MUMBAI: Legendary singer and composer Dr Bhupen Hazarika will be posthumously honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award 2011.

Hazarika, who was an iconic figure of Assam passed away on 5 November after suffering from multiple organ failure,. A multi-talented personality, he was a poet, music composer, singer, actor, journalist, author and filmmaker.

He wrote over 1000 lyrics and covered a wide range of topics that included short stories, essays, travelogues, poems and children's rhymes. The maestro has been earlier felicitated with Dadasaheb Phalke and Padma Bhushan award.

This year the President has approved 109 awards including one duo case (counted as one) and 14 in the category of Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri Awards. There are 19 women among the awardees.

The Padma Bhushan recipients in the music field are classical musician Trippunithwra Viswanathan Gopalkrishnan, musician M S Gopalkrishnan and classical musician Pandit Buddhadev Das Gupta.

Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, Vanraj Bhatia, Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Nameirakpam Ibemni Devi, Shahid Parvez Khan, Sakar Khan Manganiar, Ramakant Gundecha and Shri Umakant Gundecha, Yamunabai Waikar will be bestowed with country's fourth highest award Padma Shri.

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. The awards will conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan in March/April.