President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday conferred the Padma awards to 130 winners at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Actor Aamir Khan and musician AR Rahman were conferred Padma Bhusan, while Bollywood diva Rekha and Saif Ali Khan were awarded Padma Shri this year.

Veteran actor Zohra Segal was honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

Meanwhile, from sports, Saina Nehwal, Narain Karthikeyan and Virendra Sehwag were given Padma Shri awards.

Padma Awards, the country's highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in all 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.

This year the President approved 130 awards including 13 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs.

These comprise 6 Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri awards. There are 17 women among the awardees.