President Murmu presented Padma Awards

President Droupadi Murmu presented 66 of the 2026 Padma Awards at the first Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi today. The conferred honors included 2 Padma Vibhushan, 6 Padma Bhushan, and 58 Padma Shri awards

The President conferred Padma Bhushan on former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and banker Uday Kotak. Others honoured were Shatavadhani R Ganesh, acclaimed polymath who revived the challenging classical Indian art form ‘Avadhana’ and gastroenterologist Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy. Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur was conferred with the Padma Shri award. Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee has been conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri Award by President Droupadi Murmu.

Honoured for his immense contribution to Indian cinema, particularly Bengali films, Prosenjit received one of the country’s highest civilian awards amid loud applause.

Ms. Murmu also conferred the Padma Bhushan award posthumously on ad guru Piyush Pandey and former parliamentarian Vijay Kumar Malhotra. Pandey’s wife and Malhotra’s son, respectively, received the awards.

For the occasion, Prosenjit Chatterjee chose a traditional ensemble, consisting of a golden kurta set. Para athlete Praveen Kumar and former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) director general K. Vijay Kumar received the Padma Shri awards.

The ceremony, which was held in the Gantantra Mandap of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, began with an instrumental rendition of the national song, “Vande Mataram”, followed by the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana”. It was attended by Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others.(UPDATED ON 25TH MAY 2026)