Padma awards 2018: Ilaiyaraaja conferred with Padma Vibushan; MS Dhoni, Pankaj Advani get Padma Bhushan

Noted music composer Illaiyaraja, Hindutava thinker Parameswaran Parameswaran, former Team India captain M S Dhoni were among 85 people chosen for the prestigious Padma awards of 2018.

Among the awardees, 16 are from the category of foreigners, non-resident Indians and three are posthumous.

74-year-old Illaiyaraja, who has been conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2009, was selected for Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award after Bharat



Ratna.

Besides him, noted Hindustani classical singer Ghulam Mustafa Khan, president of Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari Parameswaran Parameswaran from Kerala were honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

Dhoni, cueist Pankaj Advani, former Russian Ambassador to India late Alexander Kadakin, Hindustani classical musician Arvind Parikh, Tamil Nadu-based archaeologist Ramachandran Nagaswamy and Goan artist Laxman Pai were among nine prominent personalities who were honoured with Padma Bhushan.