IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee presents the Padma Shri to cricketer Virat Kohli during Padma Awards 2017 function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, hockey captain PR Sreejesh, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik, and para-athletes Deepa Malik and Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Thursday conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee confers the Padma Shri on Rio Paralympics silver-medalist Deepa Malik. Photograph: Kamal Kishore/PTI
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and blind cricketer Shekhar Naik were also among the 75 Padma Shri awardees.
The Padma Shri is the country's fourth highest civilian award.