Awards (recognitions) for excellence in various fields like defense, sports, science, engineering/technology, trade & industry, medicine, literature, education, entertainment and so on are there at all most every level. It is always a curiosity to learn about the awardees in different fields. On the same lines annual Padma wards also attract great attention in the country and make every one curious to know the awardees.  These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year.

The Padma Awards for the year 2019 are announced recently.One of the highest civilian Awards of the country, the awards are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities: social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; the Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and the Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. This year the President of India approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards including one duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri Awards.  Out of these 21 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 11 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 3 Posthumous awardees and 1 transgender person. Without any partiality to any field, being  a person of scientific background, paramount interest always remain to know about the Padma awardees in science, technology and medicine. Here is the list of awardees in these fields with a brief introduction of the awardees.

PADMA BHUSHAN

1. Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade - Medicine-Affordable Healthcare - Maharashtra 
2. S Nambi Narayan - Science & Engineering-Space - Kerala 

• Dr. Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade is the founder of Vivekananda Hospital that serves the needy in drought-prone Latur.
• S. Nambi Narayanan (12 December 1941) is an Indian scientist and aerospace engineer. Received education from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai (BE Mechanical)  and Princeton University (MSE). As a senior official at the ISRO and in-charge of the cryogenics division in 1994, he was falsely charged with espionage and arrested. The charges against him were dismissed by the (CBI) in 1996, and the Supreme Court of India declared him not guilty in 1998. In 2018, the Supreme Court awarded him a compensation of ₹50 lakh, to be recovered from the government of Kerala .

PADMA SHRI 

1. Illias Ali - Medicine-Surgery – Assam
2. Omesh Kumar Bharti – Medicine (Rabies) - Himachal Pradesh 
3. Mammen Chandy – Medicine (Hematology) - West Bengal 
4. Sandeep Guleria – Medicine (Surgery) – Delhi
5. Pratap Singh Hardia – Medicine (Ophthmology) - Madhya Pradesh
6. Sudam Kate – Medicine (Sickle Cell) - Maharashtra
7. Ravindra Kolhe (Duo)^* - Medicine (Affordable Healthcare) - Maharashtra
8. & Smita Kolhe (Duo)* – Medicine (Affordable Healthcare) - Maharashtra
9. Shadab Mohammad – Medicine (Dentistry) - Uttar Pradesh
10. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – Medicine (Affordable Healthcare) - Jharkhand
11. Tsering Norboo - Medicine-Surgery - Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh)
12. Jagat Ram – Medicine (Ophthalmology) – Chandigarh (Director PGI)
13. R V Ramani – Medicine (Ophthalmology) - Tamil Nadu
14. Ramaswami Venkataswami – Medicine (Surgery) - Tamil Nadu

• The doctors who are honoured for serving the poor and needy include Omesh Kumar Bharti (rabies), Ramaswami Venkataswami (reconstruction surgery of burns), Sudam Kate (sickle cell) and Pratap Singh Hardia (cataract).
• The doctors who are honoured for helping the poor with quality healthcare at the least are doctors Smita and Ravindra Kolhe (Maharashtra), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Jharkhand) and R V Ramani (Tamil Nadu). Doctors who served in the remotest areas of the country are Tsering Norboo (Ladakh), Illias Ali (Assam), Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade (Maharashtra).
• The doctors from country’s premier medical institutions who are honoured with Padma awards include Jagat Ram (Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh), Sandeep Guleria (Indraprastha Apollo hospital and AIIMS, Delhi), Shadab Mohammad (King George Medical University, Lucknow) and Mammen Chandy (Director at Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata).

1. Uddhab Kumar Bharali - Science & Engineering-Grassroots Innovation - Assam  
2. Baldev Singh Dhillon - Science and Engineering (Agriculture) – Punjab
3. Rohini Godbole - Science and Engineering (Nuclear) - Karnataka 
4. Subhash Kak (Foreigner) - Science and Engineering-Technology - USA

• Dr. Uddhab  Kumar Bharali is an Indian inventor in the field of Physics from Lakhimpur district, Assam and has about 118 innovations to his credit, starting from the late 1980s. He is known Low Cost, Masses-friendly Innovations (eg.- pomegranate deseeder),  Machines to feed the disabled, Slippers for Knees, Cleaners and De-weeders for amputees, the list of his inventions kept growing. With his machines being used around locality, Bharali was approached by needy, if he could help them. 
• Baldev Singh Dhillon is an internationally renowned agricultural scientist and currently the Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University in India. Ph.D. in Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Known for scientific breakthroughs in plant breeding.
• Prof. Rohini Godbole is an Indian physicist and academic. Having Ph.D. from IIT Mumbai, she is a professor at the Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She is the author of more than 150 research papers; many of which have some of the largest citation indices in her area and have written three books.
• Subhash Kak (born 26 March 1947 in Srinagar) is an Indian American computer scientist. He is Regents Professor and a previous Head of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater who has made contributions to cryptography, artificial neural networks, and quantum information. Has studied at NIT Srinagar (J&K) and IIT Delhi. On 28 August 2018, he was appointed member of Indian Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).