Shinzo Abe, SP Balasubrahmanyam and 5 others awarded Padma Vibhushan this year

The celebrated singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was conferred the honour posthumously, who died in Chennai last year after undergoing treatment for two months.

Former chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan have also been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award posthumously.

The government conferred the Padma Bhushan award to former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Veteran playback singer KS Chithra has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan award.

Following the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised all the Padma Awardees of this year.

In a tweet, PM Modi said "We are proud of all those who have been conferred the Padma Awards. India cherishes their contribution to the nation and humanity at large."

"These exceptional individuals from different walks of life have brought qualitative changes in the lives of others," he said.

Odisha sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo, Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and archaeologist BB Lal are also among the Padma Vibhushan awardees.

Meanwhile, veteran table tennis player Mouma Das was among the six sportspersons awarded the Padma Shri honour.

Besides Das, P Anitha, Madhavan Nambiar, Sudha Hari Narayan Singh, Virender Singh, and KY Venkatesh have also been awarded the prestigious award for their achievement in sports.

This year, the government conferred the Padma Vibhushan award to 7 personalities and the Padma Bhushan to 10 eminent people. 29 women and a transgender are among the Padma awardees. Sixteen people have been given the award posthumously.