Maharashtra honour as state has 23 of 109 Padma awardees

MUMBAI: This is one piece of news people of the state will be proud of. Of the 109 Padma awardees in 2012, 23 are from Maharashtra.
The recipient of the Padma Vibhushan from Maharashtra is noted orthopaedic Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti from Pune, who had earlier received the Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2001. Besides, there are nine Padma Bhushans and 13 Padma Shris from the state.
Among prominent recipients in the world of art are Bollywood personalities Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi, who have received the Padma Bhushan, and vocalist Anup Jalota, who have got the Padma Shri.
Azmi has worked as an actor for over three decades and has several national awards to her credit. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988 for contribution to cinema. Dharmendra, on the other hand, has been entertaining the film audiences for over 50 years.
An elated Jalota said: “Five years ago, my father Purshuttom Das Jalota got a Padmi Shri. So now, we have two of them at home. I am really happy to get this honour from the government.”
At the other end of the spectrum were the science awards. Eminent Mumbai astrophysicist S M Chitre, who has been selected for the Padma Bhushan, said he received a call on Wednesday afternoon from a government official asking if he would accept the award. “I said yes and felt honoured and delighted,” he told TOI.
Senior neurologist Noshir Wadia, who has tended to patients for over five decades, conducted research and taught thousands of students, expressed a deep sense of gratitude for the recognition conferred to his work.
Hema Malini said: “I am glad that Dharamji has finally got the Padma Bhushan.”
WINNERS’ GALLERY
Dr Kantilal Hastimal Sancheti Satya Narayan Goenka Dr Suresh Advani Dr Noshir H Wadia Shabana Azmi Dharmendra Shashikumar Chitre M S Raghunathan Balasubramaniam Muthuraman Prof (Dr) Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar N P Pandya Yezdi Hirji Malegam Mukesh Batra Vanraj Bhatia Zia Fariduddin Dagar Shahid Parvez Khan Yamunabai Waikar Satish Alekar Anup Jalota Arun Hastimal Firodia Swati Piramal Prabhakar Vaidya K Paddaya