Padma Awards to Five Personalities of Rajasthan | 22 Mar 2022

Why in News?

• On March 21, 2022, President Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Bhushan to Rajasthan's Para-athlete Javelin Thrower Devendra Jhajharia and former Civil Servant Rajiv Mehrishi, and Para Sports Shooter Avani Lakhera, Film Producer and Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi and Awarded Padma Shri to Ram Dayal Sharma, a renowned personality of music and nautanki art.

Key Points

• The President honored 54 personalities including the country's first Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, former Gita Press chairman Radheshyam Khemka and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for the year 2022 at the Civil Endowment Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• Civil Endowment Ceremony-II will be organized on March 28, in which the remaining personalities will be awarded.
• Rajasthan's javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, who won three medals in Paralympic Games, is the first para sportsperson in the country to receive the Padma Bhushan award for his remarkable achievements in the field of sports. Devendra Jhajharia won the silver medal in the Tokyo Paralympic Games- 2020.
• Rajiv Mehrishi, a 1978 batch retired IAS officer of the Indian Administrative Service and the 13th Controller and Auditor General of India, was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his remarkable services as an outstanding civil servant.
• Avani Lakhera set a record by winning the first gold medal for the country in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games-2020. In the Tokyo Paralympics itself, Lakhera also won the bronze medal as the second medal and became the first Indian woman player to win two Paralympic medals.
• Born in Dodua, Sirohi district of Rajasthan, film producer, director, screenplay writer Chandraprakash Dwivedi has done outstanding work in the field of art and cinema including the direction of television serial 'Chanakya' as well as the best of Bollywood films, such as Pinjar, Mohalla Assi, Z Plus, Prithviraj, Upanishad Ganga and Television series 'Mrityunjay.
• Famous nautanki artist of Bharatpur, known as 'Braj Kokila' and 'Braj Papiha' in Rajasthan, Ram Dayal Sharma belongs to the Ras-dhari Gharana (Samai Kheda). Sharma has also received the National Award from the Sangeet Natak Akademi earlier. Ramdayal Sharma holds an important place in the field of art related to Nautanki, Swang, Bhagat, Rasleela and Rasiya.