Dharmendra, Rohit, Shibu Soren among Padma awardees

Bollywood actor Dharmendra, former Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan are among the five who have been awarded Padma Vibhushan (posthumously), the country's second-highest civilian award, on the eve of Republic Day.Actor Mammootty, former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren (posthumous), adman Piyush Pandey (posthumous), Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak, singer Alka Yagnik, former tennis player Vijay Amritraj, controversial ex-governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari are among the 13 who have been awarded the Padma Bhushan.
For the year 2026, the President has approved conferment of 131 Padma Awards including 2 duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).. The list comprises 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 6 persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI / PIO / OCI and 16 Posthumous awardees. Cricketer Rohit Sharma, former Vice-Chancellor of JNU Jagadesh Kumar are among the 113 Padma Shri awardees.

Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.