Mouma Das, Sudha Singh among 7 sportspersons awarded Padma Shri

Table tennis player Mouma Das and athlete Sudha Singh are among seven sportspersons awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India on the eve of the country's 72nd Republic Day.

The other five sportspersons who have been awarded the Padma Shri this year are -- Anshu Jamsenpa (mountaineer), tha Pauldurai (basketball), Madhavan Nambiar (PT Usha coach), Virender Singh (wrestler), and KY Venkatesh (para-sportsman).

Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday announced the names of 119 recipients including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the award is counted as one) of the Padma awards, one of the highest civilian awards of the country on the eve of the country's 72nd Republic Day.

Former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe will be awarded Padma Vibhushan, one of the highest civilian Awards of India, by President Ramnath Kovind at ceremonial functions which will be held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, former Principal Secretary to PM Nripendra Misra, former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (posthumous), former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi (posthumous), and religious leader Kalbe Sadiq (posthumous) are among 10 recipients of the Padma Bhushan awards.

The Padma awards are conferred in three categories -- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri, second, third, and fourth highest civilian awards of the country respectively, only after the Bharat Ratna.

This year's list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan, and 102 Padma Shri Awards. A total of 29 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 16 Posthumous awardees, and one transgender awardee.

( With inputs from ANI )