers, folk artists, educators and scientists from across the country.

A number of Padma awards this year have also been announced posthumously, recognising the lasting contributions of individuals who made a significant impact in their respective fields.

The Padma Awards are traditionally presented by the President of India at a ceremonial function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Full List of Padma Bhushan Awardees:
Alka Yagnik

Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy

Mammootty

Nori Dattatreyudu

Piyush Pandey (Posthumous)

S K M Maeilanandhan

Shatavadhani R Ganesh

Shibu Soren (Posthumous)

Uday Kotak

V K Malhotra (Posthumous)

Vellappally Natesan

Vijay Amritraj

Full list of Padma Shri Awardees:

A E Muthunayagam

Anil Kumar Rastogi

Anke Gowda M.

Armida Fernandez

Arvind Vaidya

Ashok Khade

Ashok Kumar Singh

Asok Kumar Haldar

Baldev Singh

Bhagwandas Raikwar

Bharat Singh Bharti

Bhiklya Ladakya Dhinda

Bishwa Bandhu (Posthumous)

Brij Lal Bhat

Buddha Rashmi Mani

Budhri Tati

Chandramouli Gaddamanugu

Charan Hembram

Chiranji Lal Yadav

Deepika Reddy

Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya

Gadde Babu Rajendra Prasad

Gafruddin Mewati Jogi

Gambir Singh Yonzone

Garimella Balakrishna Prasad (Posthumous)

Gayatri Balasubramanian & Ranjani Balasubramanian (Duo)

Gopal Ji Trivedi

Guduru Venkat Rao

H V Hande

Hally War

Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay (Posthumous)

Haricharan Saikia

Harmanpreet Kaur Bhullar

Inderjit Singh Sidhu

Janardan Bapurao Bothe

Jogesh Deuri

Juzer Vasi

Jyotish Debnath

K Pajanivel

K Ramasamy

K Vijay Kumar

Kabindra Purkayastha (Posthumous)

Kailash Chandra Pant

Kalamandalam Vimala Menon

Kewal Krishan Thakral

Khem Raj Sundriyal

Kollakal Devaki Amma G

Krishnamurty Balasubramanian

Kumar Bose

Kumarasamy Thangaraj

Lars-Christian Koch

Liudmila Viktorovna Khokhlova

Madhavan Ranganathan

Maganti Murali Mohan

Mahendra Kumar Mishra

Mahendra Nath Roy

Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar

Mangala Kapoor

Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai

Mohan Nagar

Narayan Vyas

Naresh Chandra Dev Varma

Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala

Nuruddin Ahmed

Othuvaar Thiruthani Swaminathan

Padma Gurmet

Palkonda Vijay Anand Reddy

Pokhila Lekthepi

Prabhakar Basavprabhu Kore

Prateek Sharma

Praveen Kumar

Prem Lal Gautam

Prosenjit Chatterjee

Punniamurthy Natesan

R Krishnan (Posthumous)

R V S Mani

Rabilal Tudu

Raghupat Singh (Posthumous)

Raghuveer Tukaram Khedkar

Rajastapathi Kaliappa Goundar

Rajendra Prasad

Rama Reddy Mamidi (Posthumous)

Ramamurthy Sreedher

Ramchandra Godbole & Ms. Suneeta Godbole (Duo)

Ratilal Borisagar

Rohit Sharma

S G Susheelamma

Sangyusang S Pongener

Sant Niranjan Dass

Sarat Kumar Patra

Saroj Mandal

Satish Shah (Posthumous)

Satyanarayan Nuwal

Savita Punia

Shafi Shauq

Shashi Shekhar Vempati

Shrirang Devaba Lad

Shubha Venkatesha Iyengar

Shyam Sundar

Simanchal Patro

Sivasankari

Suresh Hanagavadi

Swami Brahmdev Ji Maharaj

T T Jagannathan (Posthumous)

Taga Ram Bheel

Tarun Bhattacharya

Techi Gubin

Thiruvaarur Bakthavathsalam

Tripti Mukherjee

Veezhinathan Kamakoti

Vempaty Kutumba Sastry

Vladimer Mestvirishvili (Posthumous)

Yumnam Jatra Singh (Posthumous)

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Bhubaneswar (PTI): The class 12 final examinations of the Odisha board began on Wednesday amid heavy security, officials said.

A total of 4.01 lakh students are appearing for the exams being conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha, across 1,364 centres, they said.

The exams began with Science papers, while those for the Arts and Commerce streams will start on Friday. The exam will continue till March 28, they added.

A total of 2.56 lakh students are enrolled in the Arts stream, 1.14 lakh in Science, and 24,621 in Commerce, CHSE's Controller of Examinations Prasanta Kumar Parida said.

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There are also 5,932 students of vocational studies, he said.

The exam began at 10 am and will end at 1 pm, he added

Parida said live streaming of all examination centres has been made available, while 211 question paper hubs are being monitored with "AI technology".

Special squads have been deployed to conduct surprise inspections to check any malpractices, he added.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi extended greetings to all the students appearing for the examination.

"The examination is a beautiful reflection of your knowledge and hard work. There is no need to put any fear or stress in your mind for it. Remember, your performance will be of high quality only if you appear for the examination not under pressure, but with patience," he posted on X.

The practical examinations were conducted between January 2 and 15.