Actor Rekha was conferred Padma Shri award by President Pratibha Patil at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II, at Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Wednesday.

Actor Saif Ali Khan, boxer Vijender Singh, sound technician and Oscar award winner Resul Pookutty and ace car racer Narain Karthikeyan were also conferred the Padma Shri, while NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, music composer Ilaiyaraaja and top businessman Vindi Banga received Padma Bhushan.

Mrudangam exponent Umayalpuram K Sivaraman, former RBI Governor Y V Reddy and nonagenarian artiste Zohra Sehgal were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan.

Other Padma Bhushan awardees included cardiologist B M Hegde, nuclear scientist Bikash Sinha, historian Bipin Chandra, kathak exponent Kumudini Lakhia, panchavadya exponent Kuzhur Narayana Marar, versatile artiste Mallika Sarabhai, banker N Vaghul, eye specialist Noshir Minoo Shroff, music composer Shrinivas Khale, sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan and Ayurveda practitioner E T Narayanan Mooss.

Sculptor Arjun Prajapati, versatile Assamese dramatist Arun Sarma, liver transplant specialist Arvinder Singh Soin, social worker Deep Chandra Joshi, businessman Deepak Puri, Manipuri Ras exponent Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi and noted Indologist of German origin Hermann Kulke, were among the Padma Shri recipients.

The first set of the Padma awards were presented on March 31, where actor Aamir Khan and musician AR Rahman were conferred Padma Bhushan.

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.