Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup and a host of other prominent persons were conferred with Padma Awards by President Droupadi Murmu at a ceremonial function held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, among others, were present at the function.
Actor Mithun Chakraborty and singer Usha Uthup, the two veteran artists of Indian film industry were conferred with the Padma Bhushan in the fields of arts. After entertaining the audience for decades, Mithun da is still seen on the screen as the judge of dance reality show.
Sharing his reaction on receiving Padma Bhushan, Mithun Chakraborty told ANI, "I am very happy. I have never asked anything for myself from anyone in my life. When I got a call that you are being given Padma Bhushan, I was silent for a minute."
Usha Uthup had recently taken the internet by storm as she covered Miley Cyrus’s song ‘Flowers’. The video of Usha Uthup singing the track went viral and garnered praises.
Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian honours of the country, are conferred in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, the Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and the Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day every year.
While almost half of the awardees were conferred the awards on Monday, the remaining are likely to get them next week.
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