New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader L K Advani and Bollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar are among the nine personalities named for Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian awards. The government announced the names of the awardees on Sunday.

Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, senior Supreme Court lawyer K K Venugopal, nuclear scientist M R Srinivasan and Jagadguru of Tulsi Peeth Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya, also chancellor of a varsity for the handicapped, also got Padma Vibhushan.

From Karnataka, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala Temple, D Veerendra Heggade has got Padma Vibhushan, while Padma Bhushan has been bestowed on Shivakumara Swami of Sree Siddaganga Mutt.

Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, has been given to 20 eminent personalities, including Microsoft chief Bill Gates and his wife Melinda; former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami, constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap; and senior Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve.

American teacher and author David Frawley, founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies and author of more than 30 books on Hinduism; Indian-origin American mathematician Manjul Bhargava; and journalists Rajat Sharma and Swapan Dasgupta are among the other Padma Bhushan recipients.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s oldest living associate in Japan, 99-year-old Saichiro Misumi, was also named for the Padma Bhushan, to be conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee in March-April.

The government announced the names of as many as 75 personalities for Padma Shri, including those of Niti Ayog member Bibek Debroy, film director and producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, woman cricketer Mithali Raj, badminton player P V Sindhu, Gujarati writer Tarak Mehta, former director of NCERT J S Rajput and music composer and lyricist Ravindra Jain.