General Bipin Rawat Conferred With Padma Vibhushan posthumously, daughters received on behalf

India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),General Bipin Rawat, was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan. He died in a helicopter crash in December last year. On behalf of the CDS, his daughters Kritika and Tarini accepted the honour.

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the award to the daughters on Monday. In December of last year, General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, died in a helicopter crash.

General Rawat’s wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 other defence force personnel had also died in the helicopter crash.

Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.

The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

These honours are bestowed by the President of India at ceremonial occasions held at Rashtrapati Bhavan every year around March/April. The President has approved the conferral of 128 Padma Awards this year, including two pair cases (in a duo case, the award is counted as one).

There are four Padma Vibhushan awards, seventeen Padma Bhushan awards, and 107 Padma Shri awards on the list. There are 34 women among the awardees, as well as 10 foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees.