NEW DELHI: Both maestro Bhupen Hazarika and renowned cartoonist Mario de Miranda have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, even as film personalities Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, and Mira Nair have been honoured with the Padma Bhushan in the Republic Day Honours.

Music director Vanraj Bhatia, filmmaker Priyadarshan, and noted spiritual singer Anup Jalota have been named for Padma Shri in the announcement by the President on the eve of the country?s 63rd Republic Day.

In the field of music, those who have got the Padma Bhushan include Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta for sarod, Dr T V Gopalkrishnan for classical vocal and instrumental music, and M S Gopalakrishnan for violin.

Vijay Dutt Shridhar of Madhya Pradesh has been awarded the Padma Shri for journalism. Professor Ravi Chaturvedi of Delhi has been given the Padma Shri for sports commentary.

The Padma Shri awardees for music include the Gundecha Brothers Ramakant and Umakant for classical vocal singing, Zia Fariduddin Dagar for Dhrupad vocal music, Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi of Manipur for Khongjom Parba music, Shahid Pervez Khan for the sitar, Sakar Khan Manganiar for Rajasthani folk music, and Yamunabai Waikar for the Lavani folk music.

In the field of theatre, those recognised for Padma Shri are Ramchandra Subraya Hegde Chitta of Karnataka for the Yakshgana dance drama, Moti Lal Khemu of Jammu and Kashmir (Playwright), Joy Michael of Delhi, Natesan Muthuswamy of Tamil Nadu, R Nagarathnamma of Karnataka, and playwright Satish Alekar from Mumbai. Cameraperson Sunil Janah of Assam has also been awarded a Padma Shri.

MUMBAI: A fornight after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital as he suffered from brain haemorrhage, renowned ghazal singer Jagjit Singh today passed away at the Hospital at 8.10 am after suffering a terrible haemorrhage.

Popularly known as the Ghazal King, Singh gained acclaim along with his wife Chitra Singh. It may be noted that they were the first ever husband-wife team who gained immense popularity in the history of recorded Indian music.

Condoling the death of the Ghazal maestro, composer and music director, I & B Minister Ambika Soni said, ?the untimely death of Jagjitji has left a void which will be difficult to fill. His unique voice was a departure from the prevalent style of ghazal rendition, which instantly became a hit with the masses."

She said all his compositions were lyrical masterpieces and shall remain embedded in our minds forever.

Recipient of Padma Bhushan award, Singh has sung in several languages including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Nepali among others. His popular ghazals include Meri zindagi kisi aur ki, mere naam ka koi aur hai, Apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain, Wo jo hum mein tumme qaraar tha, Patta-patta boota-boota haal hamaara jaane hai, Hoshwalo
ko khabar, etc.

Singh has also sung for popular movies like Sarfarosh and Tarqeeb.