India (Commonwealth Union)_ President Droupadi Murmu presented the prestigious Padma awards to eminent awardees from various fields at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Accordingly, during the ceremony, Sudha Murty, an author, philanthropist, and mother of UK’s First Lady Akshata Murty, was awarded the Padma Bhushan for her humanitarian services. Sudha Murty’s daughter Akshata Murty, who is married to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, was in attendance at the awards event.
Akshata was seated in the first row beside Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Anurag Thakur, and other dignitaries in the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s opulent Durbar Hall. In an image that has appeared online, she was seen standing next to Mr. Jaishankar while the national anthem was played at the commencement and conclusion of the function. Other family members of Sudha Murty including her husband and founder of Infosys, NR Narayana Murthy, her son Rohan Murty, and her sister, Dr. Sunanda Kulkarni also attended the awards event.
In the meantime, the ceremony was also attended by several dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, and a number of Union ministers. A total of 53 honorees were presented with awards at the ceremony: three Padma Vibhushan, five Padma Bhushan, and 45 Padma Shri. Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, is granted for extraordinary and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan is granted for distinguished service of the highest kind; and Padma Shri is given for outstanding service in any sector.
Sudhar Murty is a philanthropist and an acclaimed novelist and has served as the chairman of the Infosys Foundation till December 2021. According to reports, the honorable recipients of the Padma awards included veteran socialist leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Late Mulayam Singh Yadav, medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis, physicist Deepak Dhar, novelist S L Bhyrappa, Vedic scholar Tridandi Chinna Jeeesar Swamiji, and music director M M Keeravaani.
