Awards
Yesudas gets Padma Vibhushan; Paudwal, Kher & Kohli among Padmashri recipients
NEW DELHI: Eminent singer K J Yesudas is to receive the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second highest civilian honour, while mohan veena exponent Vishwa Mohan Bhatt bags the Padma Bhushan.
Actors Sadhu Meher from Odisha and Ms Bharati Vishnuvardhan are among the Padmashri awardees. Renowned playback singers Anuradha Paudwal and Kailash Kher also get the Padmashri
Renowned commentator and journalist Cho Ramaswamy has also been chosen to get the Padma Bhushan posthumously. Film analyst Bhawna Somayya of Maharashtra, and Vishnu Pandya of Gujarat, have been awarded Padma Shri for journalism.
Cricketer Virat Kohli, gymnast Dipa Karmakar of Tripura, and wrestler Sakshi Malik of Haryana, have been chosen for Padmashri from the field of sports.
Other sportspersons getting the Padmashri from the field of sport are: blind cricketer Shekhar Naik and Vikasa Gowda (discus throw) of Karnataka, athletes Deepa Malik of Haryana and Mariyappan Thangavelu of Kerala, P R Shreejesh of Kerala for hockey. 74 year old Meenakshi Amma got the Padmashri for her excellence in Martial Art (Kalariyatuttu of Kerala). Television entrepreneur Sanjeev Kapoor received the Padmashri for his excellence in culinary art.
Others who have received awards in the field of music are Basanti Bisht of Uttarakhand, T K Murthy of Tamil Nadu, Laishram Birendrakumar Singh of Manipur, Krishna Ram Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh, Jitendra Haripal of Odisha, Ms Parassala B Ponnammal of Kerala, Sukri Bommagowda of Karnataka, Mukund Nayak of Jharkhand, and Purushottam Upadhyay of Gujarat. Wareppa Naba Nil of Manipur gets the award for theatre.
Imrat Khan from the United States gets the award for music. H R Shah (chairman and CEO of TV Asia) is another NRI from USA who has got the Padmashri for journalism.
Chemanchery Kunhiraman Nair of Kerala and Ms Aruna Mohanty of Odisha are getting the Padmashri for dance.
These awards are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of Padma awards to 89 persons as per the list below. The list comprises seven Padma Vibhushan and an equal number Padma Bhushan and 75 Padmashri awardees. 19 of the awardees are women and the list also includes five persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and six posthumous awardees.
Awards
Ajay Kakar to chair jury for ad:tech Honours Awards 2026
Industry leaders join jury as nominations surge for marketing tech awards
NEW DELHI: The ad:tech Honours Awards 2026 are gearing up for a bigger second edition, with Ajay Kakar, head of corporate branding at Adani Group, set to chair the jury for India’s technology-focused marketing awards.
Organised in partnership with the International Advertising Association India Chapter, the awards celebrate the growing influence of technology in shaping modern advertising and marketing outcomes. This year’s edition has drawn a strong response from across the industry, signalling rising momentum around innovation in marketing technology.
The organisers say the nominations reflect a wide range of ideas and approaches, highlighting how brands and agencies are increasingly leaning on platforms, tools and data to sharpen their campaigns and connect with audiences more effectively.
Leading the evaluation process, Kakar will head a jury made up of senior leaders from across brands, agencies and technology platforms.
The jury panel includes Amaresh Godbole, CEO, digital technology business at Publicis Groupe; Bishwajeet S, head of marketing and PR at Volkswagen India; Carol Goyal, executive director at Rediffusion and CEO of Aesthetic Intelligence Lab; Kushal Sanghvi, director at Komerz; Lara Balsara, executive director at Madison World; Rana Barua, group CEO India, sea and North Asia; Deepak Oram, senior vice president growth marketing and martech; and Priyanka Khaneja Gandhi, head of marketing and creative solutions at Amazon Ads India.
The ad:tech Honours Awards aim to recognise not just creative campaigns but the smart use of technology that delivers measurable impact and business results. Categories this year reflect the rapidly evolving digital landscape, covering areas such as artificial intelligence, data-driven marketing, content ecosystems, automation, martech and adtech integration, and commerce-led marketing.
The winners will be announced on 17 March 2026 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi during ad:tech New Delhi 2026. The event is expected to bring together leaders from brands, agencies, platforms, creators and technology partners for an evening celebrating the ideas and innovations shaping the future of marketing.iconductor industries.
