New Delhi, March 11: President ram Nath Kovind on Monday conferred the Padma awards to 56 personalities at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sports personalities including wrestler Bajrang Punia, table tennis player Sharath Kamal and grandmaster Harika Dronavalli were conferred with the Padma Shri award. Other notable sportspersons who received the honour include football team captain Sunil Chettri and cricketer Gautam Gambhir and India's Kabbadi team captain Ajay Thakur.

Bajrang Punia receiving the award:

Indian Kabbadi team's Captain Ajay Thakur conferred with Padma Shri:

Fifty-six people who were conferred with the prestigious awards today include Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, director and actor Prabhu Deva, singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan. Late actor Kader Khan was also honoured with the Padma Shri, while veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar (posthumous) was honoured with Padma Bhushan award. Padma Awards 2019 Full List of Winners: Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Bajpayee, Kader Khan Among Padma Shri Awardees Announced Ahead of Republic Day.

Table tennis player Sharath Kamal receiving the award:

The Padma Awards were announced on January 25 this year. A total of 94 personalities were selected for the Padma Shri award. Meanwhile, the second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan was given to Teejan Bai, an exponent of Pandavani, a traditional performing art.  Other Padma Vishushan Awardees were Shri Ismail Omar Guelleh (Foreigner) Shri Anilkumar Manibhai Naik and Shri Balwant Moreshwar Purandare. Meanwhile, Mountaineer Bachendri Pal was among the 14 who received the third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 11, 2019 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).