New Delhi/Hyderabad: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister late Kalyan Singh and India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash recently, were awarded Padma Vibhushan on Tuesday.
Krishna and Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech, who developed and produced India's indigenous Coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, and Cyrus Poonawala of the Serum Institute of India, which manufactured the Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, were given the Padma Bhushan.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were conferred also Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award.
A total of four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shris were awarded this year.
Among the Padma Shris were three from Andhra Pradesh — eminent surgeon Dr Sunkara Venkata Adinarayana (medicine), ‘Maha Sahasravadhani’ Garikapati Narasimha Rao (literature and education) and Gosaveedu Shaik Hasan (art) (posthumous).
Hasan was famous for his Nadaswaram and he was the only person from the Telugu states to perform in all the famous temples in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He performed in TTD in Pavalimpuseva and performed in All India Radio at Vijayawada, New Delhi, Hyderabad and other stations.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy congratulated the Telugu winners of the Padma awards.
Dr Adinarayana, 82, popular orthopaedic surgeon from the port city, told Deccan Chronicle that he had performed nearly 3 lakh surgeries on polio patients from 1970.
Dr Rao, who hails from Bhimavaram, is settled in Vizag. He is son of freedom fighters Kanakam and Seshamma. He married Shashiprabha, a former superintendent of King George Hospital.
Alumni of Andhra Medical College, Dr Rao first bagged the national award in 1988 for his welfare work for the disabled. He is also a recipient of the Madras Telugu Academy Award.
Narasimha Rao, who conducted many avadhanams in Kakinada for a long time, was born at Bodapadu village in Pentapadu mandal of West Godavari district. He established a private college in Kakinada and later worked as principal in local private college. He is well-known even abroad as a Telugu avadhani'.
Known for his wit and sharp tongue, Narasimha Rao has several times taken digs at political leaders and others. He excelled in ’Asu Kavithvam’ (reciting metrical Telugu poems extempore ) in his avadhanams.
He also gave lectures on the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatham and on spiritual topics. His lecturers on ‘Yoga Vasistam’ attracted wide attention. He complied his poems recited during avadhanams in a book, ‘Sagara Ghosha (the roar of the ocean)’ and released in Kakinada for which he ahd special affection.
He named his two sons after the great modern Telugu writers Gurazada Appa Rao and Sri Sri. He compared himself with Tenali Ramakrishnudu, a ‘Vikata Kavi’. He now resides at Hyderabad along with his wife Sarada.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, awarded the Padma Bhushan, hails from Bukkapuram in Anantapur district. He had his education in Hyderabad.
Nadella's father Bukkapuram Nadella Yugandhar is a native of Bukkapuram village in Yellanur mandal in the district and is retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1962 batch who served in the Prime Minister's Office and the Planning Commission.
The Nadella family retains had its close attachment with the native village and still owns agricultural land there. Yugandar initiated development of the village by providing drinking water and other needs of native village.
