The Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian awards conferred by the President on the eve of Republic Day every year, have been announced. These awards were instituted in the year 1954 and are conferred in three categories- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe been awarded Padma Vibhushan for Public Affairs. Others in this category include late singer S P Balasubramaniam and sand artist Sudarshan Sahoo- in the field of arts, Dr. Belle Monappa Hegde for Medicine, Narinder Singh Kapany for Science and Engineering, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for Spiritualism and B B Lal for Archaeology.