Raveena Tandon, Naatu Naatu composer MM Keeravaani, Zakir Hussain bestowed with Padma honours

Bollywood Actress Raveena Tandon and Naatu Naatu composer MM Keeravaani have been bestowed with the Padma Shri Award in the field of arts. Zakir Hussain has been bestowed with Padma Vibhushan. Singers Vani Jairam and Suman Kalyanpur have been bestowed with Padma Bhushan. The artists were named on the list of Padma Awardees a night before the 74th Republic Day. The awards will be presented by the President of India at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

Soon after the awardees were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter account to congratulate the winners. His tweet read, "Congratulations to those who have been conferred the Padma Awards. India cherishes their rich and varied contributions to the nation and their efforts to enhance our growth trajectory. #PeoplesPadma."

The Padma Awards are India’s highest civilian honours after the Bharat Ratna, seeking to “recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved”. President Droupadi Murmu has approved the conferment of 106 Padma Awards – 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards.